The polarisation of the Muslim world enabled the crusaders (colloquially known as Franks in the Levant) 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 annihilated the crusader army in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187, and occupied almost the whole kingdom during the following months.
An Italian crusader, Conrad of Montferrat, saved Tyre 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 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, also restored the Franks' rule in 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.
The Holy Sepulchre is rebuilt after a Byzantine–Fatimid treaty.[3]
1055
December 18. The Seljuk rulerTughril seizes Baghdad as the Abbasid caliphs' protector. During the following decades, the Seljuks expand their empire towards the Levant fighting the Fatimids and the Byzantines.[4][5]
1063
A Byzantine–Fatimid treaty strengthens the position of Byzantine emperor Constantine X Doukas as the patron of the Christians in the Fatimid Caliphate. The Christians settle in their own fortified quarter in Jerusalem.[4][6]
The Hospital of St. John is founded for male pilgrims as the abbey's dependency. They become independent sometime near time of the capture of Jerusalem.[9]
Frenchmen and men from across the mountains; men chosen by and beloved of God as is clear from your many achievements...– it is to you that we address our sermon, to you that we appeal. ... Disturbing news has emerged from Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople and is now constantly at the forefront of our mind: that the race of Persians, a foreign people and a people rejected by God ... has invaded the lands of those Christians, depopulated them by slaughter and plunder and arson, kidnapped some of the Christians and carried them off to their own lands and put others to a wretched death, and 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 and an area that could not be crossed in two months' journey subjected to their ways. So to whom should the task fall of taking vengeance and wresting their conquests from them if not to you – you to whom God has given above other nations outstanding glory in arms, greatness of spirit, fitness of body and the strength to humilitate the hairy scalp of those who resist you?
c. January 20. Godfrey swears fealty to Alexios I in Constantinople.[21]
1098
March. The crusaders offer their assistance to the Fatimids against the Seljuk Turks in return for Jerusalem.[22]
March 10.County of Edessa established under Baldwin of Boulogne.
June 28. Siege of Antioch ends with a crusader victory. Bohemond I given command of a crusader army and becomes the first Prince of Antioch shortly thereafter.[23]
February 14. Raymond IV cannot continue his campaign without other crusader leaders' support and besieges Arqa.[26]
Spring. Al-Afdal refuses to make an alliance with the crusaders, but he offers to grant entry into Jerusalem to unarmed pilgrims.[27]
c. April 1. The protracted siege of Arqa forces Raymond IV to seek Godfrey's and Robert II of Flanders' assistance.[28]
c. April 10. Byzantine envoys inform the crusaders about Alexios I's plan to invade Palestine in late June.[29]
Early May. Ignoring Raymond IV's protests, the crusaders depart for Jerusalem before the arrival of the Byzantine army.[30]
Establishment (1099-1100)
1099
May 19. The crusaders cross the Dog River into Palestine.[31]
June 3. The crusaders seize Ramla and establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lydda and Ramla. The first bishop, Robert, fixes the tributes payable on his estates to attract Syrian and Frank colonists to settle there setting the pattern for privileges to colonists.[32][33][34][35]
June 7. The crusaders (1,200–1,300 knights and 10,700–10,800 foot-soldiers) reach Jerusalem. The defenders nail crosses on the walls and desecrate them.[36][37]
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, protected by secular lords.[40][41]
July 8. A visionary priest, Peter Desiderius, persuades the crusaders to make a penitentiary procession around the walls of Jerusalem.[42][43]
July 15. The crusaders capture Jerusalem. They massacre or enslave 3,000 Muslims and Jews.[44][45][46]
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 on account of their fear of death: 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 abdicates and Daimbert becomes the new Latin patriarch. Godfrey and Bohemond I swear fealty to Daimbert.[58]
c. 1100
A decree reportedly directed against those who leave the Holy Land in difficult times stipulates that a man who lives in a house for more than a year seizes its possession against its absent owner.[59]
February. The emirs of Ascalon, Caesarea and Acre pay tribute to Godfrey to prevent him from making plundering raids.[57]
February 2. Godfrey grants a quarter of Jaffa to Daimbert.[60]
April 1. Godfrey cedes Jaffa and Jerusalem to Daimbert, retaining possession until further conquests. Daimbert would not ultimately take possession of either.[61]
c. June 10. The Doge of VeniceVitale I Michiel arrives at Jaffa at the head of a fleet of 200 ships. His treaty with Godfrey's representatives establishes the Venetians' right to have their own quarter and church in the towns in the Holy Land.[62]
January–February.Geldemar Carpenel accuses Tancred of having unlawfully deprived him of Haifa, but Tancred does not answer the charges.[70]
Early March. After Tancred departs for Antioch to serve as regent, Baldwin I distributes his domains between Geldemar Carpenel and Hugh of Fauquembergues. A papal legate, Maurice of Porto, comes to Jerusalem.[71]
Easter. A Genoese fleet arrives at Jaffa.[72] The Greek Orthodox monks are allowed to return to the Holy Sepulchre to secure the celebration of the Holy Fire.[68]
May. Baldwin I and the Genoese capture Arsuf and Caesarea.[72]
May 28. After gathering new troops, Baldwin I forces Sharaf al-Ma'ali to return to Egypt.[75][76][77]
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 appointed as the Latin patriarch.[78][79]
May 25.Siege of Acre: Baldwin I captures Acre with the assistance of Genoese and Pisan fleets. The fields around the town are turned over to sugarcane growing and sugar refineries are established after the Italian merchants start to deliver sugar to Europe.[80][85]
Autumn. Daimbert sails for Italy to achieve his restoration in Rome.[79][86]
Baldwin I starts to grant "money fiefs"—a share of royal revenues—to his knights.[88]
1106–1108
Daniel the Traveller, an abbot from Kievan Rus', makes a pilgrimage in the Holy Land. He visits Orthodox monasteries, many of which have been ruined.[89][90]
