Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East

By Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree and John Cairns

Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East explores in fascinating detail the key campaigns, battles and sieges that shaped the crusading period of the Middle Ages, giving special attention to military technologies, tactics and strategies. Key personalities and political factors are addressed, including the role of papal monarchy in initiating the crusading expeditions, the relationship between Catholic Europe and the Byzantine empire, the role of the religious military orders, and Islamic and Mongol military capabilities.

Chapters are devoted to each of the major crusades to the Levant – First, Second, Third and Fourth crusades – and an analysis of the Islamic response. The rise of the Mamluks in Egypt, with their innovative military organization, is covered, as are the failed Egyptian and Tunisian campaigns. The concluding chapters describe the Mongol campaigns in the Levant, the Mamluk response, and the final siege of Acre in 1291.  

This original and perceptive study of a key stage in medieval military history features regional, strategic and multi-phase tactical maps that illuminate the narrative and provide a valuable resource for students, historians and wargamers alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Jan 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781526730220

Brian Todd Carey

Brian Todd Carey is an Assistant Professor of History and Military History at the American Public University System, where he has taught ancient, medieval, and early modern military history for over twenty years. His first two books, 'Warfare in the Ancient World' and 'Warfare in the Medieval World', cover the history of warfare in western civilization from the Bronze Age through the Thirty Years' War. His other publications include 'Hannibal’s Last Battle' and 'Road to Manzikert: Byzantine and Islamic Warfare, 527-1071'.

Book preview

Warfare in the

Age of Crusades

Warfare in the

Age of Crusades

The Latin East

Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree and John Cairns

First published in Great Britain in 2022 by

Pen & Sword Military

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire – Philadelphia

Copyright © Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree and John Cairns 2022

ISBN 978 1 52673 021 3

EPUB ISBN 978 1 52673 022 0

MOBI ISBN 978 1 52673 022 0

The right of Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree and John Cairns to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments and a Note on Transliterations

List of Maps and Map Legend

Chapter Chronologies

Introduction: The Development of the Crusading Ethos and the Rise of Papal Monarchy

The Origin of Medieval Holy War: Crusade and Jihad

St Augustine and the Development of Medieval ‘Just War’ Theory

Expanding Christendom: The ‘Second Age of Invasions’ and Catholic Europe’s Feudal Response

The Knight as Societal Menace and the Church’s Response: The Peace and Truce of God

The Rise of Papal Monarchy and the Invention of the Catholic Crusade

1. Victory in the Levant: The First Crusade

Taking Up the Cross: Crusader Vows and Crusader Motivations

‘God Wills It!’: The German and Peasants’ Crusades of 1096

Regional Map: The Jewish Massacres during the German Crusade, 1096

Regional Map: Route of Peter the Hermit’s Peasants’ Crusade, 1096

The Armies Gather at Constantinople

Regional Map: Routes of Converging Crusader Armies on Constantinople, 1096–7

Crossing Anatolia: The Siege of Nicaea

Tactical Maps: The Siege of Nicaea, 6 May–18 June 1097

Crossing Anatolia: The Battle of Dorylaeum and the Characteristics of Seljuk and Crusader Warfare

Tactical Maps: The Battle of First Dorylaeum, 1 July 1097

Regional Map: Route of Crusader Army Crossing Anatolia, 1097

The Levantine Campaigns: Edessa, the Siege of Antioch and the March South

Regional Map: Route of the Crusader Army Marching South in the Levant, January–June 1099

Tactical Maps: The Siege of Antioch, 21 October 1097–4 June 1098

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Antioch, 28 June 1098

Sieging the Holy City and the Fall of Jerusalem

Tactical Maps: The Siege of Jerusalem, 7 June–15 July 1099

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Ascalon, 12 August 1099

2. The Rise of Outremer and the Second Crusade

Establishing the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Failed Crusade of 1101

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Mersivan, Early August 1101

Regional Map: Routes of Crusader Armies Crossing Anatolia, 1101

Defending Outremer: Rise of the Crusader States and the Monastic Military Orders

Regional Map: The Crusader States, 1144

The Rise of Zengi and the Fall of Edessa

Calling to Arms a ‘Kings’ Crusade’ and the Journey East

Regional Map: Routes of Crusader Armies Crossing Anatolia, 1147–8

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Mount Cadmus, 6–7 January 1148

The Council of Acre and the Disastrous Short Siege of Damascus

Tactical Maps: The Siege of Damascus, 24–8 July 1148

3. The Kingdom of Jerusalem Under Siege and the Third Crusade

Striking West: Amalric and the Egyptian Campaigns, 1163–9

Regional Map: Routes of the Crusader Campaigns in Egypt, 1163–9

The Rise of Saladin and the Establishment of the Ayyubid Sultanate

Fifth-Column Infiltrations and Selective Killings: The Nizari Ismaili Assassins

Saladin’s Jihad, the Horns of Hattin and the Fall of Jerusalem

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Horns of Hattin, 3–4 July 1187

