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Africa
The Almohads conquer Mahdia from the Normans after an important naval success near the city against Christian reenforcement coming from Sicily.
A commercial treaty between the Almohad caliphate and the Republic of Pisa opens the North African ports to Tuscan merchants.
Asia
The Heiji Rebellion continues in Japan. Some 500 Minamoto rebels opposed to the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa carry out a daring raid on the Sanjo Palace.
Yasovarman II succeeds his uncle Dharanindravarman as ruler of the Khmer Empire. Dharanindravarman's son Jayavarman acquiesces to his cousin's succession and goes into exile in neighboring Champa.
Reynald of Chatillon is arrested by the Muslims.
Europe
February 3 – Emperor Frederick Barbarossa takes Crema, Italy following a cruel siege, as part of his campaign against the independent Italian city-states.
May 18 – Erik Jedvardsson is murdered, after which his murderer Magnus Henriksen proclaims himself king of Sweden. He is murdered in turn the following year, however. Eric is soon worshipped as a saint. Though never formally canonized by the pope, he eventually becomes the patron saint of Sweden.
Large Portuguese offensive in the Alentejo against the Muslims.
The city of Tomar is founded in Portugal by Gualdim Pais.
Spital am Semmering is founded by Margrave Ottokar III of Styria.
A plot of land at Miholjanec is donated to the Knights Templar, who build a monastery in nearby Zdelia; this is the earliest historical mention of the Templars in Croatia and Hungary.
Education
The Derby School is founded at Derby, England.
Asia
The Battle of Tangdao (November 16) and Battle of Caishi (November 26–27) on the Yangtze river, during the Jin–Song Wars between the Jin dynasty and the Song dynasty in China, result in two pivotal Song naval victories.
December 15 – The Prince of Hailing is assassinated while on campaign. He is succeeded by Emperor Shizong.
Europe
c. April – Bartholomew Iscanus becomes Bishop of Exeter in England.
Godfrey Ua Raghallaigh, king of East Breifne in Ireland dies; his son Cathal succeeds him.
Eric Jedvardsson's murderer Magnus Henriksen is himself murdered by Karl Sverkersson, who then becomes king of Sweden.
A Muslim offensive against the young Portuguese kingdom reaches Almada.
Cross of Euphrosyne, commissioned by Saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk, is created by craftsman Lazar Bohsa. The cross later went missing during World War II and has not been recovered.
Africa
The Almohad emir, Abd al-Mu'min, prepares a gigantic fleet of some four hundred ships to invade Spain. He dies the following year before the fleet is completed.
Asia
July 24 – Emperor Gaozong abdicates to Emperor Xiaozong.
July 25 – Emperor Xiaozong announces he will posthumously rehabilitate Yue Fei.
The Beisi Pagoda of Song Dynasty China is completed.
Europe
June 3 – Thomas Becket is consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
July 15 – Ladislaus II of Hungary is declared King of Hungary.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa seizes and destroys Milan, scattering its inhabitants among four villages.
Owain Gwynedd is recognized as ruler of Wales.
Silesian duchies accept the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Law of Succession is introduced in Norway.
Council of Tours: Albigensians are named and condemned as heretics.
Loccum Abbey in Hanover is founded as a Cistercian house by Cornwall.
The Guanfuchang salt-fields (官富場) in Hong Kong, nowadays To Kwa Wan, Kowloon Bay, Kwun Tong and Lam Tin districts, are first officially operated by the Song dynasty.
The first stone of Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral is set by Pope Alexander III.
The Almohads finish driving the Normans out of North Africa.
Africa
A commercial treaty grants access to Almohad-dominated ports to merchants from several European powers including Marseille and Savona.
Europe
January – A council of nobles and bishops meeting with Henry II of England at Clarendon Palace passes the Constitutions of Clarendon which attempt to restore royal jurisdiction over the Church in the Kingdom of England.
November 2 – Thomas Becket, having contended with Henry II of England over the power of secular courts, is found guilty of contempt of court and exiled to France where he solicits support from the Pope and the King of France.
Battle of Renfrew, in which the Norse-Gaelic forces of Somerled, King of the Isles invade the Kingdom of Scotland and are routed by the Scottish forces under the command of Herbert, Bishop of Glasgow, and Walter fitz Alan, Steward of Scotland.
Henry I, Count of Champagne, marries Marie of France.
The city of Tver is first mentioned in written records.
Markets
The Republic of Venice imitates the Genoese example and secures its loans against fiscal revenues to obtain lower interest rates. In the first operation of this kind, the Republic obtains 1150 silver marci for 12 years of the taxes levied on the Rialto market.
Religion
August 5 – Uppsala is recognized as the seat of the Swedish metropolitan with the coronation of its first archbishop Stefan by Pope Alexander III.
Antipope Paschal III is elected by cardinals supporting Frederick Barbarossa.
Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf.
Archbishop Rainald of Dassel brings relics of the Magi from Milan to Cologne.
November 23 – Pope Alexander III enters Rome.
December 9 – William the Lion succeeds his brother Malcolm IV as king of Scotland; he will reign until his death in 1214.
