chronological 1095

• Year 1095

• Because of his defeat and the ones following it, the new Byzantyne emperor, Michael Comnenus, writes an appeal for help and sends it to the Pope Urban II.
• March: Council of Piacenza.
• November 18: Pope Urban II opens the Council of Clermont where ambassadors from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, asking help against the Muslims, are warmly received.
•

Nov 27: Pope Urban II (*) presides over the Council of Clermont and calls the First Crusade into being (in Arabic: al-Hurub al-Salibiyya, "Wars of the Cross"). Although his actual words have been lost, tradition has it that he was so persuasive that the crowd shouted out in response "Deus vult! Deus vult!" ("God wills it"). Urban had earlier arranged that Raymond IV (c. 1052 – 1105), Count of Toulouse (sometimes called: of St. Gilles), would volunteer to take up the cross then and there and offered other participants two important concessions: protection for their estates at home while they were gone and plenary indulgence for their sins. The inducements for other Europeans were just as great: serfs were allowed to leave the land they were bound to, citizens were free from taxation, debtors were given a moratorium on interest, prisoners were released, death sentences were commuted, and much more. One of the reasons Urban called the Council was to excommunicate Philip(pe) I of France (1060-1108) for repudiating his wife, Countess Bertha of Holland (born about 1054, lived in Vlaardingen, now the province of Zuid-Holland in the Netherlands and died in 1093/1094 in Montreul-sur-Loire, France . She married King Phillippe I of France in 1071/1072 in France) and his relationship with Bertrade de Montfort, wife of the count of Anjou. Because he is excommunicated, Philip cannot participate in the Crusade.
(*) About Pope Urban II: Otho of Lagny, Bishop of Ostia, succeeded to the papal throne in 1088. The papacy was contested by Wibert, the anti-Pope, who had been made Clement III by Henry IV and whose adherents disputed the control of the Holy City (Rome).
• December: Adhemar de Monteil (also: Adémar, Aimar, or Aelarz), Bishop of Le Puy, is chosen by Pope Urban II as the Papal Legate for the First Crusade. Although various secular leaders would argue amongst themselves over who led the Crusade, the pope always regards Adhemar as its true leader, reflecting the primacy of spiritual over political goals.

• Year 1096

• March: Knights begin to assemble.
• Robert II duke of Normandy mortgages Normandy to William II of England in exchange for money to finance a Crusade.
• Spring: Pope Urban compares the Reconquista of Spain to the Crusade.
• Peasants' Crusade set out from Europe.
• Persecution of Jews in Europe.
• April: The first of the four planned Crusader armies arrives in Constantinople, at that time ruled by Alexius I Comnenus.
• April 20, Peter the Hermit, (also known as Cucu Peter, Little Peter or Peter of Amiens), a native of Amiens in France, leads 20,000 commoners out of Cologne on the Peasants' Crusade.
• May 06: Crusaders moving through the Rhine Valley massacre Jews in Speyer. This is the first major slaughter of a Jewish community by Crusaders marching to the Holy Land.
• May 18: Crusaders massacre Jews in Worms, Germany. The Jews in Worms had heard about the massacre in Speyer and try to hide - some in their homes and some even in the bishop's palace, but they are unsuccessful.
• May 27: Crusaders massacre Jews in Mainz, Germany. The bishop hides over 1,000 in his cellars but the Crusaders learn of this and kill most of them. Men, women, and children of all ages are slaughtered indiscriminately.
• May 30: Crusaders attack Jews in Cologne, Germany, but most are protected by local citizens who hide the Jews in their own houses. Archbishop Hermann would later send them to safety in neighboring villages, but the Crusaders would follow and slaughter hundreds.
• June: Crusaders led by Peter the Hermit sack Semin and Belgrade, forcing Byzantine troops to flee to Nish.
• July 03: Peter the Hermit's Peasants' Crusade meets Byzantine forces at Nish. Although Peter is victorious and moves towards Constantinople, about a quarter of his forces are lost.
• July 12: Crusaders under the leadership of Peter the Hermit reach Sofia, Hungary.
• August: Godfrey De Bouillon, the Margrave of Antwerp and a direct descendant of Charlemagne, sets off to join the First Crusade at the head of an army of at least 40,000 soldiers. Godfrey is the brother of Baldwin of Boulogne (the future Baldwin I of Jerusalem.
• August 01: The Peasants' Crusade, which had departed from Europe that spring, is shipped over the Bosporus by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus of Constantinople. Alexius I had welcomed these first Crusaders, but they are so decimated by hunger and disease that they cause a great deal of trouble, looting churches and houses around Constantinople. Thus, Alexius has them taken to Anatolia as quickly as possible. Made up of poorly organized groups led by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Pennyless (Gautier sans-Avoir, who had led a separate contingent from Peter, most of whom were killed by the Bulgarians), the Peasants' Crusade would proceed to pillage Asia Minor but meet with a very messy end.
• September: A group of Germans from the Peasants' Crusade is besieged at Xerigordon and forced to surrender. Everyone is given a choice of beheading or conversion. Those who convert in order to avoid beheading are sent into slavery and never heard from again.
• October: Bohemond I (Bohemond of Otranto, French: Bohémond de Tarente), prince of Otranto (1089–1111) and one of the leaders of the First Crusade, leads his troops across the Adriatic Sea. Bohemond would be largely responsible for the capture of Antioch and he was able to secure the title Prince of Antioch (1098–1101, 1103–04).
• October: Godfrey reaches Constantinople.
• October 21: The first wave of The Peasants' Crusade (also known as "The People's Crusade" or "The Crusade of the Poor People"), led by Peter the Hermit (~1050 - July 8, 1115; also known as Cucu Peter, Little Peter or Peter of Amiens), is massacred at Civeot (Civetot?), Anatolia, by Turkish archers from Nicaea. Only small children are spared the sword so that they could be sent into slavery. Around 3,000 manage to escape back to Constantinople where Peter the Hermit had been in negotiations with Emperor Alexius I Comnenus.
• October: Raymond, Count of Toulouse (also of St. Giles), leaves for the Crusade in the company of Adhemar, bishop of Puy and the Papal Legate.
• December: The last of the four planned Crusader armies arrives at Constantinople, bringing the total numbers to approximately 50,000 knights and 500,000 footmen. Curiously there isn't a single king among the Crusade leaders, a sharp difference from later Crusades. At this time Philip I of France, William II of England, and Henry IV of Germany are all under excommunication by Pope Urban II.
• December 25: Godfrey De Bouillon, the Margrave of Antwerp and a direct descendant of Charlemagne, arrives in Constantinople. Godfrey would be the primary leader of the First Crusade, thus making it a largely French war in practice and causing the inhabitants of the Holy Land to refer to Europeans generally as "Franks".

• Year 1097

• Edgar of Scotland, son of Malcolm III of Scotland defeats, blinds, and imprisons Donald III of Scotland. Edgar becomes king of Scotland.
• January: Normans led by Bohemond I destroy a village on the way to Constantinople because it is inhabited by heretic Paulicians.
• March: After relations between Byzantine leaders and the European Crusaders deteriorates, Godfrey De Bouillon leads an attack on the Byzantine Imperial Palace at Blachernae.
• Spring: First Crusade contingents assembling in Constantinople.
• April 26: Bohemond I joins his Crusading forces with the Lorrainers under Godfrey de Bouillon. Bohemond is not especially welcome in Constantinople because his father, Robert Guiscard, had invaded the Byzantine Empire and captured the cities of Dyrrhachium and Corfu.
• End of April: First Crusade begins the march in Anatolia to Nicaea.
• May: With the arrival of Duke Robert of Normandy, all of the major participants of the Crusades are together and the large force crosses into Asia Minor. Peter the Hermit and his few remaining followers join them. How many were there? Estimates vary wildly: 600,000 according to Fulcher of Chartres, 300,000 according to Ekkehard, and 100,000 according to Raymond of Aguilers. Modern scholars place their numbers at around 7,000 knights and 60,000 infantry.
• May 21: Crusaders begin the siege of Nicaea, a mostly Christian city guarded by several thousand Turkish troops. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus has a strong interest in the capture of this heavily fortified city because it lies just 50 miles from Constantinople itself. Nicaea is at this time under the control of Kilij Arslan (Dawud Kilij Arslan Suleyman ibn Kut al-Mish), sultan of the Seljuk Turkish state of Rhum (a reference to Rome). Unfortunately for him Arslan and the bulk of his military forces are at war with a neighboring Emir when the crusaders arrive; although he quickly makes peace in order to lift the siege, he would be unable to arrive in time.
• Late May: Nicaea surrenders to Alexius.
• June 19: Crusaders captured Antioch after a long siege. This had delayed progress towards Jerusalem by a year.
• June 19: The city of Nicaea surrenders to the Crusaders. Emperor Alexius I Comnenus of Constantinople makes a deal with the Turks that puts the city in his hands and kicks the Crusaders out. In not allowing them to pillage Nicaea, Emperor Alexius engenders a great deal of animosity towards the Byzantine Empire.
• Late June: First Crusaders marche overland from Nicaea toward Dorylaeum.
• July 01: Battle of Dorylaeum: While travelling from Nicaea to Antioch, the Crusaders split their forces into two groups and Kilij Arslan seizes the opportunity to ambush some of them near Dorylaeum. In what would become known as the Battle of Dorylaeum, Bohemond I is saved by Raymond of Toulouse. This battle could have been a disaster for the Crusaders, but the victory frees them of both supply problems and from harassment by Turks for a while.
• August: Godfrey of Bouillon temporarily occupies the Seljuk city of Iconium (Konya).
• September 10: Splitting off from the main Crusading force, Tancred of Hauteville captures Tarsus. Tancred is a grandson of Robert Guiscard and nephew of Bohemund of Taranto.
• October 20: The first Crusaders arrived at Antioch.
• October 21: The Crusaders' siege of the strategically important city of Antioch begins. Located in the mountainous region of Orontes, Antioch had never been captured by any means other than treachery and is so large that the Crusader army is unable to completely surround it. During this siege Crusaders learn to chew on the reeds known to Arabs as sukkar - this is their first experience with sugar and they come to like it.
• December 21: First Battle of Harenc: Because of the size of their forces, Crusaders besieging Antioch are constantly running short of food and conduct raids into the neighboring regions despite the risk of Turkish ambushes. One of the largest of these raids consists of a force of 20,000 men under the command of Bohemond and Robert of Flanders. At this same time, Duqaq of Damascus had been approaching Antioch with a large relief army. Robert is quickly surrounded, but Bohemond comes up quickly and relieves Robert. There are heavy casualties on both sides and Duqaq is forced to withdraw, abandoning his plan to relieve Antioch.

• Year 1098

• Early February: Emperor Alexius' General Tacitius leaves the siege of Antioch.
• February: Tancred and his forces rejoin the main body of Crusaders, only to find Peter the Hermit attempting to flee to Constantinople. Tancred makes sure that Peter returns to continue the fight.
• February 09: Second Battle of Harenc: Ridwan of Aleppo, titular ruler of Antioch, raises an army to relieve the besieged city of Antioch. The Crusaders learn of his plans and launch a preemptive assault with their remaining 700 heavy cavalry. The Turks are forced into retreat to Aleppo, a city in northern Syria, and the plan to relieve Antioch is abandoned.
• March 10: Christian citizens of Edessa, a powerful Armenian kingdom that controls a region from the coastal plain of Cilicia all the way to the Euphrates, surrenders to Baldwin of Boulogne. Possession of this region would provide a secure flank to the Crusaders.
• June 01: Stephen of Blois takes a large contingent of Franks and abandons the siege of Antioch after he hears that Emir Kerboga of Mosul with an army of 75,000 is drawing near to relieve the besieged city.
• June 03: The Crusaders under the command of Bohemond I capture Antioch, despite their numbers having been depleted by numerous defections during the previous months. The reason is treachery: Bohemond conspires with Firouz (Firuz), an Armenian convert to Islam and captain of the guard, to allow the Crusaders access to the Tower of the Two Sisters. Bohemond is named Prince of Antioch.
• June 05-09: Emir Kerboga (Kerbogha), Attabeg of Mosul, finally arrives at Antioch with an army of 75,000 men and lays siege to the Christians who had just captured the city themselves (although they do not have full control of it - there are still defenders barricaded in the citadel). In fact, the positions which they had occupied a couple of days before are now occupied by the Turkish forces. A relief army commanded by the Byzantine Emperor turns back after Stephen of Blois convinces them that the situation in Antioch is hopeless. For this, Alexius is never forgiven by the Crusaders and many would claim that Alexius' failure to help them released them from their vows of fealty to him.
• June 10: Peter Bartholomew, a servant of a member of Count Raymond's army, experiences a vision of the Holy Lance being located at Antioch. Also known as the Spear of Destiny or the Spear of Longinus, this artifact is alleged to be the spear that pierced the side of Jesus Christ when he was on the cross.
• June 14: The Holy Lance is "discovered" by Peter Bartholomew subsequent to a vision from Jesus Christ and St. Andrew that it is located in Antioch, recently captured by the Crusaders. This dramatically improves the spirits of the Crusaders now besieged in Antioch by Emir Kerboga, Attabeg of Mosul.
• June 28: Battle of Orontes: Following the Holy Lance "discovery" in Antioch, the Crusaders drive back a Turkish army under the command of Emir Kerboga, Attabeg of Mosul, sent to recapture the city. This battle is generally regarded as having been decided by morale because the Muslim army, split by internal dissent, numbers 75,000 strong but is defeated by a mere 15,000 tired and poorly equipped Crusaders.
• August 01: Adhemar, Bishop of Le Puy and nominal leader of the First Crusade, dies during an epidemic. With this, Rome's direct control over the Crusade effectively ends.
• Nov 27-Dec 11: Crusaders capture the city of M'arrat-an-Numan, a small city east of Antioch. According to reports, Crusaders are observed eating the flesh of both adults and children; as a consequence, the Franks would be labeled "cannibals" by Turkish historians.