1107
June. The pope reinstates Daimbert as Latin patriarch. He dies on June 16 before he could resume his position.[79]
1108
The new papal legate, Archbishop Ghibbelin of Arles, deposes Evremar at a church council. Ghibbelin is elected as the Latin patriarch.[91]
1109
March. Raymond IV's son, Bertrand, lays claim to Raymond IV's inheritance against William Jordan. William Jordan makes an alliance with Tancred and Bertrand swears fealty to Baldwin I.[86]
April. Baldwin I summons Tancred and Tancred's opponents, Bertrand, Baldwin II of Edessa and Joscelin of Courtenay, to a general assembly at the crusaders' camp at Tripoli in the name of the "whole church of Jerusalem". The assembly confirms Bertrand's claim to Tripoli and Baldwin I grants Galilee to Tancred.[92][93]
July 12. The crusaders capture and sack Tripoli. Baldwin I grants a safe-conduct to the burghers, but he cannot prevent the Genoese from killing many of them.[94][95]
1110
May 12. Baldwin I and a Genoese fleet capture Beirut. The crusaders massacre the townspeople.[94][96]
Early summer. Baldwin I and Bertrand make a joint military campaign against Mawdud, the atabeg of Mosul, to protect Edessa.[94][96]
February 17 and 24. A qadi from Aleppo, Ibn al-Khashshab, a Hashemite sharif and many Muslim commoners urge Seljuk Sultan Muhammad I Tapar in the principal mosques in Baghdad to start a holy war against the crusaders.[98][99]
The pope confirms the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem over the newly established Roman Catholic bishoprics of Sidon and Beirut, ignoring the traditional boundary between the patriarchal sees of Antioch and Jerusalem.[100]
The construction of Montreal Castle in Oultrejordain begins. Baldwin I grants estates to the knights and commoners who settle near the castle. The region develops into an important center of sugarcane growing.[85][109][110]
c. 1116
Castles are built near Petra and Aqaba to control the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria.[108]
Baldwin I grants liberties to local Christians who move from Oultrejourdain to Jerusalem.[111]
1117
April 25. Adelaide departs for Sicily after her marriage to Baldwin I was annulled at a church council convoked by Arnoulf of Chocques.[112]
April 14. Baldwin II of Edessa comes to Jerusalem. Patriarch Arnulf and Joscelin of Courtenay achieve his election as Baldwin I's successor.[109][115]
Late April. Patriarch Arnulf dies. Baldwin II secures the direct royal control of the most important towns and the noblemen swear fealty to him at a general assembly.[116]
May. Toghtekin invades Galilee. Al-Afdal gathers his troops at Ascalon and Toghtekin joins him.[115][117]
May–July. Baldwin II and troops from Antioch and Tripoli prevent Al-Afdal and Toghtekin from launching a joint campaign against the kingdom.[118]
Late summer. Baldwin II invades Damascene territory and routes Toghtekin's son, Taj al-Muluk Buri.[118]
Late July. Baldwin II is acknowledged as regent for the absent minor prince of Antioch, Bohemond II.[117][123]
August 14.Battle of Hab: Baldwin II forces Ilghazi and Toghtekin to withdraw from Antiochene territory.[124][125]
August–September. Baldwin II grants the County of Edessa to Joscelin.[126]
December 25. Baldwin II is crowned king in Bethlehem.[114]
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 II abolishes customs on food delivered to Jerusalem.[127][128]
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.
July 7 or 8. The fall of Tyre to the Franks. The Muslim burghers remain in the town. The Venetians receive more than 15 nearby villages, and they grant most of them to Venetian noble families. The region becomes the most important center of sugarcane growing in the kingdom.[85][144][140][143]
August 29. Ilghazi son's, Timurtash, releases Baldwin II for ransom.[145]
May. Fulk V comes to Jerusalem and marries Melisende after Baldwin II promises to appoint him as his sole heir.[161]
September 4. Toghtekin's son and successor, Taj al-Muluk Buri, orders a purge against the Assassins in Damascus. Their leader Ismail al-Ajami offers to cede Banias to Baldwin II.[161][162]
February. Bohemond II is killed during a raid and the Antiochene lords offer the regency for his daughter by Alice, Constance, to Baldwin II. Alice seeks Zengi's assistance against Baldwin II, but he seizes Antioch and appoints Joscelin I to administer it.[166]
September 14. Fulk and Melisende are crowned in the Holy Sepulchre. Fulk starts replacing his late father-in-law's officials with his own supporters.[170][171][172]
Fulk's sister, Ermengarde, makes a pilgrimage in the Holy Land.[173]
1132
Summer. Alice and Pons conclude an alliance against Fulk, but Fulk prevents her from assuming the regency in Antioch and defeats Pons near Chastel Rouge.[170][174]
Spring. Fulk and Pons defeat Turkmen raiders. Fulk overcomes Zengi's general, Sawar, near Qinnasrin.[170]
Patriarch Stephen begins the construction of Chastel Hernaut to protect the pilgrims on the road between Jaffa and Jerusalem.[170][175]
1134
Late.Walter I Grenier accuses his stepfather, Hugh II of Jaffa, of plotting against Fulk. Hugh rises up and seeks the Fatimids' assistance. Patriarch William mediates a reconciliation and Hugh leaves for Italy.[176][177]
Fulk orders the construction of a castle at Bayt Jibrin near Ascalon.[175]
September.John II Komnenos besieges Antioch. Fulk authorizes Raymond to swear fealty to the Emperor.[176][179]
1138
February 5. Melisende establishes the Saint Lazarus Abbey at Bethany and appoints her sister, Yvetta, as its first abbess.[180]
July. The Archbishop of Tyre, Fulcher of Angoulême, cannot persuade Pope Innocent II to restore the authority of Tyre over bishoprics in the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch. In retaliation for Fulcher's independent action, Patriarch William takes direct control of the see of Tyre and its suffragans.[181]
1139
Innocent II orders Patriarch William to restore the see of Tyre to Archbishop Fulcher.[182]
March 29. Innocent II issues papal bull Omne datum optimum offering papal protection to the Knights Templar.
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. Before long, a large communal oven is built in Kerak.[175][189][190][191]
December 25. Patriarch William crowns and anoints Fulk and Melisende's son, Baldwin III, in the Holy Sepulchre. Melisende is crowned for the second time together with her son.[189][192]
1143
November 10. Fulk dies in a hunting accident.[193]
December 25. Baldwin III becomes sole king of Jerusalem.
