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The Crusades

The Crusades (1095-1314)

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The story of the Crusades, the Knights Templar, the Hospitallers and the Tutonic Knights.
Introduction

The crusades were an early battle for control of the region of the middle-east known as the 'Holy Land'.  As a centre for three great religions; Islam, Christianity and Judaism - this region is still in dispute in modern times.

There were a number of 'crusades' between 1096 and 1291, usually instigated by a head of the Christian church.  There were terrible atrocities committed by both Christians and Muslims throughout this period, but the Muslim forces eventually won control of the region.

Throughout this period several 'orders' of knights were formed, essentially to protect (the Templars and Tutonic Knights) and care for (the Hospitallers) Christian pilgrims visiting the area.  Although militarily answerable to the Christian clergy, their power, wealth and influence after the crusades eventually led the church to betray them, and most were killed or disbanded.

A remnant of the order of Hospitallers survive today as the St John's Ambulance.

Timeline
    1070  CEPossible founding date of the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem by Amalfi merchants.
 13 Nov 1093  CEBattle of Alnwick
   Nov 1093  CEDonald Bane becomes King of Scotland
    1095  CEThe First Crusade (1095-1099) is initiated when Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus requests help in reconquering the lost territory of Asia Minor. Western Europe sends enormous support to take Jerusalem from the control of Islam.
    1095  CEPope Urban II preaches the first Crusade.
    1098  CEThe crusaders of the First Crusade defeat Prince Redwan of Aleppo capturing Antioch and most of Syria, killing the Turkish inhabitants.
 15 Jul 1099  CEJerusalem fell to the crusaders of the First Crusade who slaughtered the Jewish and Muslim inhabitants.
    1099  CECrusaders beat Saracens in Battle of Ascalon
    1099  CECrusaders set fire to Mara Syria
    1099  CEThe first Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria.
    1099  CEAfter the Crusaders take Jerusalem, they divide their new territories into four principalities.
    1110  CECrusaders march into Beirut causing a bloodbath.
    1113  CEHospital of St. John recognized by papal bull as separate order.
    1118  CEHugh of Payens of Burgundy and Godfrey of Saint Adhemar, a Fleming, with seven other knights were credited with founding the Templars whose headquarters was on or near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
    1126  CEHospital of St. John displayed possible military attributes, its 'constable' was cited in sources.
    1127  CEPossible date of the founding of the German Hospital of St. Mary in Jerusalem.
    1128  CEProbable circulation of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's 'Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae'.
   Jan 1129  CECouncil of Troyes recognized the Temple as an order.
    1131  CEKing Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre attempted to turn over the kingdom to the Templars, Hospitallers, and Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in his will.
    1143  CETwo sources of Pope Celestine II mention a German hospital in Jerusalem in some kind of dispute with the Hospital of St. John and the German hospital was put under the supervision of the Hospital of St. John.
    1147  CEAccording to a legend - a Crusader taken prisoner returns with papermaking skills.
    1147  CEThe beginning of the Second Crusade (1147-1149).
 24 Jun 1148  CEDamascus: Attack
    1160  CE(1160-1170) John of Würzburg mentioned the German hospital in Jerusalem in his Description of the Holy Land.
    1164  CETemplars attempt a reconciliation.
    1165  CERamjbam & his family reach Acre Palestine.
    1172  CEGerman monk Theodorich wrote 'Guide to the Holy Land'.
    1176  CESophia, Countess of Holland, was buried in the German hospital in Jerusalem.
  1 May 1187  CEHospitallers and Templars defeated by the Muslims at Nazareth.
  4 Jul 1187  CEBattle of Hattin lost by crusaders when Hospitallers, Templars, and the 'flower of the nobility' are devastated.
   Nov 1187  CEThe Third Crusade is ordered (1187-1192) after the Muslim capture of Jerusalem. Richard I, future King of England, takes the Cross. Richard I, German Emperor Frederick I and French King Philip Augustus lead the cursade.
    1189  CEEmperor Frederik I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg.
 16 Mar 1190  CEThe Crusades began the massacre of Jews in York, England. The Jewish population of York fled to Clifford's Tower overlooking the rivers Ouse and Foss during an anti-Jewish riot. A crazed friar set fire to the tower and rather than be captured, the inhabitants committed mass suicide.
   Sep 1190  CEKing Guy of Jerusalem awarded Teutonic Order or 'Teutonic Knights' a portion of a tower in Acre. The order perhaps shared the tower with the English Order of the Hospital of St. Thomas.
    1190  CEThe crusaders lay siege to Acre.
    1190  CECrusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England.
  6 Feb 1191  CEQuestionable bull of Pope Clement III approving the German hospitaller order at Acre.
 10 Apr 1191  CERichard's fleet leave Sicily
 20 Apr 1191  CEPhilip V arrives in Acre.
  6 May 1191  CERichard sails to Cyprus.
 11 May 1191  CEMeeting in Limassol
 12 May 1191  CERichard the Lionheart married Bernegaria of Navarre, daughter of Sancho VI, King of Navarre, in Limassol, Cyprus.
  1 Jun 1191  CERichard controls Cyprus.
  6 Jun 1191  CERichard arrives at Tyre and attacks Acre.
 12 Jul 1191  CESiege of Acre ended in crusader victory.
     1192  CEThe third crusade ends.
   Apr 1195  CECount Palatinate Henry of Champagne provided Teutonic Knights the house of Theodore of Sarepta in Tyre.
   Mar 1196  CECount Palatinate Henry conferred possessions in Jaffa (Joppa) on Teutonic Knights.
 21 Dec 1196  CEPope Celestine III took the 'Hospital of St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem' under his protection.
    1196  CEHermann von Salza may have accompanied Landgraf Hermann von Thüringen to the Holy Land.
 20 May 1197  CEGerman emperor Henry VI gave the Teutonic Knights a hospital in Barletta, Italy.
 18 Jul 1197  CEHenry VI gave Teutonic Knights a church and cloister (of the Holy Trinity) in Palermo, Sicily
  5 Mar 1198  CETeutonic Knights established as a military order in a ceremony in Acre's Temple which was attended by the secular and clerical leaders of the Latin Kingdom.
   Aug 1198  CEPope Innocent III proclaimes the the fourth crusade (1198-1205).
    1198  CEFirst military action of the Teutonic Knights with King Amalric II of Jerusalem. Amalric gave them (in August) a tower in Acre, formerly belonging to the Order of St. Nicholas.
    1198  CEThe Fourth Crusade was funded by Enrico Dandolo, doge of Venice.
 19 Feb 1199  CEBull of Pope Innocent III confirmed the Teutonic Knights' wearing of the Templars' white mantle and following of the Hospitallers' rule.
   Aug 1200  CETeutonic Knights paid the sons of Theodore of Sarepta 200 besants for the house in Tyre to complete the 1195 deal.
    1202  CE(1202-1204) The Crusading effort led by Boniface of Montferrat was diverted from Palestine or Egypt to Constantinople with influence of Venetians and pretender to the Byzantine throne.
    1202  CEGerold of Bozen gave the Teutonic Knights a hospital in Bozen.
   Apr 1204  CEThe crusaders of the Fourth Crusade capture Constantinople. The sack of Constantinople causes a firm Byzantine hatred of the West.
     1205  CEThe end of the fourth crusade.
    1205  CEWilliam of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin conquered Patras, Andravida, Pundico Castro, Modon, and Coron in the Morea; Battle of Koundoura won by William of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin with about 600 men over 5,000 Byzantine Greeks
    1206  CEStatutes of Margat adopted by the Hospitallers in annual chapter meeting.
    1208  CEInnocent III calls for the Albigensian Crusade (1208-1229) in order to destroy the heretical threat of the Albigensians.
    1208  CETeutonic Knights 'marshal' appears in the sources which indicates the military nature of the order.
    1209  CE(early 1209) Geoffrey Villehardouin, Prince of Achaia, in dividing up the Peloponnesus in his capital of Andravida, gave the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights four knightly fees; the Teutonic Knights' fee is near Kalamata.
    1209  CETeutonic Knights side with Hospitallers and barons in Acre against the Templars and prelates; origin of long-standing opposition between the Templars and Teutonic Knights.
  3 Oct 1210  CEProbable date of election of Hermann von Salza as grand master of the Teutonic Knights; the date coincided with the date of the marriage in Tyre of John of Brienne to Mary; it was also the date of John's coronation as King of Jerusalem.
    1211  CEBurzenland settled by the Teutonic Knights with the authority of Hungary's King Andrew II.
   Jul 1212  CESpain reconquers the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims in the name of Christianity.
   Jul 1212  CEPeter II of Aragon defeats the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa.
    1212  CEAdomadana given to the Teutonic Knights by King Leo of Armenia.
    1212  CEThe Children's Crusade, in spring th German phase and in June the French phase.
 12 Sep 1213  CESimon de Montfort defeated Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France. Peter II is killed.
 12 Feb 1214  CEKing Leo of Armenia granted Teutonic Knights Amudain, the castle of Sespin, and more.
   Nov 1215  CEPope Innocent III called the fifth crusade (1215-1229) at the Fourth Lateran Council (12th ecumenical council) in Rome. Hermann von Salza was probably present representing the order of the Teutonic Knights.
 18 Feb 1216  CEInnocent III issued a bull of protection for the Teutonic Knights.
   Dec 1216  CEHermann von Salza attended Frederick II's court in Nurembergw which was the first meeting between the Teutonic Knights' grand master and the emperor.
    1216  CEThe Dominican order is founded by St. Dominic of Spain and was authorized by Innocent III. Its purpose is to convert Muslims and Jews and to put an end to heresy. The Dominicans eventually become the main administrators of inquisitorial trials.
 