• Year 1099

• January 13: Raymond of Toulouse leads the first contingents of Crusaders away from Antioch and towards Jerusalem. Bohemund disagrees with Raymond's plans and remains in Antioch with his own forces.
• February: Raymond of Toulouse captures the Krak des Chevaliers, but he is forced to abandon it in order to continue his march to Jerusalem.
• February 14: Raymond of Toulouse begins a siege of Arqah (near Tripolis), but he would be forced to give up in April.
• Late March: Godfrey and Robert of Flanders join the siege of Arqah.
• April 08: Long criticized by doubters that he had truly found the Holy Lance, Peter Bartholomew agrees to the suggestion of priest Arnul Malecorne that he undergo a trial by fire in order to prove the relic's authenticity. He dies of his injuries on April 20, but because he does not die immediately Malecorne declares the trial a success and the Lance genuine.
• Mid-May: Raymond finally gives up on Arqah; all present march to Jerusalem.
• June 06: Citizens of Bethlehem plead with Tancred of Hauteville (nephew of Bohemond of Taranto) to protect them from the approaching Crusaders who had by this time acquired a reputation for vicious looting of cities they capture.
• June 07: The Crusaders reach the gates of Jerusalem, then controlled by governor Iftikhar ad-Daula. Although the Crusaders had originally marched out of Europe to take Jerusalem back from the Turks, the Fatimids had already expelled the Turks the year before. The Fatimid caliph offers the Crusaders a generous peace agreement that includes protection of Christian pilgrims and worshippers in the city, but the Crusaders are uninterested in anything less than full control of the Holy City - nothing short of unconditional surrender would satisfy them.
• June 13: Crusaders fail to take Jerusalem by storm.
• July 08: The Crusaders attempt to take Jerusalem by storm but fail. According to reports, they originally attempt to march around the walls under the leadership of priests in the hope that the walls would simply crumble, as did the walls of Jericho in biblical stories. When that fails, unorganized attacks are launched with no effect.
• July 10: Death of Ruy Diaz de Vivar, known as El Cid (Arabic for "lord").
• July 13: Armies of the first Crusade launch a final assault on Muslims in Jerusalem.
• 1099:

Jul 15, Godfrey of Bouillon (French: Godefroid de Bouillon) and his brother Baldwin (French: Bauduin) breach the north walls of Jerusalem near (CHECK: Herod's Gate? or St. Stephen's Gate ?) and Count Raymond at the Jaffa Gate on the west wall, thus allowing them to capture the city. Estimates place the number of casualties as high as 100,000. Tancred of Hauteville, a grandson of Robert Guiscard and nephew of Bohemund of Taranto, is the first Crusader through the walls. (according to the Gesta (*) a Flemish knight named Lethold was the first to cross into the city, followed by Godfrey, his brother Eustace, Tancred, and their men). Raymond's tower was at first stopped by a ditch, but as the other Crusaders had already entered, the Muslim guarding the gate surrendered to Raymond. The day is Friday, Dies Veneris, the anniversary of (CHECK: ___ ? when Christians believe that Jesus redeemed the world and is the first of two days of unprecedented slaughter. (*) The so-called Gesta Francorum ("The Deeds of the Franks", in full De Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum) is a Latin chronicle of the First Crusade (1096-1099) by an anonymous author.
• July 16: Crusaders herd Jews of Jerusalem into a synagogue and set it on fire, killing them all.
• July 22: Raymond IV of Toulouse is offered the title King of Jerusalem but he turns it down and leaves the region. Godfrey de Bouillon is offered the same title and turns it down as well, but is willing to be named Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri (Advocate or Defender of the Holy Sepulchre), the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem. The Crusaders begin to rebuild the city including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The kingdom would endure in one form or another for several hundred years but it would always be in a precarious position. It is based upon a long, narrow strip of land with no natural barriers and whose population is never entirely conquered. Continual reinforcements from Europe are required but not always forthcoming.
• July 29: Pope Urban II dies. Pope Paschal II (1099 - 1118) comes into office. Urban had followed the lead set by his predecessor, Gregory VII, by working to enhance the power of the papacy against the power of secular rulers. He also became known for having initiated the first of the Crusades against Muslim powers in the Middle East. Urban dies, though, without ever learning that the First Crusade had taken Jerusalem and was a success.
• August: Records indicate that Peter the Hermit, principal leader of the failed Peasants' Crusade, serves as leader of the supplicatory processions in Jerusalem which occur prior to the battle of Ascalon.
• August 12: Battle of Ascalon: Crusaders successfully fight off an Egyptian (Fatimid) army sent to relieve Jerusalem. Prior to its capture by the Crusaders, Jerusalem had been under the control of the Fatamid Caliphate of Egypt, and the vizier of Egypt, al-Afdal, raises an army of 50,000 men that outnumber the remaining Crusaders five to one, but which is inferior in quality. This is the final battle in the First Crusade.
• September 13: Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria.

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