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The 1170s

367 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 12th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1170 CE43 entries

  • September 21 – Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland: Following a siege, combined Anglo-Norman and Irish forces seize the city of Dublin, forcing Ascall mac Ragnaill, last King of Dublin, into exile.
  • November – Becket controversy: Thomas Becket excommunicates three bishops.
  • December 1 – Becket controversy: Henry II sends word that his conflict with Thomas Becket is at an end, and his lands will be restored. Becket returns to England, landing at Sandwich.

1171 CE32 entries

  • July – King Henry II decides to lead a military expedition to Ireland and summons Richard de Clare (Strongbow) to join forces. In September, Richard travels to England and promises his loyalty to Henry. He is granted Leinster as a fiefdom and is honored with the post of "royal constable in Ireland". The army is assembled at Pembroke – several siege towers are shipped over, should Henry need to assault the Norman-held towns (or others such as Cork and Limerick).
  • September 13 – Caliph Al-Adid dies of natural causes (or poisoning) after a 11-year reign. Saladin overthrows the Fatimid Caliphate, and takes over as governor (atabeg) of Egypt – ruling in the name of Emir Nur al-Din.
  • September 25 – Saladin leads an Egyptian army to take part in a joint attack on the Crusader castles Kerak and Montréal, south of the Dead Sea. In November, Saladin withdraws his forces to Cairo to suppress a coup.

1172 CE34 entries

  • April 17 – Henry II receives homage from the Irish princes who include Domnall Mór Ua Briain, king of Munster. He grants Hugh de Lacy the lordship of Meath (or Mide) for providing the services of 50 knights.
  • April–May – Béla III returns to Hungary – where he is acclaimed king by the Hungarian nobility, after the death (possibly from poison) of his elder brother Stephen III, on March 4.
  • May 28 – Doge Vitale II Michiel, accused at a General Assembly at the Ducal Palace, for the destruction of the Venetian fleet, is stabbed to death by an angry mob at Venice.

1173 CE39 entries

  • January 5 – Bolesław IV the Curly, High Duke of Poland, dies after a 27-year reign. He is succeeded by his half-brother Mieszko III the Old, and as duke of Sandomierz in Lesser Poland by Casimir II the Just.
  • March – Henry the Young King withdraws to the French court, marking the beginning of the Revolt of 1173–1174, a dispute between King Henry II, his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of their sons over the territories they control. Eleanor is placed under de facto house arrest. William the Lion, King of Scotland, invades the North of England in support of the rebellion.
  • August 8 – The construction of a campanile, which will become the Leaning Tower of Pisa, begins.

1174 CE37 entries

  • February – Saladin's brother Turan-Shah sails with an army and supporting fleet to conquer the Hejaz and Yemen.
  • 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.
  • October 29 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), on his fifth Italian campaign, begins the siege of Alessandria in northern Italy. He is opposed by the Lombard League (now joined by Venice, Sicily and Constantinople).

1175 CE39 entries

  • May 22 – A group of Isma'ili Assassins gains access into Saladin's camp and attempts to kill him during the siege of Aleppo. But his bodyguard saves his life, the others are slain while trying to escape.
  • The Namayan Kingdom formed by a confederation of barangays, reaches its peak on Luzon (modern Philippines).
  • The Chinese court establishes several government-paper money factories in the cities of Chengdu, Hangzhou and Huizhou. In Hangzhou alone a daily workforce of more than 1,000 men is employed.

1176 CE39 entries

  • May 29 – Battle of Legnano: The Imperial army (some 5,500 men) led by Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) is defeated by forces of the Lombard League, leading to the pactum Anagnium (the Agreement of Anagni).
  • September 17 – Battle of Myriokephalon: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine forces led by Manuel I, who are ambushed when moving through a narrow mountain pass near Lake Beyşehir. The Byzantines are dispersed and surrounded. They suffer heavy casualties and their siege equipment is destroyed. Manuel flees in panic and is forced to sign a peace treaty with Kilij Arslan II.
  • Winter – An international bardic festival at Cardigan Castle in Wales. The first recorded eisteddfod.

1177 CE28 entries

  • January – Eystein Meyla, leader of the Birkebeiner in Norway, is killed. Sverre Sigurdson (Later, King Sverre I, of Norway) becomes the new leader.
  • March – Treaty of Venice: Frederick I Barbarossa acknowledges Alexander III as Pope, after a diplomatic mediation by Venetian doge Sebastiano Ziani.
  • November 25 – Battle of Montgisard: Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin.

1178 CE36 entries

  • June 18 – Five monks from Canterbury see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed.
  • June 18 – Five monks from the Canterbury Abbey report the appearance of a flaming torch spewing hot coals and sparks from the upper portion of the crescent moon.
  • June 30 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) is crowned King of Burgundy at Arles. He will repeat the ceremony in 1186. Returning to Germany, he begins proceedings against Henry III (the Lion), duke of Saxony, who has been charged by Saxon noblemen with breaking the king's peace.

1179 CE40 entries

  • March – Third Council of the Lateran: The Council condemns Waldensians and Cathars as heretics. It further institutes a reformation of clerical life and regulates that in order to prevent future schisms, the pope must receive of the cardinals' votes to be elected.
  • June 18 – Battle of Kalvskinnet: Norwegian forces led by King Sverre Sigurdsson defeat and kill Earl Erling Skakke, outside Nidaros in Norway. The battle changes the tide of the civil wars.
  • September 17 – Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and polymath, dies at Rupertsberg. Having founded two monasteries, she has also written theological, botanical, and medicinal texts.