 Feb 1217  CEThe Tutonic Knights' Hermann von Salza received possessions in Sicily from Frederick II while at Ulm.
 
 
24 Jun 1217  CEFrederick II granted the Teutonic Knights the same status as the Templars and Hospitallers in the Kingdom of Sicily.
 
 
  1218  CE(1218-1219) Patriarch of Jerusalem, church officials, Templars and Hospitallers advised Pelagius not to accept peace terms of Sultan al-Kamil to surrender Jerusalem; contrary advice offered by King John of Jerusalem, Earl Ranulf of Chester, and the German leaders
 
 
  1218  CE(May-Aug) Crusading army lands in Egypt; Hermann von Salza at Damietta; Saphadin died (1199-1218); al-Kamil, his son, became caliph (1218-1238); crusaders captured Damietta.
 
 
 Nov 1220  CEHermann von Salza was with Frederick II in Italy; first identified by name as Hermann von Salza in documents.
 
 
  1220  CE(Spring) Hermann von Salza of the Tutonic Knights went to Acre with King John of Jerusalem.
 
 
  1220  CELeopold VI of Austria presented the Teutonic Knights the site of the castle of Montfort near Acre.
 
 
9 Jan 1221  CEHonorius III gave 57 privileges to the Teutonic Knights. As an order, they now were on the same level as the Templars and the Hospitallers.
 
 
 Apr 1221  CEHermann von Salza accompanied the duke of Bavaria and other German nobles to Damietta. They arrived in May.
 
 
30 Aug 1221  CEBattle of Mansurah when the crusaders surrendered in Egypt (Templars led the rearguard action) subsequently there was a peace treaty. Hermann von Salza and the master of the Temple held as hostages by the Muslims.
 
 
  1222  CEThe 'Golden Bull' of Hungary, first issue.
 
 
  1223  CEHermann von Salza of the Tutonic Knights negotiated with the pope over Gunzelin.
 
 
  1224  CEHermann von Salza of the Tutonic Knights was involved in the Treaty of Dannenberg.
 
 
 Nov 1225  CEFrederick II married Isabella (Yolande) of Brienne and claimed the throne of Jerusalem.
 
 
  1225  CEThe Teutonic Knights were forcibly expelled from Burzenland by king Andrew II. Conrad of Masovia then requested aid from the Teutonic Knights in Prussia.
 
 
  1226  CEThe 'Golden Bull of Rimini' from Frederick II for the Teutonic Knights giving them wide-ranging authority in the name of the empire in Prussia.
 
 
  1227  CEMontfort rebuil and renamed Starkenberg.
 
 
18 Feb 1228  CEFrederick II took control of Jerusalem from the Egyptian Sultan al-Kamil by negociating a treaty. Hermann von Salza of the Tutonic Knights was with Frederick.
 
 
12 Mar 1228  CEHermann von Salza of the Tutonic Knights sent a letter to Pope Gregory IX from Joppa informing him about the treaty.
 
 
18 Mar 1228  CEBecause Frederick II was excommunicated by the Pope, he is crowned King of Jerusalem in the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem which was then the high court in the house of the Hospital of St. John.
 
 
18 Feb 1229  CEThe fith crusade ends when a treaty restores Jurusalem to the Franks.
 
 
 Apr 1229  CEFrederick II gave the Teutonic Knights the former house of Germans in Jerusalem and a house that once belonged to King Baldwin located in the Armenian street near the church of St. Thomas.
 
