Crusaders, Crusader States, and Crusader Orders

The impetus for this article was my viewing, and great enjoyment, of the BBC series “A Discovery of Witches”, and the inclusion therein of a fraternal society known as the Knights of Lazarus.  Having heard the name before, I looked it up on Wikipedia, and, sure enough, there was a Knights of Saint Lazarus.  This reignited my interest in medieval military religious orders which I acquired reading Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni novels.

THE CRUSADES

There were actually quite a few of these, a hell of a lot more than I knew before I started this.

The classic use of the term Crusades refers to the series of military campaigns conducted by armies of Western Europe in the Levant, Anatolia, the Eastern Meditarranean, the Balkans, Egypt, and North Africa during the 11th through 13th centuries.  That was once the sole use of the term Crusade by historians.  In the past century, the term has been greatly expanded.

Under this enlarged concept, Crusades were fought in three primary theaters of operation:  the Levant; the Iberian Peninsula; and the Baltic Sea region. 

The first theater involved the Eastern Crusades against the Seljuq authorities in the Levant and Anatolia.  The Fourth Crusade, a war of conquest against the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, was an aberration that did not involve any of the military orders listed below.

The second theater involved the centuries-long series of campaigns commonly known as the Reconquista of Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula. 

The third involved the conquest and forced conversion of the pagan Baltic, Finnic, and West Slavice peoples in what were known as the Northern or Baltic Crusades.

There were other religious military campaigns and wars during the Middle Ages designated as crusades, of course, but these were directed at groups designated as “heretics” against the doctrines and dogma of the Church, the “enemy within” to the soulless minions of orthodoxy at the See of Rome.

While the (Eastern) Crusades are often portrayed as an unprovoked invasion by the West of the East, in fact the First Crusade came about because of the appeal in 1095 from Alexios I Komnenos of the Basilea Rhomain to Pope Urban III for military assistance against the Seljuqs who were seriously pressing his eastern borders. 

The Basilea Rhomain was the official name (in Greek) of what was known in Latin as the Imperium Romanum, or the Roman Empire.  It is often mistakenly called the Byzantine Empire, a misnomer invented in the 16th century.  Its officially recognized western counterpart was the Sacrum Romanum Imperium or Holy Roman Empire, whose ruler held the title Romanorum Imperator Augustus. 

The most powerful authority in the West, however, was not the ‘Emperor of the Romans’, but the Pope or Bishop of Rome, who had held the Roman imperial title of Pontifex Maximus since the year 366.  The authority of the Romanorum Imperator was the limited to the empire itself, which took in Germany, Bavaria, Switzerland, Burgundy, Bohemia, Austria, and northern Italy, but that of the pope spread over the whole of Western Europe.

The people of the Basilea Rhomain and the people of Western Europe (at least the elites) both identified themselves as Romans as well as Christians, and in some ways and places the word of the Roman Basileus at Konstantinopolis was held in higher regard than that of the Emperor of the Romans in the West.

Stepping back historically, the wars between the Christian Romans (of various nations and peoples) and the Muslim Arabs, Berbers, Moors, and Turks began in 637 CE, when forces of the Rashidun Caliphate first invaded the eastern borders of the Basilea Rhomain.  From that year through 719, Muslim armies swept across and conquered Palestine, Syria, Armenia, Egypt, North Africa, Hispaniae, and Septimania (the later Languedoc region of France).

Reconquista (722-1492)

In Hispaniae, the Iberian peninsula, the only remaining independent territories of the former Visigothic kingdom in 719 were Asturias and Pamplona (later Navarre) in the north.  The beginning of the Reconquista of Hispaniae is counted as the significant victory of the forces of Asturias against those of Al-Andalus in the Battle of Covadonga in 722.

In the beginning, the Reconquista was merely that, a war of reconquest.  It did not acquire the actual trappings of a crusade until 1064, when Pope Alexander II granted indulgences to participants in the conflict.  By then, Asturias and Navarre were joined by Galicia, Aragon, Castile, Leon, and Portugal, carved out of territory taken back from Al Andalus. 

In 1230, all that remained of Al-Andalus was the Emirate of Granada in the southwest, a tributary state of Castile.  The final phase of the Reconquista was the Granada War (1482-1492).

People’s Crusade (1096)

Also called the Peasants’, Popular, or Paupers’ Crusade.

This was a populist campaign led by the charasmatic Peter the Hermit who managed to recruit some 40,000 followers on his quest.  This crusade is notorious for groups of this movement carrying out the Rhineland Massacres, mass murders and pogroms against Jews living in the Rhine Valley.  Thousands died.

Only half the recruits eventually made it to the Basilea Rhomain, where they were ferried across the Bosporus into Anatolia.  The crusade ended with the Battle of Civetot in which the Seljuq army of 5000 defeated the crusaders numbering 20,000, only 3,000 of whom survived.

Interestingly, Peter the Hermit survived, and was present for the fall of Jerusalem in 1099.

First Crusade (1096-1099)

Also called the Princes’ Crusade.

This conflict, on the part of the crusaders, was much more organized than the one that preceded it.  The Roman/Christian forces included the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France, the County of Flanders, the County of Sicily, the Principality of Taranto, the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria, the Republic of Genoa, the County of Toulouse, the Margraviate of Provence, the Basilea Rhomain, and the Principality of Cilicia.

The Turkish-Arab/Muslim forces included the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimid Caliphate, the Sultunate of Rum, the Emirate of Danishmend, the Emirate of Damascus, and the Emirate of Aleppo.

The Crusaders were grouped into seven major armies.  They reconquered Nicaea and western Anatolia, which they handed over to the Basilea Rhomain, then Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli, and Palestine, which they kept for themselves.  They helped strengthen the Armenian Principality of Cilicia and later aided its erection into the Kingdom of Cilicia in 1198.

In the territories they kept for themselves, the western Crusaders erected the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.  The Crusader States were collectively referred to as Outremer (French for ‘Overseas’).

Crusade of the Faint-hearted (1101)

This was a minor crusade against the Sultanate of Rum, the Emirate of Danishmend, and the Emirate of Aleppo.  Rather than a single movement of different armies, as was the case with the First Crusade, this one was three armies operating completely independently.

The first was from the County of Blois, the (French) County of Burgundy, the Palatinate Duchy of Burgundy (Holy Roman Empire), the Basilea Rhomain, and Pechneg mercenaries of the Basilea Rhomain.  This was the only army of the crusade that accomplished anything, recovering Ankara for the Basilea Rhomain.  It was later destroyed at the Battle of Mersivan.

The second was from the County of Nevers was destroyed at Heraclea.

The third was from the Duchy of Aquitaine, the County of Vermandois, the Margraviate of Austria, and the Duchy of Barvaria.  It too was destroyed at Heraclea.

Norwegian Crusade (1107-1111)

This crusade was more of a pilgrimage than a crusade by the Kingdom of Norway led by its king, Sigurd I.  The Norwegians did, however, participate in the Siege of Sidon which led to its capture and the subsequent Lordship of Sidon.

Wendish Crusade (1147)

This was primarily a campaign by the northern Saxons in the Holy Roman Empire who chose not to go to Southwest Asia like their southern cousins against the pagan (Slavic) Wends of Central Europe in what became Mecklenburg, Holstein, Rugen, Lusatia, and Pomerania.  The Wends included the Obotrites, the Veleti, the Lusatians (Sorbs), the Lutici, the Pomeranians, and the Rani (Rujani).

The crusading forces involved were the Duchy of Saxony, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the Kingdom of Poland.  These were opposed by the Wendish Obotriate Confederacy, the Wendish Liutizian Confederacy, and the Duchy of Pomerania.

Second Crusade (1147-1149)

This crusade was called in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144.  The crusading forces came from the Kingdom of France (led personally by Louis VII), the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights of Lazarus, the Holy Roman Empire, the Basilea Rhomain, the Principality of Cilicia, the Kingdom of England, the Duchy of Normandy, the Kingdom of Sicily, the Papal States, the remaining three Crusader States (Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch).

Opposing forces were the Sultanate of Rum, the Emirate of Danishmend, the Emirate of Zengids, the Emirate of Damascus, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Emirate of Mosul, and the Alamut State (the Hashishim).

The main actions of the crusade were the Siege of Damascus, abandoned after six days, and an aborted attack against Ascalon.  These were in addition to the harassment of the French forces on their way through Anatolia.

First Swedish Crusade (c. 1155)

This was a little known crusade by the Kingdom of Sweden into southwest Finland, led personally by Erick IX and Henry, Bishop of Uppsala.

Massacre of the Latins (1182)

At the time, there were 60,000 Latins (Western Romans) living in Konstantinopolous, capital of the Basilea Rhomain.  Merchants from the Republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa dominated the empire’s martime trade and financial sector.

After a usurper took power in 1182, the populace of the city went on a rampage, murdering tens of thousands, burning the Latin section of the city, and selling four thousand survivors to the Sultanate of Rum as slaves.

Sack of Thessalonica (1185)

After a two-week siege of Thessalonica, second city of the Basilea Rhomain, forces of the Kingdom of Sicily slaughtered some seven thousand of the city’s inhabitants.

Third Crusade (1189-1192)

Also known as the Kings’ Crusade due to its being led by Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire.

This crusade was called in response to the capture by Saladin’s forces of the city of Jerusalem and the eponymous kingdom in 1187 and the subsequent capture of the Lordship of Oultrejordan in 1188.

The crusading forces came from the Angevin Empire*, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Pisa, the Crusader States (Jerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli), the Templars, the Hospitallers, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights of Saint Lazarus, the Knights of Saint Thomas, and the Teutonic Knights.

The opposing forces were the Ayyubid Sultanate (Egypt, Damascus, Mesopotamia, Hamah), the Sultanate of Rum, and the Hashishim.

Notable events included the Battle of Philomelion (a significant victory for the Holy Roman Empire contingent over their antagonists from the Sultanate of Rum), the Siege of Acre (ending in its capture), the Battle of Arsuf, the capture of Jaffa by the crusaders, and the Battle of Jaffa, in which Saladin failed to retake the city.

In one of the most shameful atrocities of the Crusades period, the forces under Richard I of England decapitated the 2700 Muslim inhabitants of Acre after its capture, soldiers, civilians, women, and children, in front of the armies of Saladin in what is now known now as the Massacre at Ayyadieh.

En route to Acre, the Angevin forces stopped in and captured Cyprus, at the time ruled by a pretender to the Basilea Rhomain, Isaac Komnenos.  It became a Crusader State as the Kingdom of Cyprus, as part of the Holy Roman Empire.

*The Angevin Empire at this time took in the Kingdom of England; the Lordship of Ireland; the Duchies of Normandy, Brittany, Gascony, and Aquitaine; the Counties of Anjou, Pitou, Maine, Touraine, Saintonge, La Marche, Perigord, Limousin, Nantes, and Quercy.

German Crusade (1197-1198)

Also known as the Emperor’s Crusade.

This crusade was launched by Henry VI of the Holy Roman Empire, whose forces were opposed by those of the Ayyubid Sultanate.

The crusaders retook Byblos, Sidon, and Beirut, restoring the land link between the remnant Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli.

Livonian Crusade (1198-1207)

Pope Celestine III first called for a crusade to convert the pagan tribes east of the Baltic Sea in 1193, but the crusade was not announced publicly until 1198.

The crusading forces involved were the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Kingdom of Denmark.  The targeted peoples were the Livonians, the Latvians, the Curonians, the Selonians, the Semigallians, the Latgalians, the Yotvingians, the Eastern Galindians, and the Finns.

This crusade ended with the establishment of Terra Mariana as an ecclesiatical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in 1207.  In 1215, Pope Innocent III proclaimed Terra Mariana a subject of the See of Rome.

The establishment of Terra Mariana did not signal an end to fighting, nor were the establishment and declaration of 1207 and 1215 the final word on Terra Mariana.

Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)

Called for the recapture of Jerusalem, the western Crusaders turned their attentions to the Basilea Rhomain after getting involved in a dynastic struggle.  After the Siege of Constantinopolis, ending in its capture by the Crusaders, the empire was divided between the “Latin” states of the Crusaders and the “Greek” rump states of the former empire.

The Sack of Konstantinopoulis is one of the most notable markers in medieval history.

Known collectively as the Francocracy, the Latin states were the Empire of Romania (aka Latin Empire), the Kingdom of Thessalonica, the Principality of Achaea, the Duchy of Athens, the Duchy of Naxos, the Duchy of Philippopolis, the Triarchy of Negroponte, the County of Salona, the Marquisate of Bodonista, the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, the Hospitaller State of Rhodes, the possessions of the Republic of Genoa, and the possessions of the Republic of Venice.

The Greek rump states were the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Trebizond, and the Despotate of Epirus.

Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229)

Also known as the Cathar Crusade.

This crusade involved France asserting its control over an independent region of the County of Toulouse and suppression by the Church of the Cathari movement.

The crusaders came from the Papal States, the Kingdom of France, and the Militia of Jesus Christ founded by Saint Dominic.  The opposing forces included the Cathars, the County of Toulouse, the County of Foix, the County of Comminges, the Viscounty of Bearn, the Viscounty of Beziers and Carcassonne, and the Kingdom of Aragon.

Besides the creation of the Militia of Jesus Christ, the crusade was the foundation of both the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and the Holy Office of Inquisition, the latter occurring at the end of the crusdae in 1229.

Children’s Crusade (1212)

Despite medieval myth and legend, this “crusade” was comprised of two separate populist movements to reach the “Holy Land”.  The first was that of Nicolas of Cologne, which ended in the Papal States, though most had stayed in Genoa.  The second was that of Stephen of Cloyes, which ended in Marseilles.

Prussian Crusade (1217–1274)

This crusade began with failed attempts by the Kingdom of Poland to subdue and convert the Old Prussians beginning in 1217, with the Teutonic Knights brought on in 1230.

The crusading forces came from the Teutonic Knights, the Knights of Calatrava, the Knights of Dobrin, the Kingdom of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, the Duchy of Masovia, and the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia.

The opposing forces were the Old Prussians, the Western Galindians, the Sudovians, the Skalvians, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Duchy of Pomerania.

The State of the Teutonic Order was established in 1230, the same year the Teutonic Knights joined the crusade.

Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)

This crusade was an attempt to conquer and destroy the Ayyubi Sultanate based in Egypt.

The Western forces came from the Holy Roman Empire (especially the Duchy of Austria), the Kingdom of Sicily, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Principality of Halych, the Kingdom of France, the County of Flanders, the Papal States, the Latin Empire of Romania, the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Teutonic Knights, and the Sultanate of Rum.

The sole opposing power was the Ayyubid Sultanate.

The fighting took place in both the Levant and Egypt.  It turned out to be a disastrous failure.

Sixth Crusade (1228-1229)

The crusade was yet another attempt to regain the city of Jerusalem.

The crusading forces came from the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Sicily, and the Teutonic Knights.  The Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller refused to join the army but supported the crusade indirectly after it launched.

The opposing force was the Ayyupid Sultanate.

Give his small force, Emperor Frederick II opted for diplomacy the Ayyubid Sultan, Al-Kamil (known to the Crusaders as Meledin).  As a result he received the city of Jerusalem along with a corridor connecting it with the possessions of the Kingdom of Jerusalem on the coast, with the Ayyubids retaining the Temple Mount, as well as Nazareth, Sidon, Jaffa, and Bethlehem.  In later years, Ascalon and Safed were recovered as well.

Bosnian Crusade (1235-1241)

In 1234, Pope Gregory III called for a crusade against Bosnia to root out an unspecified heresy, which probably amounted to the Church of Bosnia exercising the same autonomy from Rome as the state did from Hungary.

The crusading forces were from the Kingdom of Hungary and the opposing forces from the Banate of Bosnia.

Due to the hazardous terrrain and resistance of the population, Hungary took three years to even get to Bosnia proper.  In the end, the crusade was cut short by the Tatar invasion of Hungary.

Barons’ Crusade (1239-1241)

This crusade was to secure the territories of the Kingdom of Jerusalem won by negotiation in the Sixth Crusade in the treaty set to expire in 1230.  At the same time, another call was issued to aid the Latin Empire of Romania in its war with the Greek Empire of Nicaea.

The crusading forces came from the Kingdom of Navarre, the Kingdom of France, the Duchy of Brittany, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 

The opposing forces were the Ayyubid Sultanate and the Emirate of Damascus.

Once again, though there was fighting, the main action was negotiation between Theobald I of Navarre and As-Salih Ismail, Emir of Damascus.  In addition to resecuring the lands gained in the Sixth Crusade, Theobald gained Ascalon, Safed, and a number of Crusader castles.

The force marching to the aide of the Empire of Romania crossed into Anatolia and captured the stronghold of Tzouroulos.  However, the ruler of the Empire of Nicaea captured those of Darivya and Nikitiaton, essentially cancelling out the gain.

Siege of Jerusalem (1244)

As a result of the civil war between the Ayyubid Sultanate in Egypt and its rebellious emirates in Syria, the sultan engaged mercenaries from the former Khwarezmian Empire, which had been destroyed by the Mongols in 1220.  After their loss, the Khwarezmians had set up a state in northern Mesopotamia and Syria, hiring themselves out as mercenaries.  The Ayyubid sultan engaged them as such for his war with the Emirate of Damascus.

On their way south, the Khwarezmians besieged and captured Jerusalem, expelled its Christian poplulation, then utterly destroyed the city. 

Battle of La Forbie (1244)

The Khwarezmian force proceeded south to Egypt.  Joining forces with the Ayyubid army there, they met the Christian forces at the place the Crusaders called La Forbie (Hirbiya) north of Gaza.

The Crusader forces came from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Teutonic Knights, the Knights of Saint Lazarus, the Emirate of Damascus, the Emirate of Homs, the Emirate of Kerak, and Bedouin from Transjordan.  The opposing forces were the armies of the Ayyubid Sultanate and its force of Khwarezmian mercenaries.

The Crusader army lost five thousand of its nine thousand troops, with only 33 Templar, 27 Hospitallers, and 3 Teutonic Knights surviving.  Of the 2000 mounted Bedouin, only 280 survived to ride off.

Seventh Crusade (1248–1250)

This crusade was called in response to the loss of Jerusalem and the disaster of La Forbie.

The crusading forces came from the Kingdom of France, the Principality of Achaea, the Knights Templar, and included a small force from England.

The opposing force was the army of the Ayyupid Sultanate in Egypt, primarily made up of Mamluks, slave soldiers who included the former Khwarezmians.

The invasion proved a failure, though not as bad as the disaster at La Forbie.

Louis IX eventually made it back to Acre, the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, after being held captive in Egypt, and remained there shoring up the kingdom and its defenses until 1254.

The Mamluks overthrew the Ayyubids and established the Mamluk Sultanate in 1250, and the same year the Emir of Damascus declared himself Sultan.  Louis allied with the former against the latter.

Second Swedish Crusade (1249)

This was a little known crusade led by Birger Magnusson, Jarl of Sweden, against the Tavastians in southern Finland.

War of Saint Sabas (1256–1270)

This was a civil war among the Crusaders fought over control of Acre, the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

On one side were the Republic of Venice and its allies the County of Jaffa and Ascalon (a division of the Kingdom of Jerusalem) and the Knights Templar. 

On the other side were the Republic of Genoa and its allies the Lordship of Tyre, the Lordship of Arsuf, and the Knights Hospitaller, with support from the Empire of Nicaea (Basilea Rhomain again after its reconquest of the Latin Empire of Romania in 1261).

Both sides employed Muslim mercenaries known as “turcopoles”.  The military orders had, in fact, had long included turcopoles in their ranks, though not in their membership.

Much of the fighting took place at sea.  Most of the physical defenses of the kingdom, especially those of Acre, were destroyed, and twenty thousand soldiers died.

Eighth Crusade (1270)

After its victory over the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, the Mamluk Sultanate turned its attention to the Outremer states, capturing Arsuf, Haifa, Safed, Jaffa, and Caesarea, and completely destroying the city of Ascalon.

Originally planned to reinforce the Outremer states beginning at Acre, this crusade changed its direction to attack Tunis in North Africa.

The crusading forces, led again by Louis IX, came from the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Navarre, and the Kingdom of Sicily.

The opposing forces belonged to the Caliphate of Ifriqiya under the Berber Hafsids, with the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt almost intervening on the side of Tunis as the siege was lifted.

The campaign involved solely the siege of Tunis, which lasted four months, the beginning of July through the end of October.  The Crusaders gave up the siege, but gained free trade with Tunis and and permission for priests and monks to reside in the city.

Ninth Crusade (1271-1272)

The surviving besiegers of Tunis retreated to Sicily to recoup, the next year deploying to the original destination of the Eighth Crusade, Acre.

The crusading forces came from the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Cilicia, the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, and their allies, the Mongol Ilkhanate.  On the other side were the Mamluk Sultanate and its Turkmen mercenaries.

The crusaders relieved the sieges of Acre and Tripoli, and the Mamluk fleet was destroyed off the coast of Cyprus.  At the end, a cessation of hostilities agreement was signed to last ten years, ten months, and ten days.

Lithuanian Crusade (1283-1410)

Also known as the Reisin.

Lithuania was the last outpost of paganism in Europe.

The crusading forces were the Teutonic Knights, the Livonian Order, and their “guests”, facing off against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Though there had been occasional raids as far back as 1208, the Reisin did not begin in earnest until 1283.

In 1386, Grand Duke Wladyslaw II Jagiello was baptized before marrying Jadwiga, