Second Crusader Chronology

Crusade Chronology,  1192 -- 1302

1189- 1192 -- The Third Crusade sets off for the Middle East; King Richard I of England seizes Cyprus from the Byzantine Empire:  Crusaders retake Acre and defeat Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf; Crusaders fail to reach Jerusalem; King Richard agrees a peace treaty with Saladin;

1193 -- Death of Saladin;

1197 -- King Aimery of Cyprus  (since 1194) becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1205); German Crusade to the Middle East;

1198 -- Cilician Armenia  becomes a kingdom: German Hospital reconstituted as the Order of Teutonic Knights;

1202 - 1204 -- Fourth Crusade seizes the Byzantine imperial capitol; creation of the Latin Empire of Constantinople; beginning of the Crusader conquest of southern Greece;

1205 -- Hugh I becomes the King of Cyprus (until 1218);

1210 -- John of Brienne becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1225);

1218 -- Henry I becomes King of Cyprus (until 1253); Fifth Crusade invades Egypt by sea;

1221 -- Fifth Crusade is defeated at the First Battle of Mansurah;

1225 -- Emperor Frederick ii of Germany and Italy becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (until 1243);

1229 --Civil War in the Kingdom of Cyprus (until 1233);

1231 - 1242 -- Commune of Acre becomes center of resistance to Emperor Frederick II’s rule in the Kingdom of Jerusalem;

1243 -- Conrad becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1254); Mongols invade Seljuk Anatolia;

1244 -- Kingdom of Jerusalem forms an alliance with the Ayyubid rulers of Damascus and Jordan against the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt; Khwarazian refugee army from eastern Islam (fleeing advancing Mongols) takes Jerusalem fron Crusader Kingdom; Crusader States defeated at the Battle of La Forbie;

1245 -- Emperor Frederick II deposed;

1250 -- Crusade of King Louis IX of France invades Egypt: death of Sultan al- Salith Ayub of Egypt; Louis IX defeated at second Battle of Mansurah; effective establishment of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt;

1253 -- Hugh II becomes King of Cyprus (until 1267);

1254 -- Conraddin becomes King of Jerusalem (until 1268; note that now was actual capitol of the Kingdom);

1256 -- Civil War in Acre (until 1258);

1258 -- Mongols invade Iraq and sack Baghdad;

1260 --Mongols invade Syria: Crusader Principality of Antioch and Kingdom of Cicilian Armenia ally with Mongols; Mamluks defeat Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Julut; Baybars becomes Mamluk Sultan of Egypt;

1261 -- Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII retakes Constantinople from Latin (Crusader) Empire;

1263 - 1266 -- Mamluks destroy Nazareth, and take Caesarea, Arsuf, and Safad;

1267 -- Hugh III becomes King of Cyprus (until 1284);

1268 -- Mamluks retake Jaffa, Belfort, and Antioch;

1269 -- King Hugh III  of Cyprus becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (until 1284) ; Argonese Crusade arrives in Acre;

1271 -- Mamluks retake Castel Blanc, Crac des Chevaliers, and Monfort;  Crusade of Prince Edward of Englandreaches Acre then attacks Caco;

1276 - 1277 -- King Hugh IIIabandons Palestine for Cyprus; Mary of Antioch sells the Crown to King Charles of southern Italy; Kingdom of Jerusalem divided between Lords who recognize or reject Charles;

1277 -- Civil War in County of Tripoli  (until 1283);

1284 -- John I becomes King of Jerusalem and Cyprus (until 1285);

1285 -- Henry II becomes King of Cyprus (nominal ruler until 1324); Mamluks take Margat;

1287 - 1289 -- Crusade led by Alice of Blois reaches Acre; Maluks take Latakia and Tripoli;

1290 -- Northern Italian Crusade to the Holy Land;

1291 -- Maluks take Acre, Sidon,  and Beirut: Crusaders evacuate Tatus and Atlit;

1299 -- Mongols defeat Mamluk army near Homs, leading to a temporary revival of Crusading optimism in Europe;

1302 --Mamluks retake Arwad island; probable end of Crusader rule at Jbayl.

Reference:

David Nicolle, Adam Hook (illus,), “Crusader Castles In The Holy Land 1192 -- 1302,” (Osprey Pub. -- Fortress 32 -- 2005).