Regional Map: The Levant on the Eve of the Third Crusade, 1189

Calling to Arms the Third Crusade: ‘The Kings’ Crusade’

Regional Map: Routes of the Converging Crusader Armies during the Third Crusade

Strategic Map: King Richard’s Campaign in Cyprus, 5 May–1 June 1191

Stalemate by the Sea: The Siege of Acre

Tactical Maps: The Final Stages of the Siege of Acre, June–July 1191

Richard’s March South and the Battle of Arsuf

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Arsuf, 7 September 1191

The Aborted Campaigns Against Jerusalem

4. The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople

The Origins of the Fourth Crusade

A Crusade Astray: The Siege of Zara and Voyage to Constantinople

Regional Map: Route of the Venetian-Crusader Fleets in the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean Seas, November 1202–June 1203

Tactical Map: Constantinople on the Eve of the Fourth Crusade

A Crusade Astray: The First Siege of Constantinople

Strategic Map: Crusader Movements around Constantinople, July 1203

Tactical Maps: French and Venetian Assaults against Constantinople, 17 July 1203

Tactical Maps: Crusader and Byzantine Movements West of the Theodosian Walls, 17 July 1203

Byzantium Betrayed: The Second Siege and Fall of Constantinople

Tactical Maps: The Successful Latin Assault against the Sea Walls of Constantinople, 11 April 1204

The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 1204–61

Regional Map: The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 1214

5. The Thirteenth-Century Crusades to the Levant and North Africa

The Fourth Crusade in the Levant and the Rise of an Armenian Crusader Kingdom

Regional Map: The Crusader States, including the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, c. 1204

Expedition to Egypt: The Fifth Crusade, 1217–21

Strategic Map: Crusader Movements in Egypt during the Fifth Crusade, May 1218–November 1219

Strategic Map: Crusader Movements in Egypt during the Fifth Crusade, May–August 1221

Diplomatic Compromise: The Sixth Crusade, 1228–9

The ‘Barons’ Crusade’, New Regional Alliances and the Battle of La Forbie

Tactical Maps: The Battle of La Forbie, 17–18 October 1244

Regional Map: The Latin East and the Ayyubid Sultanate, c. 1248

Return to Egypt: St Louis’ Seventh Crusade, 1248–52

Strategic Map: Maritime and Land Routes of St Louis’ Seventh Crusade in the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant, September 1248–May 1254

Tactical Maps: The Second Battle of Mansurah, 8 February 1250

Death of a King in a Foreign Land: St Louis’ Eighth Crusade, 1270

6. Mamluks, Mongols and End of the Levantine Crusades

Rise of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt

‘Storm from the East’: The Mongol Invasion of the Near East

Strategic Map: The Mongol Invasion of the Near East, 1256–8

The Mongol Invasion of the Levant and the Battle of Ayn Jalut

Strategic Map: Mongol and Mamluk Movements in the Levant, 1260

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Ayn Jalut, 3 September 1260

An English Prince in Palestine: Edward’s Ninth Crusade, 1271–2

Strategic Map: Mamluk, Mongol and Crusader Operations during the Ninth Crusade, 1271

The Fall of Acre and the End of Outremer

Strategic Map: The Crusader States on the Eve of the Siege of Acre, 1291

Tactical Map: Mamluk and Crusader Positions during the Siege of Acre, mid-April 1291

Tactical Map: The Failed Nocturnal Crusader Sortie, 15–16 April 1291

Tactical Maps: The Mamluk Final Assault on Acre, Morning of 18 May 1291

Conclusion: The Consequences and Legacy of the Latin Crusades in the East

Minor Crusades in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans at the End of the Medieval Crusading Era

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Nicopolis, 25 September 1396

Strategic Map: Crusader Movements along the Danube during the Crusades of Nicopolis and Varna, 1396 and 1443–4

Tactical Maps: The Battle of Varna, 10 November 1444

Regional Map: The Ottoman Empire on the Eve of the Conquest of Constantinople, c. 1451

