The Great Crusades (1095-1291)

To see a list of events that happened before 1095, click here.

March 1095	Byzantium delegation asks for Urban's help against the Turks
November 27, 1095	Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade
1096	Fatimids retake Jerusalem from Seldjuks
spring,summer 1096	massacres of Jews
spring 1096	first wave (People's Crusade) leaves; 3 armies don't make it past Hungary
August 1, 1096	Peter the Hermit and Walter Sansavoir reach Constantinople
August 15, 1096	official start of First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II
October 6, 1096	armies under Peter and Walter destroyed at Nicaea by Kilij Arslan
Fall 1096	leaders (and armies) of the second wave (official First Crusade) arrive at staggered times at Constantinople. Alexius I Comnenus asks for and receives oaths of fealty and promises to return lands formerly under Byzantine control
April 1097	crusaders cross the Bosporus
early June 1097	crusaders arrive at Nicaea, Kilij Arslan is absent, fighting Danishmend
June 19, 1097	Nicaea surrenders to Byzantium (not the crusaders)
June 26-28, 1097	crusaders head into Asia Minor
July 1, 1097	Turks under Kilij Arslan unsuccessfully attack the crusaders at Dorlyaeum
October 21, 1097	crusaders reach Antioch, which is ruled by Yaghi-Suyan
early February 1098	Muslim relief force under Kerbogha (Karbuqa) of Mosul heading to Antioch
February 6, 1098	Baldwin reaches Edessa (al-Ruha to Arabs) whose prince is Thoros
March 9, 1098	Thoros killed in riot
March 10, 1098	Baldwin takes control of Edessa. Start of the first Latin settlement in the East
June 2-3, 1098	Firuz, a garrison captain of Edessa, lets crusaders into city; Yaghi-Suyan flees; crusaders take city
June 5, 1098	Muslim army under Kerbogha arrives and besieges the crusaders in Antioch
June 14, 1098	crusaders believe they have found the Holy Lance
June 28, 1098	crusaders attack besiegers and win; they then decide to wait out the summer before continuing
August 1, 1098	Adhémar of Le Puy dies, exacerbating crusaders' leadership problems
mid-November 1098	armies of Raymond of St. Gilles and Robert of Flanders arrive at Ma'arat en Nu'man (rank-and-file force the march)
December 11-2, 1098	Ma'arat en Nu'man falls to the crusaders
1098 (sometime)	crusaders practice cannibalism at Ma'arra
January 13, 1099	rank-and-file force Raymond to continue to Jerusalem
February/March 1099	rank-and-file at Antioch force continuance to Jerusalem
February 14, 1099	crusaders start to besiege 'Arqah
May 13, 1099	crusaders give up on siege of 'Arqah and continue to Jerusalem
June 6, 1099	Tancred seizes Bethelham
June 7, 1099	most of the crusaders arrive at Jerusalem
July 8, 1099	penitential procession of crusaders around Jerusalem
July 15, 1099	crusaders seize and sack Jerusalem
July 22, 1099	Godfrey elected ruler of settlement at Jerusalem
July 19, 1099	Pope Urban II dies, never hearing news of capture of Jerusalem
August 11-12, 1099	crusaders defeat Egyptian army at Ashdod
1099	al-Harawi of Damascus leads group of refugees to Baghdad to protest lack of action by leaders
1100	Baldwin becomes the first king of Jerusalem
summer 1100	Danishmend captures Bohemund
November 15, 1100	Pope Paschal II preaches crusade; threatens deserters and those with unfulfilled crusade vows with excommunication
1101	next wave of crusaders defeated in Asia Minor
1104	Baldwin takes Acre
1104	Muslims defeat Franks at Harran, stopping (momentarily at least) their eastward drive
1108	two coalitions, both of Franks and Muslims, fight near Tel Bashir
1109	Tripoli falls to the crusaders after 2000 days of siege
1110	Beirut and Saida seized by crusaders
1111	riot in Baghdad organized by Ibn al-Khashab (Aleppo's qadi) to try to get help against the Franks
1112	Muslims prevent Franks from seizing Tyre
1113	Order of St. John (the Hospitallers) starts
spring 1115	Muslims and Franks in Syria together fight Muhammad Ibn Malikshah, Seldjuk sultan
1119	Franks defeated at Sarmada by Ilghazi of Aleppo
1120	Order of the Knights Templar begins
July 1124	Franks seize Tyre and so occupy the coast to Ascalon
1125	in Beirut, peasants revolt
1125	Ibn al-Khashab killed by member(s) of the Assassins
1127	Zangi becomes ruler of Mosul
1128	Frankish attempt to seize Damascus fails
1128	Zangi gets control of Aleppo
1131	nobles revolt in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem (the first such revolt)
1135	Zangi unsuccessful in attempt to take Damascus
1137	King Fulk of Jerusalem captured by Zangi and released
1139	Zangi besieges Damascus
1140	Damascus and Jerusalem ally against Zangi
1144	Zangi seizes Edessa, ending the first (of four) crusader states in the mideast
1146	Zangi murdered (reportedly by a slave), his son Nur al-Din inherits Aleppo
1147-1149	the Second Crusade, includes crusades in Spain, the eastern border of Germany as well as the middle east
1147	crusaders in Spain take Lisbon
1148	crusaders under Conrad of Germany and Louis VII of France besiege Damascus, giving up after Nur al-Din arrives at the request of Damascus
1154	Nur al-Din gets Damascus, unifying the parts of Syria that are Muslim