Emperor Rokujō ascends to the throne of Japan at the age of one.
Byzantine Emperor Andronicus I escapes from prison.
Henry II of England begins an affair with Rosamund Clifford.
Henry II of England invades Wales but is defeated at the Battle of Crogen and forced to retreat.
The Muslims take Caesarea Philippi from the Crusaders.
Leipzig gains city and market privileges.
The town of Pistoia obtains the appellation of "imperio fidelissima" from Frederick I as faithful of the emperor.
Construction of the Liuhe Pagoda of Hangzhou, China, is completed in this year during the Song Dynasty.
The adventurer Gerald the Fearless, vassal of the king of Portugal, seizes the city Evora by surprise. The same year (or soon after), he takes Cacéres, Trujillo, Montánchez, Lobon, Moura, Monsaraz and Alconchel.
The Archbishop of Lund appoints Fulco as the first Bishop of Estonia, marking the early beginning of gradual introduction of Christianity in Estonia.
July – Henry II of England conquers Brittany, granting the territory to his son Geoffrey.
July 5 – First mention of the town of Bad Kleinkirchheim in Austria (in an ecclesiastical document).
Henry II of England enacts the Assize of Clarendon, reforming the English law and defining the legal duties of sheriffs.
Marko III succeeds Yoannis V as Patriarch of Alexandria.
Tribhuvanāditya comes to power in the Khmer empire following the assassination of Yasovarman II.
Stefan Nemanja becomes Grand Župan of the Grand Principality of Serbia.
Henry the Lion has the first bronze statue (a heraldic lion) north of the Alps erected at Dankwarderode Castle.
William Marshal, described as "the greatest knight that ever lived," is knighted.
April 12 – Charles VII of Sweden is murdered by Canute (son of Eric IX of Sweden), who proclaims himself king of Sweden. However, Charles's half brothers Boleslaw and Kol Sverkerson proclaim themselves kings of Östergötland, in opposition to Canute, which leads to fights for the power in Sweden until 1173.
May 29 – Battle of Monte Porzio: The army of the Commune of Rome is defeated by the forces of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and the local princes; Pope Alexander III leaves Rome. Frederick proceeds to Rome where he is crowned by Antipope Paschal III for the second time.
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor besieges Ancona.
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor installs his 3-year-old son Frederick as Duke of Swabia in succession to the elder Frederick's cousin, Frederick IV.
Peter of Blois becomes the tutor of William II of Sicily.
Absalon, archbishop of Denmark, leads the first Danish synod at Lund.
Absalon fortifies Copenhagen.
Afonso I of Portugal is defeated by the Kingdom of Leon.
Amalric I of Jerusalem unsuccessfully invades Egypt.
William of Tyre becomes archdeacon of Tyre.
Oath of Pontida marks the foundation of the Lombard League
Henry II prohibits English students from attending the University of Paris; many settle at the University of Oxford.
Taira no Kiyomori becomes the first samurai to be appointed Daijo Daijin, chief minister of the government of Japan.
December 22 – Afraid that the Egyptian capital Fustat (in today's Old Cairo) will be captured by the Crusaders, its Fatimid vizier, Shawar, orders the city set afire. The city burns for 54 days.
Prince Richard of England becomes duke of Aquitaine. He later becomes King Richard I of England.
Emperor Takakura ascends to the throne of Japan.
King Valdemar I of Denmark conquers Arkona on the Island of Rügen, the strongest pagan fortress and temple in Northern Europe.
The newly born Commune of Rome conquers and destroys the rival neighboring city of Albano.
The Vladimir-Suzdal begins in Russia.
Africa
Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo, invades Egypt, and on March 26 names his nephew Saladin sultan as well as vizier of Cairo.
Europe
January – Henry II of England and Louis VII of France sign a peace treaty which includes the betrothal of their respective heirs, twelve-year-old Richard I of England and nine-year-old Alys, Countess of the Vexin.
February 4 – 1169 Sicily earthquake: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of around 7 strikes the eastern coast of Sicily, causing an estimated 15,000 deaths.
May 1 – Norman invasion of Ireland begins. Among those arriving is Cambro-Norman knight (and vassal of Henry II of England) Richard de Clare who has made an alliance with exiled Irish chief Diarmait Mac Murchada to help him regain the throne of Leinster. This begins the period of Anglo-Norman dominance of Ireland.
Siege of Badajoz by Gerald the Fearless. The adventurer receives the support of the Afonso I of Portugal. The Almohad caliph, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, manages to broker an alliance with the King Ferdinand II of León against Afonso. The allies manage to besiege the Portuguese in Badajoz and finally to take both the king and Gerald prisoners.
During the Swedish power struggle, Boleslaw is killed, but his brother Kol continues as king of Östergötland until 1173, in opposition to king Knut Eriksson of Sweden.
The appointed Bishop of Estonia, Fulco, becomes the first known Christian missionary to visit Estonia.
Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal sacks Kiev and makes Vladimir the capital of Kievan Rus'.
Arts
Eleanor of Aquitaine leaves the English court of Henry II to establish her own court in Poitiers. It will become known as a center of courtly love.
Genghis Khan born as Temüjin.
1160s Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
