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England's Henry II dies at Chinon, near Tours, July 6 at age 54 after doing homage to France's Philippe II Augustus and surrendering the territories of Gracy and Issoudon. Having greatly expanded his territories on the Continent and strengthened royal power at home, he is succeeded by his third (and oldest surviving) son Richard Coeur de Lion, who will reign until 1199 as Richard I, spending only 1 year of the reign in England and visiting what later will be called the British Isles only twice. Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, now 67, will serve as regent in his absence.
The late Henry II's 43-year-old right arm William Marshal marries the heiress of the late Richard de Clare (Richard FitzGilbert), 2nd earl of Pembroke, and becomes through his marriage to Isabel 1st earl of Pembroke, acquiring huge estates in England, Normandy, Wales, and Ireland.
Scotland's William I (the Lion) buys back his kingdom's independence through the Quitclaim of Canterbury, which cancels the 1174 Treaty of Falaise. The new English king quickly ends his friendship with France's Philippe by continuing his father's policy of territorial aggrandizement and refusing to honor his contract to marry Philippe's sister Alais, to whom he has been betrothed since age 3, but at year's end Richard and Philippe exchange pledges of mutual good faith and fellowship as they prepare to join the Third Crusade.
Sicily's William II makes peace with the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelus, abandons Thessalonika and his other conquests, and dies childless at Palermo November 18 at age 36 as he prepares to join the Third Crusade, having named his aunt Constance d'Hauteville as his heir. Wife of the Hohenstaufen prince Heinrich, she claims the throne for herself, but Tancred of Lecce, illegitimate son of the late Roger II, will wage war against her, imprison her briefly and hold her hostage, and succeed William the Good (Guglielmo il Buono) next year, beginning a reign that will continue until 1194.
Serbian forces capture the Macedonian city of Skopje (see 1392).
Queen Tamara of Georgia allows her husband, Prince George Bobolyubski, to go into exile and takes a new husband, the Ossetian prince David Sosland, by whom she will have a son, Giorgi, in 1194 and a daughter, Rusudani, in 1195.
Japan's shōgun Yoshitsume is killed by his older brother Yoritomo, who will crush the Fujiwara clan in the north (see 1186; 1192).
The first silver florins are minted at Florence (see 1252).
German merchants negotiate a commercial treaty with Novgorod.
The Third Crusade begins in May as the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa leaves Regensburg at the head of a splendid army. A papal bull forbids women to join the Third Crusade, but some will go with the knights to fight in the Holy Land despite the bull, just as they did in the first two crusades.
English Jews are massacred at the coronation of Richard I (see 1290; France, 1182).
The first paper mill in Christian Europe begins production at Herault, in France, some 38 years after the opening of a paper mill in Muslim Spain, but parchment remains almost the only writing material in Europe despite the fact that it is far more costly than paper (see Baghdad, 883).
The high altar of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is consecrated after 26 years of construction. The cathedral's interior measures 427 feet by 157 feet (130 meters by 48 meters), and is 115 feet (35 meters) high. The choir and western façade will be completed by 1250 with two massive Early Gothic towers rising 223 feet (68 meters), and the great cathedral on the Ile de la Cité will be further enlarged in the 13th and 14th centuries, with chapels, porches, and other embellishments (see 1345).
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