Jerusalem captured in First Crusade - Jul 14, 1099 - HISTORY.com Jerusalem captured in First Crusade Share this: Jerusalem captured in First Crusade Author Jerusalem captured in First Crusade URL Publisher A+E Networks During the First Crusade, Christian knights from Europe capture Jerusalem after seven weeks of siege and begin massacring the city’s Muslim and Jewish population. Beginning in the 11th century, Christians in Jerusalem were increasingly persecuted by the city’s Islamic rulers, especially when control of the holy city passed from the relatively tolerant Egyptians to the Seljuk Turks in 1071. Late in the century, Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comenus, also threatened by the Seljuk Turks, appealed to the West for aid. In 1095, Pope Urban II publicly called for a crusade to aid Eastern Christians and recover the holy lands. The response by Western Europeans was immediate. The first crusaders were actually undisciplined hordes of French and German peasants who met with little success. One group, known as the “People’s Crusade,” reached as far as Constantinople before being annihilated by the Turks.

In 1096, the main crusading force, featuring some 4,000 mounted knights and 25,000 infantry, began to move east. Led by Raymond of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, and Bohemond of Otranto, the army of Christian knights crossed into Asia Minor in 1097. In June, the crusaders captured the Turkish-held city of Nicaea and then defeated a massive army of Seljuk Turks at Dorylaeum. From there, they marched on to Antioch, located on the Orontes River below Mount Silpius, and began a difficult six-month siege during which they repulsed several attacks by Turkish relief armies. Finally, early in the morning of June 3, 1098, Bohemond persuaded a Turkish traitor to open Antioch’s Bridge Gate, and the knights poured into the city. In an orgy of killing, the Christians massacred thousands of enemy soldiers and citizens, and all but the city’s fortified citadel was taken.

Later in the month, a large Turkish army arrived to attempt to regain the city, but they too were defeated, and the Antioch citadel surrendered to the Europeans. After resting and reorganizing for six months, the crusaders set off for their ultimate goal, Jerusalem. Their numbers were now reduced to some 1,200 cavalry and 12,000 foot soldiers. On June 7, 1099, the Christian army reached the holy city, and finding it heavily fortified, began building three enormous siege towers. By the night of July 13, the towers were complete, and the Christians began fighting their way across Jerusalem’s walls. On July 14, Godfrey’s men were the first to penetrate the defenses, and the Gate of Saint Stephen was opened. The rest of the knights and soldiers then poured in, the city was captured, and tens of thousands of its occupants were slaughtered. The crusaders had achieved their aims, and Jerusalem was in Christian hands, but an Egyptian army marched on the holy city a few weeks later to challenge their claim.

The Egyptians’ defeat by the outnumbered Christians in August ended Muslim resistance to the Europeans for the time being, and five small Christian states were set up in the region under the rule of the leaders of the crusade. Related Videos Siege of Jerusalem | World History Project Jun 7 1099 to Jul 15 1099 Siege of Jerusalem The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade. During it, the Crusaders stormed and captured the city from Fatimid Egypt. The Siege is notable for the massacre that followed, during which much of Jerusalem's population was slaughtered. After the successful siege of Antioch in June 1098, the crusaders remained in the area for the rest of the year. The papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy had died, and Bohemund of Taranto had claimed Antioch for himself. Baldwin of Boulogne remained in Edessa, captured earlier in 1098.

There was dissent among the princes over what to do next; Raymond of Toulouse, frustrated, left Antioch to capture the fortress at Ma'arrat al-Numan in the Siege of Maarat. By the end of the year the minor knights and infantry were threatening to march to Jerusalem without them. Eventually, on January 13, 1099 Raymond began the march south, down the coast of the Mediterranean, followed by Robert of Normandy and Bohemond's nephew Tancred, who agreed to become his vassals. On their way, the Crusaders besieged Arqa, however the Crusaders failed to capture it, abandoning the siege on May 13. Fatimids had attempted to make peace, on the condition that the crusaders not continue towards Jerusalem, but this was ignored; Iftikhar ad-Daula, the Fatimid governor of Jerusalem, was aware of the Crusaders' intentions. Therefore, he expelled all of Jerusalem's Christian inhabitants. He also poisoned most of the wells in the area. Further march towards Jerusalem met no resistance.

Crusades - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google The Crusades: Background By the end of the 11th century, Western Europe had emerged as a significant power in its own right, though it still lagged far other Mediterranean civilization such as that of the Byzantine Empire (formerly the eastern half of the Roman Empire) and the Islamic empire of the Middle East and North Africa. Meanwhile, Byzantium was losing considerable territory to the invading Seljuk Turks, who defeated the Byzantine Army at the battle of Manzikirt in 1071 and went on to gain control over much of Anatolia. After years of chaos and civil war, the general Alexius Comnenus seized the Byzantine throne in 1081 and consolidated control over the remaining empire as Emperor Alexius I. Did You Know? In a popular movement known as the Children's Crusade (1212), a motley crew including children, adolescents, women, the elderly and the poor marched all the way from the Rhineland to Italy behind a young man named Nicholas, who said he had received divine instruction to march toward the Holy Land.

In 1095, Alexius sent envoys to Pope Urban II asking for mercenary troops from the West to help confront the Turkish threat. Though relations between Christians in East and West had long been fractious, Alexius’ request came at a time when the situation was improving. In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the pope called on Western Christians to take up arms in order to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. Pope Urban’s plea met with a tremendous response, both among lower levels of the military elite (who would form a new class of knights) as well as ordinary citizens; it was determined that those who joined the armed pilgrimage would wear a cross as a symbol of the Church. The First Crusade (1096-99) Four armies of Crusaders were formed from troops of different Western European regions, led by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois and Bohemond of Taranto (with his nephew Tancred); they were set to depart for Byzantium in August 1096.

A less organized band of knights and commoners known as the “People’s Crusade” set off before the others under the command of a popular preacher known as Peter the Hermit. Peter’s army traipsed through the Byzantine Empire, leaving destruction in their wake. Resisting Alexius’ advice to wait for the rest of the Crusaders, they crossed the Bosporus in early August. In the first major clash between the Crusaders and the Muslims, Turkish forces crushed the invading Europeans at Cibotus. Another group of Crusaders, led by the notorious Count Emicho, carried out a series of massacres of Jews in various towns in the Rhineland in 1096, drawing widespread outrage and causing a major crisis in Jewish-Christian relations. When the four main armies of Crusaders arrived in Constantinople, Alexius insisted that their leaders swear an oath of loyalty to him and recognize his authority over any land regained from the Turks, as well as any other territory they might conquer; all but Bohemond resisted taking the oath.

