The Crusades were a series of religious wars largely directed by the Roman Catholic Church against orthodoxies or movements that challenged that challenged Church hegemony. Motivations for specific Crusades are mixed and extend beyond the conventional wisdom that they were directed solely against the spread of Islam. The following timeline illustrates some of the key events in Crusader history which was very much a feature of the European political landscape from the 11th to the 15th century.
Crusader Timeline
753 - Crusade ordered by Pope Stephen II against the Lombards.
1054 - East-West Christian Schism
1071 - Expansion of Seljuk Turk Empire after victory at Battle of Manzikert (against Byzantines).
1072 - Holy Land seized from Fatimids by Seljuk Turks.
1073 - Pope Gregory introduces concept of 'right order in the world'. Supports the idea of Christian princes recovering land from the Muslims in Spain. Church authority grows emboldened by the Investiture Controversy. Extension of the concept of the Just War.
1095 - Council of Cleremont called in response to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Kmnenos calling for aid to fight the Seljuk Turks. Pope Urban II orders a Crusade to win back the lost territory and potentially re-unite both sides of the Christian church.
1096 - People's crusade led by Peter the Hermit. Ends in failure. Pogroms against the Jews carried out by Peasant groups in the Rhineland.
1095-1099 - First Crusade led by French Knights (consisting of Four Armies). Siege of Antioch key turning point. Principle players include: Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin of Boulogne, Raymond IV of Toulouse, Stephen of Blois, Robert Curthose of Normandy,Hugh of Vermandois, Bohemond of Taranto.
1099 - Fall of Jerusalem to Crusader forces. 20,000 people massacred. Captured regions divided into four principalities. Godfrey of Bouillon becomes ruler of Jerusalem.
1113 - 1129 Founding of two Crusading Military orders - Knight's Templars and Knight's Hospitallers. Combine knighthood with monasticism. Main focus to protect pilgrams on the road to the Holy Land.
1147-1148 - Failed Second Crusade falls short of capturing Edessa. Crusade was led by King Louis VII of France and King Conrad of Germany. Edessa had fallen to Muslim forces in 1144.
1147 - Crusade against Wendish Pagans.
1157-1158 - Crusades launched against Muslims in Spain.
1169 - Saladin rules Egypt as a vassal of Turkish ruler Nur-al -Din.
1187 - Saladin defeats the King of Jerusalem Guy of Lusignan at the Battle of Hattin. Cature of True Cross. Tyre and Jerusalem fall to Saladin. Call for Third Crusade. Answered by the German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, French King Philip Augustus and English King Richard the Lionheart.
1189-1192 - Third Crusade. Frederick drowns in Cilicia. Philip returns after Acre is captured in 1191 and Richard campaigns until 1192. Richard had financed his crusade by extorting money from the Jews (Massacre of Jews occurred at York in 1190). Richard takes coast cities from Acre to Jaffa. His troops massacred 2,700 Muslim captives prior to his march to Jaffa. Richard will return home to deal with a domestic rebellion before taking Jerusalem. Although he did negotiate a three year deal with Saladin that would allow Christian's access to the Holy City while it remained under Muslim control. On his way home Richard was captured and held captive by Leopald V, Duke of Austria. He was released in 1194 after a ransom of 100,000 pounds of silver was paid.
1193 - Teutonic Order of Knights wages Crusade against Baltic Pagans.
1203 -1204 - Fourth Crusade called by Innocent III. Venetians pay for Crusade and ships are instead diverted to Constaninople. The Byzantine city is sacked and a Latin Kingdom is established in its place. The Byzantines will soon gain re-control over the city.
1209-1229 - Albigensian Crusade against Cathar heretics. in Southern France.
1212 - Crusade against Almohads in Spain.
1212 - Two Children's Crusades. Both end in failure
1218-1221 - Fifth Crusade. Trapped in Egypt. Ends in failure.
1228-1229 - Sixth Crusade. Not an official Crusade against Islam as its leader Emperor Frederick II had been excommunicated by the Pope for ignoring the Papal demand for an earlier Crusade. Crusade does however capture Jerusalem which is held by Christian forces until 1244.
1244 - Muslims recapture Jerusalem.
1248-1254 - Seventh Crusade. Well funded Crusade of French king Louis IX is captured in Egypt. Fails to take Jerusalem and is returned home after ransom is paid.
1269-1270 - Eighth Crusade. Second Crusade of Louis IX ends when he dies of dysentery in Tunis.
1271 - Future English king Edward I leads in the East.
1291 - Last Crusader Kingdom in Levant located at Acre falls to the Muslim Mamluk forces.\
1306 - Knight's Hospitallers win control of Rhodes.
1307-1312 - Suppression of the Knight's Templars by King Philip V.
1314-1348 - Various Crusades (largely politically motivated) against groups opposed to Papacy in Hungary, Italy, Poland, Bohemia, Germany and Finland.
Map of the Crusades
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