Directory

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.

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

Crime & Justice

  • 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
  • Stephen du Perche, Sicilian chancellor, is accused of plotting to claim the throne and is forced to flee.source

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

Deaths

  • January 17 – Thierry of Alsace, count of Flanders (b. 1099)source
  • March 27 – Patrick of Salisbury, Norman nobleman (b. 1122)source
  • April 5 – Robert de Beaumont, English nobleman (b. 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 (b. 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 (b. 1103)source
  • Bermudo Pérez de Traba, Spanish nobleman (b. 1088)source
  • Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, Persian scholar (b. 1097)source
  • Conrad of Babenberg, archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1115)source