Respectfully Submitted;

Marcus Audens

(4) Catellum Regis (al-Mi'ilyah (after Pease);

(5) Arima (al-Araymah); probably early structures shown 
in black; (A) Donjon, (B) Main Gate of inner citadel, 
(C) outer gate (after Muller-Wiener.

The above are relatively small spur-castles.
  
Spur-Castle = a castle built on a rock spur
 or promontory usually along the side of a hill. 

Spur-castles obviously shared 
 certain features, princially having the strongest 
part of  their defenses facing the promontory
 that linked the spur to a neighboring hill.  
Several of these spur-castles had a deep fosse
 or ditch cut across the promontory. 

First Crusader Chronology

Crusader Chronology -- 1097 -- 1192

1096 -- Departure of the First Crusade for the Middle East;
1097 - 1098 -- Siege of Antioch by the First Crusade;
1098 -- Establishment of the County of Edessa by Baldwin of Boulogne;
1099 -- First Crusade captures Jerusalem;
1100 -- Crusaders capture Sidon;
1101 -- Crusaders capture Arsuf; start of the Crusader siege of Tripoli;
1107 -- Crusaders capture al-Wu'aira in southern Jordan;
1109 -- Tripoli surrenders to the Crusaders after an eight-year siege;
1114 -- Maras is massively damaged by a severe earthquake;
1115 -- Muslim army attacks Crusader-held Afamia; Muslim army takes Crusader-held  Kafr Tab;
1115-1116 -- Crusader campaign in southern Jordan;
1119 -- Muslim army attacks and takes Crusader-held Atharib;
1124 -- Crusaders capture Tyre;
1129 -- Crusaders and the Kingdom of Jerusalem attack Damascus;
1136 -- Frontier territory or March, granted to the Templars in the Amanus Mountains of north-western                  
             Syria;
1144 -- Crusader -ruled city of Edessa retaken by Zangi; Count Raymond II of Tripoli grants the
             Hospitallers substantial territories around the Buqai'ah valley;
1147 -- Second Crusade is Launched;
1148 -- Second Crusade defeated outside Damascus;
1151 -- Last Crusader castle in the County of Edessa surrenders to Nur al-Din;
1153 -- Crusaders capture Ascalon;
1157 -- Serious earthquake damages fortificatins in north-western Syria;
1163 - 1169 -- Five invasions of Egypt by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem;
1170 -- Earthquake damages fortification in north-western Syria; Saladin captures the Crusader castle of
             Ayla;
1177 -- Crusaders defeat Saladin at the Battle of Mont Gisard;
1179 -- Saladin captures and destroys the partially built Crusader castle of Vadum Jacob;
1183 -- Campaign by Reynald of Chatillon, Lord of Oulrejourdain, in northern Arabia and the Red Sea
             area;
1187 --Saladin defeats Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin, retakes Jerusalem and
            most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem,  His siege of Crusader-held Tartus is unsuccessful;
1188 - 1189 -- Crusader castles in southern Jordan captured by Saladin;
1189 -- The Third Crusade begins, King Guy of Jerusalem besieges Acre, held by Saladin's garrison;
1191 - 1192 -- Third Crusade retakes Acre, Saladin is deteated at the Battle of Arsuf.  Crusaders fail to
            reach Jerusalem and agree to a peasce treaty with Saladin.

Reference: -- David Nicolle, Adam Hook (illus.), "Crusader Castles in the Holy Land, 1097 -- 1192," (OspreyPub. -- Fortress 21-- 2004).

Respectfully Submitted;

Marcus Audens

Baghrus Castle - Main Sally-Port Arch Ruin

Baghras Castle

Add caption

The Chapel Wall and five window openings.  This castle was built by the Byzantines in the 10th century and guarded the road to Antioch.

Only at Baghras Castle are there substantial remains of Templar building (1)  Here a rocky knoll is encircled and crowned by fortifications on two levels.  The fabric is of small coarse rubble and there are rounded towers and corners, very much in the Armenian style but quite unlike other known Templar work, and a fine enclosed defensive gallery with arrow slits on the lower level.  The Knights built two large well-lit halls as was their custom.  The Castle is compact and craggy and was to become a major political issue.  It was retaken from the Muslims in 1191, not by the Crusaders of Antioch but by the Armenians, and their possession of this outpost so close to Antoch itself soured the relations between these two Christian powers for most of the early 13th century intil it, like Antioch, fell into Batbar's hands in 1268 (2).



