By place Britain •
July 13 –
Battle of Alnwick: King
William I (
the Lion), supported by Flemish mercenaries, invades
England, to help fight in the baronial rebellion against King
Henry II. William attacks
Prudhoe Castle in
Northumberland, but is unable to capture it. He is captured by Lord
Ranulf de Glanvill, and brought back to
Newcastle. Henry occupies a part of
Scotland, with its five strongest castles:
Roxburgh,
Berwick,
Jedburgh,
Edinburgh and
Stirling. •
September 5 –
Canterbury Cathedral is severely damaged in a fire. •
September 30 – The
Revolt of 1173–1174: After a year and a half of rebellion, Henry II achieves peace agreements with his sons
Henry the Young King,
Richard,
Geoffrey and
John at
Montlouis, on the basis of the pre-war
status quo. Before he returns to
Normandy, Henry orders the rebel castles in England and
Aquitaine to be destroyed. •
October –
Battle of Thurles: Gaelic-Irish forces under King
Domnall Mór Ua Briain defeat an Anglo-Norman invasion at
Thurles in
Ireland. The English expedition led by Earl
Richard de Clare (
Strongbow) is surprised while encamped in the area of
Lognafola and is forced to retreat to
Waterford. •
December 8 – The
Treaty of Falaise: Captured by the English, William I is forced to sign a peace agreement. The treaty makes Scotland a feudal possession of England, William and his nobles swear allegiance to Henry II. He must hand over several castles to Henry in return for his freedom.
Levant •
May 15 –
Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (
atabeg) of
Syria, dies at
Damascus after a 28-year reign. He is succeeded by his 11-year-old son
As-Salih Ismail al-Malik. Meanwhile,
Saladin declares himself his
regent and vassal. •
July 11 – King
Amalric I dies of
dysentery after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old son
Baldwin IV (
the Leper), who becomes ruler of
Jerusalem. Count
Raymond of Tripoli is appointed as his regent. •
November 23 – Saladin arrives at Damascus and spends the night at his father's old house, until the gates of the
Citadel of Damascus are opened to him, after a brief siege by his brother
Tughtakin ibn Ayyub.
Egypt • February –
Saladin's brother
Turan-Shah sails with an army and supporting fleet to conquer the
Hejaz and
Yemen. •
March 31 – A
conspiracy against
Saladin, aiming to restore the
Fatimid Caliphate, is revealed in
Cairo, involving senior figures of the former Fatimid regime and the poet
Umara al-Yamani. Modern historians doubt the extent and danger of the conspiracy reported in official sources, but its ringleaders will be publicly executed over the following weeks. •
July 25 – The Sicilian fleet (some 250 ships) under
Tancred, Count of Syracuse, launches a
failed attack against
Alexandria. But he is deprived of support and forced to sail away after a seven-day blockade on
August 1.
Asia •
Kilij Arslan II, Seljuk ruler of the
Sultanate of Rum, rounds off his conquest of the
Danishmend Turks in
Eastern Anatolia. He allies with the Zangid rulers against
Mosul.
By topic Religion •
April 7 – Pope
Alexander III consecrates
Richard of Dover as archbishop of
Canterbury at
Anagni. Richard returns to
England bearing his
pallium which he has received directly from the pope. •
July 7 – Henry II does
penance at
Canterbury for the murder of
Thomas Becket (see
1170), even though indirect. He is whipped by the monks as punishment. == Births ==