1095-1101 First Crusade To deliver the Holy Places from Mohammedan tyranny. Capture of Antiochus and Jerusalem by the crusaders. 4,000 mounted knights, 25,000 Infantry, Siege of Antiioch lasted from 21 October 1097 to 3 June 1098. siege of Jerusalem (9 June-18 July 1099)

Jews and Muslims fought together to defend Jerusalem against the invading Franks, but the crusaders entered the city on 15 July 1099. They proceeded to massacre the remaining Jewish and Muslim civilians and also pillaged or destroyed mosques or the city itself.

1145-47 Second Crusade Headed by Conrad III of Germany & Louis VII and the Franks1. Attack Damascus. 50-100,000 men
1187 Saladin captures Jerusalem.
Saladin's lasting reputation among Christians, as a man of chivalry and honour, derives above all from his treatment of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The contrast, eighty-eight years earlier, with the behaviour of the crusaders in Jerusalem could not be greater. Instead of pillage and massacre, there is an orderly handing over of the city. Holy places are respected. A ransom is to be paid for each Christian to depart in freedom, but it is not high. Among those who cannot afford it, many are released by Saladin instead of being sold into slavery.
1188-92 Third Crusade conducted by Philip Augustus of France, Richard Coeur-de-Lion (the Lionheart) of England and Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany, he three greatest monarchs of Western Europe. Richard negotiated a treaty with Saladin, which gave Christian pilgrims special rights in Jerusalem. But problems with the treaty resulted in Richard massacring 3 thousand muslims in 1191.
Eventually a truce is made, in 1192. The Franks are to retain a strip along the coast from Acre down to Jaffa, and Christian pilgrims may freely visit all the holy places of Palestine.
1204 Fourth Crusade Constantinople was taken.
1217 Fifth Crusade Included the conquest of Damietta,
1228-39 Sixth Crusade in which Frederick II took part (1228-29); also Thibaud de Champagne and Richard of Cornwall (1239)
1249-52 Seventh Crusade led by St. Louis.
1217 Eighth Crusade also under St. Louis, 1270
1. Franks - A West Germanic tribal confederation. Because the Frankish kingdom dominated Western Europe for centuries, terms derived from "Frank" were used by many in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and beyond as a synonym for Roman Christians.

Links:
See: Crusades at Dr John Rickard's Military History Page
Crusades - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com
Crusades - Wikipedia


last updated 2 May 2003