The Crusades/I

1096–1099 · 16 event records

First Crusade

Launched by the call at Clermont, the movement brought separate Western armies together at Constantinople; they marched on Jerusalem through Anatolia and northern Syria.

First Crusade — Visual summary
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First Crusade

01

Overview

The First Crusade began with Pope Urban II's appeal at Clermont in November 1095, a response to Emperor Alexios I Komnenos's request for help against the Seljuks. Popular bands following Peter the Hermit set out first and were destroyed in Anatolia in 1096; the armies of Godfrey of Bouillon, Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Bohemond and other princes then assembled at Constantinople.

In 1097 the armies forced Nicaea to surrender to Byzantium, defeated Kilij Arslan I at Dorylaion and crossed Anatolia. The long siege of Antioch ended in 1098 with the city's capture and the defeat of Kerbogha's relief army. Jerusalem was stormed in July 1099, and a Fatimid army was defeated at Ascalon in August. The crusade laid the foundations of the Latin East with the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

02

Main route

Clermont · Constantinople · Nicaea · Dorylaion · Antioch · Jerusalem · Ascalon

03

Outcome

Jerusalem was taken, laying the foundations of Latin polities centred on Edessa, Antioch and Jerusalem.

CONTEXTUAL READING

Event records for this crusade

1–7 March 1095 · Piacenza

Council of Piacenza and the Byzantine appeal

At the council Pope Urban II held in Piacenza, envoys of Alexios I Komnenos asked the West for military help against the Turkish advance in Anatolia. Their appeal formed the immediate background to the call at Clermont later that year.

Open record →27 November 1095 · Clermont, France

Council of Clermont and the call to crusade

At the close of the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II called for aid to Eastern Christians and an armed journey to Jerusalem. The council granted those who went a remission that replaced all their penance; the First Crusade began with this call.

Open record →May–July 1096 · Speyer, Worms, Mainz and Cologne

Rhineland massacres

In the spring and summer of 1096, some armed bands roused by the crusade appeal attacked the Jewish communities of the Rhineland. Hundreds were killed in Speyer, Worms, Mainz and Cologne, and many were forcibly baptised.

Open record →August 1096 · Constantinople

People's Crusade reaches Constantinople

The disorderly bands around Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans-Avoir reached Constantinople in August 1096. Because of their excesses in the Balkans, Alexios I soon ferried them across the Bosporus to the camp at Kibotos (Civetot).

Open record →21 October 1096 · Civetot / Nicaea region

Defeat at Civetot

On 21 October 1096 the main force of the People's Crusade, leaving Kibotos (Civetot), was ambushed on the road to Nicaea by the Seljuk forces of Kilij Arslan I. The army was destroyed; some survivors were captured and others rescued by Byzantine ships.

Open record →1096 (late)–May 1097 · Constantinople

Princes' armies assemble at Constantinople

From autumn 1096 to spring 1097 the crusading princes' armies reached Constantinople by different routes. Alexios I took oaths from the leaders that they would return former Byzantine territory; over Antioch in particular, this oath became a lasting dispute.

Open record →14 May – 19 June 1097 · Nicaea

Siege of Nicaea

From 14 May 1097 the crusader army and Byzantine forces besieged Nicaea, capital of the Anatolian Seljuks. Kilij Arslan I's relief attempt was repulsed, and on 19 June the city surrendered to Byzantium through a secret agreement before the crusaders could storm it.

Open record →1 July 1097 · Eskişehir region

Battle of Dorylaeum

After Nicaea the crusader army advanced in two columns. On 1 July 1097 the vanguard was attacked near Dorylaion (Eskişehir) by Kilij Arslan I and his allies. The second column's arrival in the afternoon forced the Turkish forces to withdraw and opened the road through Anatolia.

Open record →September–October 1097 · Tarsus, Mopsuestia and Cilicia

Detachments leave the main army in Cilicia

In September 1097, after Ereğli, Tancred and Baldwin of Boulogne left the main army and entered Cilicia. Their campaign for Tarsus, Adana and Mopsuestia produced alliances with local Armenian powers but also open rivalry between the two Latin leaders.

Open record →20 October 1097 – 28 June 1098 · Antioch

Siege of Antioch

The crusader army besieged Antioch from October 1097. After a winter of severe famine, the city was taken on 3 June 1098 through a tower opened from within; the crusaders were then besieged by Kerbogha's relief army, which they defeated in battle on 28 June.

Open record →10 March 1098 · Edessa

Foundation of the County of Edessa

Invited and adopted by the Armenian ruler Thoros, Baldwin of Boulogne came to Edessa in February 1098. After Thoros was killed in an uprising, Baldwin took over on 10 March 1098 and founded the County of Edessa, the first crusader state in the East.

Open record →July 1098 · Antioch

Foundation of the Principality of Antioch

After Antioch was taken, Bohemond refused to return the city to Byzantium and established his own rule. His dispute with Raymond of Saint-Gilles was settled in his favour in early 1099, and the Principality of Antioch took shape as a separate crusader state.

Open record →1–4 October 1098 · Bari

Council of Bari

While the First Crusade was under way, a council met at Bari in October 1098 under Pope Urban II to discuss the filioque dispute between the Latin and Greek churches. Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury defended the Latin position; religious rapprochement with Byzantium remained limited.

Open record →7 June – 15 July 1099 · Jerusalem

Capture of Jerusalem

The crusader army arrived before Jerusalem on 7 June 1099. After a month-long siege it broke in through the northern walls on 15 July; the Fatimid governor Iftikhar al-Dawla surrendered the Tower of David and withdrew, while most of the city's inhabitants were killed.

Open record →22 July 1099 · Jerusalem

Political foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

A week after the capture of Jerusalem, on 22 July 1099, the crusade leaders chose Godfrey of Bouillon as ruler of the city. Godfrey used the title “Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre” instead of king, laying the foundation of Latin rule in Jerusalem.

Open record →12 August 1099 · Ascalon

Battle of Ascalon

The army that the Fatimid vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah brought to retake Jerusalem was scattered by a surprise crusader attack before Ascalon on 12 August 1099. The victory saved the newly founded Latin government from its first great threat, but Ascalon remained Fatimid until 1153.

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