The Crusades

Call for a Crusade

Nov 27, 1095

Council of Clermont opened and ambassadors from Byzantine Empire appeal for help against the Muslims. Pope Urban II calls for the Crusade offering indulgence for their sins.

Constantinople

Apr 5, 1096

Thousands of poeple eagerly sign up for the Crusade and by April the first Crusader army arrives in Constantinople.

People's Crusade

Apr 15, 1096

Peter the Hermit leads the Peasants crusade bringing 20,000 commoners. Of the 60,000 people who set off only 6000 were knights.

Jewish massacres

May 19, 1096

Many Jews massacred by the crusaders on their way to the holy land in cities such as Mainz and Cologne.

Peasants' Crusade

Aug 1, 1096

The Peasants' Crusade, is shipped over the Bosprous by Emperor Alexius I who had welcomed these first Crusaders, but they are so decimated by hunger and disease that they cause a great deal of trouble, looting churches and houses around Constantinople. Alexius has them taken to Anatolia as quickly as possible.

Siege at Xerigordon

Sep 6, 1096

A group from the Peasants' Crusade is besieged at Xerigordon and forced to surrender. Everyone is given a choice of beheading or conversion. Those who convert in order to avoid beheading are sent into slavery and never heard from again.

One force

May 6, 1097

With the arrival of Duke Robert of Normandy, all of the major participants of the Crusades are together and the large force crosses into Asia Minor. Peter the Hermit and his few remaining followers join them.

Capture of Antioch

Jun 19, 1097

Crusaders captured Antioch after a long siege. This had delayed progress towards Jerusalem by a year. The city of Nicaea surrenders to the Crusaders. Alexius I makes a deal with the Turks that puts the city in his hands and kicks the Crusaders out.

Battle of Dorylaeum

Jul 1, 1097

While travelling from Nicaea to Antioch, the Crusaders split their forces into two groups and Kilij Arslan seizes the opportunity to ambush some of them near Dorylaeum. This could have been a disaster for the Crusaders, but the victory frees them of both supply problems and from harassment by Turks for a while.

Edessa

May 10, 1098

Christian citizens of Edessa, a powerful Armenian kingdom that controls a region from the coastal plain of Cilicia all the way to the Euphrates, surrenders to Baldwin of Boulogne. Possession of this region would provide a secure flank to the Crusaders.

The Holy Lance

Jun 14, 1098

The Holy Lance is "discovered" by Peter Bartholomew subsequent to a vision from Jesus Christ and St. Andrew that it is located in Antioch, recently captured by the Crusaders. This dramatically improves the spirits of the Crusaders

Gates of Jerusalem

Jun 7, 1099

The Crusaders reach the gates of Jerusalem. then controlled by governor Iftikhar ad-Daula. The Fatimid caliph offers the Crusaders a generous peace agreement that includes protection of Christian pilgrims and worshippers in the city, but the Crusaders are uninterested in anything less than full control of the Holy City.

First attack

Jul 8, 1099

The Crusaders attempt to take Jerusalem by storm but fail. According to reports, they originally attempt to march around the walls under the leadership of priests in the hope that the walls would simply crumble, as did the walls of Jericho in biblical stories. When that fails, unorganized attacks are launched with no effect.

Capture of Jerusalem

Jul 15, 1099

Crusaders breach the walls of Jerusalem at two points: Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin at St. Stephen's Gate on the north wall and Count Raymond at the Jaffa Gate on the west wall, thus allowing them to capture the city.