(1) Muller-Wiener, Castles, 48-49, R. Edwards, 'Bagras and Cilician Armenia', Revue des Etudes Armeniennes, ns.17 (1983), 415-455; Sinclair, EasternTurkey IV, 266-271;

(2) Hugh Kennedy, "Crusader Castles," (Cambridge Univer. Press -- 1995), P. 143-144.

Spur Castles

6-- Burj al-Malih (after Conder);

7--Ravendell (Ravanda)
(C) Cisterns, (E) Main Entrance, (W) Well, (after Morray)

Saone Castle's Crusader Stone Donjon

2.  Donjon's Ground Floor (after Lawrence);
3.  Donjon's First Floor (after Lawrence).

Saone Castle

(A) deep rock-cut fosse, (B) Stone Donjon, (C) Byzantine Castle, (D) Shallow fosse between upper and lower fortresses (afterDeschamps and Muller-Wiener).

"Spur-Castles such as Saone were built on a rock promontory.  Several of these castles had a deep fosse or ditch cut across the promontory as above.  Saone Castle is in the southern part of the Principality of Antioch and is the least altered of the large 12th century Crusader spur-castles.  Several of the features of Saone Castle -- merlons not pierced, no donjon in original castle, no direct communication between keep towers and the curtain wall,  These may well be of a Byzantine influence.

Burj Bardawil -- A Manor House

A. -- Gate (after Bir Zeit Universty Survey).  Under Crusader occupation therewas more intensive building in the rural regions of Palestine than at any other time since the 7th and 8th centuries.

Burj Bardawil -- A Manor House

1  A Manor House;
A -- Gate (after Bir Zeit UniversitySurvey)

Under Crusader occupation there was more intensive
building in the rural regions of Palestine than at
any other time since the 7th and 8th centuries.

al--Ram (a fortified grange)

#2. al--RAM -- a fortified grange (after Pringle)

al--Ram has been identified as the grange of a 'new town'
founded by the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre before 1160 AD

Urban and Religious Fortifications

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1.  The Citadel of Jerusalem, known as the Tower of David;
2.  The fortified Monastery of St. Simeon (Suveydiye).

1. -- (A) City Wall, (B) Posterns, (C) Inner Gate, (D) Outer Gate, (after Johns and Pringle);

2. -- (A) Outer Gate, probably from the Crusader period (after Djobadze and Morray).

The Tower of David was built on the foundations of a vast Herodian structure and formed the strongest point in Jerusalem's fortifications before the First Crusade.

"Camelot Old" -- by the River

This is a sketch copy of a fictional castle ruin.
The drawing originally had no title so I have taken it upon myself
to provide a title -- "Camelot Old" -- by the River.  I settled on this drawing
because there is much here which is most authentic, and it makes a nice picture as well!!

Rural Fortifications

#3 -- Aqua Bella Manor House -- Ground Floor (After Pringle);

#4 -- Aqua Bella Manor House -- First Floor (After Pringle).

Un-named Eastern European Castle Ruin

The drawing features the Main Entrance and Roadway through the Upper Ward (open area surrounded by a curtain wall).  The church is the low section of the building, and what remains of the keep (donjon) looms above it pointing to the sky.

Hukvaldy Castle, Main Entrance

Huckvaldy Castle is located in the Eastern part of the Czech Republic.

Hukvaldy Hrad Castle

Hukvaldy Castle ---

The ruin of Hukvaldy Castle is one of the largest in Central Europe and the second largest in Morovia.   The stone castle was built in the 13th century by Arnold of Huckswagen and it was never captured.  It was only destroyed by fire in the 18th century and is currently partially restored.  The tower affords a broad view of the Moravian Gate and the whole Odra River Valley all the way to Ostrava and the main range of the Morovian-Silesian Mountains.

The Kabrul Gate

This is an Indian Fortress / Castle ruin.  The above gate is about all that remains of the structure that is intact. Note the special shape of the crenallations along the top of the gate structure and curtain wall.  The two salient-towers (towers thrust forward from a fortified wall) that flank the gate are rounded rather than squared indicating a European style of construction.