1168

Events

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.
Autumn - William IV, Count 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.
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.
Nur al-Din, Zangid ruler 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.

December 22 - Afraid that the Egyptian capital Fustat will be captured by Crusader forces, its Fatimid vizier, Shawar, orders the city set afire. The capital burns for 54 days.

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.
King Valdemar I of Denmark conquers the Wendish capital at Arkona on the island of Rügen. The Wends become Christians and subject to Danish suzerainty.
Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, marries the 12-year-old Matilda, daughter of King Henry II of England.
The newly born Commune of Rome conquers and destroys the rival neighboring city of Albano.
Stephen du Perche, Sicilian chancellor, is accused of plotting to claim the throne and is forced to flee.

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.
Yuanqu County in China is destroyed by a flood of the Yellow River.

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.