The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Crusader state established in 1099 by western European warriors in lands conquered from Muslim rulers (in modern-day Israel and Jordan) during the First Crusade. As its first ruler Godfrey of Bouillon did not take the title of king, his brother and successor Baldwin I was crowned the first king in 1100. By 1153, Baldwin I and his successors captured all towns on the Palestinian coast mainly with the support of Pisan, Genoese and Venetian fleets and also took control of the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria. The kings regularly administered other Crusader states—Antioch, Edessa and Tripoli—on behalf of their absent or underage rulers.
The polarisation of the Muslim world enabled the crusaders (known in the Levant as Franks) to consolidate their rule in Palestine. They could also appeal to the popes and the European rulers for help against their enemies. In the mid-twelfth century, Baldwin III and his successor Amalric maintained a close alliance with the Byzantine Empire, but they could not prevent the ruler of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din, from uniting the Muslim states in Syria in the 1150s. Internal strife weakened the kingdom during the reigns of the leper Baldwin IV and the unpopular Guy of Lusignan. This facilitated Nur ad-Din's former general, Saladin, to unite Egypt and Syria in the 1180s. Saladin destroyed the crusader army in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187, and occupied almost the whole kingdom during the following months.
The city of Tyre was saved by the Italian crusader, Conrad of Montferrat, and the Third Crusade forced Saladin to acknowledge the restoration of the Franks' rule in most coastal towns in his 1192 truce with Richard I of England. Further lands were recovered during the reigns of Henry of Champagne and Aimery of Lusignan, and Emperor Frederick II also restored the Franks' rule in the city of Jerusalem in 1229. Frederick and his successors were absent monarchs and the kingdom was administered by regents (or bailiffs) from 1229 to 1269. Due to conflicts between the kings' representatives and the powerful barons, and the War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice, the kingdom disintegrated into autonomous towns and lordships by the 1260s. The personal union of Jerusalem and Cyprus could not prevent the Mamluks of Egypt from occupying the last Frankish outposts in 1291. In addition to the Lusignan kings of Cyprus, the Angevin rulers of Naples and their successors maintained a claim to the defunct Jerusalemite kingdom for centuries.
In Christianity, places associated with Jesus in Roman Palestine become deemed worth a visit for spiritual benefits. Christians regard Calvary (the venue of Jesus's sufferings) in the city of Jerusalem as an especially sacred place.[1]
The Seljuk Turks conquer much of Syria and Palestine.[16][17]
1074
March 1.Pope Gregory VII plans to launch a military campaign against the Turks for the liberation of the Holy Land.[18][19]
Before 1081/82
Saint Mary Magdalene Abbey is established for nuns in Jerusalem.[13][14]
1080s
Theologians who support the Gregorian church reform movement develop the Roman Catholic concept of holy wars, providing the papacy with an ideology for the use of armed forces.[19][20]
1092
November. The Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I dies and his empire disintegrates into competing states.[21][22]
November 27. Pope Urban proclaims the First Crusade for the liberation of Jerusalem at the Council of Clermont, merging the ideology of penitential pilgrimages with the concept of holy wars.[24][25]
Frenchmen ...; men chosen by and beloved of God...– it is to you ... that we appeal. ... Disturbing news has emerged from Jerusalem ...: that the race of Persians, ... a people rejected by God ... has overthrown the churches of God or turned them over to the rituals of their own religion. ... By now the Greek empire has been dismembered by them. So to whom should the task fall of ... wresting their conquests from them if not to you – you to whom God has given above other nations outstanding glory in arms...?
July 3. The crusaders decide to delay their campaign to Jerusalem to avoid summer heat.[34] They conquer lands that would develop into the second Crusader state, the Principality of Antioch under Bohemond's rule.[35]
May 19. The crusaders cross the Dog River into Palestine.[44]
June 3. The crusaders seize the city of Ramla and establish the first Catholic diocese in Palestine. A grant by the first bishop, Robert to Syrian and Frank colonists fixing their tributes will be the template for similar grants in Palestine.[37][45][46][47]
June 7. The crusaders (1,200–1,300 knights and 10,700–10,800 foot-soldiers) reach Jerusalem.[48][49]
June 17. A Genoese fleet captures the port city of Jaffa.[50][51]
Early July. Tancred captures Bethlehem and places his banner over the Church of the Nativity. The clergymen demand that the Holy Land be transformed into a spiritual realm.[52][53]
July 15. The crusaders capture Jerusalem. They massacre or enslave c. 3,000 Muslims and Jews.[55][56][57]
Slaughter of the townspeople in Jerusalem by the Crusaders (1099)
[The Crusaders] put to the sword great numbers of gentiles who were running about through the quarters of the city, fleeing in all directions...: they were piercing through with the sword's point women who had fled into the turreted palaces and dwellings; seizing by the soles of their feet from their mothers' laps or their cradles infants who were still suckling and dashing them against the walls or lintels of the doors and breaking their necks; they were slaughtering some with weapons, or striking them down with stones; they were sparing absolutely no gentile of any age or kind.