 
 Apr 1229  CEPeace of Paris ended Albigensian Crusade.
 
 
1 May 1229  CEAt odds with the Templars and Ibelins, Frederick II departed Acre because he feared losing Apulia to John of Brienne.
 
 
  1229  CEBetween 1229 and 1244, the German Hospital of St. Mary in Jerusalem is expanded.
 
 
  1230  CEKulm recognized by Pope Gregory IX as belonging to the Teutonic Knights.
 
 
  1231  CEGautier of Brienne gave the Teutonic Knights Beauvoir.
 
 
  1231  CETeutonic Knights' Hermann Balke advanced into Prussia.
 
 
  1234  CEPope took control of Prussia; leased it to the Teutonic Knights.
 
 
  1234  CETeutonic Knights won the battle at Sirguna, Prussia.
 
 
 Sep 1235  CEAndrew II of Hungary died and Bela IV succeeded him [until 1270].
 
 
  1235  CE(Spring) Dobriner Order incorporated into the Teutonic Knights which was approved by Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX.
 
 
23 Dec 1236  CEPope Gregory IX taxed the Peloponnesus to support crusading ventures and the preceptor of the Teutonic Knights was identified as one of three collectors of this tithing effort.
 
 
 Jul 1237  CEGeoffrey II of Achaia gave the Teutonic Knights a hospital in Andravida.
 
 
  1237  CEFrederick II's second Lombard campaign began. Hermann von Salza and the Tutonic Knights were at the Battle of Cortenuova.
 
 
  1237  CEThe Bishop of Riga sent a request to Rome that the Pope unite the German Knights of the Sword (the swordbrothers) and Knights of the Cross (the Tutonic Knights) into one order. The Pope agreed and the two orders agreed to fight under one magistrate.
 
 
  1238  CEFrederick II's third Lombard campaign, during which Hermann von Salza's health failed.
 
 
 Mar 1239  CEHermann von Salza of the Tutonic Knights, died in Salerno and was buried in Barletta.
 
 
 Mar 1239  CERobert de l'Isle donates property (Villegrot) near Veligosti to the Teutonic Knights.
 
 
9 Apr 1241  CEThe Battle of Liegnitz, when Mongols defeat army of Poles and Germans including Hospitallers, Templars, and Teutonic Knights.
 
 
5 Apr 1242  CERussians under Alexander Nevsky defeat an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights on Lake Peipus.
 
 
31 Oct 1246  CEPope Innocent IV transferred the Hospital of St. James to the Templars.
 
 
  1248  CEThe Seventh Crusade bagan [until 1254].
 
 
  1257  CE(1257-1261) Teutonic Knights bought large land complex (called Souf or Schuf) northeast of Sidon from Julian Grenier, lord of Sidon for 23,000 crusader besants.
 
 
  1257  CEJulian of Grenier, lord of Sidon, donated a fortress called Cave of Tyron to the Teutonic Knights (about 12 miles east of Sidon) signifying the order's role in Holy Land was expanding.
 
 
16 Oct 1258  CEPeace treaty among the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights signed in Acre.
 
 
  1258  CETeutonic Knights buy a manor from John de la Tour, constable of Sidon, and two manors from John of Schuf and assumed the responsibility for defense north of Acre.
 
 
 Jul 1260  CETeutonic Knights routed at Durben when the Prussians revolted.
 
 
  1261  CETeutonic Knights bought fief made up of several manors called Schuf from Andrew of Schufe.
 
 
 May 1263  CEAll Teutonic Knight possessions near Sidon lost to Muslims after Baybars won battle of Sidon.
 
 
  1290  CEThe Teutonic Knights complete a 30 year effort to control Prussians.
 
 
18 May 1291  CEThe Sultan of Egypt and his son take the last Christian stronghold of Acre. The Hospitaller and Templar headquarters are moved from Acre to Cyprus and the Teutonic Knights headquarters moved from Acre to Venice
 
 
  1306  CEThe Hospitallers began conquest of Rhodes.
 
 
13 Oct 1307  CEMembers of the Knights of Templar were arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of the King Philip the Fair of France.
 
 
28 Nov 1309  CETrial of Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars (in Paris).
 
 
  1309  CEThe Hospitallers' headquarters was moved from Cyprus to Rhodes.
 
 
  1309  CETeutonic Knights' headquarters moved from Venice to Prussia.
 
 
12 May 1310  CEFifty-four Knights Templar were burned at the stake as heretics in France. They had been established during the Crusades to protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land, but came into increasing conflict with Rome.
 