January 25. Fulcher of Angoulême is elected as the Latin patriarch.[197]
September 14. A eunuch slave murders Zengi. Zengi's younger son Nur ad-Din assumes control ofAleppo.[199][200]
1146–1153
Frank colonists receive houses, arable lands, vineyards and a share in the olive groves in the royal domain near Casal Imbert. They are to give two-thirds of the olives and one-third of the crops to the king. The king holds a monopoly over the bakery and the communal bath.[201][202]
1147
Spring. Baldwin III makes a raid against the fertile Hauran region near Damascus.[203]
May–June. Nur ad-Din forces Baldwin III to withdraw from Damascene territory.[204][205]
1148
Melisende donates a village to the Jacobite metropolitanate of Jerusalem.[206]
March 19. Louis VII and the French crusaders reach Antioch.[207]
July 23–27. The crusaders besiege Damascus, but troops coming from the Muslim countries force them to lift the siege.[206][207]
September 8. Conrad III and his army leave the Holy Land.[207]
1149
First reference to a Court of Burgesses in Jerusalem. Headed by the local viscounts, the Courts of Burgesses judge the Frank commoners in about 40 towns.[209]
May. Louis VII and the French crusaders depart for France.[210]
May–June. Melisende's supporters do not join Baldwin III's military campaign to Syria. Baldwin III permits Joscelin II's wife, Beatrice, to sell the remnants of the County of Edessa to the Byzantines.[218][219]
1150s
Baldwin III orders the collection of all coins and the issue of new ones to secure the royal control of coinage.[220]
Baldwin, Viscount of Nablus, brings Muslim and Frank colonists to his estates.[221]
The Hospitallers settle colonists both from Palestinian towns and from France, Northern Italy and Catalonia in their estates at Bayt Jibrin.[222]
1151
Melisende makes her younger son, Amalric, the count of Jaffa.[223]
Spring. Nur ad-Din besieges Damascus, but Baldwin III's invasion of the Hauran forces him to abandon the siege.[215]
July. A Fatimid fleet makes a raid along the coast.[215]
April. Baldwin III appoints Humphrey II of Toron as constable and captures Manasses of Hierges' castle at Mirabel. He forces Melisende to abdicate and deprives Amalric of Jaffa.[225]
August 23. The Franks capture Ascalon, thus completing the conquest of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.[228][229]
1154
Baldwin III restores Jaffa to Amalric and also grants Ascalon to him.[230]
A royal confirmation of previous grants shows that non-Frank peasants (known as rustici or villani) are regularly donated to the Hospitallers.[231]
April 25. Nur ad-Din captures Damascus, uniting the Muslim lands in Syria.[229]
c. 1155
About 500 French, Catalan, Italian and Frank peasants live in a village, known as Magna Mahumeria, on the estates of the canons of the Holy Sepulchre near Al-Bireh. This typical planned village of the age developed around a fortified manor house and consisted of small and narrow—4m ×10m (13ft ×33ft)—houses with wide rubble and ashlar walls. The villagers collect water on the roofs to feed cisterns through pipes and channels. Documents refer to smiths, carpenters, builders, gardeners and shoemakers living in the village.[232][233]
1155
June. Nur ad-Din and Baldwin III conclude a one-year truce.[228][234]
October–November. Patriarch Fulcher and most of his suffragans accuse the Hospitallers of abusing their privileges, but Pope Hadrian IV does not condemn the knights.[213]
1156
June. The truce is renewed for a year after Nur ad-Din promises a tribute to Baldwin III.[228][234]
1157
May–June. Nur ad-Din besieges Banias, but Baldwin III relieves the fortress.[234][235]
July. Nur ad-Din again besieges Banias, but the united armies of Baldwin III, Raymond III and Raynald force him to withdraw his troops.[236][237]
November. The united crusader forces capture Shaizar. Baldwin III grants it to Thierry, but after a debate between Thierry and Raynald about its status, the crusaders abandon it.[238]
Late. Baldwin III's half-sister Sibylla and aunt Yvetta 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.[240]
1158
February. The united crusader forces capture Haram.[241]
Spring. Baldwin III and Thierry make a raid against Damascene territory.[236][241]
Late. Pope Hadrian IV confirms Amalric of Nesle's election as patriarch.[240]
1159
Spring. After lengthy negotiations, Manuel I and Baldwin III conclude an alliance against Nur ad-Din near Antioch.[243]
April 12. Baldwin III and Raynald ceremoniously receive Manuel I in Antioch.[244]
May. After Nur ad-Din releases his Christian prisoners and offers an alliance against the Seljuks of Rum, Manuel I leaves Syria for Constantinople.[245]
Baldwin III persuades the prelates and barons to remain neutral in the conflict between Pope Alexander III and his rival, Victor IV, at their general assembly in Nazareth. Later the prelates acknowledge Alexander III as the lawful pope.[240]
February 10. Baldwin III dies childless in Beirut.[248]
c. February 15. The prelates and barons elect Baldwin III's brother, Amalric, as king only after Amalric's marriage to Agnes of Courtenay is annulled. Amalric achieves the confirmation of their children's legitimacy.[249]
October. Amalric and Shirkuh withdraw their troops from Egypt. Amalric assumes the regency for the captive Raymond III.[256][258]
1167
January. Shirkuh invades Egypt. Amalric convokes a general assembly to Nablus which votes a 10 percent tax on movable property to finance a new campaign against Shirkuh.[259][260]
March. Shawar agrees to pay a yearly tribute to Amalric and the Fatimid Caliph Al-Adid confirms their treaty.[259][262]
March 18.Battle of al-Babein: an indecisive engagement between Amalric and Shirkuh's armies.[263]
Late March. Shirkuh seizes Alexandria. Amalric besieges it with the assistance of a Pisan fleet.[264]
c. August 1. Shirkuh agrees to abandon Alexandria in return for 40,000 dinars. Amalric is authorized to place a garrison in Alexandria. Shawar promises to pay a yearly tribute to Amalric.[264]
August 4. Shirkuh and his army depart for Damascus.[264]
Late August. Shawar's son, al-Kamil Shuja, offers allegiance to Nur ad-Din.[264]
August 29. Amalric marries Manuel I's niece, Maria Komnene, in Tyre. Amalric proposes the division of the Fatimid Caliphate between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Jerusalem to the Emperor's envoys.[261][265]
March 26. Al-Adid appoints Saladin as vizier.[274]
Summer. Amalric sends an embassy to France, England and Sicily to ask for a new crusade.[275]
September. A Byzantine fleet arrives at Acre.[276]
October–December. The Franks and the Byzantines unsuccessfully besiege Damietta.[277]
c. 1170
Amalric's only son and heir, Baldwin, is diagnosed with leprosy.[278]
Amalric's heir, Baldwin, is diagnosed with leprosy (c. 1170)
It so happened that once when [Baldwin] was playing with some other noble boys who were with him, they began pinching one another with their fingernails on the hands and arms, as playful boys will do. The others evinced their pain with yells, but, although his playmates did not spare him, Baldwin bore the pain altogether too patiently, as if he did not feel it. When this had happened several times, it was reported to me [William of Tyre]. At first I thought that this happened because of his endurance, not because of insensitivity. Then I called him and began to ask what was happening. At last I discovered that about half of his right hand and arm were numb, so that he did not feel pinches or even bites there. I began to have doubts, as I recalled the words of the wise man: "It is certain that an insensate member is far from healthy and that he who does not feel sick is in danger." 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, as we later understood more fully as time passed, and as we made more comprehensive observations, this was the beginning of an incurable disease. I cannot keep my eyes dry while speaking of it. For as he began to reach the age of puberty it became apparent that he was suffering from that most terrible disease, leprosy.
