1154

By place

Levant

• April 18 - Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler of Aleppo, encamps before Damascus and overthrows Mujir al-Din by force with support of the Jewish citizens, who open de eastern gate to the bulk of his army. Mujir flees to the citadel, but capitulates after only a few hours. He is offered his life and the Emirate of Homs. A few weeks later Mujir is suspected of plotting with old friends in Damascus and is exiled to Baghdad. Damascus is annexed to Zangid territory and all of Syria is unified under the authority of Nur al-Din, from Edessa in the north to the Hauran to the south.
• Nur al-Din establishes the Al-Nuri Hospital in Damascus. The hospital has outpatient consulting rooms, a conference room, prayer hall, vestibules and bathrooms.

  Europe

• February 26 - King Roger II dies at Palermo after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his fourth son William I as ruler of Sicily. William appoints Maio of Bari, a man of low birth, to chancellor and his adviser. He pursues his father's policy of strengthening authority over the towns and the Italian nobles, who rallies around his cousin Robert III, count of Loritello, in Apulia and Calabria.
• Autumn - King Frederick I leads a expedition into Italy for his imperial coronation. He wants to impose his will upon the towns and cities of Lombardy, a region long accustomed to interference from Germany. Frederick encounters stiff resistance to his authority, the Lombard nobles are unwilling to acknowledge his rule and the rights to raise taxes.
• The Almohad army conquers the last independent Muslim stronghold at Granada, after a six years siege.
• The Banate of Bosnia becomes an autonomous duchy as part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown.
• Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is first marked on the world map by Muhammad al-Idrisi.

  Africa

• Normans conduct a series of raids in North Africa, including Annaba and the Nile Delta.

  England

• October 25 - King Stephen dies after a short illness at Dover. He is succeeded by Henry of Anjou, the son of Queen Matilda.
• December 19 – The 21-year-old Henry II is crowned as sole ruler of England along with his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.
• The Bull Ring, a commercial market centre, is founded by Peter de Bermingham at Birmingham.

  By topic

Art and Culture

• January 15 - Muhammad al-Idrisi, Arab geographer and cartographer, completes his atlas of the world, the Tabula Rogeriana, which will remain one of the most accurate maps until the Age of Discovery.

  Religion

• December 3 - Pope Anastasius IV dies after a 17-month pontificate. He is succeeded by Adrian IV as the 169th pope of the Catholic Church.