The Consequences of the Latin Crusades in the East

The Legacy of the Latin Crusades in the East

Glossary of Important Personalities

Glossary of Military Terms

Notes

Select Bibliography

Preface

Preface to Both Volumes

In 2012 Pen and Sword Books published our Road to Manzikert: Byzantine and Islamic Warfare, 527–1071, a treatment of martial relations between Byzantium and Arabic and Seljuk Turkish Muslim civilizations culminating in the battle of Manzikert on 26 August 1071. The Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan’s (r.1063–72) victory over Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes (r.1068–71) that dreadful day opened Anatolia to Islamization and Turkish settlement over the next decade, resulting in the loss of most of the peninsula to Islamic expansion. A generation later, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r.1081–1118) requested military aid from the papacy to assist in the recovery of Anatolia and perhaps regain the Levant and Jerusalem for Christendom. He was also seeking to rein in the Norman threat to his western frontier through diplomacy with the Holy See. Byzantine emperors had used Catholic mercenaries before in their wars to secure or expand their borders, and it is likely Alexios was asking for a few hundred knights and their men-at-arms to assist in a sustained offensive deep into Asia Minor. It is doubtful that he anticipated the tens of thousands of Catholic soldiers and pilgrims that descended on Constantinople in 1096, the opening phase of Europe’s Levantine crusades. In many ways, our Road to Manzikert should be seen as the first volume of a three-volume treatment of warfare in the eastern Mediterranean, a prologue to the 200-year Catholic occupation of Syria and Palestine that witnessed extraordinary cooperation between church and state, between Pope, king and Holy Roman Emperor over the duration of the high middle ages (c. 1000–c. 1300). However, the genesis of crusading ideology began earlier and closer to home in 711 in the already centuries-old conflict in Iberia between the small Catholic kingdoms in the north and al-Andalus, the Islamic-controlled areas of what would become Spain and Portugal and continued through the late middle ages (c. 1300–c. 1500) with missionary wars in southern Spain, the Baltic and the Balkans against the rising Muslim Ottoman Empire.

Europe’s age of crusades is the topic of this two-volume work, one that attempts to give the reader a survey of this clash of civilizations and cultures from a military history perspective. It also endeavours to discuss the evolution and differences between the two forms of medieval holy war – jihad and crusade, and how these religious doctrines were used by religious and political leaders to recruit for and justify war with the unbelievers, whether infidel, pagan or heretic. Volume one, Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East, traces the origins and course of the so-called nine numbered crusades first called to arms by Pope Urban II (p.1088–99) in November of 1095 and ending with the fall of Acre, the last Catholic stronghold in Palestine, in May 1291. Volume two, Warfare in the Age of Crusades: Europe, focuses on missionary war on the continent against perceived enemies of Catholicism, the Muslim infidel in Iberia, Slavic, Balt and Finnic pagans in the Baltic region, and Cathar heretics in southern France and Hussite heretics in Bohemia. Together, both volumes endeavour to highlight the role of significant commanders and the battles and campaigns they fought in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean over this half-millennia of medieval history. Special attention is paid to the military tactics and martial technologies used by belligerents and the unique institutions born in this period of holy war. Crusading took place in several theatres of operations stretching from Iberia to Mesopotamia, from Tunisia to the Gulf of Finland, requiring western European knights to adapt to numerous fighting styles. Catholic soldiers faced the Senegalese Black Guard and Berber armies on the plains of Castile, fought campaigns in the dead of winter against Prussians, Livonians and Russians, and rode against a multitude of mounted archers from the Eurasian steppe, most notably Seljuks Turks, Mamluks and Mongols, in their defence of the Latin East. In the Catholic world, monastic military orders like the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights aided both Pope and prince, defending conquered regions in the Holy Land, Iberia and the Baltic, while in the Islamic Near East, mamluk slave-soldiers first served their Arabic masters, then usurped them to become rulers themselves. Both knight brother and slave-soldier were faithful warriors of God, cruel and effective instruments of religious expansion. And throughout the crusading era, new military technologies were introduced, including improvements in fortification and siegecraft, arms and armour, horse breeding and barding, and during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, gunpowder artillery and handguns.

Even taken together, these two volumes do not attend to be comprehensive in their coverage, but instead provide the reader with an introduction to crusading warfare from a predominantly military history perspective. Like their predecessor, Road to Manzikert, these monographs utilize numerous regional and strategic maps to assist the reader in geographical context, while the strength of these works remain the multiphase tactical maps designed to explain the origins, course and outcome of important battlefield engagements during the crusader era. As before, primary source commentary is provided to present differing perspectives on these campaigns, and hopefully bring the reader closer to the events. Modern analysis supported by current scholarship is presented as well, however, in the end, the conclusions presented are entirely ours and ours alone.