December 25. Arnulf is deposed and Daimbert is elected as the new patriarch at a synod (church assembly).[69] Godfrey and Bohemond swear fealty to Daimbert. The Latin patriarchate seizes a district in Jerusalem.[70]
c. 1100
A decree stipulates that a man who lives in a house for more than a year seizes its possession against its absent owner.[71]
June/July Godfrey makes a grant to the Hospital of Saint John, indicating that it is in practice treated as an independent organisation.[76]
c. June 10. A Venetian fleet arrives at Jaffa. The Venetians' treaty with Godfrey's retainer Warner of Grez and Tancred establishes their right to have their own district and church in the towns in the Holy Land.[75][77]
c. July 22. Godfrey's retainers send envoys to Baldwin of Boulogne, urging him to claim Jerusalem.[78][79]
c. August 1. Daimbert asks Bohemond to prevent Baldwin from coming to Jerusalem.[80]
c. August 15. The Muslim warlord Danishmend Gazi captures Bohemond in Anatolia.[66]
August 20. Tancred's troops and the Venetians capture the coastal town of Haifa and massacre the townspeople.[75]
October 2. Baldwin grants Edessa to Baldwin of Bourcq and departs for Jerusalem.[81]
Late October. Baldwin of Boulogne's supporters prevent Tancred from seizing Jerusalem and Jaffa. Daimbert takes refuge at a monastery on Mount Zion.[82]
November 9. The burghers of Jerusalem ceremoniously receive Baldwin.[82][83]
December 25. Daimbert crowns Baldwin as the first king of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity.[83][84]
May 28. Baldwin gathers new troops and Sharaf al-Ma'ali returns to Egypt.[91][92][93]
Late May. Tancred tries to achieve Daimbert's restoration, but the new papal legate, Robert of St Eusebio, confirms Daimbert's deposition. A popular cleric, Evremar, is selected as the new patriarch.[94][95]
October 12. The English pilgrim Saewulf arrives at Jaffa. He spends the winter in the kingdom and departs from Jaffa again on May 17, 1103.[96]
May 25.Siege of Acre: Baldwin captures the town with the assistance of Genoese and Pisan fleets. The nearby fields are turned over to sugarcane growing and sugar refineries are established.[97][102]
Autumn. Daimbert sails for Italy to achieve his restoration at the Holy See.[95][103]
1105
February 28. Raymond dies and his kinsman, William Jordan, continues the siege of Tripoli.[103]
March. Raymond's son, Bertrand, lays claim to his father's inheritance against William Jordan. William Jordan makes an alliance with Tancred, and Bertrand swears fealty to Baldwin.[103]
April.Council of Tripoli: a general assembly of the crusader states' leaders under Baldwin's auspices at Tripoli. They confirm Bertrand's claim to Tripoli, and Baldwin grants Galilee to Tancred in fief.[109][110]
July 12. The crusaders capture and sack Tripoli, killing many of the townspeople.[111][112]
1110
May 12. Baldwin and a Genoese fleet capture Beirut. The crusaders massacre the townspeople.[111][113]
Early summer. Baldwin and Bertrand make a joint military campaign against Mawdud, the atabeg of Mosul, to protect Edessa.[111][113]
Pope Paschal confirms the Jerusalemite patriarchs' jurisdiction over the newly established Roman Catholic bishoprics of Sidon and Beirut, ignoring the traditional boundary between the patriarchal sees of Antioch and Jerusalem.[117]
Patriarch Ghibbelin uses his legatine power to take control of the Abbey of Mount Tabor.[118]
The construction of Montreal Castle in Oultrejordain begins. Baldwin grants estates to the knights and commoners who settle in the region which develops into a center of sugarcane growing.[102][129][130]
1115–1119
The knight Hugues de Payens and his comrades form a confraternity dedicated to the protection of pilgrims on the road between Jaffa and Jerusalem.[131][132]
c. 1116
Castles are built near Petra and Aqaba to control the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria.[128]
Baldwin grants liberties to local Christians who move from Oultrejourdain to Jerusalem.[133]
April 14. Baldwin II of Edessa comes to Jerusalem where Patriarch Arnulf and Joscelin achieve his election as the new king.[129][137]
Late April. Patriarch Arnulf dies. The most important towns and the noblemen swear fealty to Baldwin at a general assembly.[138]
May–July. Baldwin and troops from Antioch and Tripoli prevent Al-Afdal and Toghtekin from launching a joint campaign against the kingdom.[139]
Late summer. Baldwin invades Damascene territory and routes Toghtekin's son, Taj al-Muluk Buri.[139]
August–September.Warmund of Picquigny, a cleric of unknown background, is elected as the Latin patriarch on Baldwin's initiation.[140]
1119
Patriarch Warmund sanctions the confraternity established by de Payens and his fellows, and Baldwin cedes a part of the royal palace, identified as Solomon's Temple, to them, hence they become known as Knights Templar.[141][142][143]
Late July. Baldwin is acknowledged as regent for the absent underage prince of Antioch, Bohemond II.[141][145]
August 14.Battle of Hab: Baldwin forces Ilghazi and Toghtekin to withdraw from Antioch.[146][147]
August–September. Baldwin grants the County of Edessa to Joscelin.[148]
December 25. Baldwin and his Armenian wife Morphia of Melitene are crowned king and queen in Bethlehem.[149]
1120
January 16.Council of Nablus: the Jerusalemite prelates and barons adopt laws against sexual misconduct and confirm the right of the Church to collect the tithe. Baldwin abolishes customs on food delivered to Jerusalem.[150][151]
The adulterer should be castrated and expelled from the country; the adulteress should suffer rhinotomy-unless her husband forgives her. If he does so, both should be expelled beyond the sea. ... Adults consenting to the sodomitic depravity should be burnt, both the active and the passive party. ... A man who rapes a female Saracen he owns should be castrated; she should be seized on behalf of the fisc.
Late April. Patriarch Warmund convokes a general assembly which elects the aristocrat Eustace Grenier as bailiff (or lieutenant) for the captive Baldwin.[162][163]
May. The Doge of Venice Domenico Michiel arrives at Jaffa and the Venetian fleet defeats the Fatimid navy.[162][164]
May 29. Fatimid troops invade the kingdom, but the Jerusalemite army defeats them near the fortress of Ibelin.[164]
June 15. Eustace Grenier dies, and William I of Bures, Prince of Galilee, is elected as the new bailiff.[162]
December.Pactum Warmundi: Patriarch Warmund, William of Bures and the chancellor, Pagan, grant privileges to the Venetians.[162][164]
July 7 or 8. The Venetians and the Franks capture Tyre. The Muslim burghers remain in the town. The Venetians receive more than 15 nearby villages, and the region develops into the most important center of sugarcane growing in the kingdom.[102][167][164][168]
August 29. Ilghazi's son, Timurtash, releases Baldwin for ransom, secured by the transfer of hostages, among them Baldwin's youngest daughter Ioveta.[169]
January 25.Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, the atabeg of Mosul forces Baldwin to lift the siege of Aleppo and unites Aleppo with Mosul.[170][171]
April 3. Baldwin returns to Jerusalem for the first time since 1121.[170]
May 2.Privilegium Balduini: Baldwin modifies the terms of the Pactum Warmundi to strengthen royal authority.[170][172]
June 11.Siege of Azaz: Al-Bursuqi attacks the Antiochene fortress of Azaz, but Baldwin, Pons and Joscelin force him to abandon the siege using the nomadic tactic of feigned retreat. Al-Bursuqi releases Ioveta and other hostages held for Baldwin.[173]
Summer. Baldwin mediates a reconciliation between Bohemond and Joscelin in Syria.[180]
October. William of Bures is sent to France to offer the hand of Baldwin's eldest daughter, Melisende, to Fulk of Anjou, and to muster fresh troops for a campaign against Damascus.[155][181]
1127/28
October 1. Morphia dies. She is buried in the Abbey of Saint Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat.[182]
May. Fulk comes to Jerusalem with fresh troops and marries Melisende.[185]
September 4. Buri orders a purge against the radical Shi'ite Muslim Assassins in Damascus. Their leader Ismail al-Ajami seeks Baldwin's assistance, offering the town of Banias to him.[185][186]
February. Bohemond is killed during a raid and the Antiochene lords offer the regency for his daughter by Alice, Constance, to Baldwin. Alice seeks Zengi's assistance against her father, but Baldwin appoints Joscelin to administer Antioch.[191]
August 21. Baldwin dies in Jerusalem after naming Fulk, Melisende and their son, Baldwin III, as his co-heirs.[185][193][194]
September 14. Fulk and Melisende are crowned king and queen in the Holy Sepulchre. Fulk quickly replaces most of his late father-in-law's officials with his own supporters.[195][196][197]
Summer. Alice, Pons and Joscelin II of Edessa conclude an alliance against Fulk, but Fulk defeats Pons near Chastel Rouge and assumes the regency for Constance in Antioch.[195][198]
Spring. Zengi attacks Pons in the fortress of Montferrand but Fulk relieves it.[195][199]
Patriarch Stephen begins the construction of Chastel Hernaut on the road between Jaffa and Jerusalem.[195][200]
1134
Late.Walter I Grenier accuses his stepfather, Hugh II of Jaffa, of plotting against Fulk. Hugh rises up and seeks the Fatimids' assistance. Although Patriarch William mediates a reconciliation, Hugh leaves for Italy.[201][202]
Fulk orders the construction of a castle at Bayt Jibrin near Ascalon.[200]
February 5. Melisende establishes the Convent of Saint Lazarus at Bethany and appoints her sister, Ioveta, as its first abbess.[204]
July. The Archbishop of Tyre, Fulcher of Angoulême, tries to convince Pope Innocent II to restore the authority of his see over bishoprics in Tripoli and Antioch without Patriarch William's authorisation, but to no avail. Patriarch William takes direct control of the see of Tyre and its suffragan dioceses.[205]
1139
Pope Innocent orders Patriarch William to restore the see of Tyre to Archbishop Fulcher.[206]
Castle Blanchegarde is built near Ascalon and Kerak is erected in Oultrejourdain. Frank colonists settle near Kerak which develops into an important center of rural industries.[200][213][214][215]
January 25. Fulcher of Angoulême is elected as the Latin patriarch.[221]
September 14. A eunuch slave murders Zengi and Zengi's younger son Nur ad-Din assumes power in Aleppo.[223][224]
1146–1153
Frank colonists receive houses, arable lands, vineyards and a share in the olive groves in the royal domain near Casal Imbert. They give two-thirds of the olives and one-third of the crops to the royal treasury which also holds a monopoly over the bakery and the communal bath.[225][226]
1147
Spring. Baldwin raids the fertile Hauran region near Damascus.[227]
May–June. Nur ad-Din forces Baldwin to withdraw from Damascene territory.[228][229]
1148
Melisende donates a village to the Jacobite metropolitanate of Jerusalem.[230]
July 15. Patriarch Fulcher consecrates the Romanesque basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.[237]
August. Baldwin leads a relief army to Antioch.[236]
before 1150
Special courts of justice are set up to hear cases relating to fugitive serfs.[238]
1150
May. Baldwin grants the newly built castle of Gaza to the Templars.[239][240] The Templars do not appoint a Catholic prelate to the Archdiocese of Gaza and confirm the jurisdiction of the local Orthodox archbishop Meletos over the native Christians.[241]
April. Baldwin appoints Humphrey II of Toron as constable and captures Manasses of Hierges' castle at Mirabel. Melisende abdicates under duress and Baldwin deprives Amalric of Jaffa.[250]
Baldwin restores Jaffa to Amalric and also grants Ascalon to him.[255]
A royal confirmation of previous grants shows that non-Frank peasants (known as rustici or villani) are regularly donated to the Hospitallers.[256]
April 25. Nur ad-Din captures Damascus, uniting the Muslim lands in Syria.[254]
c. 1155
About 500 French, Catalan, Italian and Frank peasants live in the planned village Magna Mahumeria on the estates of the canons of the Holy Sepulchre near Al-Bireh.[257][B]
1155
June. Nur ad-Din and Baldwin conclude a one-year truce.[253][259]
October–November. Patriarch Fulcher and his suffragan bishops ineffectually accuse the Hospitallers of abusing their privileges before Pope Hadrian IV.[237]
1156
June. Nur ad-Din promises a tribute to Baldwin and their truce is renewed for one year.[253][259]
Ahmed ibn Qudama leads an exodus of Muslim inhabitants from the area around Nablus, in protest of their unfair treatment by Baldwin of Ibelin. The Muslim families settle in Damascus, and their story is later recorded by a descendant, Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi.[260]
1157
May–June. Nur ad-Din besieges Banias, but Baldwin relieves the fortress.[259][261]
July. Nur ad-Din attacks Banias, but Baldwin, Raymond and Raynald force him to lift the siege.[262][263]
November. Troops from the Crusader states and Flemish crusaders capture Shaizar but quickly abandon it because Thierry and Raynald cannot reach a compromise on its status.[264]
Late. Baldwin's half-sister Sibylla of Anjou and aunt Ioveta achieve the election of a French cleric, Amalric of Nesle, as the Latin patriarch. The archbishop of Caesarea and the bishop of Bethlehem appeal to the Holy See against his election.[266]
1158
Spring. Baldwin and Thierry raid Damascene territory.[262][267]
Late. Pope Hadrian confirms Amalric of Nesle's election as patriarch.[266]
1159
Spring. Manuel and Baldwin conclude an alliance against Nur ad-Din at a meeting near Antioch.[269]
May. Manuel accepts Nur ad-Din's offer to an alliance against the Seljuks of Rum and abandons his Syrian campaign.[270]
Baldwin convince the prelates and barons to remain neutral in the conflict between Pope Alexander III and his rival, Victor IV, at a general assembly in Nazareth, but the prelates later acknowledge Alexander as the lawful pope.[266]
February 10. Baldwin dies childless in Beirut.[273]
c. February 15. The marriage of Amalric of Jaffa and Agnes of Courtenay is annulled on grounds of consanguinity at the demands of the prelates and barons, but Amalric achieves the confirmation of their children's legitimacy.[274]
October. Both Amalric and Shirkuh withdraw their troops from Egypt. Amalric assumes the regency for the captive Raymond in Tripoli.[281][283]
1167
January. Shirkuh invades Egypt. Amalric raises funds for an Egyptian campaign by levying a 10 percent tax on movable property with the consent of a general assembly.[284][285]
March. Shawar agrees to pay a yearly tribute to Amalric.[284][287]
March 18.Battle of al-Babein: an indecisive engagement between Amalric and Shirkuh's armies.[288]
Late March. Shirkuh seizes the Egyptian city of Alexandria, but Amalric attacks it with the assistance of a Pisan fleet.[289]
c. August 1. Shirkuh abandons Alexandria in return for 40,000 dinars. Amalric is authorized to place a garrison in Alexandria, and Shawar promises to pay a yearly tribute to him.[289]
August 4. Shirkuh and his army depart for Damascus.[289]
November 4. Amalric's troops massacre the Muslim and Coptic townspeople at Bilbeis.[286][295]
November 13. Amalric lays siege to Cairo. The Fatimid Caliph Al-Adid seeks Nur ad-Din's assistance, but Shawar offers a tribute to Amalric.[286][296][297]
March 26. Al-Adid appoints Saladin as vizier.[299]
Summer. Amalric sends an embassy to France, England and Sicily to ask for a new crusade.[300]
October–December. The Franks and a newly arrived Byzantine fleet unsuccessfully besiege Damietta.[301]
c. 1170
Amalric's only son and heir, Baldwin, is diagnosed with leprosy.[302]
Amalric's heir, Baldwin, is diagnosed with leprosy (c. 1170)
[Once] when [Baldwin] was playing with some other noble boys..., they began pinching one another with their fingernails... The others evinced their pain with yells, but ... Baldwin bore the pain altogether too patiently... At first I thought that this happened because of his endurance... At last I discovered that about half of his right hand and arm were numb ... I reported all this to his father. Physicians were consulted and prescribed repeated fomentations, anointings, and even poisonous drugs to improve his condition, but in vain. For ... this was the beginning of an incurable disease.
December. Saladin destroys the Frank colonists' unfortified quarters at Darum and Gaza.[304][305]
1171
Early. Amalric sends a new embassy to the European rulers.[306]
March–July. Amalric convinces Manuel to renew their alliance in Constantinople.[307][308]
September 13. Al-Adid's death puts an end to the Fatimid Caliphate and makes Saladin the undisputed ruler of Egypt.[305][309][310]
October. Saladin destroys the Frank colonists' quarter at Montreal but returns to Egypt on learning of Nur ad-Din's decision to participate in the campaign. Nur ad-Din accuses Saladin of disloyalty.[311][214]
1173
The Assassin leader, Rashid ad-Din Sinan, offers to convert to Christianity if the Templars do not tax the Assassins' subjects in Syria, but the Templars murder his envoys.[309][312]
July 28. A Sicilian fleet besieges Alexandria, but conflicts between Miles and Humphrey of Toron prevent the mobilisation of the Jerusalemite army.[316]
August 1. The Sicilians lift the siege of Alexandria.[314]
August. Raymond of Tripoli claims the regency for Baldwin as his closest male relative.[317]
Early October. Miles is assassinated in Acre. His widow, Stephanie of Milly, accuses Raymond of plotting against him.[318]
October–December. Nur ad-Din's son, As-Salih Ismail al-Malik, goes to Aleppo, and Saladin seizes Damascus and the lower town of Hama.[314]
1175
January–February. Raymond leads a relief army to Hama against Saladin but abandons the campaign after Saladin releases the hostages held for his ransom.[319]
July 22. Saladin and Raymond conclude a truce.[320]
January. Sybilla gives birth to William Longsword's posthumous son, Baldwin.[326]
October. Baldwin orders the building of the fortress La Chastellet at Jacob's Ford.[333][334]
1179
April. Baldwin gives La Chastellet to the Templars. Humphrey dies of fatal wounds received during a raid, and Agnes of Courtney's favorite, Aimery of Lusignan, is made constable.[333][334][335]
May. Saladin raids the region of Jacob's Ford.[336]
August 29. Saladin destroys La Chastellet.[333][337]
September. Saladin makes raids as far as Beirut and Tyre.[337]
c. 1180
According to a letter of grant, the burghers of Palmeria are entitled to freely dispose of their property, but they cannot sell it to clerics or the military orders.[338]
1180
April 20. Bohemond and Raymond march to Jerusalem unexpectedly. Regarding their action as an attempt to dethrone him in Sybilla's favour, Baldwin hastily marries her to Aimery's brother, Guy of Lusignan.[335][339]
January 16.Pope Alexander III calls for a new crusade, emphasizing that the leper Baldwin is unable to defend the Holy Land.[343][344]
Summer. Ignoring the truce, Raynald attacks a caravan.[345]
1182
Spring. Baldwin prohibits Raymond from entering the kingdom.[346]
Summer. Baldwin keeps the royal army continuously in the field because of a series of raids from Syria and Egypt.[347]
August. Saladin besieges Beirut, but Baldwin relieves it.[347][348]
September. Baldwin recaptures the fort of Habis Jaldak.[349]
1183
February. A general council levies an extraordinary tax to cover the increasing defence costs. Raynald's fleet launches a raid on the Red Sea, menacing Mecca and Medina.[349][350][351]
October. Baldwin appoints Guy as bailiff. Guy assembles the Jerusalemite army at the Springs of Saffuriya and Saladin returns to Syria. Guy's opponents accuse him of losing the opportunity to inflict a decisive defeat on Saladin.[353][354]
November. Baldwin requests Guy to exchange Tyre for Jerusalem with him but Guy refuses. Raynald's stepson, Humphrey IV of Toron marries Baldwin's half-sister, Isabella in Kerak. Saladin besieges Kerak during the wedding.[355]
November 20. Baldwin orders Patriarch Heraclius to make preparations for the annulment of Guy and Sybilla's marriage. Sybilla's 5-year-old son by William, Baldwin V, is crowned king.[355]
December 3 or 4. Baldwin IV and Raymond relieve Kerak.[356]
December. Guy and Sybilla withdraw to Ascalon, and Baldwin IV deprives him of Jaffa.[349][357]
1184
March 29. Patriarch Heraclius excommunicates the chancellor William of Tyre, forcing him to abdicate.[358]
June. Envoys are sent to Europe to ask for a new crusade.[359]
Augustus 23–September 5. Saladin attacks Kerak, but Baldwin IV relieves it.[359]
October. Guy pillages a Bedouin tribe in a royal domain.[357]
Late.Ibn Jubayr, a renowned poet from Al-Andalus, travels through the kingdom. He notes that the local Muslim peasants prefer the Franks' rule because they pay less taxes than their peers in the Muslim countries.[360]
1185
Early April. The dying Baldwin IV appoints Raymond as bailiff for the child Baldwin V for ten years, and Joscelin as the child king's guardian. The High Court rules that the Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor and the kings of France and England are to choose between Sybilla's and Isabella's claims to the throne in case of Baldwin V's premature death.[361][362]
July 20–c. September 15. Baldwin V dies. Raymond summons his partisans to a general assembly at Nablus, and in his absence Joscelin takes possession of Jerusalem, Acre and Beirut. Raynald and the grand master of the Templars, Gerard de Ridefort, accompany Sybilla to the Holy Sepulchre where she is crowned queen by Patriarch Heraclius and she crowns Guy king.[367][368][369]
October. Raymond and his supporters offer the crown to Isabella and Humphrey in Nablus, but Humphrey swears fealty to Sybilla and Guy, prompting his supporters (except for Raymond and the aristocrat Baldwin of Ibelin) to also pay homage to the royal couple. Raymond seeks Saladin's alliance against Guy.[367][370]
1187
Early. Contrary to the truce, Raynald seizes a caravan and Guy cannot persuade him to return the spoils and the prisoners.[371]
Late April. Raymond allows Saladin's commander Muzzafar al-Din to march across Galilee.[372]
May 1.Battle of Cresson: Muzzafar al-Din annihilates an army of Hospitallers and Templars.[367]
May 2. Raymond's Galilean vassals persuade him to abandon his alliance with Saladin and to make peace with Guy.[373][374]
June 26. Saladin and his 30,000 troops invade the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Jerusalemite troops gather at Saffuriya and their mobilisation entails the reduction of garrisons to the minimum in most fortresses and towns.[373][375]
July 4.Battle of Hattin: Saladin destroys the Jerusalemite field army. The Frank commanders fall into captivity. Raynald, the Hospitallers and the Templars are executed.[376][377]
Saladin has Raynald of Châtillon executed (1187)
[Saladin] said to [Raynald] 'Here I am having asked for victory through Muhammad, and God has given me victory over you.' He offered him Islam but he refused. The sultan then drew his scimitar and struck him, severing his arm at his shoulder. Those present finished him off and God speedily sent his soul to Hell-fire.
July 14. William Longsword's brother, Conrad of Montferrat, arrives at Tyre and begins to organise the resistance. He grants privileges to the Pisans in return for their assistance.[380][381][291]
July 10–September 4. Saladin captures Jaffa, Arsuf, Caesarea, Haifa, Sidon and Ascalon.[382]
October 2. After receiving a free passage to the townspeople for a huge ransom, the defenders of Jerusalem surrender to Saladin.[383][384]
Pope Gregory VIII's grant of crusading privileges to those who depart for the Third Crusade (1187)
We promise full remission of their sins and eternal life to those who take up the labor of this journey with a contrite heart and a humble spirit and depart in penitence of their sins and with true faith. ... Their gods..., with their families, remain under the protection of the holy Roman Church... They should not face any legal challenge regarding the things they possess legally when they received the cross until their return or their death is known for certain... Also, they may not be forced to pay interest if they have a loan.
