1168 CE

Antipope Paschal III dies at Rome after a 4-year reign. Giovanni di Struma is elected as his successor and will reign as Antipope Callixtus III with support from Emperor Frederick I. Amalric I invades Egypt again from Ascalon, sacking Bilbeis and threatening Cairo. In November, a Crusader fleet sails up the Nile and arrives in Lake Manzala, sacking the town of Tanis. Afraid that the Egyptian capital Fustat (modern-day Old Cairo) will be captured by Crusader forces, its Fatimid vizier, Shawar, orders the city set afire. The capital burns for 54 days.

In the 1160s, the 12th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • King Valdemar I ("the Great") of Denmark conquers the Wendish capital at Arkona on the island of Rügen (modern Germany). The Wends become Christians and subject to Danish suzerainty.source

Conflict & Security

  • October 20 – Amalric I invades Egypt again from Ascalon, sacking Bilbeis and threatening Cairo. In November, a Crusader fleet sails up the Nile and arrives in Lake Manzala, sacking the town of Tanis.source
  • The newly born Commune of Rome conquers and destroys the rival neighboring city of Albano (modern Italy).source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Autumn – Count William IV of Nevers, arrives in Palestine with a contingent of elite knights. In Jerusalem he is present during a council with Amalric and other nobles to decide on an expedition to Egypt.source
  • Nur al-Din, Zangid ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, sends an expedition under General Shirkuh to Egypt on request of the Fatimid caliph Al-Adid. He offers him a third of the land, and fiefs for his generals.source

Religion & Belief

  • April 9 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan is deposed by his grandfather, retired-Emperor Go-Shirakawa, after an 8-month reign. He is succeeded by his 6-year-old uncle, Takakura, as the 80th emperor.source
  • Summer – King Amalric I of Jerusalem and Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos negotiate an alliance against Fatimid-Egypt. Archbishop William of Tyre is among the ambassadors sent to Constantinople to finalize the treaty.source
  • St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick is founded on the site of a palace given by Domnall Mór Ua Briain.Irelandsource

Crime & Justice

  • Stephen du Perche, Sicilian chancellor, is accused of plotting to claim the throne and is forced to flee.source
  • Domnall Mór Ua Briain becomes King of Thomond following the murder of his brother Muirchertach.Irelandsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • December 22 – Afraid that the Egyptian capital Fustat (modern-day Old Cairo) will be captured by Crusader forces, its Fatimid vizier, Shawar, orders the city set afire. The capital burns for 54 days.source

Climate & Environment

  • Yuanqu County (also known as Wanting County) in China is destroyed by a flood of the Yellow River.source

Culture & Society

  • Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, marries the 12-year-old Matilda (or Maud), daughter of King Henry II of England.source

Births

  • April 22 – Abubakar ibn Gussom, Arab poet (died 1242)source
  • August 31 – Emperor Zhangzong of Jin, Chinese ruler (died 1208)source
  • November 19 – Emperor Ningzong, Chinese ruler (died 1224)source
  • William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby (approximate date)source
  • Temüge (or Otgon), brother of Genghis Khan (died 1246)source
  • Ibn Muti al-Zawawi, Arab jurist and philologian (died 1231)source
  • Robert of Braybrooke, English High Sheriff (died 1210)source
  • Robert of Courtenay, Lord of Champignelles, French nobleman and knight (died 1239)source

Deaths

  • January 17 – Thierry of Alsace, count of Flanders (born 1099)source
  • March 27 – Patrick of Salisbury, Norman nobleman (born 1122)source
  • March 27 – Patrick of Salisbury, Angevin governor of Poitou, is killed in an ambush at Poitiers by French forces under Guy of Lusignan. He is escorting Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine on a journey near the border of Aquitaine. Patrick's nephew, William Marshal, is part of the royal escort and is taken prisoner. Later he is ransomed and becomes a member of Eleanor's household.source
  • April 5 – Robert de Beaumont, English nobleman (born 1104)source
  • September 20 – Antipope Paschal III dies at Rome after a 4-year reign. Giovanni di Struma is elected as his successor and will reign as Antipope Callixtus III with support from Emperor Frederick I.source
  • September 20 – Paschal III, antipope of Rome (born 1110)source
  • October 24 – William IV, count of Auxerre and Neverssource
  • November 5 – Hugh IX of Lusignan, French noblemansource
  • Wivina, French Benedictine abbess and saint (born 1103)source
  • Bermudo Pérez de Traba, Spanish nobleman (born 1088)source
  • Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, Persian scholar (born 1097)source
  • Conrad of Babenberg, archbishop of Salzburg (born 1115)source
  • Ua Cerbaill, Bishop of Roscrea.Irelandsource
  • Amhlaeibh Mac Innaighneorach, Chief Harper of Ireland.Irelandsource