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I
A CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF THE CRUSADES
Background, military expeditions, and crusader states
The letters โBCโ after an entry indicate an event or personage from the Baltic or Northern Crusades, whilst the letters โSCโ indicate the same for crusading in the Iberian Peninsula.
Not all dates are exact or agreed. Where there is dispute or uncertainty this has been indicated, and c. for โcircaโ has been used for an approximate or insecurely known date.
160s
Melito of Sardis is the earliest known Christian pilgrim in the Holy Land, although certainly not the only one. Attempts to identify the topographical location of the scenes of Christ's life, death and Passion are made.
325
According to legend, Constantine's mother Helena makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land at the time of the Council of Nicaea. She sponsors the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and is said to have found the wood of the True Cross on the construction site.
325โ431
The Byzantine emperors sponsor the construction of pilgrim churches on sites that are accepted as associated with Christ's life, passion and resurrection to provide foci for pilgrims.
610
Muhammad receives his vision of the angel Gabriel as a messenger of Allah.
622
Muhammad flees from Mecca to Medina (the Hegira). There he becomes a religious leader of a new faith known as Islam, the โsurrenderโ to Allah. His followers are known as Muslimin or Muslims, the โsurrendering onesโ. The Muslim calendar dates from the year of the Hegira (ah = anno Hegirae).
630
Muhammad captures Mecca and makes the town his capital. The former pagan black stone is incorporated into the Kaaba, the religious centre of the holy city of Mecca from which all non-believers are banned.
632
Muhammad dies. Abu Bakr is elected the first caliph or โRepresentativeโ. The Arabs of Syria appeal to him for help against Byzantine persecution and the period of the rapid expansion of Islam begins.
633
The revelations made to Muhammad by Gabriel are collected in the Qur'ฤn (henceforth, โKoranโ).
634
Nov. 26: Persians annihilate an Arab army on the Euphrates at the battle of the bridge, near al-Hirah.
For the first time Greek chroniclers refer to the Muslims as Sarakenoi or Saracens.
636
Aug. 20: Rout of the Byzantine army under Heraklios by Arabs at the Battle of the Yarmuk (Jubeya-Yarmuk), followed by the collapse of the Byzantine position first in North Syria and then in Mesopotamia.
637
May 31 or June 1: Arabs defeat Persians at the Battle of al-Qadisiyah, near al-Hirah.
Dec.: Following another victory at Jalula they occupy all of Iraq west of the Tigris. Antioch captured by the Arabs (see 944).
638
Mar.: Jerusalem is surrendered to the Arabs after a long siege (see 1071, 1076, 1098).
Edessa is captured by the Arabs (see 944).
642
Egypt is captured.
643
Arabs occupy the Mukran and reach the borders of India.
644โ56
The third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, orders the collection and writing of a definitive version of the Koran (see 1143).
647
Arabs attack Cappadocia and capture Caesarea (Kayseri).
Construction of an Arab fleet.
647โ88
Arabs gain control of Cyprus.
653
Arabs complete the conquest of Persia by occupying the province of Khorasan.
The River Oxus forms their north-eastern boundary.
Rhodes is captured and the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes are recycled.
661
The Ummayad clan take over the caliphate and make Damascus their capital, employing Byzantine craftsmen to decorate its major buildings. The Muslim Shia sect is formed.
667
Saracens conquer North Africa and reach the Atlantic.
670โ1
Saracens make their first unsuccessful naval assault on Constantinople.
673โ8
Saracens make yearly naval attacks on Constantinople.
685โ91
Caliph Abd al-Malik sponsors the building of the Qubbat as-Salkiah or the Dome of the Rock. It is also erroneously known as the Mosque of Omar. It is not a mosque but a mashhad or pilgrim shrine. It is the oldest extant Muslim monument; by the eleventh century it was considered by both Christians and Muslims to be the site of the Temple of Soloman (Templum Domini). Byzantine influence and practice is evident in its many mosaics.
698
Arabs capture Carthage.
706โ14
The great mosque of Damascus is built and the mosques in Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are enlarged.
711โ20
Saracens conquer Spain.
716
The Ummayad Caliph Abd al-Malik establishes the town of Ramla on the Damascus โ Cairo road. It was the administrative centre for Palestine until 1099 and the only new town in Palestine founded by the Arabs.
717โ18
The Saracens mount an all-out, but ultimately unsuccessful, siege of Constantinople.
720โ59
Arabs capture Septimania in south-west France and use it as a base for raids. Their expulsion by the Franks has been claimed as the first war of reconquest (see 915).
732
Charles Martel defeats and kills Abd-er-Rahman at the battle of Poitiers (or Tours). The Saracen advance in Western Europe is stopped.
750
The Abbasid clan replace the Ummayids as caliphs. The take-over is a bloody one and many refugees flee to Spain.
751
Saracens reach the confines of China.
756
Saracens in Spain declare an independent caliphate, around Abd-er-Rahman I, a survivor from the massacres in Damascus. Cordova becomes the capital.
760
The Ismaili sect is founded, accepting Ismail as the last and true imam (or reincarnation).
762
Mansur, the Abbasid caliph, moves the capital of his caliphate to Baghdad, a completely new city. The Abbasid caliphs remain there until their extinction by the Mongols in 1258.
763
Ibu Hisham writes the Life of Muhammad.
824โ8
Arabs from Spain capture Crete.
826โ40
Arab pirates raid Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia.
830โ902
Arabs from North Africa take Sicily from the Byzantines.
840โ60
Arab raids along the Italian coast, including the sacking of Benevento and St Peter's, Rome (841). An Arab fleet on its way to attack Rome is sunk in a storm off Ostia in 849.
840โ975
Arab pirates make sporadic raids in southern Gaul, particularly in Provence. In 842 Marseilles, Nรฎmes and Arles are sacked, and in 869 Roland, archbishop of Arles, is captured and held to ransom.
860
First Russian naval attack on Constantinople; Michael III abandons a projected campaign against the Arabs to meet the threat (see 911).
902
Aug. 1: Arabs capture Taormina, the last Byzantine naval base in Sicily.
904
Summer: Arab fleet proceeds to attack Constantinople and its environs. It diverts to Thessalonika.
July 31: Arabs capture Thessalonika after a three-day siege, devastating the second city of the Byzantine Empire. A Greek renegade, Leo of Tripoli, leads the Arab fleet.
905
Oct....
