1179

By place

Levant

• April 10 - A Crusader army, led by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, is ambushed by Muslim forces in a narrow valley in the forest of Banyas. Baldwin is only able to extricate his forces owing to the heroism of Humphrey II, lord of Toron, who holds up the Muslims with his bodyguard till Baldwin and his army escape. Humphrey suffers mortal wounds and dies on April 22. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old grandson Humphrey IV.
• June 10 - Battle of Marj Ayyun: A Crusader army led by Baldwin IV is defeated by Muslim forces under Saladin near the Litani River. The Knights Templar join the battle, but they are driven back in confusion. Baldwin narrowly escapes being captured in the route. Amongst Saladin's prisoners are Odo de St. Amand, Grand Master of the Templars, and Lord Baldwin of Ibelin.
• August 30 - Siege of Jacob's Ford: Muslim forces led by Saladin conquer and destroy the unfinished Castle of Chastellet at Jacob's Ford, killing 80 knights and taking 700 civilians captive.

  Europe

• 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.
• June 24 - Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, is put under the ban of the empire when he refuses to appear before Emperor Frederick I to answer charges of misgovernment.
• Summer - Afonso I is recognized as King of Portugal by Pope Alexander III – bringing Portugal the protection of the Catholic Church against the Leonese monarchy.
• Mieszko III, duke of Poland, travels to Germany and ask Frederick I to offer help in his restoration of the Polish throne. But Frederick demands a payment of 10,000 silver.
• November 1 - The 14-year-old Philip II is crowned at Rheims by Archbishop William of the White Hands. He becomes joint ruler of France, together with his father King Louis VII.
• King William I establishes two castles at the Beauly Firth and the Cromarty Firth in northern Scotland. On his return, the city of Aberdeen is chartered by Wiliam.

  England

• Summer - Richard de Luci, High Sheriff of Essex, resigns his judicial office. He enters Lesnes Abbey that he founded in Kent, as penance for his part in the events leading to the murder of Thomas Becket. Richard dies there on July 14.

  Africa

• September 17 - A large offensive, by the Almohad army led by Yusuf I in southern Portugal, aims at the reconquest of the Alentejo. Further north, an Almohad fleet sails to attack Lisbon, but is repelled by the Portuguese, near the Cape Espichel. The Portuguese fleet later manages to enter in the harbour of Ceuta, and destroy a number of Muslim ships. It is the beginning of a four-year naval conflict between the Almohads and Portuguese.

  Asia

• Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese military leader, confines the former Emperor Go-Shirakawa to his quarters after discovering that he has tried to confiscate the estates of Kiyomori's deceased children.

  Mesoamerica

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

  By topic

Religion

• 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.
• 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.
• Westminster School is founded by Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey in England.
• A synod of thirty-three Armenian bishops in Hromkla discusses the conditions for union with the Byzantine Church and sends a profession of faith to emperor Manuel I Komnenos who dies before receiving it.
• The Drigung Kagyu school of Kagyu Buddhism is founded.