1163-1169	Nur al-Din's general Shirkuh fights for control of Egypt for Nur al-Din
1169	Shirkuh gets control of Egypt, becomes vizier, then dies within two months; he is succeeded by Saladin, his nephew
1170	Nur al-Din gets control of Mosul upon brother's death
1171	Saladin declares Fatimid control of Egypt is over and becomes sole ruler; start of Ayyubid dynasty; increasing tension between Nur al-Din and Saladin
1174	Nur al-Din dies, power struggle ensues for control of his son
1174	Saladin seizes Damascus
1183	Saladin seizes Aleppo, reuniting Egypt and Syria
1185	Saladin officially controls Egypt and Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul
July 4, 1187	Saladin defeats armies of the Frankish states at the Battle of Hattin
October 2, 1187	Saladin retakes Jerusalem and (about the same time) most of the land the Franks had controlled, leaving the Franks only Tyre, Tripoli, and Antioch
1189-1192	Third Crusade, major Franks were Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I (the Holy Roman Emperor)
June 1190	Frederick I dies crossing the river Goksu
summer 1191	Richard and Philip arrive in the mideast, besiege Acre
July 1191	Acre falls to Richard and Philip, who then decide who will rule Jerusalem (between Guy and Conrad), Philip then leaves and Richard seizes Arsuf and Jaffa, refortifies Ascalon
September 2, 1192	Richard and Saladin sign a treaty, ending their fighting
October 9, 1192	Richard leaves the mideast
1193	Saladin dies, several years of civil war follow, until his brother al-Adil, takes control
spring 1197	Frederick I's son, Henry VI goes on crusade
September 28, 1197	Henry VI dies
July 1, 1198	Henry VI's nobles reach a treaty with Muslims and leave
1198	Order of Teutonic Knights begins (Acre is their main base)
1202-1204	Fourth Crusade
1202	some of the crusaders seize Zara from the king of Hungary, a fellow crusader, for the Venetians to earn fare
July 17, 1203	crusaders take Constantinople, put Alexius IV on the throne
late January 1204	Murzuphlus seizes throne and tries to expel crusaders
April 12, 1204	crusaders seize and sack Constantinople, found Latin Empire out of Byzantine lands; a government-in-exile formed
1209-1229	Albigensian crusade in southern France against Cathar heretics
1212	Children's Crusade
1213	Pope Innocent III begins planning the Fifth Crusade
1215	imposition of a crusade tax (on Church estates)
July 16, 1216	Innocent III dies, planning continued by successor, Pope Honorius III
1217-1229	Fifth Crusade, consists of various attacks on Egypt
1217-1218	Andrew II of Hungary tries for Acre
1219-1221	crusade in Egypt led by Cardinal Pelagius; he seized Damietta and tried to take Cairo but was defeated by al-Kamil, Egypt's sultan
1227	Genghis Khan dies; ensuing wars for succession lessen Mongol threat for a time
1228-1229	Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, while under papal interdict, crusades in Egypt; al-Kamil gives him Jerusalem under a treaty; Jerusalem then under interdict
1219	Francis of Assisi fails to convert al-Kamil, sultan of Egypt
1230	Teutonic Knights start attacking Prussia
1235	Byzantines have retaken Asia Minor
1236	Ferdinand III of Castile begins attack on Cordova
1238	army of Aragon takes Valencia
1239-1241	Theobald of Champage and Richard of Cornwall lead a small crusade
1244	Franks lose Jerusalem for the final time
1245	Pope Innocent IV sends missionaries to Mongols; other negotiations follow
1247	Louis IX plans crusade; Frederick keeps al-Kamil's son, Ayyub, informed of plans
1248-1254	Sixth Crusade
1248-1250	Louis IX of France invades Egypt; he seizes Damietta, but is defeated and captured at the Mansurah; released for ransom (and Damietta)
1248-1250	end of Ayyubid dynasty, Mamluks now control Egypt
by 1251	Möngke, grandson of Genghis Khan, controls Mongols
February 1258	Mongols under Hülegü (Genghis Khan's grandson) take Baghdad, kill the last 'Abbasid caliph; the population is massacred
December 1259	Qutuz becomes leader of Egypt in coup
January 1260	Mongols under Hülegü take Aleppo
March 1, 1260	Mongols under Hülegü take Damascus
1260	Möngke dies; Hülegü returns to fight for succession
September 3, 1260	battle of 'Ayn Jalut: Mamluks under Qutuz defeat Mongols
September 8, 1260	Mamluks take Damascus
October 23, 1260	Baybars kills Qutuz and becomes sultan; he controls Cairo without a fight but there is some conflict
July 25, 1261	Byzantines recapture Constantinople, end of Latin Empire
1265	Hülegü dies
May 18, 1268	Baybars seizes Antioch (formerly allied to Mongols)
1268	Baybars seizes Jaffa
1270	Seventh Crusade: Louis IX attacks Tunis
August 25, 1270	Louis IX dies near Tunis
1277	Baybars is poisoned and dies; Qalawun becomes sultan
April 26 or 27, 1289	Qalawun, the Mamluk sultan, retakes Tripoli from Franks
November 1290	Qalawun dies; his son Khalil assumes power
June 17, 1291	Khalil retakes Acre, ending what we are defining as the Great Crusades; crusaders fall back to Cyprus

To see a list of events that happened after 1291, click here.

References: Erbstösser, Hallam [2], Riley-Smith [1]