December. Saladin destroys the Frank colonists' unfortified quarters at Darum and Gaza.[280][281]
1171
Early. New embassy is sent to the European rulers.[282]
March–July. Amalric convinces Manuel I to renew their alliance in Constantinople.[283][284]
September 13. Al-Adid's death puts an end to the Fatimid Caliphate and makes Saladin the undisputed ruler of Egypt.[281][285][286]
October. Saladin invades the kingdom and destroys the Frank colonists' quarter at Montreal. He returns to Egypt when he learns of Nur ad-Din's decision to participate in the campaign. Nur ad-Din accuses Saladin of disloyalty.[287][190]
1173
Outraged by the fall of the Fatimids, the Assassin leader, Rashid ad-Din Sinan, offers to convert to Christianity if the Templars do not tax the Assassins' subjects in Syria. Templars murder Sinan's envoys.[285][288]
Summer. Amalric sends a new embassy to Europe.[289]
October–December. Saladin occupies Damascus and Hama, forcing Nur ad-Din's son, As-Salih Ismail al-Malik, to withdraw to Aleppo.[291]
1175
January–February. Raymond III leads a relief army to Hama against Saladin. He abandons the campaign after Saladin releases the hostages held for his ransom.[296]
July 22. Saladin and Raymond III conclude a truce.[297]
January. The birth of William Longsword's posthumous son by Sybilla, Baldwin.[303]
October. Baldwin IV orders the building of the fortress La Chastellet at Jacob's Ford.[310][311]
1179
February. The grand masters of the Templars and the Hospitallers, Odo de St Amand and Roger de Moulins, sign an agreement to settle their disputes.[306]
April. Baldwin IV gives La Chastellet to the Templars. Humphrey III dies after receiving fatal wounds during a raid against Banias. Agnes of Courtney's favorite, Aimery of Lusignan, is made a constable.[310][311][312]
May. Saladin raids the region of Jacob's Ford.[313]
August 29. Saladin destroys La Chastellet.[310][314]
September. Saladin makes raids as far as Beirut and Tyre.[314]
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.[315]
1180
April 20. Bohemond II and Raymond III march to Jerusalem unexpectedly. Regarding their action as an attempt to dethrone him, Baldwin IV hastily marries off Sybilla to Aimery's brother, Guy of Lusignan.[312][316]
May. Saladin accepts Baldwin IV's proposal for a two-year truce.[305][317]
Autumn. Baldwin IV's half-sister, Isabella, is betrothed to Raynald's stepson, Humphrey IV of Toron. Humphrey IV cedes his paternal domains to the king.[318]
January 16.Pope Alexander III calls for a new crusade, emphasizing that the leper Baldwin IV is unable to defend the Holy Land.[321][322]
Summer. Ignoring the truce, Raynald attacks a caravan.[323]
1182
Spring. Baldwin IV prohibits Raymond III from entering the kingdom.[324]
April.Andronikos Komnenos' coup in Constantinople puts an end to Frankish influence in the Byzantine Empire.[321][324]
Summer. Baldwin IV keeps the royal army continuously in the field because of a series of raids from Syria and Egypt.[325]
August. Saladin besieges Beirut, but Baldwin IV relieves it.[325][326]
September. Baldwin IV recaptures the fort of Habis Jaldak.[327]
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.[327][328][329]
October. Baldwin IV appoints Guy as bailiff. The Frank troops assemble 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.[331][332]
November. Guy refuses to exchange Jerusalem for Tyre with Baldwin IV. Humphrey IV marries Isabella in Kerak. Saladin besieges Kerak during the wedding.[333]
November 20. Baldwin IV orders Patriarch Heraclius to make preparations for the annulment of Guy and Sybilla's marriage. Sybilla's five-year-old son by William Longsword, Baldwin V, is crowned king.[333]
December 3 or 4. Baldwin IV and Raymond III relieve Kerak.[334]
December. Guy and Sybilla withdraw to Ascalon. Baldwin IV deprives him of Jaffa.[327][335]
1184
March 29. Patriarch Heraclius excommunicates William of Tyre, forcing him to abdicate the chancellorship.[336]
June. Envoys are sent to Europe to ask for a new crusade.[337]
Augustus 23–September 5. Second siege of Kerak by Saladin, but Baldwin IV relieves the fortress.[337]
October. Guy pillages a Beduin tribe in a royal domain.[335]
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 are required to pay less taxes than their peers in the Muslim countries.[338]
1185
Early April. The dying Baldwin IV appoints Raymond III as bailiff for Baldwin V for ten years, but Joscelin III is made Baldwin V'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 and Isabella's claims to the throne in case of Baldwin V's premature death.[339][340]
Spring. Saladin and Raymond III sign a truce which enables Saladin to invade Mosul.[342][343]
A Byzantine monk, John Phokas, makes a pilgrimage in the Holy Land. He visits Orthodox monasteries which have been rebuilt during the previous decades.[89]
July 20–c. September 15. Baldwin V dies. Raymond III leaves Jerusalem before the funeral and summons his partisans to a general assembly at Nablus. Joscelin III takes possession of Jerusalem, Acre and Beirut. Ignoring Raymond III's objections, Raynald and the grand master of the Templars, Gerard de Ridefort, accompany Sybilla to the Holy Sepulchre and Patriarch Heraclius crowns her queen. Her supporters cannot persuade her to divorce Guy and she crowns him king.[344][345][346]
October. Raymond III and his supporters offer the crown to Sybilla's half-sister, Isabella, and her husband, Humphrey IV, in Nablus. Humphrey IV flees from Nablus and swears fealty to Sybilla and Guy. All his former supporters, except for Raymond III and Baldwin of Ibelin, hurry to pay homage to the royal couple. Raymond III seeks Saladin's alliance against Guy.[344][347]
1187
Early. Contrary to the truce, Raynald seizes a caravan and Guy cannot persuade him to return the spoils and the prisoners.[348]
March 29. Saladin declares the jihad against the crusaders.[348]
Late April. Raymond III allows Saladin's commander Muzzafar al-Din to march across Galilee.[349]
May 1.Battle of Cresson: Muzzafar al-Din annihilates an army of Hospitallers and Templars.[344]
May 2. Raymond III's Galilean vassals persuade him to abandon his alliance with Saladin and to make peace with Guy.[350][351]
June 26. After gathering more than 30,000 troops, Saladin invades the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Frank troops start gathering at Saffuriya and the garrisons are reduced to the minimum in most fortresses and towns.[350][352]
July 4. Saladin annihilates the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Battle of Hattin. The Frank commanders fall into captivity. Raynald, the Hospitallers and the Templars are executed.[353][354]
Saladin has Raynald of Châtillon executed (1187)
[Saladin] summoned King Guy, his brother and Prince [Raynald]. He handed the king a dring of iced julep, from which he drank, being dreadfully thirsty, and he passed some of it to Prince [Raynald]. The sultan said to the interpreter, 'Tell the King, "You are the one giving him a drink. I have not given him any drink.'" ... [Saladin] ordered them to proceed to a place assigned for their lodging. They did so and ate something. Then the sultan summoned them again, now having with him none but a few servants. He gave the king a seat in the vestibule and, having summoned Prince [Raynald], confronted him .... He said to him '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.[357][358][266]
July 10–September 4. Saladin captures Jaffa, Arsuf, Caesarea, Haifa, Sidon and Ascalon.[359]
October 2. After receiving a free passage to the townspeople for a huge ransom, the defenders of Jerusalem surrender to Saladin.[360][361]
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 from their reception of the cross, with their families, remain under the protection of the holy Roman Church, as well as the archbishops and bishops and other prelates. 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, but they should also keep legally all their goods. Also, they may not be forced to pay interest if they have a loan.
