Sobeslav has continued throughout is reign to possess the Olomouc duchy.

Meanwhile, however, the duke's rule in Bohemia had again been undermined by his nephew, Bretislaus, son of Sobeslav's eldest brother Duke Bretislaus II (d. 1100).

Young Bretislaus, referring to the principle of agnatic seniority, had gained the support of the Moravian dukes, Conrad II of Znojmo and Vratislaus II of Brno, as well as of the church party under Bishop Meinhard of Prague.

In June 1130, the conspiracy had been discovered and thwarted with much bloodshed.

The dukes had survived and continued to rule, but Bretislaus had been blinded.

Upon the accession of his brother-in-law King Bela II of Hungary in 1131, Soeslav becomes entangled into an armed conflict with Duke Boleslaw III of Poland, who supports Bela's rival, Boris Kalamanos.

The wealthy crusader Fulk of Anjou, an experienced military commander, had in 1129 abdicated his French county seat to his son Geoffrey and married Mélisande, the eldest daughter of Baldwin II.

At Baldwin’s death in August 1131, Fulk receives the throne of Jerusalem on the recommendation of Louis VI of France.

He will spend the first year of his reign settling a dispute in Antioch and putting down a revolt led by his wife's lover, Hugh of Le Puiset.

George of Antioch, bilingual (in Greek and Arabic) and familiar with the Mediterranean, was soon working for Roger as an ambassador on missions to Fatimid Egypt.

Rising to the title of familiaris of the court, by 1123 he had risen to second in command in Christodulus' navy.

In the attack on Mahdia that year, George had captured the fortress of ad-Dimas, but the campaign had to be abandoned.

In the following five years, George had overshadowed Chrisotodulus and by 1127 had replaced him in the position of emir of Palermo.

In that year, both emirs were present at Montescaglioso with Count Roger, but Christodulus seems to have died soon thereafter.

George, his successor, has been instrumental in fully subduing independent-minded Apulia and Calabria in the years following Roger's succession there.

George had brought sixty ships to bear on besieged Bari in 1129, at that time rebellious under Prince Grimoald Alferanites.

Surrender had been forced, but Roger had pardoned the prince.

In 1131, Roger demands that the citizens of Amalfi turn over the keys to the castle as well as full control over their city's defenses.

The Amalfitans refuse, and Roger sends John of Palermo across the Strait of Messina to join up with a royal troop from Apulia and Calabria and march on Amalfi by land, while George of Antioch blockades the town by sea and sets up a base on Capri.

Amalfi soon capitulates.

The famous Bernard of Clairvaux, Innocent's champion, organizes a coalition against Anacletus and his "half-heathen king," plunging Roger into a ten-year war.

He is joined by Louis VI of France, Henry I of England, and Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor.

The Double Papal Election and Lothair II’s Decision (1130–1131 CE)

In 1130, the papal election resulted in a double election, with two rival claimants to the papacy:

1. Anacletus II, backed by the powerful Pierleoni family in Rome and King Roger II of Sicily.
2. Innocent II, who sought support from the Holy Roman Empire and Capetian France.

Both claimants campaigned for the support of Lothair II, King of the Romans, presenting him with a golden opportunity to reassert imperial control over the papacy. However, instead of immediately intervening, Lothair focused on dealing with the Hohenstaufen resistance in Germany, allowing his subordinates to decide on papal legitimacy.

Lothair II’s Support for Innocent II

• Anacletus II offered Lothair the Imperial crown, hoping to gain his recognition, but ultimately, Innocent II secured Lothair’s support.
• Lothair promised to escort Innocent II back to Rome, aiding him in overcoming Anacletus II’s control of the city.

In 1131, Lothair and Innocent II met at Liège, where:

• Lothair demonstrated submission to the pope, reinforcing the precedent that imperial authority was subordinate to papal legitimacy.
• Lothair requested the restoration of lay investiture, but Innocent ignored his request, refusing to return this power to the empire.
• Despite this, Lothair retained the rights secured by the Concordat of Worms (1122), ensuring that imperial influence over ecclesiastical appointments was not completely eroded.

The Agreement Against Roger II of Sicily and Lothair’s Second Coronation

• Innocent II sought military assistance from Lothair against King Roger II of Sicily, a key ally of Anacletus II.
• Lothair agreed to assist Innocent in the conflict, further entrenching his role as papal protector.
• In return, on March 29, 1131, Innocent II again crowned Lothair as King of the Romans, reinforcing his legitimacy.

Consequences of Lothair’s Decision

• Lothair’s alignment with Innocent II ensured that the Holy Roman Empire remained central to papal politics, but also affirmed papal supremacy over imperial authority.
• His failure to secure investiture rights marked a missed opportunity to restore imperial control over the Church.
• His military commitment against Roger II would later lead to his Italian campaigns, shaping the long-term conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Sicily.

Lothair’s decision in 1131 helped tilt the papal schism in favor of Innocent II, setting the stage for the final resolution of the double election and ensuring that the papacy remained politically entangled with imperial ambitions for decades to come.

The childless King Stephen II dies of dysentery on March 1, 1131, and Béla is crowned in Székesfehérvár on April 28, although the late king had designated his sister's son, Saul, his successor in 1126, but Saul had died before his uncle, or Béla's partisans, manages to defeat him.

