1159

Year 1159 (MCLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

 * September 7 – Pope Alexander III succeeds Pope Adrian IV, as the 170th pope.
 * The Heiji Rebellion breaks out in Japan.
 * Tunis is reconquered from the Normans, by the Almohad caliphs.
 * (Approximate date): Churchman Richard FitzNeal is appointed Lord High Treasurer in England, in charge of Henry II of England's Exchequer, an office he will hold for almost 40 years.

Births

 * Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (d. 1189)

Deaths

 * May 30 – Wladislaus II, the Exile of Poland (b. 1105)
 * August 29 – Bertha of Sulzbach, Byzantine Empress (b. 1110s)
 * September 1 – Pope Adrian IV (b. c. 1100)
 * October 11 – William of Blois, Count of Boulogne and Earl of Surrey (b. c. 1137)
 * Joscelin II, Count of Edessa