January 5. Belvoir surrenders to Saladin's troops.[366][368]
May. Saladin's troops capture Montreal. Only Tyre and Belfort remain under Frank rule in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[369]
August. Guy's brother, Geoffrey of Lusignan, informs him about the preparations for a new crusade in Europe. They gather 9,000 troops and march to Tyre, but Conrad does not allow Guy to enter the town.[369][370]
August 26. Guy lays siege to Acre with the support of a Pisan fleet.[365][369]
September. Flemish, Danish, Frisian and French crusaders arrive at Acre.[371]
October 4. Saladin defeats the crusaders at Acre. Fearing an epidemic, he leaves Acre, but he appoints his brother, Al-Adil, to command his troops.[372]
July 27. Henry II, Count of Champagne arrives at Acre, taking new troops and funds with him.[377]
July 29. Sybilla and her two daughters by Guy die at Acre.[374][378]
Early October.Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia, and the remnants of Frederick I's crusade arrive at Acre. A hospital is established for them at the crusaders' camp.[379][380][381]
c. November 20. Guy's opponents persuade the papal legate, Ubaldo of Pisa, to annul the marriage of Humphrey IV and Isabella.[379]
July 12. The garrisons of Acre surrender to the crusaders in return for a safe passage.[385][386]
July 24 or 26. Richard I and Philip II confirm Guy's right to rule the kingdom until his death, but they also stipulate that Conrad is to succeed Guy on the throne.[387][388]
September 10. Richard I seizes Jaffa without resistance.[392]
October. Richard I offers the hands of his sister, Joan, to Al-Adil, proposing that they could jointly rule the restored kingdom, but she refuses to marry a Muslim.[393][394]
c. November 15. Conrad proposes a separate peace to Saladin who informs the crusaders about Conrad's offer.[395]
1192
January 20. The crusaders seize the abandoned Ascalon.[387]
April 16. After Richard decides to return to England, the Frank barons persuade him to acknowledge Conrad as the lawful king.[387]
April 28. Assassins murder Conrad in Tyre.[387][396]
May. Richard I authorizes Guy to purchase Cyprus from the Templars.[397]
May 5. Henry II of Champagne marries Conrad's pregnant widow, Isabella in Acre.[397][398]
June 11. The crusaders march as far as Bayt Nuba near Jerusalem, but Richard I decides not to attack the Holy City for fear of being deprived of water.[399][400]
September 2. A truce between Saladin and Richard I confirms the Franks' rule on the coast from Tyre to Jaffa.[401][402]
c. October 15. Saladin grants parts of Caymont to Balian of Ibelin and half of Sidon to Reginald of Sidon. Henry I restores Haifa, Caesarea and Arsuf to their previous lords and grants Jaffa to Aimery of Lusignan.[404]
Recovery (1193-1229)
1193
March 4. Saladin dies in Damascus. Conflicts between his sons, brothers and nephews cause the disintegration of his empire.[403][405]
Geoffrey of Donjon about Saladin's death (1193)
...the death of our persecutor Saladin ... caused fear and anxiety among his people and gave rise to angry discord among his three sons, in Damascus, Aleppo and [Egypt]. Each brother refused to be subject to another, preferring to try to gain control over the land of the other. We know for certain that since the loss of the land of the inheritance of Christ cannot easily be regained. The land held by the Christians during the truces remains virtually uninhabited.
Geoffrey of Donjon, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller,Letter to William Villiers, Preceptor of the Knights Hospitallers in the West[406]
May. Henry I limits the Pisans' presence in Acre for their alliance with Guy. They pillage the coast and Henry I expels them from the entire kingdom. He imprisons Guy's brother Aimery, but the barons and the grand masters persuade him to release Aimery.[407]
c. 1194
The canons of the Holy Sepulchre elect Aymar the Monk as the Latin patriarch without consulting Henry I. He imprisons them, but Archbishop Joscius mediates a reconciliation. Pope Celestine III confirms Aymar's election.[408]
July. Al-Adil seizes Damascus from Saladin's son, Al-Afdal.[414]
1197
Early September. Al-Adil captures Jaffa. The German crusaders ignore Henry I's ban and make raids against Muslim territories.[412][413]
September 10. Henry I falls from the window of the royal palace and dies in Acre.[413][415]
c. September 15. Some barons offer the throne to Raoul of Saint Omer, but the military orders achieve the election of Aimery as king.[416]
October. Aimery marries Isabella. Patriarch Aymar crowns them king and queen. Aimery has his seat at Acre, but he keeps the administration of the two realms separate.[417]
Late October. German and Frank troops seize Sidon and Beirut.[418]
November 28. The Germans and Franks besiege Toron.[418]
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.[419]
February 2. The siege of Toron is abandoned after news of the death of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, reaches the crusaders' camp.[418]
February. Al-Adil takes control of Egypt.[414][421]
The Pope urges women to make donations for the crusaders instead of joining a crusade.[422]
1202
Spring. Reginald of Dampierre and 300 crusaders land at Acre. They leave for Antioch after Henry I prohibits them from breaking the truce.[423][424]
1203
May. The leaders of the Fourth Crusade decide to attack Constantinople.[425]
1204
May. Aimery sends a fleet to raid the Nile Delta.[424][426]
April 12. The crusaders capture Constantinople. The establishment of the Latin Empire of Constantinople weakens the position of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, because the new crusader states on the ruins of the Byzantine Empire attract many crusaders from Europe.[427][428]
September. Aimery and Al-Adil conclude a six-year truce. The Franks take full control of Sidon, Lydda and Ramla.[427][428]
Late. Isabella dies. Her daughter by Conrad, Maria of Montferrat, succeeds her. Isabella's half-brother, John of Ibelin, assumes the regency for the 13-year-old queen.[429][428]
c. 1206
The barons propose Maria to the married Peter II of Aragon, but the Pope does not annul Peter's marriage.[430]
1206
After being appointed as the Latin patriarch by the Pope, Albert of Vercelli comes to the Holy Land.[431]
The Pope approves John's candidacy and gives 40,000 marks for the defence of the Holy Land.[435]
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.[433][436]
September 13. John and his retinue of 300 knights land at Haifa.[433]
Summer. John sends 50 knights to assist the Templars against Leo in Cilicia.[440]
1212
July. John and Al-Adil conclude a six-year truce.[439][441]
Late. Maria dies after giving birth to a daughter, Isabella. After some barons challenge John's right to rule the kingdom, he sends his chancellor, Raoul of Merencourt, to the Holy See. The Pope menaces those who do not obey John with ecclesiastical sanctions.[432][439][442]
May 2. Leo II dies after bequeathing Cilicia to his youngest daughter, Isabella. John lays claim to Cilicia on behalf of his wife and their son.[451][454]
October. Al-Kamil offers to cede all lands to the west of the Jordan in Palestine to the crusaders if they leave Egypt. John is willing to accept the offer, but Pelagius rejects it.[452]
November 5. The crusaders capture Damietta. John is appointed to rule the town.[451]
July–August. The crusaders march towards Cairo along the Nile, but the flood and Al-Kamil's troops trap them.[459][461]
Peter of Montaigu about the Crusader's failed campaign towards Cairo (1221)
...[Al-Kamil] took advantage of the rising waters to launch galleys and galliots through an ancient fortificatiln onto the Nile to prevent us in our need from shipping food supplies from Damietta. ... Faced with the impossibility of receiving food by land or river the army held a general council as to whether it should retreat. However, [Al-Kamil]'s brothers, ... the sultans of Aleppo and Damascus, and other sultans, ... as well as several kings of the pagans with their armies who had come to his aid, were blocking our retreat. Nevertheless, our army made its retreat at night by land and river. It lost the food it was transporting and several men in the river because [Al-Kamil] diverted the rising waters of the Nile into secret channels and waterways of ancient construction to hinder the retreat of the Christian people. The army of Christ lost its packhorses, equipment, saddlebags, carts and virtually all its essential supplies in the swamps, so that, bereft of food, it could not advance, retreat or try to find refuge anywhere.
