1176

Year 1176 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 1176th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 176th year of the 2nd millennium, the 76th year of 12th century, and the 7th year of the 1170s decade.

Events

Summer - Emperor Manuel I assembles a Byzantine expeditionary force, and marches towards Iconium, the Seljuk capital. Meanwhile, hordes of Seljuk Turks destroy crops and poison water supplies, to make Manuel's march more difficult, and harass the Byzantine army, in order to force it into the Meander Valley. Kilij Arslan II, ruler of the Sultanate of Rum, hears of the expedition, and sends envoys to ask for peace.
September 17 - Battle of Myriokephalon: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine forces led by Manuel I, who are ambushed when moving through a narrow mountain pass near Lake Beyşehir. The Byzantines are dispersed and surrounded. They suffer heavy casualties and their siege equipment is destroyed. Manuel flees in panic and is forced to sign a peace treaty with Kilij Arslan II.

May 29 - Battle of Legnano: The Imperial army led by Emperor Frederick I, [Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I] is defeated by forces of the Lombard League, leading to the pactum Anagnium.

Spring - Assize of Northampton: King Henry II establishes the rules for the administration of criminal justice that he has set out in 1166 at Clarendon.
Winter - An international bardic festival at Cardigan Castle in Wales. The first recorded eisteddfod.

Al-Adil I, Ayyubid governor of Egypt in [the Middle Ages|Egypt], suppresses a revolt by the Christian Copts in the city of Qift, hanging nearly 3,000 of them on the trees near the city.

Spring - Saladin defeats the Zangid forces before Damascus and marries Nur al-Din's widow Asimat. On June 24 he accepts a truce and is recognized as the sovereign over Syria.
Summer - Saladin ends his siege of the Ismaili fortress of Masyaf, which is commanded by Rashid al-Din Sinan.
Autumn - William of Montferrat, [Count of Jaffa and Ascalon|William of Montferrat] marries the 16-year-old Princess Sibylla, sister of King Baldwin IV.
Raynald of Châtillon is released and ransomed from prison in Aleppo, together with Joscelin III, the titular count of Edessa.

Autumn - Frederick I makes peace with Pope Alexander III and recognizes his legitimacy as pope of the Catholic Church.
Sens Cathedral in Burgundy installs an horologe, presumed to be an early form of clock.
The Carthusians are approved as a religious order.