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The pope preached a sermon at Clermont-Ferrand in France to launch the First Crusade. The aim was to aid the Christians of the East and return to Christian control the Holy Sepulcher.
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Less than a year after Pope Urban II called Christians to arms, the First Crusade got its start in northwestern Europe in the spring of 1096. The first acts of hostility took place against the jews.
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The Crusaders massacred the jews in Speyer,Germany.
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the slaughter takes place in Worms,Germany.
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The massacre of the jews in Mainz,Germany
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Crusaders attack Jews in Cologne,Germany but most jews are protected by local citizens who hide them in their own homes.
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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.
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Crusaders besiege the castle at Antioch.
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After many months the castle at Antioch is finally captured.
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The Crusaders reach the gates of Jerusalem.The Fatimid caliph offers the Crusaders a generous peace agreement, but the Crusaders are uninterested in anything less than full control of the Holy City.
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The Crusaders attempt to take Jerusalem by storm but fail. They tried 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 failed unorganized attacks were launched with no effects and the Muslims are successful.
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Armies of the first Crusade launch a final assault on Muslims in Jerusalem.
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Raymond IV and Godfrey De Bouillon are offered the title king of Jerusalem but they turn it down.
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Al-Afdal, raises an army of 50,000 men that outnumber the remaining Crusaders five to one, but which is poor in quality. This is the final battle in the First Crusade
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Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria.
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Islamic rule is weakened and the crusaders are successful.
