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Pope Urban II, responding to the Christian Byzantine Empire's plee for help, calls for a Crusade against the Muslims.
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Jerusalem is captured by the Crusaders. As the city had not surrendered, the occupants were put to the sword, as was the custom at the time. Sources:
Payne, R. (2000). The crusades. Ware: Wordsworth Editions. -
Second Crusade launched in response to the loss of Edessa and the northern most Crusader state. An army of 50,000 eventually marches on Damascus but is defeated.
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Saladin defeats a major Christian army at the Horns of Hattin. The response in Europe is to launch the third Crusade. Jerusalem falls to Saladin on October 2, 1187.
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King Richard of England defeats Saladin’s forces at Arsuf
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Saladin and King Richard sign a peace treaty ending the crusade. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is reestablished as a crusader state but Jerusalem remains in Muslim hands
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Pope Innocent II calls for the 4th Crusade
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European Crusaders, in theory on their way to the 4th Crusade, sacked Christian Constantinople. Even for the time, the atrocities were outrageous.
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The Albigensian Crusade in France against the Cathar heresy begins. The fighting will last from 1208-1299 between fellow Christians. Source:
Martin, S. (2014). The Cathars: The most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials. -
The Baltic Crusade against the pagans in the Baltic area begins.
Fighting will last from 1211-1225 and will drain resources that might otherwise have gone to the Holy Land. Sources:
Christiansen, E. (2005). The northern crusades. London: Penguin Group. -
The Fifth Crusade planned to recapture the Holy Land by first seizing Egypt.
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Emperor Fredrick II arranges for the peaceful transfer of Jerusalem to the Crusaders. The treaty expires ten years later and the city is again taken by the Muslims.
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Acre, the last of the Crusader cities falls, effectively ending the crusades.