Preface to Warfare in the Age of Crusades: the Latin East

This book, Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East, begins where Road to Manzikert ends with the Seljuk occupation of most of Anatolia and Alexios’ request for military aid. Organized into six chapters, it focuses on the 200-year period (c. 1100–c. 1300) when 9 numbered crusading expeditions were launched to seize, expand and then protect Catholic holdings in the eastern Mediterranean. Most of these Catholic campaigns reached their destination of Syria, Palestine or Egypt, while others fell short of their original objective. Of these nine numbered crusades, the First Crusade (1096–9) is considered the most effective for it captured the Holy City of Jerusalem for Catholicism, and in its wake, the four Levantine crusader states were established (First and Second Latin Kingdoms of Jerusalem, 1099–1291; County of Edessa, 1098–1150; the Principality of Antioch, 1099–1268; and the County of Tripoli, 1104–1289). In the thirteenth century a Second Crusade (1147–9) was launched to retake Edessa but was diverted and transformed into a disastrous campaign that failed to take Damascus, while the Third Crusade (1189–92) and all subsequent numbered crusades all had the objective of retaking Jerusalem (lost in 1187) and reestablishing Catholic control over the Holy Land. Drawn by the wealth of Egypt and a desire to initiate the recapture of the Holy City from the Nile Delta, the Fifth Crusade (1217–21) and Seventh Crusade (1248–54) focused on the Egyptian city of Damietta, and both expeditions failed in the rising waters of the Nile. One crusade, the Sixth (1228–9), resulted in a truce and opening of Jerusalem to Catholic pilgrims for a time, while another missionary war, the Fourth Crusade (1202–4) witnessed a Venetian-led crusader army attacking and intimidating rival Catholic states in the Adriatic before intriguing with a Byzantine prince and storming the walls of Constantinople. The result of the expedition was creation of a temporary Latin Empire of Constantinople (1202–61), the weakening of the Byzantine Empire, and the souring of relations between Catholicism and orthodoxy for centuries. The final two expeditions, the Eight Crusade (1270) and much smaller Ninth Crusade (1271–2), both endeavoured to take back Jerusalem, but the first disintegrated after the death of the French king Louis IX (‘St Louis’, r.1226–70) from dysentery in Tunisia, while remnants of this expedition, led by Prince Edward of England (later King Edward I, r.1272–1307) failed to have much of a military impact in the Levant. The fall of Acre in 1291 is usually considered the end of the Levantine crusades, however, crusader campaigns continued against Mamluk possession from Christian bases in Cyprus into the fourteenth century, and Catholic Europe continued to mobilize for holy war against the Ottoman expansion in the Balkans for the remainder of the medieval era, resulting in the failed crusades of Nicopolis in 1396 and Varna in 1444, the last major land campaign in Europe’s age of crusades. The Ottoman menace intensified after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, marking the end of the once-mighty Byzantine Empire. Smaller crusades were called to arms by the papacy and its Holy Leagues against the Turkish threat in the sixteenth century, however, Europe was now involved with a new form of religious wars, internecine conflicts that pitted Catholics against Protestants and eventually accepted an Islamic European power as part of the diplomatic and military fabric of Europe.

Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East approaches the numbered crusades chronologically, moving forward in time with the number of the chapter usually associated with the number designation of the crusade (Chapter 1 examines the First Crusade, Chapter 2 the Second Crusade). This organization changes with Chapter 5 which delves into the military history of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh crusades of the first half of the thirteenth century, while Chapter 6 completes the history of the Levantine crusades by investigating the Eighth and Ninth crusades and the fall of Acre in 1291. The bookends of this work, its introduction and conclusion, are also chronological in nature, with the introduction describing the origin and differences of the doctrines of crusade and jihad and just war theory before briefly tracing the expansion of Catholic Christianity, the conversion of Germanic kingdoms, the Muslim, Magyar and Viking invasions and rise of feudalism. This violent period of early medieval history resulted in the creation of a knightly class that sought honour and glory and preyed on each other as well as noncombatants in Catholic society. With the rise of a stronger papacy seeking more secular influence, attempts were made to legislate this violent behaviour with the Peace and Truce of God in the tenth and eleventh centuries, a religious movement that would ultimately produce papal monarchy in the form of powerful popes who used canon law combined with moral influence to shape church-state relations in their favour and ultimately launch Europe’s age of crusade. The Latin East concludes with a brief study of Catholic missionary war in the eastern Mediterranean against the rising Ottoman Sultanate, and a discussion of the consequences and legacy of the crusading era.

Acknowledgments and a Note on Transliterations

Once again I am joined by my excellent cartographers, Joshua B. Allfree and John Cairns, who illustrated our previous four books, Warfare in the Ancient World, Warfare in the Medieval World, Hannibal’s Last Battle: Zama and the Fall of Carthage and Road to Manzikert: Byzantine and Islamic Warfare, 527–1071. As a trained historian and professional US Army soldier, Joshua has given me much-needed feedback on the manuscript while continuing his work as a tactical map illustrator. Additionally, John Cairns’ outstanding regional maps give important historical and geographical context to the text. These outstanding maps give these books their uniqueness and allow readers to easily visualize the military movements and strategic context of the battles covered. Writing a book is always a difficult endeavour, one that requires a great many sacrifices from more than just the authors of the work. Writing a two-volume treatment doubles that sacrifice. First and foremost, we would like to thank Pen &Sword Books for their dedication to this project. Thank you to Rupert Harding for commissioning this work, and to our editor Alison Flowers for her wise counsel and editing prowess. I would also like to extend a special thanks to my superiors at the American Public University System, specifically my Programme and Faculty directors in the Department of History and Military History, Richard Hines and Jeffrey Stone, for their support of my academic endeavours outside the classroom. But most importantly, we would like to thank our family and friends for their unswerving support during the process of creating these books, support that is always instrumental to our success.

