Spring – Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi capture Saruj, the second great Crusader fortress east of the Euphrates. They advance to Birejik and besiege the city, but the garrison puts up a stiff resistance. Meanwhile, Queen-Regent Melisende of Jerusalem joins forces with Joscelin II, count of Edessa and approaches the city. Zengi raises the siege after hearing rumours of trouble in Mosul. He rushes back with his army to take control. There, Zengi is praised throughout Islam as "defender of the faith" and al-Malik al-Mansur, the "victorious king".
Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch, travels to Constantinople to ask Emperor Manuel I Komnenos for help to support his campaign against the Seljuks. When he arrives, Raymond is forced to accept the suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire. Manuel treats him graciously, gives him gifts and promises him a money subsidy.
Europe
Spring –Arnold of Brescia, an Italian priest from Lombardy, turns Rome into a republic with a government patterned on that of the Roman Republic. Arnold becomes the intellectual leader of the Commune of Rome, calling for liberties and democratic rights after the deposition of Giordano Pierleoni.
The Merinids of Maghrib al-Aqsa attempt to resist the Almohads but are forced into the desert areas around the Tafilalt. Oran falls to the Almohads. A Norman raid against the Tripolitania region succeeds.
Asia
Estimation: Merv (in the Seljuk Empire) becomes the largest city in the world, surpassing Constantinople.
By topic
Art and Culture
Kim Pusik and his team of historians finish the compilation of the Korean historical text Samguk Sagi.
February 15– Pope Lucius II dies at Rome after having been hit by a stone missile during the fighting against Senatorial forces led by Giordano Pierleoni. He is succeeded after an 11-month pontificate by Eugene III who becomes the 167th pope of the Catholic Church. Eugene is forced into exile by Arnold of Brescia.
↑Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 193. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
12Meynier, Gilbert (2010). L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte. p.171. ISBN978-2-7071-5231-2.
↑Picard C. (1997) La mer et les musulmans d'Occident au Moyen Âge. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 64