Summer. Parts of Acre are destroyed during an armed conflict between the Pisans and Genoese.[464]
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 II. John appoints Odo of Montbéliard as bailiff.[465][466]
1223
March. The Pope, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, John and the grand masters of the military orders agree to the marriage of Frederick II and Isabella II. The Emperor promises to allow John to continue to administer the kingdom.[467][468]
July 25. Frederick II promises the Pope to launch a crusade before September 1227.[467][475]
August. Isabella II is crowned in Tyre before she leaves for Italy.[476][477]
November 9. Frederick II marries Isabella II in Brindisi. The Jerusalemite barons who are present at the wedding pay homage to Frederick II. Frederick II sends Richer, Bishop of Melfi, to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to receive the homage of the local barons.[477][478]
September 8. Frederick II sails for the Holy Land, but illness forces him to return to Italy.[479][480]
September 29.Pope Gregory IX excommunicates Frederick II for the breaking of his crusader oath.[479][481]
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.[477]
1228
Spring. Frederick II's marshal, Richard Filangieri, arrives at Acre. He forbids all raids against Muslim territories.[482]
April 25. The birth of Conrad, the only son of Frederick II by Isabella II.[479]
May 5. Isabella II dies in Andria and the infant Conrad succeeds her as king of Jerusalem.[479][483]
June 28. Frederick II sails for the crusade, but the Pope confirms his excommunication.[479][484]
Late July. Frederick II receives the homage of the Jerusalemite barons in Limassol. He demands Beirut from John of Ibelin who refers the case to the High Court.[479][482]
September 7. Frederick II lands at Acre and starts negotiations with Al-Kamil.[485]
1229
February 18. Frederick II and Al-Kamil sign the Treaty of Jaffa, to last for ten and a half years, that restores Jerusalem to the Franks, but they are not allowed to fortify it. The Muslims are allowed to retain the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.[486][487]
May 1. Frederick II departs for Italy. He appoints Balian Grenier and Garnier l'Aleman as his bailiffs.[490][491]
Summer. Beduins attack pilgrims on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem and sack Jerusalem. Alice of Champagne (the daughter of Henry II and Isabella I) lays claim to Jerusalem, arguing that Conrad II forfeited the throne because he had failed to come to Jerusalem, but the High Court does not decide the case.[490][491]
1230
May. Jerusalemite delegates meet with Frederick II in Foggia, but they cannot convince him to send Conrad II to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[492][493]
September 1. Pope Gregory IX lifts Frederick II's excommunication and recognizes him as the lawful ruler of Jerusalem.[492][494]
Autumn. Patriarch Gerold lifts the interdict and the Catholic clerics start taking possession of the churches in Jerusalem.[492]
Late. Frederick sends Richard Filangieri to confiscate the fiefs of John of Ibelin and his allies. Filangieri besieges Beirut.[492][495]
1231
Early. The High Court acknowledges Richard Filangieri as Frederick II's bailiff, but maintains that no fiefs can be confiscated without a proper judgement.[492][495]
Autumn. Filangieri ignores the High Court's decision and again besieges Beirut. His arbitrary act stirs up strong opposition in the towns.[492][496]
1232
February. John of Ibelin marches to Beirut, but he cannot relieve the fortress.[496]
Spring. The townspeople form a commune in Acre to guard their liberties against Filangieri. John of Ibelin comes to Acre and seizes Frederick II's fleet. He march to Tyre, forcing Filangieri to abandon the siege of Beirut.[497][498]
May 2.Battle of Casal Imbert: Filangieri routes John of Ibelin near Tyre. Filangieri tries to conquer Cyprus, but Ibelin sends reinforcements from Acre, Beirut and Tyre to the island. Henry I of Cyprus who supports John of Ibelin comes of age.[499][500]
Late May. John of Ibelin concludes an alliance with the Genoese and returns to Cyprus.[501]
July. Frederick II persuades the Pope to summon Patriarch Gerold to Rome and to order the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, Albert of Rizzato, to represent the Emperor's interests in the kingdom.[502]
c. December 31. Frederick II appoints Philip of Maugastel as his bailiff in Acre and orders the dissolution of the Commune at Acre. John of Caesarea stirs up a riot and prevents Maugastel from assuming the government. The High Court rules that Frederick II's appointments by letter are invalid and Conrad II is to come to the kingdom to appoint a new bailiff. The High Court also declares Balian Grenier and Odo of Montbéliard as lawful bailiffs, but Filangieri continues to administer Tyre.[503][504]
1233
April. John of Ibelin expels Filangieri from Cyprus, forcing him to return to Italy to urge Frederick II to send reinforcements.[499]
July 26. Patriarch Gerold sails for Rome.[494][499]
1234
August. The Pope urges John of Ibelin to obey the Emperor.[505]
Autumn. The Pope proclaims a new crusade to strengthen the defence of the Holy Land by the time the 1229 truce expires. The papal legate, Theodoric, Archbishop of Ravenna, places Acre under interdict for failing to dissolve the Commune.[499][505][506]
1235
Early. The Pope cancels the ecclesiastical sanctions against Frederick II's enemies and the townspeople of Acre, fearing of their conversion to Oriental Christianity.[505]
Early. John of Ibelin dies after a riding accident.[507]
February. The delegates of the burghers of Acre agree to dissolve the Commune of Acre at their meeting with the Pope, but the townspeople do not ratify the agreement.[508]
Spring/Summer. The relationship between the Pope and Frederick II becomes tense after the Emperor's campaigns in Italy.[509]
1237
The Pope sends Patriarch Gerold back to the kingdom, also appointing him as papal legate.[494]
The Jacobite patriarch Ignatius III David presents a statement of faith to the Dominicans during his visit in Jerusalem.[89]
Prior Philip about the Jacobite patriarch's visit in Jerusalem (1237)
The patriarch of the Eastern Jacobites, whose knowledge, morals and age are to be venerated, came to worship this year in Jerusalem, accompanied by a large number of archbishops, bishops and monks too of his nation. Divine grace so helped us to explain the word of the Catholic faith to him that we succeeded in getting him to abjure all heresy and promise obedience to the Holy Roman Church... He also wrote us his confession in Chaldaic and Arabic as a permanent testimony to the fact. Furthermore, he even adopted our dress on departure.
