1170s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	11th century – 12th century – 13th century
Decades:	1140s 1150s 1160s – 1170s – 1180s 1190s 1200s
Years:	1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

1170s: events by year

Contents: 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179

1170

• November – Henry II of England, when word reaches him in France of Thomas Becket's latest actions, utters words that are interpreted by his followers as a wish for the archbishop's death (alternative date is December).
• December 29 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral.
• The city of Dublin is captured by the Normans.
• According to folklore, the Welsh prince Madoc sailes to North America and founds a colony.
• Estimation: Fes in the Almohad Empire becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
• The Danes attack Estonia.
• The palace guards massacre the civil officials at the Korean court and place a new king on the throne. The coup leaders scrap the privileges that have kept the aristocrats in power and appoint themselves to top posts.
• Earliest dating for the making of Cheddar cheese

1172

• Duke Richard of Aquitaine becomes Duke of Poitiers (later King Richard I of England).
• Henry II of England & Humbert III, Count of Savoy agree to wed their respective heirs, John of England & Alicia. The alliance will never happen because Henry's elder heir, Henry the Young King, gets jealous over the castles which the elder Henry promises to the couple and stages a rebellion which will take the elder Henry two years to put down. By that point, Alicia will have died.
• Alberto di Morra is sent by Pope Alexander III to the Council of Avranches, where Henry II of England is absolved of the sin of murder in the matter of the assassination of Thomas Becket.
• The Synod of Cashel ends the Celtic Christian system and brings them under Rome.
• A Muslim rebellion is quelled at Prades, this event marks the end of the pacification of the lands recently conquered by the Catalans.

By area

Asia

• End of Qiandao era and start of Chunxi era of the Chinese emperor Xiaozong.
• Saladin seizes Aden in Arabia.

Europe

• Abergavenny Castle is seized by the Welsh.
• Upon the death of Kol Sverkerson, king Knut Eriksson extends his reign to also include Östergötland. He is now unopposed as king of Sweden.
• Casimir II of Poland succeeds Boleslaus IV of Poland on the throne.
• Eleanor of Aquitaine and her sons rebel against her husband Henry II of England in the Revolt of 1173–1174.
• The efforts of the Almohad caliph, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, to repopulate the western Andalusian city of Beja begin. They are rapidly abandoned, sign of the quick demographic weakening of the Muslim in the peninsula.

By topic

Arts and leisure

• Algebraic chess notation is first recorded.
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa is built.

Religion

• Saint Thomas Becket is buried at Canterbury and canonized.
• Peter Waldo is converted to Christianity and founds the Waldensians.

By place

Africa

• The Sicilian troops lunch a failed attack against Ayyubid-held Alexandria.

Europe

• Henry II of England acknowledges Rosamund Clifford as his mistress.
• The Revolt of 1173–1174 against Henry II of England ends in defeat for the rebels.
• William I of Scotland is captured by Ranulf de Glanvill at the Battle of Alnwick, and Henry II of England occupies part of Scotland.
• Richard of Dover becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.
• William de Braose, Third Lord of Bramber becomes sheriff of Hereford.
• Fire destroys most of Padua, Italy.
• The city of Pombal, Portugal is founded by Gualdim Pais.
• The first known race track of the post-classical era opens at Newmarket in London.
• Battle of Thurles: Donal Mór Ó Brian defeats a Norman incursion into Thomond.

Asia

• Vietnam is given the official name of Annam by China.

Western Asia

• Saladin captures Damascus.
• Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.

Central America

• The last Toltec king commits suicide.

By place

Asia

• A Song Dynasty Chinese written record of this year states that a paper-printed-money factory in the city of Hangzhou alone employs a daily work force of more than 1,000.
• Ly Cao Ton becomes ruler of Vietnam.
• The Kingdom of Namayan reaches its peak on Luzon.

Europe

British isles

• Henry II of England begins living openly with his friend Rosamund Clifford, raising suspicions about their relationship & alienating Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Treaty of Windsor: Ruaidri Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Conner), the last High King of Ireland, submits to Henry II as vassal of Ireland.
• The Massacre of Abergavenny ends with several Welsh noblemen dead at the orders of William de Braose.

Denmark

• Vordingborg Castle is completed.

Byzantium

• Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus restores the trading privileges of Venice.

