Winter – Egyptian forces, led by Saladin, invade the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and besiege Darum on the Mediterranean coast. Its defenses are weak, and though Saladin has no siege engines with him, the fall seems imminent. King Amalric I withdraws his Templar garrison from Gaza, to assist him in defending Darum. Saladin raises the siege and marches on Gaza, where he captures the lower town (despite the stiff resistance ordered by Lord Miles of Plancy), and massacres the inhabitants. However, the citadel is too strong for Saladin, and he is forced to retreat to Egypt.[1]
Saladin sends an Egyptian squadron up the Gulf of Aqaba, which captures the Crusader outpost of Aila, at the head of the Gulf.[2]
July 22 – Henry II and Thomas Becket meet near Fréteval, France, where they come to an agreement to end their differences. This results in Becket's partial restoration.
December 1 – Becket controversy: Henry II sends word that his conflict with Thomas Becket is at an end, and his lands will be restored. Becket returns to England, landing at Sandwich.
December 29 – Thomas Becket is assassinated by four knights (who believe themselves to be carrying out Henry II's wishes) in Canterbury Cathedral, after his refusal to be arrested for breaking his agreement with Henry II.[4]
This is the earliest date for the making of cheddar cheese in Somerset (this is according to a pipe roll of Henry II, who purchases 10,240 lb of cheddar at a farthing per pound).
Peter Waldo, a French merchant of Lyon, starts the popular religious movement of the "Poor Men of Lyon", or Waldenses.[8]
Pope Alexander III addresses a series of letters to the backward Swedish church. He wants to impose the strict canonical requirements on the Swedes, that is, the ecclesiastical legal system. Due to being Christianized in 1050, Sweden is having trouble to fully adapt to the Catholicism that is preached and acted on in Europe. [9]