 
16 May 1312  CEHospitallers awarded Templars' estates throughout western Europe, Cyprus, and Greece.
 
 
  1312  CEThe Knights Templar were suppressed by Pope Clement at the Council of Vienna.
 
 
15 Mar 1314  CEGeoffroi de Charney and Jacques de Molay, Templar grand master, and Preceptor of Normandy were burned at the stake in Paris.
 
 
9 Sep 1320  CETeutonic Knight commander in the Morea died in battle against the Greeks near the fortress of St. George.
 
 
  1376  CE(1376-1381) Hospitallers leased the Principality of Achaia from Joanna of Naples for 4,000 ducats per year.
 
 
  1383  CE(1383 or 1384) Strife between Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights in the Peloponnesus
 
 
  1387  CERudolf Schoppe, preceptor of the Teutonic Knights in the Morea, became the field deputy of Pedro Bordo de San Superan.
 
 
  1391  CEList of Moreote fiefs included the Hospital of St. John and the Teutonic Knights.
 
 
  1401  CEJacob of Arkel, preceptor of the Teutonic Knights in the Morea, rewarded with vineyards at Modon and Coron by the Venetians.
 
 
  1402  CESource identified a number of Teutonic Knight monasteries in the Morea including St. Steven in Andravida.
 
 
15 Jul 1410  CEThe Lithuanian-Polish forces defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Tannenberg, thereby halting the Knights' eastward expansion along the Baltic and hastening their decline.
 
 
  1410  CEPolish-Lithuanian forces defeat the German Teutonic Knights and extend rule eastward, almost into Russia. Eastern Orthodox Moscow begins a campaign of resistance to Roman Catholic Poland-Lithuania.
 
 
21 May 1433  CETeutonic Knight procurator John Nichlausdorf in Rome reported he protested to the Byzantine representative the loss of properties in the Morea.
 
 
27 Apr 1435  CETeutonic Knights' representative at the Council of Basel asked the return of possessions in the Morea from the Byzantines.
 
 
  1435  CEJohann Franke attempted to purchase Mostenitsa between 1435-1437.
 
 
23 Jul 1456  CEThe siege of Belgrade had fallen into stalemate when a spontaneous fight broke out between a rabble of Crusaders, led by the Benedictine monk John of Capistrano, and the city's Ottoman besiegers. It soon escalated into a major battle which ultimately compelled the wounded Sultan Mehmet II to lift the siege and retreat.
 
 
19 Oct 1466  CEThe peace of Torun ended the war between the Teutonic knights and their own disaffected subjects in Prussia.
 
 
  1500  CETurks conquered Modon from the Venetians and expelled the Teutonic Knights from the Peloponnesus.
 
 
  1522  CESuleiman I captured Rhodes from the Knights of St. John, who were resettled on Malta by Charles V.
 
 
  1523  CEThe Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent successfully overcame the Knights Hospitaller, Order of St. John, from their position on the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.
 
 
8 Apr 1525  CEAlbert von Brandenburg, the leader of the Teutonic Order, assumed the title 'Duke of Prussia' and passed the first laws of the Protestant church, making Prussia a Protestant state.
 
 
  1526  CEThe Teutonic Knights, a German military and religious order of knights and priests, broke away from the Catholic Church to become Lutherans.
 
 
  1530  CEThe first imperial coronation by a Pope when Pope Clement VII crowns Charles V as the Holy Roman Emperor. Charles restored the Medici to power after capturing Florence and ceded Malta to the landless religious order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.
 
 
  1557  CEThe Russians invaded Poland and started the 14-year Livonian War of succession in the Baltic lands held by the Teutonic Knights.
 
 
  1561  CEThe Order of the Teutonic Knights in the Baltic States was secularized.
 
 
  1575  CETorquatto Tasso, Italian poet, wrote 'Jerusalem Liberated', an epic of the First Crusade.
 
 
  1647  CEGian Francesca Abela, vice-chancellor of the Knights of St. John and the father of Maltese historiography, authored 'Descrittione di Malta'. His antiquities, willed to the College of Jesuit Fathers in Valetta, later formed the nucleus of Malta's National Museum of Archeology.
 
 
Note 1: Events described with text like this have been entered from one source but have not yet been verified against a subsequent source ( Explain ).
Note 2: The events are sorted in semi-chronological order according to what is factually known about the date of the event ( Explain ).
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