Overview · 1095–1291
The Crusades
The Crusades were a series of papally proclaimed military expeditions, backed by spiritual privileges, that Latin Christendom launched towards the eastern Mediterranean, above all Jerusalem and its surroundings, between 1095 and 1291.
What were the Crusades?
A crusade (in Latin sources peregrinatio, iter or passagium) was an armed pilgrimage and war proclaimed by the pope, whose participants received privileges such as the remission of sins and church protection for their property. Participants sewed a cross on their clothing, hence the name crusaders.
In the narrow sense the term covers the expeditions to the Holy Land from the appeal at Clermont in 1095 to the fall of Acre in 1291. Eight major crusades are traditionally numbered, but between them there were many smaller expeditions, reinforcements and allied campaigns. In the same period crusades were also proclaimed in the Iberian Peninsula, the Baltic and against the Albigensians in southern France.
Why did the Crusades begin?
The immediate cause was Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos's request in 1095 for Western military help against the Seljuk Turks advancing in Anatolia. Pope Urban II combined this request with the aims of aiding Eastern Christians and taking Jerusalem, turning it into a broad appeal at Clermont in November 1095.
In the background lay the papacy's wish to strengthen its leadership of Western Christendom, the long tradition of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, ideas of penance and the remission of sins, a growing population in Western Europe and the nobility's search for land and renown. The Italian maritime cities saw new opportunities in eastern Mediterranean trade. Historians weigh these factors differently.
The eight Crusades
The First Crusade (1096–1099) ended with the capture of Jerusalem and the founding of Latin states centred on Edessa, Antioch and Jerusalem, joined by Tripoli in 1109. The Second Crusade (1147–1149) responded to Zengi's capture of Edessa and failed before Damascus. The Third Crusade (1189–1192) followed Saladin's victory at Hattin and his capture of Jerusalem; it recovered Acre and the coast but not Jerusalem.
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was diverted to sack Constantinople and found the Latin Empire. The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) took Damietta in Egypt but surrendered in the Nile flood. In the Sixth Crusade (1228–1229) Frederick II regained Jerusalem by negotiation. The Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) ended with Louis IX's capture in Egypt, and the Eighth (1270) broke up at Tunis after the king's death.
The Muslim response to the Crusades
The disunity of the Seljuk world was decisive in the First Crusade's success. Ilghazi's victory at the Field of Blood in 1119 and Imad al-Din Zengi's capture of Edessa in 1144 were the first major steps of the counter-movement. Nur al-Din united Syria; Saladin brought Egypt and Syria under one ruler, defeated the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at Hattin in 1187 and retook Jerusalem.
In the thirteenth century the Ayyubids made treaties with the crusaders as often as they fought them. The Mamluk state founded in Egypt in 1250 stopped the Mongols at Ayn Jalut in 1260, and Baybars and Qalawun took the crusader castles one by one. With al-Ashraf Khalil's conquest of Acre in 1291 the Latin presence in the Holy Land effectively ended.
Consequences of the Crusades
The Latin states in the Holy Land lasted about two centuries before their elimination in 1291, while the Kingdom of Cyprus and Latin lordships in the Aegean survived longer. The Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople in 1204 permanently weakened Byzantium and deepened the schism between the Eastern and Western churches.
The crusades contributed to the rise of military orders such as the Templars and Hospitallers, the development of papal taxation and preaching, and the growing weight of Italian cities in eastern Mediterranean trade. Grave violence is also part of their history, including the massacres of Jewish communities in the Rhineland and the sacks of Jerusalem and Constantinople. The Crusades remain a powerful element of historical memory in the Middle East and Europe today.
How to use this atlas
The Crusades Research Atlas presents 134 event records from 1095 to 1291, 117 historical figures, an interactive map and visual summaries of the eight Crusades, together with their sources. Every event and person page links to the relevant crusade file and connected records.
Frequently asked questions
When did the Crusades begin and end?
By convention the Crusades began with Pope Urban II's appeal at Clermont in November 1095 and ended with the Mamluk capture of Acre, the last major Latin stronghold in the Holy Land, in 1291.
How many Crusades were there?
Historians traditionally number eight major crusades to the Holy Land. There were also many smaller expeditions, such as the Crusade of 1101, the Children's Crusade, the Barons' Crusade and Lord Edward's Crusade.
Why did the Crusades start?
The immediate cause was Emperor Alexios I's request for help against the Seljuks, which Pope Urban II combined with the aim of taking Jerusalem. Religious belief, penance, papal leadership, the nobility's search for land and commercial interests also played a part.
Who recaptured Jerusalem from the crusaders?
Saladin took Jerusalem in October 1187 after his victory at the Battle of Hattin. Jerusalem briefly returned to the Franks under Frederick II's treaty of 1229 and was taken by the Khwarazmians in 1244.
What were the main consequences of the Crusades?
Latin states lasting two centuries were founded in the eastern Mediterranean; Byzantium was weakened by the sack of 1204; military orders emerged; Italian trade grew; the schism between the Eastern and Western churches deepened; and the Zengids, Ayyubids and Mamluks rose in the Muslim world.