Béla's wife plays a decisive role in governing his kingdom, as the king is blind.

Shortly after ascending the throne, Queen Helena orders the massacre of the people she considers responsible for her husband's blinding at an assembly in Arad.

She installs her brother, Beloš, as the count palatine, giving him supreme command over the Hungarian Army and a commendable place in the Hungarian Royal Court.

The Jurchens try to conquer southern China in the 1130s, but become bogged down by a pro-Song insurgency in the north and a counteroffensive by the Song generals Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and others.

The generals regain some territories but retreat on the orders of the Southern Song emperor, who supports a peaceful resolution to the war.

The Treaty of Shoaling in 1142 settles the boundary between the two empires along the Huai River, but conflicts between the two dynasties will continue until the fall of the Jin in 1234.

The wars engender an era of technological, cultural, and demographic changes in China.

Battles between the Song and Jin bring about the introduction of various gunpowder weapons.

The siege of De'an in 1132 is the first recorded appearance of the fire lance, an early ancestor of firearms.

There are also reports of battles fought with primitive gunpowder bombs like the incendiary huopao or the exploding tiehuopao, incendiary arrows, and other related weapons.

In northern China, the Jurchen tribes are the ruling minority of an empire that is predominantly inhabited by former subjects of the Northern Song.

Jurchen migrants settle in the conquered territories and assimilate with the local culture.

The Jin government institutes a centralized imperial bureaucracy modeled on previous Chinese dynasties, basing their legitimacy on Confucian philosophy.

Song refugees from the North resettle in southern China.

The North is the cultural center of China, and its conquest by the Jin diminishes the international stature of the Song dynasty.

The Southern Song quickly return to economic prosperity, however, and trade with the Jin is lucrative despite decades of warfare.

The Southern Song capital, Hangzhou, expands into a major city for commerce.

Northeast Europe (1132–1143 CE): Internal Struggles and Expansion of Christian Influence

Introduction

From 1132 to 1143 CE, Northeast Europe experienced significant internal political strife, further expansion of Christian missionary influence, and incremental urban growth. The period was marked by heightened dynastic rivalry, notably within Denmark and Sweden, alongside growing interactions—often conflictual—with neighboring Baltic populations.

Dynastic Struggles and Monarchical Consolidation

In Denmark, King Niels faced escalating internal opposition from rival claimants to the throne, particularly from his nephew, Erik Emune. The rivalry culminated in a destructive civil conflict, weakening central authority and contributing to internal instability that persisted throughout the era.

In Sweden, dynastic disputes intensified between the Sverker and Erik families. King Sverker I (ascended ca. 1130) sought to strengthen royal authority amid considerable internal tensions. His reign was characterized by efforts to unify disparate territories, thus laying foundations for subsequent stable rule.

Early Baltic Crusades and Christianization Efforts

Danish and Swedish missionary efforts intensified along the Baltic coasts during this period, serving as precursors to the later, full-scale crusades of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. These missions primarily targeted pagan populations, notably in areas that would become Estonia and Finland. Initial contacts, though often hostile, gradually increased Scandinavian presence and cultural influence along Baltic shores.

Urban and Economic Development

The era witnessed further growth of emerging urban centers. Visby on Gotland continued to solidify its status as a pivotal Baltic trade hub, facilitating commerce between Scandinavia, the Baltic peoples, and the broader European continent. Similarly, towns such as Roskilde and early iterations of Stockholm and Lund saw modest but steady development, influenced by expanding regional trade networks and local artisan guilds.

Resistance and Fortification among the Baltic Tribes

Baltic tribes intensified defensive efforts against expanding Scandinavian incursions. Ancestors of the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians fortified settlements and increasingly organized resistance. Early Scandinavian attempts to penetrate these regions, though limited in scope, fostered a tradition of fierce resistance among local populations, laying the groundwork for more structured resistance in subsequent decades.

Ecclesiastical Expansion and Cultural Influence

The growth of ecclesiastical institutions continued, particularly through monastic foundations such as Benedictine and early Cistercian monasteries. These institutions played central roles in local education, Latin literacy, and ecclesiastical governance. Christianity gradually permeated deeper into social life, influencing legal practices, cultural norms, and regional governance.

Legacy of the Era

The era from 1132 to 1143 CE significantly shaped Northeast Europe's future through intensified dynastic conflicts, preliminary missionary activities, and growing urban centers. It marked the gradual extension of Christian influence and set foundational precedents for intensified regional interactions, conflicts, and crusading efforts that would decisively shape the historical trajectory of the Baltic and Scandinavian lands.

John II Komnenos, who reigns from 1118 to 1143, tries and fails to break what is becoming the Venetian monopoly of imperial trade, and he seeks to come to terms with the new kingdom of Hungary, to whose ruler he is related by marriage.

Alexios I had seen the importance of Hungary, lying between the western and eastern Roman empires, a neighbor of the Venetians and the Serbs.

More ominous still had been the establishment in 1130 of the Kingdom of Sicily, but John astutely allies himself with the Western emperor, Germany’s Lothair II (or III), against the expansionist Norman state.