Because of the scope and nature of this two-volume study, numerous languages are transliterated into English. For Greek words, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (1991) provides the guide for most technical terms and titles, although the macrons on Greek long vowels have been omitted. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (2009) is used for Arab, Persian, Turkish and Mongol terms, while Routledge’s Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia (2003) was consulted for the languages associated with the Iberian Reconquista. Again, accents have been removed from most of these transliterated words. However, this is an imperfect solution to the challenges of writing about the military histories of so many connecting civilizations throughout Eurasia and North Africa over an 800-year time span, and any confusion created by inconsistencies is regretted by the authors of this work.

List of Maps and Map Legends

Regional Maps

Tactical Maps

Strategic Maps

Chapter Chronologies

Introduction: The Development of the Crusading Ethos and the Rise of Papal Monarchy

1054

Pope Leo IX’s papal legate excommunicates patriarch of Constantinople, initiating East-West Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The medieval papacy will continue to seek the submission of the Orthodox Church throughout the age of crusades.

1071

Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan defeat the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenes at battle of Manzikert (26 August). Seljuk conquest of most of Anatolia and the Levant by 1081, including Jerusalem in 1078.

1075

Pope Gregory VII publishes Dictatus papae (Dictates of the Pope) to clarify papal prerogatives over church and state, reinforcing the power of papal monarchy in western Europe.

1090

Founding of the Nizari Ismaili sect of Assassins at Alamut in northern Iran.

1095

In March, Pope Urban II given a letter from Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requesting Catholic military assistance to fend off Seljuk expansion in Anatolia.

Urban II calls to arms the First Crusade (27 November) at church council in Clermont, France, directing crusade preachers across western Europe to raise an army to retake the Holy Land. The papal crusade indulgence is used as a recruiting tool.

1. Victory in the Levant: The First Crusade

1096

Various crusader armies in western and southern Europe begin to assemble and march towards rendezvous point at Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

In May and June, German Crusade massacres Jewish communities in the Rhineland before marching to Constantinople. Peter the Hermit’s Peasants’ Crusade arrives at Constantinople first and is transported by Alexios I to Anatolia. The Peasants’ Crusade is annihilated by Seljuk forces at battle of Civetot (21 October) near Nicaea.

1096–7

Between November and May, main crusader armies reach Constantinople and cross into Anatolia with Byzantine guides and logistical support.

1097

Siege and surrender of Nicaea (6 May 18 June) and crusader victory over Seljuks at battle of Dorylaeum (1 July), opening the march across Anatolia (July–September).

Part of the crusader host under Tancred and Baldwin of Boulogne veers off to Armenia to carve out crusader territories in greater Armenia stretching east from southeastern Anatolia to Euphrates River.

Main crusader army reaches northern Syria and begins long siege of Antioch (21 October–4 June). Arrival of Italian support ships at recently seized port city of Saint Simeon.

1098

In early March, the first crusader state, the County of Edessa, forms with Baldwin of Boulogne as its first ruler.

Antioch falls to crusader siege on 4 June just before a Seljuk relief army under Kerbogha invests the city. Crusader victory outside of city walls at battle of Antioch (28 June) and withdrawal of Turkish forces. Bohemond of Taranto becomes first prince of Antioch.

The Fatimids of Egypt seize Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks (26 August).

1099

Unsuccessful crusader siege of Arqa (February–May). Crusader army begins march to Palestine along coast (May–June), capturing important port cities along the way. Crusader host turns inland at Jaffa on 3 June and reaches the walls of Jerusalem on 7 June.

The crusaders capture Jerusalem after a five-week siege (7 June–15 July). Massacre of Muslims and Jews. Godfrey of Bouillon elected as first ‘Protector of the Holy Sepulture’. Later rulers of Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem take title of king. Three crusader states form from north to south; the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Crusader victory over Fatimid forces at battle of Ascalon (12 August) in southern Palestine, temporarily securing the southern frontier.

2. The Rise of Outremer and the Second Crusade

1000–1100

New crusader recruits arrive from Catholic Europe and assemble in Constantinople in autumn of 1100 and spring of 1101. Led by First Crusade veterans Raymond IV of Toulouse and Stephen of Blois, army sets out across Anatolia for the Levant. A large combined Seljuk and Danishmend army defeated the crusader host in a series of engagements, culminating in battle of Mersivan in early August 1101 and decisive Turkish victory.

