1176

July

Baldwin IV leads raids in the vicinity of Damascus and defeats Saracen forces under Saladin’s brother Turan Shah at Ayn al Jarr; release of Raynald de Chatillon;

17 September

Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantine army under Emperor Manuel I at the Battle of Myriocephalon;

October or November

Marriage of Princess Sibylla to William ‘Longsword’ de Montferrat.

1177

June

Death of William de Montferrat, possibly from malaria;

August

Arrival of Philip, Count of Flanders, with large crusading force;

25 November

Baldwin IV decisively defeats Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard following Saladin’s first invasion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1178

Baldwin IV orders the construction of a castle at Jacob’s Ford.

1179

10 June

Saladin defeats Baldwin IV at the Battle on the Litani/Marj Ayun;

24-29 August

Saladin destroys the unfinished castle at Jacob’s Ford.

1180

April

Marriage of Princess Sibylla to Guy de Lusignan;

May

Truce between Baldwin IV and Saladin;

18 September

Philip (Augustus) II becomes king of France;

24 September

Death of Emperor Manuel I Comnenus.

1181

Maronites unite with the Roman Catholic Church.

1182

May

Outbreak of anti-Latin riots in Constantinople; Andronicus I deposes Alexus II as Byzantine Emperor;

5 July

Baldwin IV defeats Saladin at the Battle of le Forbelet, ending Saladin’s second invasion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem;

August-September