The Crusades were a series of religious wars launched by the Latin Church, beginning when Pope Urban II called for an expedition to help the Byzantine Empire and to take Jerusalem. The First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099 and founded crusader states along the eastern Mediterranean coast. Later expeditions had mixed fortunes: Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1187, and the Fourth Crusade turned against the Christian city of Constantinople and sacked it in 1204. Crusades were also fought in Spain, the Baltic lands and against heretics in Europe. The movement faded after the fall of Acre in 1291 ended the last major crusader foothold in the Holy Land, leaving a lasting legacy of mistrust and memory between Christian and Muslim worlds.
Before and after
- 1093Origins of Pembroke Castle
- 1093Construction of Zagreb Cathedral
- 1093Construction of Durham Cathedral
- c. 1094Origins of Zagreb
- from 1095 to 1291Crusades
- 27 November 1095Pope Urban II calls the First Crusade
- 1096Founding of University of Oxford
- from 1096 to 1099First Crusade
- from April 1096 to October 1096People's Crusade
More in Wars, politics & history
- 1206Temujin is proclaimed Genghis Khan
- 1212Children's Crusade
- from 1213 to 1221Fifth Crusade
- from 1248 to 1254Seventh Crusade
- from 18 July 1270 to 30 October 1270Eighth Crusade
- 30 March 1282Sicilian Vespers
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 11th century.