1102
Year 1102 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Levant
- Spring - A Fatimid expeditionary force invades Palestine and launches attacks into the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Crusaders defeat a Fatimid rearguard near Ascalon, and capture the city after a 3-year siege. The Crusaders capture Caesarea Maritima with support of the Genoese fleet. A number of Genoese trading colonies are established along the Mediterranean coast.
- Siege of Tripoli: The Crusaders under Raymond IV begin the siege of Tripoli. The garrison calls for assistance, but a Seljuk relief army from Damascus and Homs is defeated by Raymond.
- May 17 - Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders under King Baldwin I are defeated by the Fatimid army at Ramla. Baldwin and his companions escape through the enemy lines to Arsuf.
- May 27 - The Crusaders under Baldwin I break their way out of Jaffa, which is encircled by the Fatimid Army. A charge of the French cavalry breaks the enemy's ranks, and forces them to retreat to Ascalon.
- Raymond IV is imprisoned by Tancred, nephew of Bohemond I, and regent of the Principality of Antioch.
- Dagobert of Pisa is briefly deposed as Patriarch of Jerusalem.
- The Venetians establish a new trade emporium in Sidon.
Europe
- May 5 - The short-lived principality created by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar ends: Valencia is captured by Almoravid forces under Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin. It is later recaptured, evacuated and burned by King Alfonso VI.
- June 4 - Władysław I Herman, duke of Poland, dies at Płock after a 23-year reign. He leaves the succession to be disputed between his sons Zbigniew and Bolesław III Wrymouth.
- The Pacta Conventa formed by the Croatian nobility, recognize King Coloman as their overlord, initiating the personal union between the two kingdoms. Coloman is crowned king of Croatia.
England
- King Henry I captures Arundel Castle after having besieged Earl Robert of Bellême. Robert loses his English lands and is banished to Normandy.
By topic
Religion
- Council of London: A church council convened by Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, bans sodomy and the sale of Christian slaves to non-Christian countries, and reforms the clergy.
- Henry I orders the tomb of Edward the Confessor be opened; the body of the former king is supposedly found undecayed. The Westminster monks start to claim Edward as a saint.
Births
- February 7 - Matilda, Holy Roman Empress
- October 25 - William Clito, count of Flanders
- Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monk
- Eleanor of Champagne, French noblewoman
- Gilla na Naemh Ua Duinn, Irish poet and writer
- Henry II, margrave of the Northern March
- Klængur Þorsteinsson, bishop of Skálholt
- Liang Hongyu, Chinese general
- Nerses IV, Catholicos of Armenia
- Peter of Tarentaise, French abbot and bishop
- Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick
- Zhu, Chinese empress of the Song Dynasty
Deaths
- April 9 - Raoul II, Norman nobleman
- May 19 - Stephen II, French nobleman and crusader
- June 4 - Władysław I Herman, duke of Poland
- July 15 - Walter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham, Anglo-Norman magnate
- July 29 - Albert III, count of Namur
- November 1 - Anna Dalassena, Byzantine noblewoman
- Ermengol V, count of Urgell
- Felicia of Sicily, queen of Hungary
- Fujiwara no Kanshi, Japanese empress
- Giselbert II, count of Roussillon
- Guglielmo Embriaco, Genoese merchant
- Hugh VI, French nobleman and crusader
- Khön Könchok Gyalpo, Tibetan Buddhist monk
- Mahmud al-Kashgari, Turkish lexicographer
- Maurice, cardinal-bishop of Porto
- Odo I, duke of Burgundy
- Odon de Châtillon, cardinal-bishop of Ostia
- Stephen I, count palatine of Burgundy
- Xiang, Chinese empress and regent