1169

By Area

Africa

• Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo, invades Egypt, and on March 26 names his nephew Saladin sultan as well as vizier of Cairo.

  Europe

• January - Henry II of England and Louis VII of France sign a peace treaty which includes the betrothal of their respective heirs, twelve-year-old Richard I of England and nine-year-old Alys, Countess of the Vexin.
• February 4 - 1169 Sicily earthquake: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of around 7 strikes the eastern coast of Sicily, causing an estimated 15,000 deaths.
• May 1 - The Norman invasion of Ireland begins. Among those arriving is Cambro-Norman knight Richard de Clare, who has made an alliance with exiled Irish chief Diarmait Mac Murchada to help him regain the throne of Leinster. This begins the period of Anglo-Norman dominance of Ireland.
• Siege of Badajoz by Gerald the Fearless: The adventurer receives the support of King Afonso I of Portugal. The Almohad caliph, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, manages to broker an alliance with King Ferdinand II of León against Afonso. The allies manage to besiege the Portuguese in Badajoz, and to finally take both the king and Gerald prisoners.
• During the Swedish power struggle, Boleslaw is killed, but his brother Kol continues as king of Östergötland until 1173, in opposition to King Knut Eriksson of Sweden.
• The appointed Bishop of Estonia, Fulco, becomes the first known Christian missionary to visit Estonia.
• Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal sacks Kiev and makes Vladimir the capital of Kievan Rus'.

  By topic

Arts

• Eleanor of Aquitaine leaves the English court of Henry II, to establish her own court in Poitiers. It will become known as a center of courtly love.