Iberia

• Under the admirals of the clan Banu Mardanish, an Almohad fleet suffers a large defeat at the hand of the Portuguese, as they were trying to reconquer Lisbon.

By topic

Religion

• The high academy of Bosnian religious organization in Moštre, Visoko, is first mentioned in Vatican archives.
• William of Tyre becomes archbishop of Tyre.

1176

• Al-Adil I, the Muslim ruler of Egypt, suppresses a revolt by the Christian Copts in the city of Qift, hanging nearly 3,000 of them on the trees around the city.
• January – The Assize of Northampton is enacted.
• May 22 – The Hashshashin attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo.
• Raynald of Chatillon is released from prison in Aleppo.
• May 29 – Battle of Legnano: Frederick Barbarossa is defeated by the Lombard League, leading to the pactum Anagninum (the Agreement of Anagni).
• September 17 – Battle of Myriokephalon: The Seljuk Turks defeat Manuel I Comnenus.
• The Cathedral of Sens installs the first "horologe".
• Construction begins on the London Bridge.
• Aberdeen becomes a royal burgh.
• The Carthusian Order is approved.
• The first recorded Welsh Eisteddfod is held by Rhys ap Gruffydd at Cardigan.

1177

• January – Eystein Meyla, leader of the Birkebeiner in Norway, is killed. Sverre Sigurdson (Later, King Sverre I, of Norway) becomes the new leader.
• January 13 - Leopold V becomes Duke of Austria.
• March – Treaty of Venice: Frederick I Barbarossa acknowledges Alexander III as Pope.
• August 1 – Holy Roman Empire renounces any claims on the territory of Rome.
• September 27 – Pope Alexander III sends a letter to Prester John, believing he is real.
• November 25 – Battle of Montgisard: Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin.
• During the third year of the Angen era in Japan, a fire devastates Kyoto.
• Benedictus Abbas becomes abbot of Peterborough.
• Byland Abbey is founded in Yorkshire by the Cistercians.
• Casimir II becomes duke of Poland.
• The Cham sack the Khmer capital of Angkor Wat.
• Roger de Moulins becomes Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller.
• Moscow is burned down and its inhabitants are killed.
• Puigcerdà is founded by Alfonso II of Aragon.
• The Estonians attack Pskov during the winter.
• A civil war breaks out in Florence between the Uberti family and their consular opponent.

By area

Asia

• The Cham sack the Khmer capital near Angkor Wat.

Europe

• July 17 – Provence: Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands and the city of Toulon killing an estimated 300 and taking captives. The surviving captives are free from the Balearic Islands in 1185.
• George III of Georgia defeats a noble revolt and proclaims his daughter Tamar coregent.
• The Portuguese troops conquer Beja from the Almohads.

By topic

Art and science

• June 18 – Five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed.
• The Sung Document is written, detailing the discovery of "Mu-Lan-Pi" (suggested by some to be California) by Muslim sailors.
• The Chronicle of Gervase of Canterbury is written.
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa begins to lean as the third level is completed.

By area

America

• The Maya city of Chichen Itza is sacked and burned by Hunac Ceel, the Mayapan king.

Europe

• June 19 – Battle of Kalvskinnet (outside Nidaros, Norway): Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle changes the tide of the civil wars.
• Afonso I is recognized as the true King of Portugal by Pope Alexander III, bringing Portugal the protection of the Catholic Church against the Castilian monarchy.
• November 1 – Philip II is crowned King of France. He assumes his office, however, in the next year, following the death of his father Louis VII.
• The city of Aberdeen is chartered by William the Lion.
• Large offensive by the Almohad army in southern Portugal aiming at the reconquest of the Alentejo. Further north, a fleet led by Abd Allah b. Ishaq b. Jami is sailing to attack Lisbon but is repelled by the Portuguese admiral D. Fuas Roupinho near the Cape Espichel. The Portuguese admiral later manages to enter in the harbor of Ceuta and destroy a number of Muslim ships. It is the beginning of a four-year naval conflict between Almohads and Portuguese.

By topic

Religion

• The Third Council of the Lateran condemns Waldensians and Cathars as heretics, institutes a reformation of clerical life, and creates the first "ghettos" for Jews. It also rules that the Pope must receive 2/3 of the cardinals' votes to be elected.
• Westminster School is founded by the monks of Westminster Abbey (by papal command).
• The Drigung Kagyu school of Kagyu Buddhism is founded.