1184
Year 1184 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
- March 27 - Tamar of Georgia becomes queen regnant on the death of her father and coregent George III. She remains sole ruler of Georgia until her death in 1213.
- May 20 - Diet of Pentecost: Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, organises a conference in Mainz. During the diet Frederick negotiates with Henry the Lion about an anti-French alliance with England.
- June 15 - Battle of Fimreite: King Sverre of Norway defeats and kills his rival, Magnus V near Fimreite. Sverre takes the throne and becomes sole ruler of Norway.
- July 26 - Approximately 60 are killed in the Erfurt latrine disaster.
- Summer - Almohad forces reconquer the Alentejo, and besiege Lisbon on land and blockade the port with their navy. A Portuguese soldier manages to swim to the largest ship of the fleet and to sink it. This ship was so tall, it would have allowed the Muslims easily to reach the walls of the city. The next day, the Almohads have to retreat, taking with them a number of civilian captives.
- Siege of Santarém: Almohad forces under Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf march towards Badajoz and besiege Santarém, which is defended by King Afonso I of Portugal. Upon hearing of Abu Yusuf's attack, Ferdinand II of León marches his army to Santarém to support his father-in-law, Afonso. Abu Yusuf, in an attempt to break the siege, is wounded by a crossbow bolt and dies on July 29.
- October 29 - The 18-year-old Prince Henry, eldest surviving son of Frederick I, is engaged to Princess Constance, heiress to the Kingdom of Sicily, at Augsburg in the episcopal palace.
- The city of Abbeville receives its commercial charter by King Philip II of France.
England
- The first royal ordinance demanding that the Knights Templar and Hospitaller assist in the collection of taxes is promulgated.
- King Henry II of England encourages his youngest son John to seize Aquitaine from his brother Richard.
- May - A serious fire damages Glastonbury Abbey and destroys several buildings.
Africa
- May - Berber forces under Ali Banu Ghaniya seize the Almohad cities of Algiers, Béjaïa and Constantine by surprise. While he is away from his base in Mallorca, one of his brothers, Muhammad, takes control of the island and calls in the Almohads, who intend to capture Mallorca for themselves. Banu Ghaniya arrives just in time to defeat the Almohads and recapture the island.
- August 10 - Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur is proclaimed the new caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, after his father Abu Yaqub Yusuf is killed in Portugal.
Levant
- Saladin sends his nephew Izz al-Din Usama, governor of the iron-rich mountains near Beirut, to build Ajloun Castle, which controls the trade along the road between Damascus and Egypt.
Asia
- February 19 - Second Battle of Uji: Japanese forces under Minamoto no Yoshinaka are defeated by his cousins, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Minamoto no Yoritomo, for the control of Japan.
- February 21 - Battle of Awazu: Minamoto no Yoshinaka is killed during a pursuit by his cousin's armies. He is joined by his foster brother Imai Kanehira, who commits suicide.
- March 20 - Battle of Ichi-no-Tani: Japanese forces under Minamoto no Noriyori defeat the Taira clan at Ikuta Shrine in the woods of Settsu Province during the Genpei War.
By topic
Religion
- The papal bull Ad Abolendam is issued against several European heretical groups: the Cathars, the Waldensians, the Patarines, Josephines and the Humiliati. It is created after a landmark meeting in Verona, between the Holy Roman Empire under Frederick I and the Catholic Church under Pope Lucius III.