Third Crusader Chronology

Crusader Chronology 1194 --1453

1194 -- Amaury of Lusignan becomes the ruler of Cyprus; the following year he is recognized as a King (Creation of the Crusader Kingdom of Cyprus);

1198 -- Proclamation of the Fourth Crusade;

1204 -- Fourth Crusade conquers the Byzantine Imperial Capitol, (Constantinople) ; Count Baldwin of Flanders is elected as the first Latin Emperor;

1205 -- Conquest of Morea (Peloponnese, southern Greece) by Geoffrey de Villehardouin and William de Champlitte; establishment of the Crusader States of Greece;

1229 - 1233 -- Civil War in Crusader Cyprus;

1235 --John of Brienne saves Crusader Constantinople; defeat of Byzantines and Bulgarians;

1259 -- Crusader Principality of Achaea in Greece defeated by Byzantines at Pelagonia;

1261 -- Byzantine “Emperor of Nicaea” retakes Crusader-ruled Constantinople; Crusader States also surrender Monemvasia, Mistra, and Maina in southern Greece;

1267 -- Crusader Principality of Achaea recognizes suzerainty of Charles of Anjou, ruler of southern Italy;

1271 -- Charles of Anjou recognized as king of Albania;

1278 -- Death of Prince William of Achaea; Charles of Anjou takes over direct government of Achaea;

1282 -- “Silcian Vespers” revolt in Sicily against Charles of Anjou; Peter of Aragon invades Sicily;

1285 -- Death of Charles of Anjou; end of Angevin attempts to create an empire in Italy, Sicily, Greece and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem;

1291 -- Mamluks conquer Acre; end of Kingdom of Jerusalem, though the title “King of Jerusalem” still remains, usually held by the Lusignan rulers of Cyprus;

1306 -- Crusader Order of Hospitallers invades the Byzantine Island of Rhodes;

1309 -- Hospitallers transfer their headquarters to Rhodes;

1311 -- Crusader forces in Greece defeated by the free-booting Catalan Company (mercenary army); Catalna take cotrol of Athens and Thebes;

1313 - 1316 -- Civil War in the Principality of Achaea; Ferdinand of Majorca, leader of the Catalan Company  and claimant to Achaea, defeated and killed by Louis of Bergundy, grandson-in-law of William of Villehardouin;

1332 -- Agreement between Venice, the Hospitallers, and the Byzantine Empire leads to formation of the first “Crusade League” against the Turks (France and the Papacy join the following year);

1334 -- The Crusade League fleet defeats the Turks in the Gulf of Edremit;

1344 -- The Crusade League takes Smyrna (Izmir) from the Turks;

1346 -- The Genoese take over Chios and Foca from the Byzantines;

1354 -- Byzantines cede Lesbos to the Geonese; Ottomans seize a European bridgehead at Gallopoli;

1359 -- Peter I becomes the King of Cyprus; Crusade League fleet defeats Turks at Lampacus;

1360 - 1361 -- Kingdom of Cyprus occupies Corycos and Adalia on the southern coast of Anatolia;

1365 -- Crusade led by Peter I of Cyprus  briefly occupies Alexandria (Egypt);

1366 -- Crusade led by Amadeus of Savoy in Thrace and Bulgaria;

1367 -- Peter I of Cyprus raids Cicilia and Syria;

1369 -- Assassination of Peter i of Cyprus ; Geonese take control of Famagusta in Cyprus, expelling their Venetian rivals;

1371 -- Ottoman victory at the Battle of Maritsa, followed by the Ottoman conquest of most of Bulgaria and Macedonia;

1373 - 1374 -- War between Cyprus and Genoa; Hospitallers take over defense of Crusader held Smyrna (Izmir);

1376 -- Principality of Achaea  leased to the Hospitallers, but is taken over by the Navarrese Company (a mercenary army);

1378 -- The Hospitaller Grand Master is captured by the Ottoman’s at Arta in Greece;

1379 -- Navarese Company takes control of Thebes;

1388 -- End of Cataln rule in Athens;

1389 -- Ottoman victory at the first Battle Kosova (Kosova Field) leaves them as the dominant power in the Balkans;

1396 -- Large Crusading army destroyed by the Ottomans in the Battle of Nicopolis;

1402 -- Timur -i Lenk (Tamerlane) conquers Izmir from the Hospitallers;

1406 - 1407 -- Hospitallers start building a castle  at Bodrum on the Anatolian mainland;

1424 - 1425 -- Mamluks raid Cyprus and capture King Janus;

1432 -- Thomas Paleol0gus, Byzantine despot of Morea, takes “Crusader” Principality of Achaea;

1444 -- Mamluks unsuccessfully besiege Hospitaller Rhodes; Ottomans defeat a Crusader army at Varna;

1448 -- Ottomans defeat Hungarians at the second Battle of Kosova;

1453 -- Ottomans conquer Constantinople: end of the Byzantine Empire.