July 12. The garrison of Acre surrender to the crusaders who grant them a safe passage.[408][409]
July 24/26. Richard and Philip confirm Guy's right to rule the kingdom until his death, stipulating that Conrad is to succeed Guy on the throne.[410][411]
September 10. Richard seizes Jaffa without resistance.[415]
October. Richard offers the hand of his sister, Joan, to Saladin's brother Al-Adil, proposing that they could jointly rule the restored kingdom. She refuses to marry a Muslim.[416][417]
c. November 15. Conrad proposes a separate peace to Saladin who informs the crusaders about Conrad's offer.[418]
c. October 15. Saladin grants parts of Caymont to Balian of Ibelin and half of Sidon to Reginald of Sidon. Henry restores Haifa, Caesarea and Arsuf to their previous lords and grants Jaffa to Aimery of Lusignan.[425]
March 4. Saladin dies in Damascus, and his empire quickly disintegrates.[424][426]
May. Henry limits the Pisans' presence in Acre for their alliance with Guy. As they pillage the coast in revenge, Henry expels them from the kingdom. He imprisons Guy's brother Aimery, but soon release him at the request of the barons and the grand masters.[427]
c. 1194
Henry imprisons the canons of the Holy Sepulchre for electing Aymar the Monk as the Latin patriarch without having consulted him, but Archbishop Joscius mediates a reconciliation.[428]
1194
May. Aimery inherits Cyprus from Guy. Henry and the Pisans reach an agreement with his mediation.[429][430]
July. Al-Adil seizes Damascus from Saladin's son, Al-Afdal.[432]
1197
Early September. Al-Adil captures Jaffa. The German crusaders ignore Henry's ban and raid Muslim territories.[433][431]
September 10. Henry falls from the window of the royal palace and dies in Acre.[431][434]
c. September 15. Some barons offer the throne to Raoul of Saint Omer, but the military orders achieve the election of Aimery as king.[435]
October. Aimery marries Isabella. Patriarch Aymar crowns them king and queen but Aimery keeps the administration of Jerusalem and Cyprus separate.[436]
Late October. German and Frank troops seize Sidon and Beirut.[437]
1198
Early. Aimery accuses Raoul and Hugh II of Saint Omer of an unsuccessful attempt on his life and banishes them from the kingdom. They appeal to their peers, but Aimery does not repeal his decision.[438]
June 1. The German crusader sign a new truce with Al-Adil.[434][436]
Late. Isabella dies and her 13-year-old daughter by Conrad, Maria of Montferrat, succeeds her. Isabella's half-brother, John of Ibelin, assumes the regency for her.[448][447]
c. 1206
The barons propose Maria to the married Peter II of Aragon, but the Pope does not annul Peter's marriage.[449]
At the request of a Jerusalemite delegation, Philip II of France names the French aristocrat John of Brienne as his candidate to marry Maria.[452][453]
1209
Pope Innocent approves John's candidacy and gives him 40,000 marks for the defence of the Holy Land.[454]
1210
July. Al-Adil proposes 10 villages in return for the renewal of the truce, but the Templars and the prelates prevent the High Court from accepting the offer.[452][455]
July. John and Al-Adil conclude a six-year truce.[458][459]
Late. Maria dies after giving birth to a daughter, Isabella. Pope Innocent menaces those who challenge John's right to rule the kingdom with ecclesiastical sanctions.[451][458][460]
May 2. Leo dies. John lays claim to Cilician Armenia on behalf of his wife and their infant son against her younger sister Isabella.[468][471]
October. Al-Kamil offers all Palestine to the west of the Jordan in return for abandoning the crusade. John is willing to accept the offer, but the papal legate Pelagius rejects it.[469]
November 5. The crusaders capture Damietta. John is appointed to rule the town.[468]
Summer. Acre is partially destroyed during an armed conflict between the Pisans and Genoese.[479]
October. John, Patriarch Raoul and the grand master of the Hospitallers, Guérin de Montaigu, leave for Europe to ask for a new crusade and to find a husband for Isabella. John appoints Odo of Montbéliard as bailiff.[480][481]
1223
March. Pope Honorius, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, John and the grand masters of the military orders agree to the marriage of Frederick and Isabella. Frederick acknowledges John's right to administer the kingdom.[482][483]
July 25. Frederick promises Pope Honorius to launch a crusade before September 1227.[482][487]
August. Isabella is crowned in Tyre before she leaves for Italy.[488][489]
November 9. Frederick marries Isabella in Brindisi. The Jerusalemite barons present at the wedding pay homage to Frederick. Frederick sends Richer, Bishop of Melfi, to the kingdom to receive the homage of other barons.[489][490]
October. German, French and English crusaders land at Acre and assist the Franks in fortifying the towns. The Teutonic Knights rebuild the castle of Montfort.[489]
1228
Spring. Frederick's marshal, Richard Filangieri, arrives at Acre and forbids all raids against Muslim territories.[494]
April 25.Conrad, the only son of Frederick by Isabella, is born.[491]
May 5. Isabella dies in Andria and her infant son succeeds her as king of Jerusalem.[491][495]
June 28. Frederick sails for the crusade, but Pope Gregory confirms his excommunication.[491][496]
Late July. Frederick receives the Jerusalemite barons' homage in Limassol. He demands Beirut from John of Ibelin who refers the case to the High Court.[491][494]
September 7. Frederick lands at Acre and starts negotiations with Al-Kamil.[497]
1229
February 18. Frederick and Al-Kamil sign the Treaty of Jaffa, to last for ten and a half years, restoring the city of Jerusalem to the Franks. The treaty forbids the fortification of Jerusalem and leaves the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Muslims' possession.[498][499]
March 18. Frederick crowns himself in the Holy Sepulchre.[500]
March 19. On behalf of the absent Patriarch Gerald, Peter of Limoges, Archbishop of Caesarea, places Jerusalem under an interdict because of the presence of Frederick and the Muslims.[500][501]
May 1. Frederick departs for Italy after appointing Balian Grenier and Garnier l'Aleman as his bailiffs.[502][503]