In May 1097, the Crusaders and their Byzantine allies attacked Nicea (now Iznik, Turkey), the Seljuk capital in Anatolia; the city surrendered in late June. Despite deteriorating relations between the Crusaders and Byzantine leaders, the combined force continued its march through Anatolia, capturing the great Syrian city of Antioch in June 1098. After various internal struggles over control of Antioch, the Crusaders began their march toward Jerusalem, then occupied by Egyptian Fatimids (who as Shi’ite Muslims were enemies of the Sunni Seljuks). Encamping before Jerusalem in June 1099, the Christians forced the besieged city’s governor to surrender by mid-July. Despite Tancred’s promise of protection, the Crusaders slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children in their victorious entrance into the city. The Crusader States and the Second Crusade (1147-49) Having achieved their goal in an unexpectedly short period of time, many of the Crusaders departed for home. To govern the conquered territory, those who remained established four large western settlements, or Crusader states, in Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch and Tripoli.

Guarded by formidable castles, the Crusader states retained the upper hand in the region until around 1130, when Muslim forces began gaining ground in their own holy war (or jihad) against the Christians, whom they called “Franks.” In 1144, the Seljuk general Zangi, governor of Mosul, captured Edessa, leading to the loss of the northernmost Crusader state. News of Edessa’s fall stunned Europe, and led Christian authorities in the West to call for another Crusade. Led by two great rulers, King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany, the Second Crusade began in 1147. That October, the Turks crushed Conrad’s forces at Dorylaeum, site of a great victory during the First Crusade. After Louis and Conrad managed to assemble their armies at Jerusalem, they decided to attack the Syrian stronghold of Damascus with an army of some 50,000 (the largest Crusader force yet). Previously well disposed towards the Franks, Damascus’ ruler was forced to call on Nur al-Din, Zangi’s successor in Mosul, for aid.

The combined Muslim forces dealt a humiliating defeat to the Crusaders, decisively ending the Second Crusade; Nur al-Din would add Damascus to his expanding empire in 1154. The Third Crusade (1189-92) After numerous attempts by the Crusaders of Jerusalem to capture Egypt, Nur al-Din’s forces (led by the general Shirkuh and his nephew, Saladin ) seized Cairo in 1169 and forced the Crusader army to evacuate. Upon Shirkuh’s subsequent death, Saladin assumed control and began a campaign of conquests that accelerated after Nur al-Din’s death in 1174. In 1187, Saladin began a major campaign against the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. His troops virtually destroyed the Christian army at the battle of Hattin, taking the city along with a large amount of territory. Outrage over these defeats inspired the Third Crusade, led by rulers such as the aging Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (who was drowned at Anatolia before his entire army reached Syria), King Philip II of France and King Richard I of England (known as Richard the Lionheart).

In September 1191, Richard’s forces defeated those of Saladin in the battle of Arsuf; it would be the only true battle of the Third Crusade. From the recaptured city of Jaffa, Richard reestablished Christian control over some of the region and approached Jerusalem, though he refused to lay siege to the city. In September 1192, Richard and Saladin signed a peace treaty that reestablished the Kingdom of Jerusalem (though without the city of Jerusalem) and ended the Third Crusade. From the Fourth to the Sixth Crusade (1198-1229) Though the powerful Pope Innocent III called for a new Crusade in 1198, power struggles in and between Europe and Byzantium drove the Crusaders to divert their mission in order to topple the reigning Byzantine emperor, Alexius III, in favor of his nephew, who became Alexius IV in mid-1203. The new emperor’s attempts to submit the Byzantine church to Rome met with stiff resistance, and Alexius IV was strangled after a palace coup in early 1204.

In response, the Crusaders declared war on Constantinople, and the Fourth Crusade ended with the conquest and looting of the magnificent Byzantine capital later that year. The remainder of the 13th century saw a variety of Crusades aimed not so much at toppling Muslim forces in the Holy Land as at combating any and all of those seen as enemies of the Christian faith. The Albigensian Crusade (1208-29) aimed to root out the heretical Cathari or Albigensian sect of Christianity in France, while the Baltic Crusades (1211-25) sought to subdue pagans in Transylvania. In the Fifth Crusade, put in motion by Pope Innocent III before his death in 1216, the Crusaders attacked Egypt from both land and sea, but were forced to surrender to Muslim defenders led by Saladin’s nephew, Al-Malik al-Kamil, in 1221. In 1229, in what became known as the Sixth Crusade, Emperor Frederick II achieved the peaceful transfer of Jerusalem to Crusader control through negotiation with al-Kamil. The peace treaty expired a decade later, and Muslims easily regained control of Jerusalem.

End of the Crusades Through the end of the 13th century, groups of Crusaders sought to gain ground in the Holy Land through short-lived raids that proved little more than an annoyance to Muslim rulers in the region. The Seventh Crusade (1239-41), led by Thibault IV of Champagne, briefly recaptured Jerusalem, though it was lost again in 1244 to Khwarazmian forces enlisted by the sultan of Egypt. In 1249, King Louis IX of France led the Eighth Crusade against Egypt, which ended in defeat at Mansura (site of a similar defeat in the Fifth Crusade) the following year. As the Crusaders struggled, a new dynasty known as the Mamluks–descended from former slaves of the sultan–took power in Egypt. In 1260, Mamluk forces in Palestine managed to halt the advance of the Mongols, an invading force led by Genghis Khan and his descendants that had emerged as a potential ally for the Christians in the region.

Under the ruthless Sultan Baybars, the Mamluks demolished Antioch in 1268, prompting Louis IX to set out on another Crusade, which ended in his death in North Africa (he was later canonized). A new Mamluk sultan, Qalawan, had defeated the Mongols by the end of 1281 and turned his attention back to the Crusaders, capturing Tripoli in 1289. In what was considered the last Crusade, a fleet of warships from Venice and Aragon arrived to defend what remained of the Crusader states in 1290. The following year, Qalawan’s son and successor, al-Ashraf Khalil, marched with a huge army against the coastal port of Acre, the effective capital of the Crusaders in the region since the end of the Third Crusade. After only seven weeks under siege, Acre fell, effectively ending the Crusades in the Holy Land after nearly two centuries.

