1184 CE

Second Battle of Uji: Japanese forces under Minamoto no Yoshinaka are defeated by his cousins, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Yoritomo, for the control of Japan. Diet of Pentecost: Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, organises a conference in Mainz. During the diet Frederick negotiates with Henry the Lion about an anti-French alliance with England. Battle of Fimreite: King Sverre of Norway defeats and kills his rival, Magnus V (Erlingsson) near Fimreite. Sverre takes the throne and becomes sole ruler of Norway (until 1202).

In the 1180s, the 12th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 27 – Tamar I becomes queen regnant of Georgia on the death of her father and coregent George III. She remains sole ruler of Georgia (the first woman to hold this office) until her death in 1213.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 19 – Second Battle of Uji: Japanese forces under Minamoto no Yoshinaka are defeated by his cousins, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Yoritomo, for the control of Japan.source
  • March 20 – Battle of Ichi-no-Tani: Japanese forces under Minamoto no Noriyori defeat the Taira clan at Ikuta Shrine in the woods of Settsu Province during the Genpei War.source
  • May – Berber forces under Ali Banu Ghaniya seize the Almohad cities of Algiers, Béjaïa and Constantine by surprise. While he is away from his base in Mallorca, one of his brothers, Muhammad, takes control of the island and calls in the Almohads, who intend to capture Mallorca for themselves. Banu Ghaniya arrives just in time to defeat the Almohads and recapture the island.source
  • June 15 – Battle of Fimreite: King Sverre of Norway defeats and kills his rival, Magnus V (Erlingsson) near Fimreite. Sverre takes the throne and becomes sole ruler of Norway (until 1202).source
  • Siege of Santarém: Almohad forces under Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf march towards Badajoz and besiege Santarém, which is defended by King Afonso I of Portugal ("the Conqueror"). Upon hearing of Abu Yusuf's attack, Ferdinand II of León marches his army to Santarém to support his father-in-law, Afonso. Abu Yusuf, in an attempt to break the siege, is wounded by a crossbow bolt and dies on July 29.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Saladin sends his nephew Izz al-Din Usama, governor (emir) of the iron-rich mountains near Beirut, to build Ajloun Castle, which controls the trade along the road between Damascus and Egypt.source
  • The city of Abbeville receives its commercial charter by King Philip II of France.source

Religion & Belief

  • May 20 – Diet of Pentecost: Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, organises a conference in Mainz. During the diet Frederick negotiates with Henry the Lion about an anti-French alliance with England.source
  • May – A serious fire damages Glastonbury Abbey and destroys several buildings.source
  • The papal bull Ad Abolendam is issued against several European heretical groups: the Cathars, the Waldensians, the Patarines, Josephines and the Humiliati. It is created after a landmark meeting in Verona, between the Holy Roman Empire under Frederick I and the Catholic Church under Pope Lucius III.source
  • Clones Abbey was destroyed by fire.Irelandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The castle which gave Newcastle, County Wicklow its name was completed. It was built on an earlier Irish fortification in the territory of the O'Byrne's by the Norman Hugh de Lacy, then-governor of Ireland under Henry II.Irelandsource

Health & Medicine

  • The first royal ordinance demanding that the Knights Templar and Hospitaller assist in the collection of taxes is promulgated.source

Crime & Justice

  • King Henry II of England encourages his youngest (and favorite) son John to seize Aquitaine from his brother Richard.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • Summer – Almohad forces reconquer the Alentejo (except for Évora), and besiege Lisbon on land and blockade the port with their navy. A Portuguese soldier manages to swim to the largest ship of the fleet and to sink it. This ship was so tall, it would have allowed the Muslims easily to reach the walls of the city. The next day, the Almohads have to retreat, taking with them a number of civilian captives.source

Culture & Society

  • October 29 – The 18-year-old Prince Henry, eldest surviving son of Frederick I, is engaged to Princess Constance, heiress to the Kingdom of Sicily, at Augsburg in the episcopal palace.source

Births

  • April 11 – William Longsword, lord of Lüneburg (died 1213)source
  • Guigues VI, count of Albon (House of Burgundy) (died 1237)source
  • William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat (died 1251)source
  • Fujiwara no Hideyoshi, Japanese nobleman (died 1240)source
  • Ahmad al-Tifashi, Almohad poet and anthologist (died 1253)source
  • Jutta of Thuringia, margravine of Meissen (died 1235)source
  • Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany, English countess (died 1241)source

Deaths

  • January 2 – Theodora Komnene, duchess of Austriasource
  • January 13 – Gerard la Pucelle, English bishop (born 1117)source
  • February 16 – Richard of Dover, English archbishopsource
  • February 21 – Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Japanese shogun (born 1154)source
  • February 21 – Battle of Awazu: Minamoto no Yoshinaka is killed during a pursuit by his cousin's armies. He is joined by his foster brother Imai Kanehira, who commits suicide.source
  • March 27 – George III, king of Georgia (House of Bagrationi)source
  • June 15 – Magnus V (Erlingsson), king of Norway (born 1156)source
  • July 26 – Approximately 60 are killed in the Erfurt latrine disaster.source
  • July 29 – Abu Yaqub Yusuf, Almohad caliph (emir) (born 1135)source
  • August 10 – Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur is proclaimed the new caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, after his father Abu Yaqub Yusuf is killed in Portugal.source
  • September 30 – Arnold of Torroja, Catalan Grand Mastersource
  • October 24 – Siegfried, prince-archbishop of Bremen (born 1132)source
  • November 15 – Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, Holy Roman Empress consort (born 1143)source
  • November 18 – Josceline de Bohon, English bishop (born 1111)source