1104

Coastal city of Acre falls to crusaders after four-year siege in May. Acre will be an important port and the de facto capital of the crusader states from 1192–1291. Seljuk victory over crusader army at battle of Harran in western Mesopotamia stops Latin northeastward expansion.

The fourth crusader state, the County of Tripoli, forms along coast of northern Lebanon and western Syria, with its coastal namesake finally falling into crusader hands after a six-year siege in 1109.

1113

Knight Hospitallers founded as a hospice for pilgrims in 1113 but evolves into a full monastic military order during the twelfth century.

1120

Knights Templar founded in Jerusalem by Hugh of Payns and several companions, gaining official papal sanction by Honorius II as a monastic military order at Council of Troyes in 1128.

1123

Chaired by Pope Calixtus II, First Lateran Council extends crusader privileges to Christian soldiers fighting Muslims in the Spanish Reconquista, officially expanding the Catholic crusades into a new region.

1144

Crusader capital of Edessa falls to the Turkish governor of Mosul, Imad al-Din Zengi, in December. The fall of Edessa is the first major strategic setback for the Latins in the Levant.

1145

Pope Eugenius III issues bull on 1 December calling to arms Second Crusade to take back Edessa and expand Christendom in the Baltic against the pagan Wends, adding another region to the Catholic crusades.

1146

March, St Bernard of Clairvaux preaches crusade at Vézelay, France. King Louis VII of France and many of his nobles commit to Second Crusade. The German king Conrad III takes up the cross as well.

1147

Crusader military activity takes place in the Baltic (July–September) and Iberia (October). Crusaders siege and take Lisbon (1 July–24 October). In the autumn, Louis VII and Conrad set off separately across Anatolia. Conrad’s army destroyed by Seljuk Turks in October at the Second battle of Dorylaeum (25 October). A wounded Conrad returns by sea to Constantinople and remaining Germans join forces with the French.

1148

Louis’ army mauled by Seljuk Turks at battle of Mount Cadmus (6–7 January) and limps to Byzantine Adalia on southern coast of Anatolia. Crusader host splits, with Louis and nobles taking sea passage to Antioch and infantry marching to Levant under duress though enemy territory. Conrad sails to Levant.

Abandoning the idea of retaking Edessa, this ‘kings’ crusade’ led by Louis VII, Conrad III and Baldwin III of Jerusalem unsuccessfully sieges Damascus (24–8 July). Louis and Conrad depart the Holy Land failing to expand crusader territories.

1149

Zengi’s son and successor, Nur al-Din, defeats the army of Antioch at battle of Inab (29 July), killing Prince Raymond.

1153

King Baldwin III of Jerusalem takes fortified southern Palestinian port of Ascalon in August, expanding southwestern frontier.

1154

Damascus submits to Nur al-Din in April, giving Zengids and later Ayyubid rulers in Syria a base of operations against crusader states.

3. The Kingdom of Jerusalem under Siege and the Third Crusade

1163

King Amalric I of Jerusalem begins series of military campaigns against Fatimid Egypt. New expeditions take place in 1164, 1167, 1168 and 1169, taking advantage of Fatimid civil wars, but fails to permanently extend Latin holdings.

1169

Nur al-Din promotes Kurdish general Saladin and orders him to stabilize Egypt, ending Fatimid Caliphate.

Crusader-Byzantine alliance marches and sails from Acre to Egypt along coast but fails to capture Damietta after two-month siege (25 October–19 December). Successful defence of Damietta led by Saladin.

1174

Death of Nur al-Din. Saladin proclaims Ayyubid Sultanate in Egypt and usurps Nur al-Din’s successor in Damascus (October), forging a new regional empire.

1175–6

‘Old Man of the Mountain’ orders operations against Ayyubids. Saladin attacked twice (1175 and 1176) by Nizari Ismaili sect of Assassins while campaigning against Assassin strongholds near Aleppo. Saladin withdraws and does not target Ismaili sect again.

1181–3

Reynald of Chatillon defies King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and breaks crusader truce with Saladin and raids Muslim pilgrimage routes to Mecca and Red Sea ports.

1182–3

Saladin unsuccessfully sieges crusader coastal stronghold of Beirut before turning his attention to Syria, adding Aleppo in 1183.

1186

Mosul submits to Saladin in March, extending Ayyubid lands into northern Mesopotamia; Guy of Lusignan crowned as king of Jerusalem.

1187

Reynald of Chatillon defies Guy of Jerusalem and breaks crusader truce with Saladin and raids caravan route from Cairo to Damascus. Saladin uses action as casus belli for hostilities against Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Saladin and large Muslim host defeats large crusader army at battle of Horns of Hattin (3–4 July). Victory opens region to rapid Ayyubid conquests. By end of August the Latin crusaders lose fifty-two cities, towns and fortifications to Saladin’s army, including the important coastal cities of Sidon and Acre.

