Late spring – An expedition of Crusaders, Englishmen together with forces from Flanders, Frisia, Scotland and some German polities, leaves from Dartmouth in England for the Holy Land. Leadership is provided by Hervey de Glanvill, a Norman nobleman and constable of Suffolk, who leads a fleet of some 200 ships. Bad weather forces them to take refuge at the mouth of the Douro River, on the Portuguese coast, on June 16.
June – A French expeditionary force (some 18,000 men) led by King Louis VII departs from Metz and travels through Bavaria. Louis is accompanied by the French nobility and his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress of France. At Regensburg, where the force arrives on June 29, the Crusaders journey peaceably for fifteen days through Hungary and reach the Byzantine frontier at the end of August.[2]
September 7 – The German crusaders suffer a natural disaster near Constantinople, when part of their encampment is swept away by a flash flood with considerable loss of life. Emperor Manuel I Komnenos orders the Crusaders to cross to Asia Minor by the Hellespont. Conrad III ignores the advice of Manuel and after some minor clashes with the Byzantines, pushes towards Constantinople.[6]
September 10 – The German crusaders under Conrad III reach Constantinople, where there is a frosty exchange of letters between Conrad and Manuel I. The German forces make camp at Galata on the northern shore of the Golden Horn. Manuel orders that a full-scale effort must be made to transport the Germans, who are causing troubles by sacking the Philopatium, across the Bosporus.[7]
Autumn – Conrad III decides not to wait for the French and crosses the Bosporus into Asia Minor. He leads the German crusader army to Nicomedia, and divides his forces into two divisions. Conrad takes the knights and his professional soldiers across Seljuk central territory while the baggage train, pilgrims and a defending force under Bishop Otto of Freising travel along the Aegean coast.[8]
October 4–5 – Louis VII arrives at Constantinople and joins with forces from Savoy under Amadeus III (his uncle) – who have taken the land route through Italy. Louis crosses the Bosporus, and leads the French crusader army into Asia Minor – where he hears in Nicaea of Conrad's defeat at the end of October. Louis sends a military escort for Conrad and agrees to rendezvous at Lopardium.[9] The German crusaders under Otto of Freising follow the coastal road before turning inland, up the Gediz River valley to Philadelphia. Otto's force is ambushed by the Seljuk Turks, just outside Laodicea, losing many men killed or taken prisoner. Otto and the survivors struggle on to Adalia, from where they sail for the Holy Land. Others attempt to continue along the southern coast of Anatolia.[8]
October 25 – Battle of Dorylaeum: The German crusaders under Conrad III are defeated by the Seljuk Turks led by Sultan Mesud I. Conrad is forced to turn back and is wounded by arrows during the retreat to Nicaea. In Seljuk territory the Crusaders are harassed all the way and demoralised by the intensified attacks. Many of the weakest people fall behind and are captured by the Muslims.[10]
November – The combined forces of Louis VII and Conrad III meet at Lopardium and march along the coastal road via Pergamon and Smyrna to Ephesus, where they celebrate Christmas. Conrad, still suffering from his wounds, sails back to Constantinople to be placed under the care of Manuel's own physicians. Meanwhile, the Crusader camp is attacked by Turkish raiders near Ephesus.[11]
December 24 – Battle of Ephesus: The French crusaders under Louis VII leave Ephesus, and ascend the Meander Valley. Louis is warned by messengers of Manuel that Seljuk and Danishmendid forces are assembling west of Adalia. Louis ignores the advice and successfully fends off an ambush just outside Ephesus.[12]
April 13 – Pope Eugene III issues a bull (known as the Divina dispensatione), permitting Conrad III to attack the Polabian Slavs (or Wends) under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Anselm of Havelberg. The Crusaders are allowed to wear sacred crosses, and Bernard of Clairvaux instructs the Germans how to treat the Slavs under their control. "With God's help", says the abbot, "they shall be either converted or slaughtered".[13]
A Sicilian fleet (some 70 ships) under George of Antioch attacks Corfu, the island surrenders and welcomes the Normans as their liberators. Leaving a garrison of 1,000 men, George sails to the Peloponnesus. He pillages the cities of Corinth, Athens and Thebes. King Roger II begins an 11-year war between Sicily and the Byzantine Empire.
May–June – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, signs a peace treaty with Mu'in al-Din Unur. As part of the agreement, he marries Mu'in al-Din's daughter Ismat al-Din Khatun. Together Mu'in al-Din and Nur al-Din besiege the fortresses of Bosra and Salkhad, which has been captured by rebellious Muslim forces.[16]
Battle of Bosra: A Crusader force under King Baldwin III fights an inconclusive battle against Seljuk forces from Damascus led by Mu'in al-Din aided by Nur al-Din's contingents from Aleppo and Mosul. Baldwin retreats to Jerusalem, while the Seljuk Turks attack his rearguard and stragglers underway back to Palestine.[17]
Spring – Eugene III leaves Viterbo and travels to France. At the start of April he meets Louis VII at Dijon. It is agreed that Abbot Suger, Louis' adviser, governs France while Louis is away.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, pp. 213–214. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^King John by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 67.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 210. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^Picard, Christophe (2000). Le Portugal musulman (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle). L'Occident d'al-Andalus sous domination islamique. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose. p. 109. ISBN2-7068-1398-9.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 217. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^ abDavid Nicolle (2009). The Second Crusade 1148: Disaster outside Damascus, p. 46. ISBN978-1-84603-354-4.
^David Nicolle (2009). The Second Crusade 1148: Disaster outside Damascus, p. 37. ISBN978-1-84603-354-4.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, p. 220. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.
^David Nicolle (2009). The Second Crusade 1148: Disaster outside Damascus, p. 50. ISBN978-1-84603-354-4.
^Christopher Tyerman (2006). God's War: A New History of the Crusades, p. 326. Penguin Books.
^Christiansen, Eric (1997). The Northern Crusades, p. 53. Penguin Books. ISBN978-0-14-026653-5.
^Barraclough, Geoffrey (1984). The Origins of Modern Germany, p. 263. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN0-393-30153-2.
^Rogers, Clifford J. (2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: Vol. 1, p. 36. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0195334036.
^David Nicolle (2009). The Second Crusade 1148: Disaster outside Damascus, p. 39. ISBN978-1-84603-354-4.
^Steven Runciman (1952). A History of The Crusades. Vol II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, pp. 195–196. ISBN978-0-241-29876-3.