THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM (1099-1291 A.D.)

11099 =Godfrey de Bouillon= elected king of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. He makes laws for its government. The military order of the Knights Hospitallers founded. He defeats the Fatimites at Askalon.

21100 Death of Godfrey. His brother, =Baldwin I=, summoned from Edessa and made king.

31101 A large body of crusaders, headed by Welf of Bavaria and William of Aquitaine arrives in Asia Minor, but is destroyed and dispersed by Kilidj Arslan before it can reach Jerusalem, together with another one that arrived the previous year. Death of Stephen of Chartres at Ramla.

41104 Baldwin captures Acre (Ptolemais) from the Turks. The Turks fail in an attempt to regain Jerusalem. Death of Raymond of Toulouse.

51109 Baldwin, with the assistance of a Venetian fleet, captures Tripolis. He afterwards takes Berytus and Sidon.

61118 Death of Baldwin. His cousin, =Baldwin (II) de Bourg=, of Edessa succeeds. The order of Knights Templar founded by Sir Hugh de Pagano.

71119 Baldwin defeats the Turks at Antioch. The Emperor Joannes Comnenus wins a victory over the Knights Hospitaller on the Mæander.

81122 The Saracens take Baldwin prisoner.

91124 Conquest of Tyre by the crusaders, assisted by the Venetians. The latter have a third of the city allotted them.

101127 Baldwin ransomed. He attacks Aleppo and is defeated.

111131 Death of Baldwin, after being defeated near Damascus. He bequeaths the kingdom to his son-in-law, Fulk of Anjou.

121144 Death of Fulk, by accident. His young son, =Baldwin III=, succeeds, under the regency of Queen Melusina.

131148 The Second Crusade besieges Damascus and Askalon, but is unable to take them.

141149 Defeat of the Christians by Nur ad-Din, near the Orontes.

151153 Capture of Askalon by Baldwin III. Nur ad-Din takes Jerusalem.

161162 Death of Baldwin. His brother, =Almeric= or =Amaury I=, succeeds.

171168 Almeric invades Egypt. Capture and sack of Heliopolis. He is defeated by the generals Shirkuh and Saladin.

181173 Death of Almeric. His young son, =Baldwin IV=, a leper, succeeds under the guardianship of Count Raymond III, of Tripolis.

191183 Baldwin IV is compelled by his disease to resign his crown in favour of his infant nephew, =Baldwin V=, still under regency of Raymond.

201186 Death of Baldwin V. His mother, =Sybilla=, sister of Baldwin IV, inherits the crown, which she shares with her husband, =Guy de Lusignan=.

211187 Saladin attacks the kingdom of Jerusalem. Great defeat and capture of Guy at Tiberias. Saladin takes Jerusalem and then besieges Tyre, whence he is repelled by Conrad of Montferrat.

221188 Liberation of Guy, who renounces his title to Saladin. Conrad defends Tripolis.

231189 The Third Crusade arrives. Guy besieges Acre, assisted by a fleet of Danes, Frisians, and Flemings.

241191 Conquest of Cyprus by Richard Cœur de Lion, on his way to the Holy Land. He adds it to the kingdom of Jerusalem. Surrender of Acre. Defeat of Saladin at Azotus. Joppa and Askalon surrender to the Christians. Murder of Conrad of Montferrat, who by marriage with Sybilla’s sister, Isabella, has acquired right of succession to the kingdom. Foundation of the order of Teutonic Knights.

251192 Isabella marries =Henry of Champagne=, to whom Guy relinquishes his title, retaining that of king of Cyprus.

261193 On death of Saladin, his sons give Acre to the Knights of St. John--hence called St. John d’Acre.

271194 Death of Guy de Lusignan. His brother, Almeric succeeds as king of Cyprus.

281196 Death of Henry. His widow marries =Almeric (II) de Lusignan=, who reunites the kingdoms of Cyprus and Jerusalem.

291206 Death of Almeric. His son, Hugo I, succeeds in Cyprus. Jerusalem falls to =Mary=, daughter of Isabella and Conrad of Montferrat.

301210 Mary marries =Jean de Brienne=, who becomes king of Jerusalem.

311217 The Turks take Jerusalem from the Saracens.

321218 Jean de Brienne leads the Christians into Egypt and

331219 captures Damietta.

341221 Destruction of the Christian army in Egypt. The Turks regain Damietta.

351225 The emperor Frederick II declares that Jean de Brienne has, since Mary’s death, no claim to his title, and that it belongs to himself, since he has married Yolande, the daughter of Mary.

361228 After many delays, Frederick starts for the Holy Land.

371229 =Frederick II= makes a treaty with the sultan Malik al-Kamil, by which he recovers Jerusalem and other cities. He is the recognised king of Jerusalem.

38From this time on (see Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Crusades) the Christian kingdom in Palestine may be considered a part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1291, when the sultan Khalil takes Acre and drives the last of the Christians out of Syria.