Jerusalem falls to Saladin after short siege (20 September–2 October). King Guy and relic of the True Cross held for ransom, while Reynald is executed.

Conrad of Montferrat arrives in Tyre and successfully defends crusader port city from Ayyubid siege.

Reeling from loss of the Holy City, Pope Gregory VIII calls to arms Third Crusade on 29 October.

1188

‘Saladin tithe’ is instituted in England and France to finance a joint Anglo-French crusade.

1189

Guy of Jerusalem begins crusader siege of Acre (28 August 1189–12 July 1191). Recovery of Acre is first objective of Third Crusade.

Third Crusade is another ‘kings’ crusade’ with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, French king Philip II Augustus and English king Richard I assembling forces. German crusade sets out towards Anatolia.

1190

Anglo-French crusaders depart from Vézelay, France in July, sail to Sicily, attack Messina and winter on island.

1191

Emperor Frederick crosses Anatolia, defeating a Seljuk army at the battle of Iconium (18 May), but drowns in the Saleph River on 10 June in Cilician Armenia. German crusade continues to Acre under command of Leopold of Austria.

King John sails to Acre in May and adds his contingents to siege. Part of Richard’s fleet damaged in storm off coast of Cyprus and crews captured by Byzantines. Richard’s army captures Cyprus (5 May–1 June 1191) and adds island to his Angevin possessions before joining Third Crusade at Acre in June.

Acre falls to crusaders on 12 July. Leopold and John depart for Europe. Richard orders massacre of Muslim prisoners before marching down coast to Jaffa.

Richard defeats Saladin at battle of Arsuf (7 September) and takes Jaffa before turning inland towards Jerusalem. Third Crusade aborts Jerusalem campaign (November and December) and returns to coast.

1192

Ascalon reoccupied by crusaders and fortified in January in preparation for Egyptian campaign.

Election of Conrad of Montferrat as new king of Jerusalem by crusader barons in May against Richard’s wishes. Conrad murdered by Assassins in Tyre before coronation.

Second crusader campaign against Jerusalem aborts in June due to political infighting. Crusaders return to coast and retake Jaffa from Saladin in August.

Richard signs three-year truce with Saladin before departing for Europe on 9 October. Third Crusade ends.

Failure of Third crusade to retake Jerusalem ends First Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1187) and begins Second Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1192–1291) with Acre as de facto capital of crusader states.

Richard captured during journey home by Leopold of Austria in December and turned over to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI for ransom. Richard released in February 1194.

1193

Saladin dies on 4 March precipitating power struggle among his Ayyubid heirs in Egypt and Syria.

1196

Saladin’s brother al-Adil (Saphadin) becomes emir of Damascus in 1196 and replaces Saladin’s eldest son as sultan of Egypt in 1200, reuniting Syria and Egypt under one Ayyubid ruler.

4. The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Constantinople

1198

Teutonic Knights granted a charter by Pope Celestine III and will campaign in the Levant before concentrating their martial efforts in the Baltic Crusades beginning in the thirteenth century.

Pope Innocent III publishes Post miserabile in August, papal bull calling to arms the Fourth Crusade.

1199

Numerous nobles take the cross at a tournament at Ecry-sur-Aisne in northern France in November, led by Count Theobald III of Champagne.

1200

Count Baldwin IX of Flanders takes up cross in February, adding Flemish troops and treasure to upcoming expedition.

1201

Venice contracts to carry crusaders to Holy Land in February with departure date from Venetian lagoon on 29 June 1202. Resulting Treaty of Venice requires a payment of 85,000 German marks for passage.

Theobald of Champagne dies in May. Leadership of Fourth Crusade passes to Marquis Boniface I of Montferrat.

Alexios, son of the deposed Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos, escapes from prison in Constantinople and travels to German court to seek assistance to recover throne from usurper uncle Alexios III.

1202

Crusaders arrive in Venice but do not have sufficient funds to fulfil treaty obligation. Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice strikes a deal to use crusaders against rival Adriatic city of Zara.

Siege and fall of Zara (10–24 November) to Venetian-sponsored crusader army and winters in the city.

1203

On New Year’s day Byzantine ambassadors from exiled Prince Alexios meet with crusader captains at Zara and offer 200,000 marks to assist him with reclaiming the Byzantine throne for Isaac. Venetian-crusader alliance signs Treaty of Zara promising aid in January.

Innocent III excommunicates members of Fourth Crusade for attacking Catholic city of Zara. Pope later rescinds excommunication of crusaders but not Venetians, whom he blames for transgression.

Crusader fleet sails from Adriatic through Aegean to Bosporus (May–June), making landfall and setting up base across from Constantinople at Skoutarion in Anatolia.

