The First Crusade was a military expedition of Western European Christians to the Near East, launched after Pope Urban II called for it at the Council of Clermont in November 1095. He urged knights to help the Byzantine Empire against the Seljuk Turks and to recover Jerusalem and the Holy Land for Christendom. Several armies marched east, and along the way crowds of poorer pilgrims attacked Jewish communities in the Rhineland. The crusaders took Nicaea and Antioch, and in July 1099 stormed Jerusalem, killing many of its inhabitants. They established the Crusader states of Edessa, Antioch, Jerusalem and later Tripoli. The Muslim world was divided at the time, which helped the crusaders, and the memory of the expedition shaped relations between Europe and the Middle East for centuries.
Before and after
- 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
- 1098Birth of Hildegard of Bingen
- from 15 July 1099 to 18 May 1291Kingdom of Jerusalem
- from 11th century to 14th centuryOrigins of Catharism
More in Wars, politics & history
- 1206Temujin is proclaimed Genghis Khan
- 1212Children's Crusade
- from 1213 to 1221Fifth Crusade
- from 18 July 1270 to 30 October 1270Eighth Crusade
- 30 March 1282Sicilian Vespers
- from 24 May 1337 to 9 October 1453Hundred Years' War
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.