Philip, Prior of the Dominican Province of the Holy Land,Letter to Pope Gregory IX[510]
1238
March 9. Al-Adil dies. His son, Al-Adil II, succeeds him in Egypt, but he is unable to seize Damascus.[511]
1239
March 20. The Pope excommunicates Frederick II.[511]
November 13.Battle of Gaza: the Egyptians annihilate the crusaders, killing or capturing more than 1,500 foot soldiers. The Egyptians leave the battlefield and the grand masters of the Templars and Hospitallers dissuade Theobald I from pursuing them. The main army returns to Ascalon.[515][516]
December. An-Nasir Daud, emir of Kerak, captures Jerusalem and destroys the Tower of David.[515][517]
1240
May 14.Robert of Nantes is appointed patriarch of Jerusalem, although he will not arrive in the east until 1244.[518]
Summer. Al-Adil II's retainers depose him and make his brother, As-Salih Ayyub, the ruler of Egypt. Ayyub's opponent, As-Salih Ismail, Emir of Damascus, offers the region of Sidon and the castle of Belfort to the Franks in return for their assistance against Egypt. Ismail forces the garrison of Belfort to surrender and cedes it to the Franks. Although the Hospitallers and several crusaders urge him not to accept Ismail's offer, Theobald I marches to Jaffa where Ismail joins him. Ayyub offers Galilee to the Franks if they remain neutral and the Hospitallers persuade Theobald I to return to Acre.[506][515][519]
October 8. Frederick II's brother-in-law, Richard of Cornwall, and English crusaders arrive at Acre.[521]
November. Richard sends envoys to Ayyub to discuss the cession of the territories promised to Theobald I. The Templars continue to oppose the truce with Egypt.[522]
1241
February. Ayub signs the treaty with the crusaders. Galilee and the hinterland of Jaffa is restored to the kingdom which reaches its greatest territorial extent after 1187.[522][523]
June 7. Four barons—Balian of Beirut, Philip of Montfort, John of Arsuf and Geoffrey of Estreing—urge Frederick II to appoint his brother-in-law, Simon of Montfort, as bailiff to put an end to the internal strifes in the kingdom.[524]
Autumn. Most crusaders who have remained in the kingdom leave for Europe. 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.[525]
1242
Spring. Conrad II comes of age and Frederick II decides to replace Filangieri with Thomas of Acerra. The new Venetian bailiff, Marsilio Zorzi, demands one third of Tyre from Filangieri and makes an alliance with Frederick II's opponents. Some burghers of Tyre seek Philip of Montfort's assistance against Filangieri.[upper-alpha 1][526]
c. June 1. Filangieri appoints his brother, Lother, as the commander of Tyre and leaves for Europe.[527]
June 5. The High Court elects Alice (Conrad II's nearest relative who lives in the kingdom) and her third husband, Ralph of Nesle, as bailiffs.[528][529]
July 10. Frederick II's opponents capture Tyre with Venetian and Genoese support. Only Ascalon and Jerusalem remain under the control of Frederick II's supporters.[527]
October 30. The Templars sack Hebron and destroy the mosque.[529]
1243
August. Frederick II grants Ascalon to the Hospitallers.[530]
1244
April. Thomas of Acerra formally cedes Ascalon to the Hospitallers.[531]
August 23.Khwarizmian Turks, who were expelled from their homeland by the Mongols, capture Jerusalem and massacre its Christian inhabitants during their march towards Egypt. Jerusalem is lost to the Franks forever.[532][533]
October 17.Battle of La Forbie: Ayyub and the Khwarazmians overcome Ismail and his allies, including the Franks from Jerusalem and Antioch. More than 90% of the knights of the military orders perish in the battlefield.[533][534][535]
Late June. Mount Tabor and Belvoir surrender to Ayyub's troops.[538]
October 15. The Egyptians capture Ascalon.[537][538]
After Balian of Beirut's death, Henry I appoints John of Arsuf as bailiff.[539]
1248
September 17.Louis IX of France and the French crusaders arrive at Limassol. Louis IX makes preparations for the invasion of Egypt. John of Arsuf is replaced by John Foignon as bailiff.[538][539]
1249
June 5. Louis IX and the crusaders start the invasion of Egypt.[538]
Autumn. John of Arsuf is again appointed as bailiff.[539]
November 23. Ayyub dies, but his retainers keep his death secret until the arrival of his son and successor, Al-Muazzam Turanshah.[540][541]
c. 1250
The Livre des Assises de la Cour des Bourgeois—a legal treatise on the laws regarding the burghers and their courts—is completed.[542]
1250
February 24. The Egyptians impose a blockade on the crusaders' camp.[543]
May 2. Turanshah's Mamluk (or slave) guards kill him and make their commander, Aybak, the new ruler of Egypt.[544][545]
March 26. The Pope takes John of Jaffa and his family under his protection, reserving the right to apply ecclesiastic sanctions against them or their subjects for the Holy See.[547]
April 24. Louis IX leaves Acre for France. He appoints Geoffrey of Sergines as the commander of 100 knights who are left behind in the kingdom.[548][549]
Louis IX decides to leave the Holy Land (1254)
[Louis IX] had no troops with him whom he could have used to put things right, nor did anyone bring him news of likely help or support from any quarter. He discussed matters with the prelates and other nobles and decided, on their unanimous advice, to appoint Sir Geoffrey of Sergines to stay in the Holy Land. [Louis IX] would provide him with money to maintain knights, crossbowmen and sergeants, mounted and on foot, to defend the land against the Saracens. The king himself would go back to France, as he could get no reinforcements.
