By place Byzantine Empire •
April 10 – King
Richard I (
the Lionheart) leaves
Messina for
Palestina, but a storm drives his fleet apart. Richard is forced to seek shelter at a Cretan port – from which he has a tempestuous passage to
Rhodes, where he stays for ten days (from
April 22 to
May 1), recovering from his sea-sickness. After some searching, he discovers that the ship carrying his sister
Joan of England and his new fiancée,
Berengaria of Navarre, is anchored on the south coast of
Cyprus, along with the wrecks of several other vessels, including Richard's treasure ship. The survivors of the wrecks have been taken prisoner by
Isaac Komnenos, the self-styled emperor of Cyprus. •
June 1 – A Crusader force led by Richard I defeats the Byzantine army near the village of
Tremithus. Isaac Komnenos flees from the battlefield to
Kantara. Richard captures Isaac's banner and hunts down the remnants of his army. At
Nicosia Richard becomes ill; Guy of Lusignan in command of Richard's forces, marches on
Kyrenia and captures it, taking the empress and her child prisoner. Isaac is taken before Richard (in chains of silver) and accepts an unconditional surrender. Richard places garrisons in the towns and castles, and appoints
Richard de Camville as governor of Cyprus, jointly with
Robert of Thornham. •
April 20 – King
Philip II (
Augustus) arrives with a Genoese flotilla (six ships) filled with French nobles and his cousin
Conrad of Montferrat at Acre. He begins the construction of seven immense stone-throwers – which are used to bombard the city, on
May 30. One of the siege-machines is called by the French soldiers the "Evil Neighbour" and "God's Own Sling", and a grappling ladder is known as the "Cat". Meanwhile, the walls of Acre are pounded relentlessly. The Crusaders built earthworks, ramparts, and ditches to protect themselves against Muslim attacks. •
June 8 – Richard I arrives with 25 ships and a strong advanced guard at Acre. Upon reaching the city, he is greeted by Philip II and then sets up his camp. Richard becomes almost immediately seriously ill (called
Arnaldia) and is confined to his tent. Nevertheless, he leaps into action and secretly initiates negotiations with Saladin. After having been refused a personal meeting, Richard sends a Moroccan prisoner to Saladin's camp as a sign of goodwill. Finally, Saladin accepts a three-day truce and allows his younger brother,
Al-Adil, to negotiate with Richard. •
July 12 –
Siege of Acre: The Muslim garrison surrenders to Philip II, which includes an agreement to give up the 70 Muslim ships in the harbour without Saladin's consent, and by the time that he learned of this intention, the city has already capitulated. Conrad of Montferrat, who has negotiated the surrender, raises the banners of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem, and of the Crusader leaders Philip II, Richard I, and
Leopold V of Austria, on the city's walls and towers. The siege of Acre has taken nearly two years and has cost some 100,000 Christian casualties. •
October 29 – Richard I marches with the Crusader forces onto the plains east of Jaffa and begins the slow, steady work of rebuilding a string of sites through which to advance on Jerusalem. During this period, the
Third Crusade degenerates into a series of skirmishes. Richard uses diplomacy alongside military threats, hoping to bring Saladin to the point of submission before he has to make the siege of Jerusalem itself. • December – Richard I and his Crusader forces occupy
Latrun, while the advance-guard takes
Bayt Nuba. He is warned by his nobles to take no further risks – due to winter conditions, and for being cut off if he presses on. Amongst those keenest on continuing are the French Crusaders under Hugh III. On
December 25, Richard is now just 12 miles from Jerusalem. • August – Margaritus of Brindisi defeats the Pisan fleet during the siege of Naples, and nearly destroys the late-arriving Genoese contingent. He keeps the harbour approaches open for supplies and reinforcements. • Prince
Yury Bogolyubsky leads a rebellion of disaffected Georgian nobleman against his ex-wife, Queen
Tamara (
the Great), but her forces win a two pitched battle at
Tmogvi and
Erusheti. Yury is captured, and Tamara allows him to withdraw to
Constantinople. • Henry VI is forced to raise the siege of Naples, due to an epidemic, and returns to
Germany. Upon Henry's retreat, the Lombard cities that have surrendered to the Germans resubmit to
Tancred of Lecce, king or usurper of
Sicily. The populace of
Salerno turn against Empress Constance during her visit to the city, and
Margaritus of Brindisi delivers her to Tancred at Messina. Later, Constance is imprisoned at
Castel dell'Ovo at Naples. • The counties of
Flanders and
Hainaut (modern
Belgium) are united under Count
Baldwin VIII. Flanders, a feudal fiefdom of France, becomes an important, wealthy independent state of
Western Europe. •
Siege of Silves – Almohad forces under Caliph
Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur reconquer
Silves in
Portugal. In the same campaign, the Almohads take also
Alcácer do Sal, while
Palmela and
Almada are sacked. •
Berthold V, duke of
Zähringen, founds the city of
Bern (modern
Switzerland). • King
Canute VI leads a Danish Crusade to
Finland.
England • Spring –
William de Longchamp, Chief
Justiciar and
regent, besieges
Lincoln Castle accusing the castellan
Gerard de Canville of corruption. In response, Prince John captures
Nottingham and
Tickhill castles from William. News of the dispute reaches Richard I, who sends
Walter de Coutances, archbishop of
Rouen, with orders to lead negotiations, for a peace between John and William. • April – John and William de Longchamp meet at
Winchester to discuss their differences. Several senior bishops are appointed as arbitrators. At the end of the meeting, both John and William agree to follow the recommendations. William is to return Lincoln Castle to Gerard de Canville and accepts limits to his powers. In return, John is to surrender Nottingham and Tickhill castles. • September –
Geoffrey, illegitimate son of the late King
Henry II and half-brother to Richard I and John, lands secretly at
Dover. He has been consecrated as the new archbishop of
York while in
Tours, and on his return is arrested by William de Longchamp. Citing the Winchester treaty, John seeks a meeting with William. Geoffrey is freed, William flees and heads to
Dover Castle. • October – William de Longchamp tries to hold the
Tower of London against John's supporters for three days. He surrenders the Tower and escapes to continue his support for Richard I. On
October 29, William is captured when disguised as a female merchant. John orders that he be expelled from the country.
Asia •
November 13 –
Battle of Tarain: Sultan
Muhammad of Ghor invades northern
India, but is defeated by Rajput forces under
Prithviraja III, ruler of
Ajmer and
Delhi. Prithviraj marches against the Ghurid army (some 100,000 men) with infantry, cavalry, and an
elephant force. He repulses the Ghurid invasion near
Taraori (some 70 miles of Delhi), Muhammad escapes the battlefield. • The
administration of the
Taungoo region (modern
Myanmar) is first recorded. King
Narapatisithu appoints his son-in-law,
Ananda Thuriya, as governor of
Kanba Myint. • King
Jayavarman VII of the
Khmer Empire sacks the capital of
Champa (approximate date).
By topic Religion •
March 20 – Pope
Clement III dies at
Rome after a
pontificate of less than 3½ years. He is succeeded by the 85-year-old Celestine III as the 175th pope of the
Catholic Church. • The monks of
Glastonbury Abbey dig up the remains of a large knight and a blonde woman, and announce they have discovered the tomb of King
Arthur and Queen
Guinevere. == Births ==