Though the Church organized minor Crusades with limited goals after 1291–mainly military campaigns aimed at pushing Muslims from conquered territory or conquering pagan regions–support for such efforts disappeared in the 16th century, with the rise of the Reformation and the corresponding decline of papal authority. Tags Siege of Jerusalem (1099) | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Siege of Jerusalem (1099) Part of the First Crusade Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders Date June 7 – July 15, 1099 Location [2] [6] [4] 400 Cavalrymen, and a Sizeable Garrison of Ruad The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade . During it, the Crusaders stormed and captured the city from Fatimid Egypt . The Siege is notable for the massacre that followed, during which much of Jerusalem's population was slaughtered. Contents Edit After the successful siege of Antioch in June 1098, the crusaders remained in the area for the rest of the year.

The papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy had died, and Bohemund of Taranto had claimed Antioch for himself. Baldwin of Boulogne remained in Edessa, captured earlier in 1098. There was dissent among the princes over what to do next; Raymond of Toulouse , frustrated, left Antioch to capture the fortress at Ma'arrat al-Numan in the Siege of Maarat . By the end of the year the minor knights and infantry were threatening to march to Jerusalem without them. Eventually, on January 13, 1099 Raymond began the march south, down the coast of the Mediterranean , followed by Robert of Normandy and Bohemond's nephew Tancred , who agreed to become his vassals. On their way, the Crusaders besieged Arqa , however the Crusaders failed to capture it, abandoning the siege on May 13. Fatimids had attempted to make peace, on the condition that the crusaders not continue towards Jerusalem, but this was ignored; Iftikhar ad-Daula , the Fatimid governor of Jerusalem, was aware of the Crusaders' intentions. Therefore, he expelled all of Jerusalem's Christian inhabitants.

He also poisoned most of the wells in the area. [9] Further march towards Jerusalem met no resistance. The siege of Jerusalem Siege and Capture of Jerusalem, 1099 (13th century miniature) Arrival Edit On 7 June, the crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuqs by the Fatimids only the year before. Many Crusaders wept upon seeing the city they had journeyed so long to reach. [10] As with Antioch the crusaders put the city to a siege, in which the crusaders themselves probably suffered more than the citizens of the city, due to the lack of food and water around Jerusalem. The city was well-prepared for the siege, and the Fatimid governor Iftikhar ad-Daula had expelled most of the Christians. Of the estimated 5,000 knights who took part in the Princes' Crusade, only about 1,500 remained, along with another 12,000 healthy foot-soldiers (out of perhaps as many as 30,000).

Godfrey, Robert of Flanders, and Robert of Normandy (who had now also left Raymond to join Godfrey) besieged the north walls as far south as the Tower of David , while Raymond set up his camp on the western side, from the Tower of David to Mount Zion . A direct assault on the walls on June 13 was a failure. Without water or food, both men and animals were quickly dying of thirst and starvation and the crusaders knew time was not on their side. Coincidentally, soon after the first assault, 2 Genoese galleys [11] sailed into the port at Jaffa, and the crusaders were able to re-supply themselves for a short time. The crusaders also began to gather wood from Samaria in order to build siege engines . They were still short on food and water, and by the end of June there was news that a Fatimid army was marching north from Egypt .

The barefoot procession Edit Faced with a seemingly impossible task, their spirits were raised when a priest by the name of Peter Desiderius claimed to have a divine vision in which the ghost of Adhemar instructed them to fast for three days and then march in a barefoot procession around the city walls, after which the city would fall in nine days, following the Biblical example of Joshua at the siege of Jericho. Although they were already starving, they fasted, and on July 8 they made the procession, with the clergy blowing trumpets and singing psalms, being mocked by the defenders of Jerusalem all the while. The procession stopped on the Mount of Olives and sermons were delivered by Peter the Hermit , Arnulf of Chocques , and Raymond of Aguilers . The final assault Edit This article does not contain any citations or references. Please improve this article by adding a reference. For information about how to add references, see Template:Citation . Throughout the siege, attacks were made on the walls, but each one was repulsed.

The Genoese troops, led by commander Guglielmo Embriaco , had previously dismantled the ships in which the Genoese came to the Holy Land; Embriaco , using the ships' wood, made some siege towers . These were rolled up to the walls on the night of July 14 much to the surprise and concern of the garrison. On the morning of July 15, Godfrey's tower reached his section of the walls near the northeast corner gate, and according to the Gesta two Flemish knights from Tournai named Lethalde and Engelbert were the first to cross into the city, followed by Godfrey, his brother Eustace , Tancred, and their men. Raymond's tower was at first stopped by a ditch, but as the other crusaders had already entered, the Muslim guarding the gate surrendered to Raymond. Massacre Edit Many Muslims sought shelter in the Al-Aqsa Mosque , the Dome of the Rock , and the Temple Mount area generally.

According to the Gesta Francorum , speaking only of the Temple Mount area, "...[our men] were killing and slaying even to the Temple of Solomon, where the slaughter was so great that our men waded in blood up to their ankles..." According to Raymond of Aguilers, also writing solely of the Temple Mount area, " in the Temple and porch of Solomon men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins." However, this imagery should not be taken literally; it was taken directly from biblical passage Revelation 14:20 . [12] Writing about the Temple Mount area alone Fulcher of Chartres , who was not an eyewitness to the Jerusalem siege because he had stayed with Baldwin in Edessa at the time, says: "In this temple 10,000 were killed. Indeed, if you had been there you would have seen our feet coloured to our ankles with the blood of the slain. But what more shall I relate? None of them were left alive; neither women nor children were spared". [13] The eyewitness Gesta Francorum states that some people were spared.

Its anonymous author wrote, "When the pagans had been overcome, our men seized great numbers, both men and women, either killing them or keeping them captive, as they wished." [14] Later the same source writes, "[Our leaders] also ordered all the Saracen dead to be cast outside because of the great stench, since the whole city was filled with their corpses; and so the living Saracens dragged the dead before the exits of the gates and arranged them in heaps, as if they were houses. No one ever saw or heard of such slaughter of pagan people, for funeral pyres were formed from them like pyramids, and no one knows their number except God alone. But Raymond caused the Emir and the others who were with him to be conducted to Ascalon, whole and unhurt." [15] Another eyewitness source, Raymond of Aguilers, reports that some Muslims survived. After recounting the slaughter on the Temple Mount he reports of some who "took refuge in the Tower of David, and, petitioning Count Raymond for protection, surrendered the Tower into his hands." [16] These Muslims left with the Fatimid governor for Ascalon.

[17] A version of this tradition is also known to the later Muslim historian Ibn al-Athir (10, 193–95), who recounts that after the city was taken and pillaged: "A band of Muslims barricaded themselves into the Oratory of David (Mihrab Dawud) and fought on for several days. They were granted their lives in return for surrendering. The Franks honoured their word, and the group left by night for Ascalon." [18] One Cairo Geniza letter also refers to some Jewish residents who left with the Fatimid governor. [19] Tancred claimed the Temple quarter for himself and offered protection to some of the Muslims there, but he was unable to prevent their deaths at the hands of his fellow Crusaders. Although the Crusaders killed many of the Muslim and Jewish residents, eyewitness accounts (Gesta Francorum, Raymond of Aguilers, and the Cairo Geniza documents) demonstrate that some Muslim and Jewish residents were allowed to live, as long as they left Jerusalem.

[20] Jews Further information: History of the Jews and the Crusades Jews had fought side-by-side with Muslim soldiers to defend the city, and as the Crusaders breached the outer walls, the Jews of the city retreated to their synagogue to "prepare for death". [21] According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi , "The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads." [22] However, a contemporary Jewish communication does not corroborate the report that Jews were actually inside of the synagogue when it was set fire. [23] This letter was discovered among the Cairo Geniza collection in 1975 by historian Shelomo Dov Goitein . [24] Historians believe that it was written just two weeks after the siege, making it "the earliest account on the conquest in any language." [24] Eastern Christians Edit Contrary to what is sometimes alleged, no eyewitness source refers to Crusaders killing Eastern Christians in Jerusalem, and early Eastern Christian sources (Matthew of Edessa, Anna Comnena, Michael the Syrian, etc.) make no such allegation about the Crusaders in Jerusalem.

According to the Syriac Chronicle, all the Christians had already been expelled from Jerusalem before the Crusaders arrived. [25] Presumably this would have been done by the Fatimid governor to prevent their possible collusion with the Crusaders. [26] The Gesta Francorum claims that on Wednesday August 9, two and a half weeks after the siege, Peter the Hermit encouraged all the "Greek and Latin priests and clerics" to make a thanksgiving procession to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. [27] This indicates that some Eastern Christian clergy remained in or near Jerusalem during the siege. In November 1100, when Fulcher of Chartres personally accompanied Baldwin on a visit to Jerusalem, they were greeted by both Greek and Syrian clerics and laity (Book II, 3), indicating an Eastern Christian presence in the city a year later.

Aftermath Edit Following the battle, Godfrey of Bouillon was made Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri ("advocate" or "defender of the Holy Sepulchre ") on July 22, refusing to be named king in the city where Christ had died, saying that he refused to wear a crown of gold in the city where Christ wore a crown of thorns.[ citation needed ] Raymond had refused any title at all, and Godfrey convinced him to give up the Tower of David as well. Raymond then went on a pilgrimage, and in his absence Arnulf of Chocques, whom Raymond had opposed due to his own support for Peter Bartholomew, was elected the first Latin Patriarch on August 1 (the claims of the Greek Patriarch were ignored). On August 5, Arnulf, after consulting the surviving inhabitants of the city, discovered the relic of the True Cross . On August 12, Godfrey led an army, with the True Cross carried in the vanguard, against the Fatimid army at the Battle of Ascalon on August 12.

The crusaders were successful, but following the victory, the majority of them considered their crusading vows to have been fulfilled, and all but a few hundred knights returned home. Nevertheless, their victory paved the way for the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The siege quickly became legendary and in the 12th century it was the subject of the Chanson de Jérusalem , a major chanson de geste in the Crusade cycle . References The First Crusade | World History Project 1096 to 1099 The First Crusade The First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians against Muslim territory in the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexius I. The Emperor requested that western volunteers come to their aid and repel the Seljuk Turks from Anatolia, modern day Turkey. An additional goal soon became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule.

Both knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe traveled over land and by sea first towards Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) and then towards Jerusalem; however, the numbers of the peasants completely outnumbered the numbers of the knights. As the peasants and knights were split in different armies, only the knights' army reached Jerusalem. Once there, the crusaders set up a siege and captured the city in July 1099, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. Although these gains lasted for less than two hundred years, the First Crusade was part of the Christian response to the Islamic conquests, as well as the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Source: Wikipedia Added by: Jabril Faraj Related Topics First Crusade First Crusade (1096-1099) While in the 900s Byzantium had been able to reseize territory in Syria, starting around the 1030s the Seldjuk Turks gained power and territory.

These incursions prompted the emperor of Byzantium, Alexius I Comnenus to send a delegation to Piacenza, Italy, asking Pope Urban II in March 1095 for help against the Turks. On November 27, 1095, in Clermont, France, Pope Urban II called for a crusade to help the Byzantines and to free the city of Jerusalem. The official start date was set as August 15, 1096. Those armies that left before that time are considered part of the People's Crusade. Three of these armies never made it past Hungary; two others (under Peter the Hermit and Walter Sansavoir) were defeated by Kilij Arslan of Nicaea. Traditionally, the First Crusade deals with those who left after that official start date. As with the People's Crusade, these crusaders did not form one unified army.

Though he required oaths of fealty and the return of any formerly Byzantine lands, Alexius refused leadership of the Crusade and did not take an active role; Stephen of Blois was the leader for a short time until he deserted; Adhémar of Le Puy was able to coordinate the different factions until his death in 1098. The crusaders first gathered in Constantinople in fall 1096. They besieged Nicaea while Kilij Arslan was away (the city surrendered to Alexius), and later defeated an army commanded by Kilij Arslan at Dorlyaeum. On their progress to Jerusalem the crusaders (or a faction of them) also seized Edessa (which became the first Latin settlement) and Antioch. After Antioch, the crusaders waited out the summer heat and disorder from Adhémar's death. Eventually, the rank and file soldiers forced the crusade to continue. After unsuccessfully besieging `Arqah for three months, the crusaders continued to Jerusalem which they seized on July 15, 1099. The Christian armies defended their conquest in August 1099 by defeating an Egyptian relief army.

Pope Urban II died on July 29, 1099, without hearing the news. Encouraged by the success (and in some cases threatened by excommunication for nonparticipation or desertion), more armies left for Jerusalem in 1100-1101; these armies were defeated in Asia Minor. During subsequent decades fighting (but not crusading) continued in the area. The Byzantines were unhappy about the Franks not returning land that had once belonged to Byzantium; the Franks were unhappy about the lack of support from the Byzantines during the crusade--and the subsequent attempts by the Byzantines to retake territory (as in 1099, 1100, 1104, 1137, 1142, and 1158-9). Bohemund, in fact, organized a campaign (or even a crusade) against Byzantium that was defeated at Durazzo. In addition, fighting continued between the Franks and the Muslims.

While their eastward expansion was stopped at Harran in 1104, and they were defeated at Sarmada in 1119, in general the Franks expanded their territory. They took Acre in 1104, Tripoli in 1109, Beirut and Saida in 1110, and Tyre in 1124, ending by controlling all of the coast to Ascalon. During this time frame, the military orders of the Hospitallers (1113) and Templars (1120) also began. However, around 1130, the crusaders moved from offense to defense, and stayed there until 1153. On the Muslim side, in 1127, Zangi (or Zengi or Zenghi) became governor of Mosul. He then took control of Aleppo in June 1128 and began adding to his territory from lands Christians (and non-Christians) had controlled. On December 24, 1144, Zangi captured Edessa. To see a summary of the Second Crusade and subsequent events, click here .

To see a table of events that preceded the First Crusade, click here . To see a more detailed listing events of the First Crusade, click here . Crusades - End of Feudalism End of Feudalism Crusades Causes and Early Crusades The Crusades were a long series of wars between the Christians and the Muslims in Southwest Asia that lasted for 200 years between 1095 and 1291. They were fought over the control of Palestine aka the Holy Land.There were the total of nine major crusades and almost all of them ended in a failure. In the end, Jerusalem will be under the control of multiple Muslim empires for the next 600 years. Palestine had been under Muslim control for many years but they did not bother any Christians who visited the region. In the late 1000s, a group of Turkish Muslims attacked and conquered the Holy Land. Christians were attacked and drove back to Europe. Pilgrims returning to Europe said that they had been attacked by the Turks and the Holy Lands were no longer safe for the Christians. Emperor Alexios I of the Byzantine Empire feared that the Turks would attack Constantinople.

Despite the fact that he was Orthodox, the Byzantine Emperor asked Pope Urban II of the Roman Catholic Church for help and the pope agreed to the request. The first crusaders army set off for Jerusalem in 1096 moving eastward through Anatolia. Finally, after many battles, the Crusades army reached Jerusalem on June 7, 1099. Jerusalem was under siege for about a month before the crusaders entered the city on July 15 1099. As a result, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was set up. However, in 1141, the Muslim army started to reconquered cites taken by the crusaders. Because of this, the Pope called for the Second Crusade. The Second Crusades lasted for two years and many European kingdoms participated in the war. The Muslim armies also invaded and took Portugal including the city of Lisbon. However, the city was retaken by the Portuguese army in 1147. The Muslims was the victorious in the Second Crusades. In 1187, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt unified the Egyptian and the Syrian forces and recaptured Jerusalem. Pope Gregory VIII called for the Third Crusades in 1888.

Phillip II of France and Henry II of England stopped their war with each other to prepare their armies to fight Saladin. Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was the first to set out for the Holy Land with his army in May 1189. But, Frederick died suddenly in an accident by drowning in Saleph River in Cilicia n 1190. In the same year, King Phillip II of France and King Richard I of England aka Richard the Lion Heart led their armies to fight the Muslim army of Saladin in the Holy Land. Phillip II of France and Leopold V of Austria were the first to arrive at the Holy Land in 1191. By the time they arrived, the city of Acre located in Palestine was already under siege by the crusaders. In June 1191, Richard and his English army arrived but, Phillip and Leopold left for Europe shortly before Richard took Acre. After that, Richard launched an attack on the city of Arsurf and Jaffa and was ready to invade Jerusalem directly. However, Richard noticed that he was low on reinforcements as more and more crusaders returned to Europe.

So, on September 2, 1192, both Richard and Saladin signed a treaty that said that Jerusalem will still be under the Muslim control but Christian pilgrims will be allowed to visit the city unharmed. Richard departed the Holy Land and the Third Crusades ended. Saladin set up his new Ayyubid Empire with Cairo and Damascus as the capitals and later died in 1193. The Fourth and Fifth Crusades By the time the Third Crusades ended, no major European kingdom has any intention to retook Jerusalem. Even if there was no problem for Christians pilgrims to visit the Holy Land, some people still want Jerusalem to be under the Christian control. One of those people was Pope Innocent III of the Roman Catholic Church who called for the Fourth Crusade in 1198. Even if most European rulers and monarchs ignored his call, the crusading army was still organized by Italian knights and soldiers in 1201. The group was later joined by soldiers sent by the Holy Roman Empire. Each army agreed that they will set out from Venice and invaded the Holy Land through Egypt. However, the crusaders lacked money to pay the Venetians to sail to Egypt.

So, in return, the crusaders had to capture the city of Zadar that had rebelled against the Venetian Republic. Despite the fact that Pope Innocent forbade any attack on the city and threatened to excommunicate the whole crusading army, the crusaders arrived and attacked Zadar in November 1202. The city of Zadar was under siege for about 10 days before being sacked by the crusaders. The crusaders changed their mind and decided to travel to Jerusalem through Constantinople which was totally under the control of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In June 1203, the crusaders arrived at Constantinople and decided to take the city by force after being prevented from passing through the city by the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III. By July 1203, Constantinople was under siege by the crusader. Alexios III fled and his brother Alexios IV ascended the Byzantine throne. The new emperor tried to make a deal with the crusader but was assassinated by Alexios V who continued to fight. On April 12, 1204, the crusader invaded and captured Constantinople destroying part of the capital.

After that, the Byzantine Empire fragmented into many other empires controlled by the crusaders. Pope Innocent III again wanted to recapture Jerusalem and called for another crusade in 1215. This time, knights and soldiers from many European kingdoms joined the crusading army. In the late 1217, the crusading army reached the Holy Land and began attacking part of Syria and Lebanon. They quickly reached the Jerusalem's city wall but, they were ultimately defeated by the Muslims. Later in June of 1218, the city of Damietta located in Egypt was besieged and later captured by the crusaders in 1219. Because of this victory, the crusaders marched south toward Cairo, the capital of the Ayyubid Empire in July of 1221. However, the crusaders suffered a disastrous defeat against the Muslim army before reaching Cairo and began retreating. Both the crusaders and the Egyptians reached a peace agreement which ended the Fifth Crusades in 1222. Later Crusades In 1227, the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II set up his German army to begin the Sixth Crusades without the pope's support.

Pope Gregory XI accused Frederick of desiring to go to the crusades but failed and excommunicate him. However, despite being excommunicated by the pope, Frederick and his army sailed to the Holy Land from Italy and arrived in Arcre in September 1228. There was not many fighting between two great armies of two great empires. On February 18, 1229, Sultan Al-Kamil of the Ayyubid Empire and Emperor Frederick II signed a peace treaty which gave most of Jerusalem and other holy sites back to the crusaders and ended the Sixth Crusade. Jerusalem did not stay in the Christians' hand for long. On July 15, 1244, being supported by the Ayyubid, the Khwarezmians stormed and conquered the city and returned it to the Muslim. King Louis IX of France (commonly known as Saint Louis) organized his crusading army in 1248 and launched the Seventh Crusade with full support from Pope Innocent IV. Louis' army landed and invaded Damietta, Egypt in 1249.

The city was quickly captured in June and the crusading army marched south toward Cairo in November 1249. However, the crusaders faced the Muslim army and was defeated at Al Mansurah. hey were defeated by the Ayyubid Egyptians again at the Battle of Fariskur and King Louis was also captured and held for ransom. The pope and the crusaders asked the Mongols to become their allies but, the request was rejected. Louis and his army left for Arcre in 1250. He stayed there for four years before going back to France in 1254 and the Seventh Crusade ended. In 1270, Louis IX of France called for the Eighth Crusade. First, he sent in knights and soldiers to help the crusader remnants who were fighting the Muslim in the Holy Land. Not long after, Louis and his army landed and attacked the port city of Tunis. But, on August 25 1270, Louis suddenly died and his brother Charles of Anjou had to take over as a leader. The siege of Tunis was abandoned and Charles had to ally himself with Prince Edward of England. The Eighth Crusades ended and the Ninth Crusades began.

The army of Charles and Edward arrived at the Holy Land in 1271 to fight the Muslim Mamluks besieging Tripoli. The city was successfully protected and Charles continued on to Arcre. He sent an embassy to the Mongol ruler of Persia Abagha and Abagha agreed to fight the Muslim. The Muslim leader Baibairs tried to fight the crusaders but was defeated while trying to take back Arcre. In 1272, Price Charles began negotiating peace with Baibars but, his father suddenly died and he went back to England to be crowned king. The Ninth Crusade ended and no European kingdoms tried to recapture Jerusalem again. Aftermath and Effects of the Crusades After 200 years of fighting, all the idea and intention to retake Jerusalem had become extinct. There was no way for Jerusalem to be permanently under Christian control in the first place. All the lands in Palestine taken by Prince Edward in the Ninth Crusade including Antioch, Tripoli, and Arcre had all been reconquered by the Muslims by the year 1300. The Crusades had many significant effects on Europe. Trade between Europe and Asia greatly grew.

Many new products from Asia and the Middle East were introduced to the Europeans. Many Kings and rulers increased their power and became more liberated from the pope's influence and orders. After the Crusaders attacked Constantinople in the Fourth Crusades, tension between the Catholic and the Orthodox grew. Create a free website First Crusade (1096-1099) First Crusade (1096-1099) Geni World History Timeline Top Surnames For naming conventions, see Medieval Kingdoms of Western Europe . The First Crusade was a military expedition from 1096 to 1099 by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem. It was launched in 1095 by Alexios I Komnenos , who requested that western volunteers come to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuq Turks from Anatolia. An additional goal soon became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule.

Timeline of major events List of commanders and leaders Christendom Guillaume VI d'Auvergne , comte d'Auvergne (c1069-1136) Pierre Barthelemy Gaston IV de Béarn , vescomte de Béarn (c1073-1131) Stephen II, Count of Blois — Stephen was the head of the army council at the Crusaders' siege of Nicaea in 1097. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch to later join the crusade of 1101 . Godfrey IV of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine — Godfrey took out loans on most of his lands to gather thousands of knights to fight in the Holy Land. After the successful siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse — Raymond left Toulouse at the end of October 1096 with a large company and marched to Dyrrhachium, and then east to Constantinople.

In October 1097 he captured the city of Antioch from Kerbogha at the siege of Antioch. Baudouin I de Boulogne , King of Jerusalem — In 1096 Baldwin joined the First Crusade, selling much of his property to the church in order to pay for his expenses. Baldwin commanded a detachment of troops from the People's Crusade which captured a bridge in the vicinity of Constantinople. In September 1097 he took control of Tarsus and installed his own garrison in the city. After Godfrey's death in 1100 he was crowned the first king of Jerusalem. A Timeline of the First Crusade, 1095 - 1100 : Christianity vs. Islam « Before the Crusades 350 - 1095 Launched by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095, the First Crusade was the most successful. Urban gave a dramatic speech urging Christians to swarm towards Jerusalem and make it safe for Christian pilgrims by taking it away from the Muslims.

The armies of the First Crusade left in 1096 and captured Jerusalem in 1099. From these conquered lands Crusaders carved out small kingdoms for themselves which endured for some time, though not long enough to have a real impact upon local culture. Timeline of the Crusades: First Crusade 1095 - 1100 November 18, 1095 Pope Urban II opens the Council of Clermont where ambassadors from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, asking help against the Muslims, were warmly received. November 27, 1095 Pope Urban II calls for a Crusade (in Arabic: al-Hurub al-Salibiyya, "Wars of the Cross") in a famous speech at the Council of Clermont. Although his actual words have been lost, tradition has it that he was so persuasive that the crowd shouted out in response "Deus vult! Deus vult!" ("God wills it"). Urban had earlier arranged that Raymond, Count of Toulouse (also of St.

Giles), would volunteer to take up the cross then and there and offered other participants two important concession: protection for their estates at home while they were gone and plenary indulgence for their sins. The inducements for other Europeans were just as great: serfs were allowed the leave the land they were bound to, citizens were free from taxation, debtors were given a moratorium on interest, prisoners were released, death sentences were commuted, and much more. December 1095 Adhemar de Monteil (also: Aimar, or Aelarz), Bishop of Le Puy, is chosen by Pope Urban II as the Papal Legate for the First Crusade. Although various secular leaders would argue amongst themselves over who led the Crusade, the pope always regards Adhemar as its true leader, reflecting the primacy of spiritual over political goals. 1096 - 1099 First Crusade is carried out in an effort to aid Byzantine Christians against Muslim invaders.

April 1096 The first of the four planned Crusader armies arrives in Constantinople , at that time ruled by Alexius I Comnenus May 06, 1096 Crusaders moving through the Rhine Valley massacre Jews in Speyer. This is the first major slaughter of a Jewish community by Crusaders marching to the Holy Land. May 18, 1096 Crusaders massacre Jews in Worms, Germany. The Jews in Worms had heard about the massacre in Speyer and try to hide - some in their homes and some even in the bishop's palace, but they are unsuccessful. May 27, 1096 Crusaders massacre Jews in Mainz, Germany. The bishop hides over 1,000 in his cellars but the Crusaders learn of this and kill most of them. Men, women, and children of all ages are slaughtered indiscriminately. May 30, 1096 Crusaders attack Jews in Cologne, Germany, but most are protected by local citizens who hide the Jews in their own houses. Archbishop Hermann would later send them to safety in neighboring villages, but the Crusaders would follow and slaughter hundreds.

June 1096 Crusaders led by Peter the Hermit sack Semin and Belgrade, forcing Byzantine troops to flee to Nish. July 03, 1096 Peter the Hermit's Peasants' Crusade meets Byzantine forces at Nish. Although Peter is victorious and moves towards Constantinople, about a quarter of his forces are lost. July 12, 1096 Crusaders under the leadership of Peter the Hermit reach Sofia, Hungary. August 1096 Godfrey De Bouillon, the Margrave of Antwerp and a direct descendant of Charlemagne , sets off to join the First Crusade at the head of an army of at least 40,000 soldiers. Godfrey is the brother of Baldwin of Boulogne (the future Baldwin I of Jerusalem. August 01, 1096 The Peasants' Crusade , which had departed from Europe that Spring, is shipped over the Bosprous by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus of Constantinople.

Alexius I 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. Thus, Alexius has them taken to Anatolia as quickly as possible. Made up of poorly organized groups led by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Pennyless (Gautier sans-Avoir, who had led a separate contingent from Peter, most of whom were killed by the Bulgarians), the Peasants' Crusade would proceed to pillage Asia Minor but meet with a very messy end. September 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. October 1096 Bohemond I (Bohemond Of Otranto), prince of Otranto (1089–1111) and one of the leaders of the First Crusade, leads his troops across the Adriatic Sea.

Bohemond would be largely responsible for the capture of Antioch and he was able to secure the title Prince of Antioch (1098–1101, 1103–04). October 1096 The Peasants' Crusade is massacred at Civeot, Anatolia, by Turkish archers from Nicaea. Only small children are spared the sword so that they could be sent into slavery. Around 3,000 manage to escape back to Constantinople where Peter the Hermit had been in negotiations with Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. October 1096 Raymond, Count of Toulouse (also of St. Giles), leaves for the Crusade in the company of Adhemar, bishop of Puy and the Papal Legate. December 1096 The last of the four planned Crusader armies arrives at Constantinople, bringing the total numbers to approximately 50,000 knights and 500,000 footmen. Curiously there isn't a single king among the Crusade leaders, a sharp difference from later Crusades .

At this time Philip I of France, William II of England, and Henry IV of Germany are all under excommunication by Pope Urban II. December 25, 1096 Godfrey De Bouillon , the Margrave of Antwerp and a direct descendant of Charlemagne, arrives in Constantinople. Godfrey would be the primary leader of the First Crusade, thus making it a largely French war in practice and causing the inhabitants of the Holy Land to refer to Europeans generally as "Franks." January 1097 Normans led by Bohemond I destroy a village on the way to Constantinople because it is inhabited by heretic Paulicians. March 1097 After relations between Byzantine leaders and the European Crusaders deteriorates, Godfrey De Bouillon leads an attack on the Byzantine Imperial Palace at Blachernae. April 26, 1097 Bohemond I joins his Crusading forces with the Lorrainers under Godfrey De Bouillon. Bohemond is not especially welcome in Constantinople because his father, Robert Guiscard, had invaded the Byzantine Empire and captured the cities of Dyrrhachium and Corfu.

May 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. How many were there? Estimates vary wildly: 600,000 according to Fulcher of Chartres, 300,000 according to Ekkehard, and 100,000 according to Raymond of Aguilers. Modern scholars place their numbers at around 7,000 knights and 60,000 infantry. May 21, 1097 Crusaders begin the siege of Nicaea, a mostly Christian city guarded by several thousand Turkish troops. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus has a strong interest in the capture of this heavily fortified city because it lies just 50 miles from Constantinople itself. Nicaea is at this time under the control of Kilij Arslan, sultan of the Seljuk Turkish state of Rham (a reference to Rome).

Unfortunately for him Arslan and the bulk of his military forces are at war with a neighboring Emir when the crusaders arrive; although he quickly makes peace in order to lift the siege, he would be unable to arrive in time. June 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. Emperor Alexius I Comnenus of Constantinople makes a deal with the Turks that puts the city in his hands and kicks the Crusaders out. In not allowing them to pillage Nicaea, Emperor Alexius engenders a great deal of animosity towards the Byzantine Empire. July 01, 1097 Battle of Dorylaeum: 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. In what would become known as the Battle of Dorylaeum, Bohemond I is saved by Raymond of Toulouse.

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. August 1097 Godfrey of Bouillon temporarily occupies the Seljuk city of Iconium (Konya). September 10, 1097 Splitting off from the main Crusading force, Tancred of Hauteville captures Tarsus. Tancred is a grandson of Robert Guiscard and nephew of Bohemund of Taranto. October 20, 1097 The first Crusaders arrived at Antioch October 21, 1097 The Crusaders' siege of the strategically important city of Antioch begins. Located in the mountainous region of Orontes, Antioch had never been captured by any means other than treachery and is so large that the Crusader army is unable to completely surround it. During this siege Crusaders learn to chew on the reeds known to Arabs as sukkar - this is their first experience with sugar and they come to like it.

December 21, 1097 First Battle of Harenc: Because of the size of their forces, Crusaders besieging Antioch are constantly running short of food and conduct raids into the neighboring regions despite the risk of Turkish ambushes. One of the largest of these raids consists of a force of 20,000 men under the command of Bohemond and Robert of Flanders. At this same time, Duqaq of Damascus had been approaching Antioch with a large relief army. Robert is quickly surrounded, but Bohemond comes up quickly and relieves Robert. There are heavy casualties on both sides and Duqaq is forced to withdraw, abandoning his plan to relieve Antioch. February 1098 Tancred and his forces rejoin the main body of Crusaders, only to find Peter the Hermit attempting to flee to Constantinople. Tancred makes sure that Peter returns to continue the fight. February 09, 1098 Second Battle of Harenc: Ridwan of Aleppo, titular ruler of Antioch, raises an army to relieve the besieged city of Antioch.

The Crusaders learn of his plans and launch a preemptive assault with their remaining 700 heavy cavalry. The Turks are forced into retreat to Aleppo, a city in northern Syria, and the plan to relieve Antioch is abandoned. March 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. June 01, 1098 Stephen of Blois takes a large contingent of Franks and abandons the siege of Antioch after he hears that Emir Kerboga of Mosul with an army of 75,000 is drawing near to relieve the besieged city. June 03, 1098 The Crusaders under the command of Bohemond I capture Antioch, despite their numbers having been depleted by numerous defections during the previous months.

The reason is treachery: Bohemond conspires with Firouz, an Aremenian convert to Islam and captain of the guard, to allow the Crusaders access to the Tower of the Two Sisters. Bohemond is named Prince of Antioch. June 05, 1098 Emir Kerboga, Attabeg of Mosul, finally arrives at Antioch with an army of 75,000 men and lays siege to the Christians who had just captured the city themselves (although they do not have full control of it - there are still defenders barricaded in the citadel). In fact, the positions which they had occupied a couple of days before are now occupied by the Turkish forces. A relief army commanded by the Byzantine Emperor turns back after Stephen of Blois convinces them that the situation in Antioch is hopeless. For this, Alexius is never forgiven by the Crusaders and many would claim that Alexius' failure to help them released them from their vows of fealty to him.

June 10, 1098 Peter Bartholomew, a servant of a member of Count Raymond's army, experiences a vision of the Holy Lance being located at Antioch. Also known as the Spear of Destiny or the Spear of Longinus, this artifact is alleged to be the spear that pierced the side of Jesus Christ when he was on the cross. June 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 now besieged in Antioch by Emir Kerboga, Attabeg of Mosul. June 28, 1098 Battle of Orontes: Following the Holy Lance "discovery" in Antioch, the Crusaders drive back a Turkish army under the command of Emir Kerboga, Attabeg of Mosul, sent to recapture the city.

This battle is generally regarded as having been decided by morale because the Muslim army, split by internal dissent, numbers 75,000 strong but is defeated by a mere 15,000 tired and poorly equipped Crusaders. August 01, 1098 Adhemar, Bishop of Le Puy and nominal leader of the First Crusade, dies during an epidemic. With this, Rome's direct control over the Crusade effectively ends. December 11, 1098 Crusaders capture the city of M'arrat-an-Numan, a small city east of Antioch. According to reports, Crusaders are observed eating the flesh of both adults and children; as a consequence, the Franks would be labeled "cannibals" by Turkish historians. January 13, 1099 Raymond of Toulouse leads the first contingents of Crusaders away from Antioch and towards Jerusalem. Bohemund disagrees with Raymond's plans and remains in Antioch with his own forces. February, 1099 Raymond of Toulouse captures the Krak des Chevaliers, but he is forced to abandon it in order to continue his march to Jerusalem.

February 14, 1099 Raymond of Toulouse begins a siege of Arqah, but he would be forced to give up in April. April 08, 1099 Long criticized by doubters that he had truly found the Holy Lance, Peter Bartholomew agrees to the suggestion of priest Arnul Malecorne that he undergo a trial by fire in order to prove the relic's authenticity. He dies of his injuries on April 20, but because he does not die immediately Malecorne declares the trial a success and the Lance genuine. June 06, 1099 Citizens of Bethlehem plead with Tancred of Bouillon (nephew of Bohemond) to protect them from the approaching Crusaders who had by this time acquired a reputation for vicious looting of cities they capture. June 07, 1099 The Crusaders reach the gates of Jerusalem. then controlled by governor Iftikhar ad-Daula. Although the Crusaders had originally marched out of Europe to take Jerusalem back from the Turks, the Fatimids had already expelled the Turks the year before.

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 - nothing short of unconditional surrender would satisfy them. July 08, 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. July 10, 1099 Death of Ruy Diaz de Vivar, known as El Cid (Arabic for "lord"). July 13, 1099 Armies of the first Crusade launch a final assault on Muslims in Jerusalem. July 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.

Estimates place the number of casualties as high as 100,000. Tancred of Hauteville, a grandson of Robert Guiscard and nephew of Bohemund of Taranto, is the first Crusader through the walls. The day is Friday, Dies Veneris, the anniversary of when Christians believe that Jesus redeemed the world and is the first of two days of unprecedented slaughter. July 16, 1099 Crusaders herd Jews of Jerusalem into a synagogue and set it on fire. July 22, 1099 Raymond IV of Toulouse is offered the title King of Jerusalem but he turns it down and leaves the region. Godfrey De Bouillon is offered the same title and turns it down as well, but is willing to be named Advocatus Sancti Seplchri (Advocate of the Holy Sepulcher), the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem. This kingdom would endure in one form or another for several hundred years but it would always be in a precarious position. It is based upon a long, narrow strip of land with no natural barriers and whose population is never entirely conquered. Continual reinforcements from Europe are required but not always forthcoming.

July 29, 1099 Pope Urban II dies. Urban had followed the lead set by his predecessor, Gregory VII, by working to enhance the power of the papacy against the power of secular rulers. He also became known for having initiated the first of the Crusades against Muslim powers in the Middle East. Urban dies, though, without ever learning that the First Crusade had taken Jerusalem and was a success. August 1099 Records indicate that Peter the Hermit, principal leader of the failed Peasants' Crusade, serves as leader of the supplicatory processions in Jerusalem which occur prior to the battle of Ascalon. August 12, 1099 Battle of Ascalon: Crusaders successfully fight off an Egyptian army sent to relieve Jerusalem. Prior to its capture by the Crusaders, Jerusalem had been under the control of the Fatamid Caliphate of Egypt, and the vizier of Egypt, al-Afdal, raises an army of 50,000 men that outnumber the remaining Crusaders five to one, but which is inferior in quality. This is the final battle in the First Crusade.

September 13, 1099 Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria. 1100 The Polynesian islands are first colonized. 1100 Islamic rule is weakened because of power struggles among Islamic leaders and the Christian crusades.

Question: What city was captured at the end of the First Crusade in 1099?
Answer: Jerusalem