Soldiers and sailors of Fourth Crusade cross Bosporus on 5 July and attack and take city of Galata across Golden Horn to the north of Constantinople. Galata serves as fortified base for future operations against Constantinople. On 13 July crusaders march east along northern shore of Golden Horn, seize and repair bridge and cross to Constantinople’s side, making another camp outside the Blachernae Palace.

Constantinople falls to crusading forces in July after military confrontation west of Theodosian Walls. Venetian-set conflagration destroys 125 acres and dehouses perhaps 20,000 Byzantine citizens in Blachernae district. Alexios IV flees city to Thrace.

Deposed Emperor Isaac II freed and resumes rule alongside his son, Alexios IV. Unfortunately, there is no money to pay the crusaders and the Byzantine nobility are infuriated. As part of Treaty of Zara, Catholic cleric is installed as patriarch of Constantinople, increasing friction between Eastern and Western churches.

Latin-set fire in Constantinople on 19 August burns for three days, consuming 450 acres of the capital’s most densely populated and oldest districts. An estimated 100,000 citizens lose their homes and businesses.

Crusader host delays promised departure to Levant due to insufficient funds and continues its presence north of Golden Horn in Galata. Sporadic clashes between Latins and Byzantines.

1204

Angry at continuing crusader presence, the Byzantine nobility re-imprisons Isaac II, strangles Alexios IV and installs Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos, brother-in-law of Alexios III, on the throne as Alexios V Doukas (February).

Crusaders launch successful direct amphibious assault against Constantinople’s northwestern Sea Walls (11–12 April), storm and brutally sack Byzantine capital for three days. Alexios V flees to Thrace. Pope Innocent III protests at the behaviour of the crusaders but accepts formal reunion of the Greek and Latin churches across Byzantium.

Baldwin of Flanders becomes the first Latin Emperor of Constantinople, which will last as a Catholic state from 1204–61. Boniface of Montferrat goes on to capture the city of Thessalonica and founds the Kingdom of Thessalonica.

After fall of Constantinople and declaration of Latin Empire, most crusaders return home to western Europe, while small contingents continue east to the Levant.

5. The Thirteenth-Century Crusades to the Levant and North Africa

1198

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1198–1375) founded with strong military, religious and economic ties to Catholic Europe.

1201

The War of the Antiochene Succession (1201–19) begins after death and disputed succession of Bohemond III of Antioch as Armenian Cilicia wrestled with the crusader principality resulting in the weakening of the Catholic Syrian state.

1203–4

Flemish, French and Italian soldiers attached to the Fourth Crusade arrive in Levant and help stabilize Ayyubid frontiers and participate in War of the Antiochene Succession.

1204–10

Truce between Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and Ayyubids. Crusaders reoccupy coastal cities of Sidon and Jaffa.

1209

Rise of the Cathar heresy in southern France spurs Pope Innocent III to proclaim Albigensian Crusade (1209–29) resulting in the confiscation of heretic lands and acts of extreme violence against the populations of numerous cities. Fourth Crusade veterans participate.

1210–11

Resumption of hostilities in the Levant between crusader states and Ayyubids.

1211

Hungarian king Andrew II asks Teutonic Knights to serve as eastern border guards in Transylvania against the Cumans-Kipchaks. He later expels them in 1225 for petitioning the papacy for official sponsorship. Teutonic Knights will later serve in Northern Crusades.

1212

Catholic victory over Berber-led Almohad Muslim army at the papal-sponsored battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 marks turning point in Reconquista in Spain.

1213

Innocent issues Quia maior in the spring directing all the resources of Catholic Europe towards the future liberation of the Holy Land, including an indulgence to those who did not go on crusade themselves, but instead financially supported crusading effort.

1215

Innocent chairs Fourth Lateran Council in November where Fifth Crusade to Holy Land is planned.

1217

Duke Leopold VI of Austria and King Andrew II of Hungary depart for the Levant in August, arriving via Cyprus at Acre and campaigning in Lebanon and Palestine. Andrew departs for Europe in early 1218.

1218

Remainder of Fifth Crusade under King John of Jerusalem lands in Nile Delta in May and invests Damietta. Tower of the Chain captured 24 August.

Pope Honorius III sends Cardinal Pelagius of Albano to the Holy Land to lead Fifth Crusade.

1219

Damietta falls to crusaders on 5 November. Damietta used as forward operating base for proposed campaign against Cairo, but campaign is delayed.

1221

Crusaders set out for Cairo under the command of Cardinal Pelagius in July, but column is stopped at Mansurah by Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil. Crusader hosts camps at Mansurah.

Al-Kamil opens Nile’s sluices and traps crusader army which begins retreat to Damietta under Ayyubid attack. Pelagius relinquishes command to King John. After battle of Mansurah (25–30 August), crusader