February. John of Jaffa succeeds John of Arsuf as bailiff. He concludes a 10-year truce with An-Nasir Yusuf, the Ayyebite ruler of Damascus.[551]
Late December. Geoffrey of Sergines makes a raid in the region of Ascalon and Gaza.[552]
1256
June. A dispute over property rights in the estates of the Baselite monastery of Saint Sabas in Acre develops into an armed conflict between Genoese and Venetian merchants. The Genoese and the Pisans destroy parts of the Venetian quarter and Philip of Montfort expels the Venetians from Tyre.[553]
1257
March. The emir of Jerusalem raids the region of Jaffa, but the Franks route him.[553]
July. The Venetians conclude an alliance with the Pisans.[553]
August. John of Arsuf grants commercial privileges to merchants from Ancona who support the Genoese.[553]
Autumn. The united Venetian and Pisan fleets defeat the Genoese at Acre.[554]
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 Hugh II, King of Cyprus, as regent for the absent Conrad II and appoint Hugh II'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.[555]
June. A Venetian fleet routes the Genoese at Acre. Philip of Montfort comes to Acre to assist the Genoese, but after their defeat he returns to Tyre.[558]
March 1. The Mongols capture Damascus. Hülegü departs for Karakorum to participate in the election of the new great khan, accompanied by the bulk of his army.[560][563]
Summer. The Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Qutuz, proposes an alliance to the Franks. The Jerusalemite barons do not accept his offer, but allow the Mamluk troops to march across the kingdom.[564]
September. Plaisance dies. Hugh II is still a minor, but his kin do not claim the regency in Jerusalem.[569]
1263
March. Baibars pillages Nazareth and Bethlehem and destroys the Church of the Nativity.[570][571]
April 4. Baibars unsuccessfully besieges Acre, but he destroys the suburbs. Geoffrey of Sergines is wounded during the siege.[570][571][572]
April. Hugh II'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 her deputy, but the High Court refuses to install them without Hugh II's presence.[573]
1264
June. The Hospitallers and the Templars make a raid into the region of Ascalon. Baibars pillages the environs of Caesarea and Chastel Pelerin.[570]
July. The Pope urges the prelates, the grand masters of the military orders and the most influential barons to resolve their conflicts.[574]
Isabella dies. Her son, Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan, and his cousin, Hugh of Brienne, claim the right to exercise the regency on Hugh II's behalf in Jerusalem. The High Court confirms Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan's claim.[575]
September 24. Hugh III of Cyprus (great-grandson of Isabella I and Henry of Champagne) and Maria of Antioch (granddaughter of Isabella I and Aimery of Lusignan) lay claim to Jerusalem. The High Court rejects her claim and elects Hugh as king. Hugh is crowned in Tyre.[582][580]
November. Baibars routes the Aragonese crusaders near Acre.[582]
1270
July 20. Louis IX and the French crusaders land at Tunis, because he thinks that Muhammad I al-Mustansir, the emir of Tunis, is willing to convert to Christianity.[582][583][584]
May 12. Hugh and Baibars conclude a 10-year truce.[587][588]
c. September 30. Edward and the English crusaders depart for England.[586][587]
1274
May 7–July 17.Second Council of Lyon: a plan for a new crusade is adopted. Pope Gregory X persuades Charles I of Anjou to start negotiations for the purchase of Mary of Antioch's claim to Jerusalem.[590]
1275
March. After the death of Bohemond VI of Antioch (who ruled the remnants of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli), Hugh claims the regency for the 14-year-old Bohemond VII, but the High Court of Antioch elects Bohemond VII's mother, Sibylla of Armenia, to the post.[590]
1276
October. After a debate about the purchase of an estate near Acre by the Templars without his consent, Hugh leaves for Cyprus.[590][591]
1277
March 18. Maria of Antioch sells her claim to Jerusalem to Charles I with the Pope's consent. The Venetians, the Templars and the French garrison in Acre support Charles I.[592][593]
Golden coin with an inscription mentioning Charles I of Anjou as king of Jerusalem and Sicily (1277)
May–June. Charles I appoints Roger of San Severino as his bailiff. San Severino takes possession of the royal castle in Acre without opposition.[591]
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.[591]
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 I's realm) to Jerusalem.[594]
Hugh leads an army to Tyre to fight against San Severino, but the Templars prevent him from attacking Acre.[591]
1281
May. Qalawun concludes a truce with the Kingdom of Jerusalem.[592]
1282
April. After the Sicilian Vespers, Charles I recalls San Severino to Italy. Before leaving Acre, San Severino appoints Odo Poilechien as his deputy in Acre.[595][596]
1283
Burchard of Mount Sion completes his Description of the Holy Land about his travels in the Holy Land and the neighboring territories.[595]
1284
March 4. Hugh dies in Tyre. His 17-year-old son, John II, is recognized as his successor in Jerusalem only in Beirut and Tyre.[595]
1285
January 7. Charles I dies. His son and successor, Charles II of Naples, also inherits his claim to Jerusalem.[597]
May 20. John II dies. His brother, Henry II, succeeds him.[597]
1286
June 24. Henry II arrives at Acre. The military orders acknowledge him as the lawful king of Jerusalem.[597]
June 29. Odo Poilechien surrenders the citadel of Acre to Henry II.[597]
July. Qalawun and Henry II conclude a 10-year truce.[600]
1290
Early. Pope Nicholas IV calls for a new crusade for the defence of Acre.[601]
c. August 15. Italian crusaders arrive at Acre and murder Muslim merchants.[600][598]
Late August. Drunken Italian crusaders massacre all bearded men in Acre. Qalawun demands the extradition of the murderers, but the Frank authorities refuse it.[602]
July 31. Beirut surrenders to the Mamluk troops.[598]
1290s
Henry II issues new Cypriot coins with an inscription referring to his title of King of Jerusalem, and displaying the Cross of Jerusalem on the reverse.[603]
The Aragonese attempt to convince Charles II's successor, Robert, King of Naples, to renounce his claim to Jerusalem in favor of Frederick III.[604]
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.[603]
1365
A member of the Cypriot royal family is rewarded with the Jerusalemite title prince of Galilee.[605]
Many historians write that these events happened in 1243, because Conrad II 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). Thomas of Acerra, for instance, left Acerra for the Holy Land in 1242.
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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. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN978-0-8122-4478-6.
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Hamilton, Bernard (2016) [1980]. The Latin Church in the Crusader States: The Secular Church. Routledge. ISBN978-0-86078-072-4.
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. The University of Wisconsin Press. pp.522–554. ISBN0-299-04844-6.
Hodgson, Natasha R. (2017) [2007]. Women, Crusading and the Holy Land in Historical Narrative. Warfare in History. The 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. The University of Wisconsin Press. pp.410–447. ISBN1-58684-251-X.
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. The University of Wisconsin Press. pp.463–485. ISBN0-299-04844-6.
