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Jan 1, 1096
The First Crusade - The Peoples Crusade
Watch This DocumentaryThe First Crusade, also known as the Peoples Crusade, started in reaction to the massacre of 3000 Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem. Peter the Hermit, a French monk, led approximately 80000 poor men, woman and children to the Holy Land. They were extremely disorganized and most were unarmed. The majority died in battle or starved to death. -
Jul 1, 1099
The End of the First Crusade
The French eventually came with 700 000 knights and real soldiers. They captured the Turkish capital and Antioch. Once they got to Jerusalem, they marched barefoot in religious procession around the walls, with Peter the Hermit at their head. Then they attacked. They wiped out all of the Muslims in the city and took their homes and possessions for themselves. -
Jan 1, 1147
The Second Crusade
In 1144 C.E. the Moslems captured Edessa, which was one of the main Christian outposts in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The loss of the city and then the entire county of Edessa, with the slaughtering and selling into slavery of its people, led to the Second Crusade. St. Bernard, a monk, travelled the lands to preach about the need of another Crusade. Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany were convinced to lead the Crusade. -
Jan 1, 1149
The End of the Second Crusade
Many Christians set out from Europe, but only a few thousands escaped the wrath of the Turks. The French and German had made a joint attack on Damascus, but were forced to stop after only a few days. The loss of this battle ended the Crusade. Nothing came out of the Crusade except for the loss of many lives. -
Jan 1, 1187
The Third Crusade
Saladin, the Muslim sultan of Egypt, led a Holy War against the Christians and re-captured Jerusalem. The Christians had fought to stop him, but were unsuccessful and even their King was captured. King Philip Augustus of France, King Richard I of England, and the German Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa all joined together with their armies in the Third Crusade to the Holy Land. -
Jan 1, 1192
The End of the Third Crusade
Frederick Barbarossa, the German Emperor, died on route to Jerusalem and the majority of his army fled back to Germany. The English and French Kings brought their forces together and took the city Acre. King Philip eventually went home, but King Richard stayed and attempted to take Jerusalem. For two years he continued the Crusade and was called the Lion-Hearted. Eventually the King and Saladin came to a truce so Christians could visit the Holy Land. -
Jan 1, 1202
The Fourth Crusade
Pope Innocent III wanted to unite Christian forces against Islam. No emperor or king wanted to join him, but a number of French knights did. The goal of the crusade was to attack Egypt, since this country was then the center of the Moslem power. To do this, they needed ships from Venice. The Venetians would only help if they besieged the city Zara, which was Christian but a rival of Venice. -
Jan 1, 1204
The End of the Fourth Crusade
After attacking Zara, Venetians convinced the Crusaders to attack Constantinople, which was a wealthy Christian city. The French nobles agreed because of the possibility of personal wealth and power. They took the city and its wealth. Because of their greed, the city was weakened and taken by the Greeks less than 60 years later, and by the Muslims 2 Centuries later. Because the Crusaders lost sight of their target, the Muslims eventually gained. -
Jan 1, 1212
The Children's Crusade
Stephen of Cloyes, a twelve years old French peasant became persuaded that Jesus Christ had commanded him to lead a crusade of children. He preached for the Crusade and children became wild with excitement. 30,000 boys and girls, most under twelve years of age, set out from the place of rendezvous for Marseilles. Those that sailed from that Port were betrayed and sold as slaves. The rest of the children returned home when hunger set in. -
Jan 1, 1212
The German Children's Crusade
In Germany, a boy named Nicholas successfully launching a crusade. He led 50,000 men, women, boys and girls into Italy, where they hoped to take a ship to Palestine. 3000 of the children crusaders sailed away, never to be heard from again. Many of the rest died of hardships or were sold into slavery. -
Sep 1, 1212
The End of the Children's Crusades
People started to realize that the fanatic zeal of the Crusades was perhaps not the best way to fight the Muslims. After the Children’s Crusades, the Crusades lost popularity. In total there were 9 Crusades, however the ones after the Children’s Crusades did not amount to much. -
Jan 1, 1250
Bibliography
All of the pictures in this timeline are from photos8.com
The First Crusade documentary is from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2Z8zEmRa4
Richard the Lion-Hearted video clip is from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj2kC13sgrw
