1140

By place

Levant

• Spring - King Fulk of Jerusalem confronts Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler of Mosul, near Dara'a in southern Syria. Turkish forces under Mu'in al-Din besiege Banias.

Europe

• Spring - King Conrad III enfeoffs Henry II, a member of the House of Babenberg, with the County Palatine of the Rhine.
• Summer – King Roger II promulgates the Assizes of Ariano after the pacification of southern Italy.
• December 21 – Siege of Weinsberg: Conrad III captures the castle at Weinsberg during the civil war between the Staufers and the Welfs in Germany.

England and Scotland

• Summer - King Stephen appoints Geoffrey de Mandeville as Earl of Essex for his support during the civil war against Matilda.
• The town of Lanark in Scotland is made a Royal Burgh by King David I, giving it merchant privileges relating to government and taxation.

Asia

• August 21 - Jin–Song Wars - Battle of Yancheng: Chinese forces under the command of Yue Fei defeat a numerically superior Jin army led by Wuzhu.

By topic

Religion

• June 3 - Pierre Abelard, a French theologian, is condemned for heresy by the Council of Sens. He sets out for Rome to present his defense to Pope Innocent II.
• September 8 - Sephardi Jewish philosopher Judah Halevi, having completed the Kuzari, arrives in Alexandria on a pilgrimage to Palestine.
• The first Cistercian monastery in Spain is founded in Fitero. The order enjoys a rapid expansion in the region in the following 15 years.

Literature

• Gratian, an Italian monk and canon lawyer, founds the science of Canon law with the publication of the Decretum Gratiani.