1174 Saladin establishes the Ayyubid dynasty.

1176 The Byzantines are defeated by the Seljuks of Rum at Myriocephalum. Subsequently they lose most of the landholdings in Anatolia.

1187 The battle of Hattin seals the fate of the Levant. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is reduced to the seaport of Tyre.

1190 The Pope calls for a 3rd crusade. It is answered by the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, and the kings of England and France, Richard and Philippe.

Richard takes Cyprus from the Byzantines to cover his expenses.

1191 Richard secures the Kingdom of Acre, but is unable to push further.

1204 The 4th crusade convenes at Venice, but with only around half the price for their passage to the Levant. They take Zara, an Adriatic seaport, for Venice to make up.

1206 A kuriltai in Mongolia sees the birth of the Mongol Empire under Gengis Khan.

1212 The Almohads lose an important battle at Los Navos de Tolosa against the Christians.

by 1212 The Byzantines lose Croatia and Dalmatia to the Hungarians, Cilicia to the Armenians, Crete to the Venetians, as well as Serbia and Bulgaria. The crusaders assist in a regime change, but when they are not paid they take the Byzantine empire for themselves, the majority of which becomes known as the Latin Empire.

Philippe of France takes back much of the English land on the Continent for France, while Richard is held to ransom by the German Emperor. But Richard wins much of it back after his release. After Richard is succeeded by John, however, Philippe takes back more land.

The Northern Crusade is directed against the Balts and surrounding peoples. The Swedes establish a foothold in Finland. The Knights of the Sword establish themselves in Livonia. The Danes extract homage from German and Polish baronies along the south shore of the Baltic.

Vladimir begins taking over Novgorod lands. Aragon loses Provence, but gains lands in the south of France.