crusades timeline

  • Period: 1000 to 1282

    1-6 crusades

  • 1095

    Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.

  • 1095

    start of the crusades

    Key factors included religious fervor, a desire to reclaim the Holy Land, political ambition, and economic incentives
  • 1096

    The first armies (including the "People's Crusade") depart from Europe in August, with some groups massacring Jews in the Rhineland along the way.

  • 1096

    The main Crusader armies arrive at Constantinople and then cross into Anatolia, capturing Nicaea in June and defeating the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Dorylaeum.

  • 1098

    The Crusaders besiege and capture Antioch in March.

  • 1099

    The Crusaders arrive at Jerusalem in June and sack the city in July. They defeat the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ascalon in August, solidifying their control of the region.

  • 1144

    second crusade

  • 1144

    The city of Edessa, a key Crusader state, falls to the Muslim forces of Zengi.

  • 1145

    News of Edessa's fall reaches Europe, prompting a call for a new crusade.

  • 1147

    The main crusade begins with armies from Germany and France departing for the Holy Land.

  • 1147

    The crusade's main thrust suffers heavy losses in Anatolia, primarily from Turkish ambushes.

  • 1148

    The combined French and German armies decide to besiege Damascus instead of Edessa, which was a crucial and ultimately disastrous decision.

  • 1150

    The Second Crusade officially ends, having failed to achieve its primary objectives in the Holy Land.

  • 1189

    beginning of third crusade

  • 1192

    end of third crusade

  • 1198

    fourth crusade

  • 1198

    Pope Innocent III officially calls for the Fourth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem.

  • 1198

    A special tax is created to fund the crusade, and preaching campaigns begin across Europe.

  • 1201

    Marquis Boniface of Montferrat is selected to lead the crusade.

  • 1203

    A small contingent of crusaders reaches the Middle East, but the main force continues towards Constantinople.

  • 1204

    The sack of Constantinople

  • 1212

    Movements begin

  • 1212

    Dispersal and failure

  • 1212

    children's crusade

  • 1212

    The journey across the Alps

  • 1212

    Legacy

  • 1213

    Pope Innocent III calls for a new crusade, with the strategy of first attacking Egypt.

  • 1213

    The Fourth Lateran Council organizes the plans for the Fifth Crusade.

  • 1213

    faith crusade

  • 1215

    The Fourth Lateran Council organizes the plans for the Fifth Crusade.

  • 1217

    The first contingent of Crusaders, led by Andrew II of Hungary, arrives in Acre, the Holy Land.

  • 1218

    The campaign shifts to Egypt

  • 1218

    The Treaty of Ceprano restored Frederick to the Church, and he was able to make peace with the Pope.

  • 1219

    Damietta is captured

  • 1221

    The final defeat

  • 1225

    Frederick II married Isabella II, heiress to the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, giving him a claim to the kingdom.

  • 1225

    sixth crusade

  • 1227

    A second fleet, including Frederick, departed but was forced to return to Italy after a plague struck the fleet. Pope Gregory IX excommunicated Frederick for breaking his crusader vow.

  • 1228

    Frederick II set sail for the Holy Land, leading a small force despite his excommunication.

  • 1230

    The Treaty of Jaffa was signed, which formally surrendered Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, and parts of Sidon and Jaffa to the Crusaders.

  • feedback

    I think this was a stupid war to fight about the holy land. people could have had a calm approach.