/year

Crusader states

feudal Catholic states in the Levant, 1098–1291

21 dated entries naming Crusader states, drawn from 21 separate years between 1098 CE and 1291 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

JSONWikipedia articleWikidata Q190967

11th century

  • 1098March 10 – Baldwin of Boulogne enters Edessa, and is welcomed as liberator by the Armenian clergy. The local population massacres the Seljuk garrison and officials – or forces them to flee. Baldwin is acknowledged as their ruler (or doux). He assumes the title of count and establishes the first crusader state. Baldwin marries Arda of Armenia, daughter of Lord Thoros of Marash, and consolidates his conquered territory.source
  • 1100Genoa, Venice and Pisa gain trading privileges from the Crusader states, in return for their service during the conquest of the coastal cities.source

12th century

  • 1109July 12 – Siege of Tripoli: After a 7-year siege (supported by the Genoese fleet), Tripoli falls to the Crusaders. Fakhr al-Mulk ibn Ammar, qadi of Tripoli, submits to Bertrand of Toulouse (the eldest son of Raymond IV). He establishes the County of Tripoli, the fourth Crusader state in the Middle East. Raymond's nephew William II Jordan dies of an arrow wound sustained during the siege, leaving Bertrand as its sole ruler.source
  • 1120Summer – Baldwin II leads an expedition to Antioch to defend the northern Crusader states. He signs a 1-year truce with Ilghazi, Artuqid ruler of Mardin, securing the possession of Kafartab and other fortresses in Syria.source
  • 1134Robert of Ketton and Herman of Carinthia travel throughout France, the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusader States.source
  • 1144December 24 – Siege of Edessa: Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi conquer the fortress city of Edessa after a four-week siege. Thousands of inhabitants are massacred – only the Muslims are spared. The women and children are sold into slavery. This eliminates the Crusader principality of Outremer. Lacking the forces to take on Zengi, Joscelin II retires to his fortress at Turbessel. There, he requests reinforcements from the Byzantines and Queen-Regent Melisende of Jerusalem. This will lead to the Pope preaching a Second Crusade.source
  • 1146Autumn – Siege of Edessa: The Crusaders under Joscelin II recapture Edessa (Northern Syria) from Nur ad-Din, Seljuk ruler of Damascus. After not receiving support from the other Crusader states, Nur ad-Din counter-raids the territory of Antioch but withdraws his forces to retake Edessa in November.source
  • 1185Saladin agrees to a 4-year truce due to severe drought and famine which has struck Palestine. The treaty is signed by Count Raymond of Tripoli and important nobles from Jerusalem. Commerce is renewed between the Crusader States and their Muslim neighbors. A flow of corn from the east saves the Crusaders and the population from starvation.source
  • 1187July 4 – Battle of Hattin: Egyptian army under Saladin defeats the Crusader army (some 20,000 men) under Guy of Lusignan at the Horns of Hattin. Guy is captured along with many nobles and knights, among them, Raynald of Châtillon. The latter is executed by Saladin himself. The Crusader States have no reserves to defend the castles and fortified settlements against Saladin's forces.source
  • 1190November 24 – The 18-year-old Isabella I, half-sister of Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem, marries Conrad of Montferrat at Acre making him de facto king of Jerusalem (as Conrad I). He has the support of her mother Maria Comnena and stepfather Balian of Ibelin, as well as Reginald of Sidon and other major nobles in the Crusader States.source
  • 1200February 17 – Al-Adil I, Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, Jerusalem, and parts of the Jazira takes control of Egypt, and is recognized as sultan of the Ayyubid Empire. During his reign, he promotes trade and good relations with the Crusader States. His son Al-Kamil becomes the effective ruler (viceroy) of Egypt.source

13th century

  • 1205Othon de la Roche, a Burgundian nobleman, founds the Duchy of Athens (one of the Crusader states set up in Greece) and takes the title of "Grand Lord" (Megaskyr) in Athens.source
  • 1225November 9 – Frederick II marries the 14-year-old Queen Yolande, heiress to the kingdom of Jerusalem, and adds the Crusader States to his dominions.source
  • 1249June 5 – Siege of Damietta: Louis IX lands with a Crusader force and captures Damietta, after a fierce battle at the edge of the sea. The onslaught of the knights of France and those of Outremer under John of Ibelin, force the Ayyubids back with heavy losses. At nightfall, Fakhr ad-Din withdraws his army over a bridge of boats to Damietta. Finding the population there in panic and the garrison wavering, Fakhr ad-Din decides to evacuate the city. On June 6, Louis marches triumphantly over the bridge into Damietta and builds a camp to attack Cairo.source
  • 1254February 21 – King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") signs a multi-year truce with An-Nasir Yusuf, Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, who is well aware of a Mongol threat and has no wish for war with the Crusader States.source
  • 1265The Mamluk Sultanate Bahri dynasty of Egypt captures several cities and towns from Crusader states in the Middle East, including the cities of Haifa, Arsuf, and Caesarea Maritima; these events eventually precipitate the Eighth Crusade in 1267.source
  • 1266August 24 – Battle of Mari: Mamluk forces (some 30,000 men) led by Baibars defeat the Armenian army in Cilicia, in retaliation for the support of the Mongol invasion in Syria. He expands his domain, capturing the city of Byblos (modern Lebanon) and the important castle of Toron from the Crusader States.source
  • 1270The ancient city of Ascalon is captured from the Crusader States, and utterly destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars, who goes so far as to fill in its important harbor, leaving the site desolate, and the city never to be rebuilt.source
  • 1283June – Qalawun ("the Victorious"), Mamluk ruler of Egypt, signs a peace treaty for 10 years with the Crusader States at Caesarea. It guarantees the Crusaders the possession of the territory from the Ladder of Tyre, north of Acre, to Mount Carmel and Atlit. But Tyre and Beirut are excluded. The right of free pilgrimage to Nazareth is permitted for the Christians.source
  • 1290August 30 – Survivors and relatives of the massacre at Acre take bloodstained clothing to Sultan Qalawun ("the Victorious") in Cairo, who demands that the leaders of the riot be handed over for trial, but the nobles refuse to send them and Qalawun now obtains legal clearance from the religious authorities in Cairo to break the truce with Crusader states.source
  • 1291August 14 – Mamluk forces conquer the last Crusader outpost in Syria, the Templar fortress of Atlit south of Acre. All that now is left to the Knights Templar is the island fortress of Ruad. Al-Ashraf Khalil returns to Cairo in triumph as the "victor in the long struggle against the Crusader states".source

Named in the same entries