Year 1170 (MCLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Levant Winter – Egyptian forces led by Saladin invade Palestine and besiege Darum on the Mediterranean coast. Its defenses are weak and though Saladin has no siege-engines with him, its 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. Saladin sends an Egyptian squadron up the Gulf of Aqaba, which captures the Crusader outpost of Aila, at the head of the Gulf. England June 14 – King Henry II has his 15-year-old son Henry the Young King crowned by Roger, Archbishop of York, as junior king and heir to the English throne. The coronation drives Pope Alexander III to allow the exiled Thomas Becket (whose privilege as Archbishop of Canterbury to crown English monarchs has been infringed) to lay an interdict on England as punishment, and this threat forces Henry to negotiate with Becket. Sir William Marshal is appointed tutor-in-arms to Henry the Young King. 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. November – Becket controversy: Thomas Becket excommunicates three bishops. 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. This is the earliest date for the making of Cheddar Cheese in Somerset (this according to a pipe roll of Henry II, who purchases 10,240 lb of Cheddar at a farthing per pound). Ireland September 21 – Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland: Following a siege, combined Anglo-Norman and Irish forces seize the city of Dublin, forcing Ascall mac Ragnaill, last King of Dublin, into exile. Africa Fes in the Almohad Caliphate (modern Morocco) becomes the