Summer. Bedouins attack pilgrims on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem and sack Jerusalem. Alice of Champagne (the younger sister of Queen Maria) lays claim to Jerusalem, arguing that Conrad forfeited the throne by having failed to come to Jerusalem. The High Court does not decide the case.[502][503]
1230
May. Jerusalemite delegates unsuccessfully try to convince Frederick to send Conrad to the kingdom.[504][505]
September 1. Pope Gregory lifts Frederick's excommunication and recognizes him as Jerusalem's lawful ruler.[504][506]
Autumn. Patriarch Gerold lifts the interdict and the Catholic clerics take possession of the churches in Jerusalem.[504]
Late. Frederick's new bailiff Richard Filangieri orders the confiscation of the fiefs of John of Ibelin and his allies.[504][507]
1231
Early. The High Court acknowledges Filangieri as bailiff, but rules that no fiefs can be confiscated without a proper judgement.[504][507]
Spring. The townspeople form a commune in Acre against Filangieri. John of Ibelin seizes Frederick's fleet and relieves Beirut.[509][510]
May 2.Battle of Casal Imbert: Filangieri routes John of Ibelin near Tyre. Filangieri invades Cyprus, but Ibelin sends reinforcements from Acre, Beirut and Tyre to the island.[511][512]
Late May. John of Ibelin concludes an alliance with the Genoese.[513]
July. Frederick persuades Pope Gregory to summon Patriarch Gerold to Rome and order the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, Albert of Rizzato, to represent Frederick's interests in the Levant.[514]
c. December 31. Frederick appoints Philip of Maugastel as his bailiff, but John of Caesarea prevents Maugastel from assuming power. The High Court rules that Frederick's appointments by letter are invalid and Conrad has to come to the kingdom to appoint a new bailiff. The High Court declares Balian Grenier and Odo of Montbéliard as lawful bailiffs, but Filangieri keeps Tyre.[515][516]
1233
April. John of Ibelin forces Filangieri to leave for Italy.[511]
July 26. Patriarch Gerold sails for Rome.[506][511]
1234
Autumn. Pope Gregory proclaims a new crusade. His legate, Theodoric, Archbishop of Ravenna, places Acre under interdict.[511][517][518]
1235
Early. Pope Gregory cancels the ecclesiastical sanctions against Frederick's opponents, fearing of their conversion to Oriental Christianity.[517]
Autumn. Filangieri tries to seize Acre with the Hospitallers' assistance, but Philip of Montfort forces him to return to Tyre. Balian of Beirut and the Templars besiege the Hospitallers' fortress in Acre.[534]
1242
Spring. Conrad comes of age. The Venetian bailiff, Marsilio Zorzi, demands one third of Tyre from Filangieri, and some burghers of Tyre seek Philip of Montfort's assistance against Filangieri.[C][536]
c. June 1. Filangieri appoints his brother, Lother, as the commander of Tyre and leaves for Europe.[537]
June 5. The High Court elects Alice (Conrad's nearest relative who lives in the kingdom) and her third husband, Ralph of Nesle, as bailiffs.[538][539]
July 10. Frederick's opponents capture Tyre with Venetian and Genoese support, thus only Ascalon and Jerusalem remain under the control of Frederick's supporters.[537]
October 30. The Templars sack Hebron and destroy the mosque.[539]
1244
April. Frederick's new baillif, Thomas of Acerra cedes Ascalon to the Hospitallers.[540]
August 23.Khwarazmian Turks capture Jerusalem and massacre its Christian. Jerusalem is lost to the Franks forever.[541][542]
October 17.Battle of La Forbie: Ayyub and the Khwarazmians overcome Ismail and his allies, including Franks from Jerusalem and Antioch. More than 90 per cent of the knights of the military orders perish in the battlefield.[542][543][544]
Late June. Mount Tabor and Belvoir surrender to Ayyub's troops.[547]
October 15. The Egyptians capture Ascalon.[546][547]
Balian of Beirut dies, and Henry appoints John of Arsuf as bailiff.[548]
1248
September 17.Louis IX of France and French crusaders arrive at Limassol to make preparations for the invasion of Egypt. Henry replaces John of Arsuf with the knight John Foignon as bailiff.[547][548]
Late December. Geoffrey of Sergines raids the region of Ascalon and Gaza.[561]
1256
June. A dispute over property rights in the estates of the Greek Orthodox monastery of Saint Sabas in Acre develops into an armed conflict between the Venetians and the Genoese. Philip of Montfort expels the Venetians from Tyre.[562]
1257
July. The Venetians conclude an alliance with the Pisans.[562]
August. John of Arsuf grants commercial privileges to merchants from Ancona who support the Genoese.[562]
Autumn. The united Venetian and Pisan fleets defeat the Genoese at Acre.[563]
1258
February. John of Arsuf and the Templars' grand master, Thomas Bérard, convoke the barons and the burghers' representatives to a general assembly. They elect the infant Cypriote king Hugh I as regent for the absent Conradin and appoint Hugh's mother, Plaisance of Antioch, as regent for him. The Genoese, the Hospitallers and their allies do not accept the decision. Plaisance appoints John of Arsuf as her bailiff before she returns to Cyprus.[564]
February. Möngke's brother, Hülegü, occupies Baghdad, putting an end to the Abbasid Caliphate.[565][566]
June. A Venetian fleet routes the Genoese at Acre.[567]
Summer. The Jerusalemite barons reject a proposal for an anti-Mongol alliance by the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Qutuz, but allow the Mamluk troops to march across the kingdom.[571]
March. Baibars pillages Nazareth and Bethlehem and destroys the Church of the Nativity.[579][580]
April 4. Baibars unsuccessfully besieges Acre.[579][580][581]
Hugh's aunt, Isabella of Cyprus, comes to Acre to exercise the regency on his behalf in Jerusalem. She appoints her husband, Henry of Antioch, as bailiff, but the High Court refuses to install them without Hugh's presence.[582]
1264
June. The Hospitallers and the Templars raid the region of Ascalon. Baibars pillages the environs of Caesarea and Chastel Pelerin.[579]
July. Pope Urban urges the prelates, the grand masters of the military orders and the most influential barons to resolve their conflicts.[583]
Isabella dies. Her son, Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan, and his cousin, Hugh of Brienne, claim the right to exercise the regency on Hugh of Cyprus's behalf in Jerusalem. The High Court confirms Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan's claim.[584]
September 24. Hugh III of Cyprus and Maria of Antioch lay claim to Jerusalem before the High Court. Hugh is elected and crowned king in Tyre.[590][588]
May 12. Hugh and Baibars conclude a ten-year truce.[593][594]
c. September 30. Edward abandon his crusade.[592][593]
1274
May 7–July 17.Second Council of Lyon: a plan for a new crusade is adopted. Pope Gregory X persuades Charles of Anjou to start negotiations for the purchase of Mary of Antioch's claim to Jerusalem.[596]
1276
October. After the Templars buy an estate near Acre without royal consent, Hugh leaves for Cyprus.[596][597]
1277
March 18. Maria of Antioch sells her claim to Jerusalem to Charles. The Venetians, the Templars and the French garrison in Acre acknowledge him as Jerusalem's lawful king.[598][599]
Golden coin with an inscription mentioning Charles I of Anjou as king of Jerusalem and Sicily (1277)
May–June. Charles appoints Roger of San Severino as his bailiff. San Severino takes possession of the royal castle in Acre without opposition.[597]
July.Guillaume de Beaujeu, the Templars' grand master, mediates a reconciliation between John of Montfort and the Venetians. The Venetians acknowledge John's rule in Tyre and John restores their quarter to them.[597]
September.Patriarch Thomas dies. The canons of the Holy Sepulchre ask the Pope to translate the Archbishop of Naples (whose see was located in Charles's realm) to Jerusalem.[600]
The Templars prevent Hugh from attacking San Severino at Acre.[597]
1281
May. Qalawun concludes a truce with the kingdom.[598]
1282
April. After the Sicilian Vespers, Charles recalls San Severino to Italy. Before leaving Acre, San Severino appoints Odo Poilechien as his deputy in Acre.[601][602]
1283
Burchard of Mount Sion completes his Description of the Holy Land about his travels in the Holy Land and the neighboring territories.[601]
1284
March 4. Hugh dies in Tyre. In the Jerusalemite kingdom, his 17-year-old son, John II, is only recognized in Beirut and Tyre.[601]
July. Qalawun and Henry conclude a ten-year truce.[605]
1290
Early. Pope Nicholas calls for a new crusade for the defence of Acre.[606]
c. August 15. Italian crusaders arrive at Acre and murder Muslim merchants.[605][607]
Late August. Italian crusaders massacre all bearded men in Acre. Qalawun demands the extradition of the murderers, but the Frank authorities refuse it.[608]
Henry issues new Cypriot coins with an inscription mentioning his title of King of Jerusalem, and displaying the Cross of Jerusalem on the reverse.[609]
1295
Charles offers his claim to Jerusalem to James II of Aragon during their negotiations over Sicily.[610]
The Aragonese attempt to convince Charles's successor, Robert, King of Naples, to renounce his claim to Jerusalem in favor of Frederick III.[610]
1335
During his visit in Cyprus, James of Verona is informed that the women wear black in mourning for the occupation of the towns on the Syrian coast by the Muslims.[609]
^The resurrection of Jesus has been celebrated by the lighting of candles by fire descending from above (an event regarded as a miracle by the faithful), but in 1101, the Holy Fire did not appear.[88]
^Magna Mahumeria has developed around a fortified manor house and consisted of small and narrow—4 m × 10 m (13 ft × 33 ft)—houses with wide rubble and ashlar walls. Documents refer to smiths, carpenters, builders, gardeners and shoemakers living in the village. The villagers collect water on the roofs to feed cisterns through pipes and channels.[258]
^Many historians write that these events happened in 1243, because Conrad reached the age of majority at fifteen, according to the laws of Jerusalem. However, evidence conclusively proves that these events actually took place in 1242 (the year when he reached the age of majority, according to Sicilian laws).[535]
^The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin or al-Nawādir al-Sulṭāniyya wa'l-Maḥāsin al-Yūsufiyya by Bahā' al-Din Ibn Shaddād. Crusade Texts in Translation. Vol. 7. Translated by D. S. Richards. Routledge. 2016 [2002]. p. 75. ISBN978-0-7546-0143-2.
Bird, Jessalynn; Peters, Edward; Powell, James M., eds. (2013). Crusade and Christendom: Annotated Documents in Translation from Innocent III to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. Middle Ages. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN978-0-8122-4478-6.
Baldwin, Marshall W. (1969) [1955]. "The Latin States under Baldwin III and Amalric I, 1143–1174; The Decline and Fall of Jerusalem, 1174–1189". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). The First Hundred Years. A History of the Crusades. Vol. I. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 528–561, 590–621. ISBN978-1-58684-251-2.
Christie, Niall (2020) [2014]. Muslims and Crusaders: Christianity’s Wars in the Middle East, 1095–1382, from the Islamic Sources, 2nd ed. Routledge. ISBN978-1-138-54310-2.
Hardwicke, Mary Nickerson (1969) [1962]. "The Crusader States, 1192–1243". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Wolff, Robert Lee; Hazard, Harry (eds.). The Later Crusades, 1189–1311, The First Hundred Years. A History of the Crusades. Vol. II. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 522–554. ISBN978-0-299-04844-0.
Hodgson, Natasha R. (2017) [2007]. Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative. Warfare in History. Boydell Press. ISBN978-1-78327-270-9.
Nicholson, Robert L. (1969). "The Growth of the Latin States, 1118–1144". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). The First Hundred Years. A History of the Crusades. Vol. I. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 410–447. ISBN978-1-58684-251-2.
Painter, Sidney (1969). "The Crusade of Theobald of Champagne and Richard of Cornwall, 1239–1241". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Wolff, Robert Lee; Hazard, Harry (eds.). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 463–485. ISBN978-0-299-04844-0.
Pringle, Denys (2022). Three Pilgrimages to the Holy Land - Saewulf: A True Account of the Situation of Jerusalem, John of Würzburg: A Description of the Places of the Holy Land, Theoderic: A Little Book of the Holy Places. Brepols. ISBN978-2-503-59372-2.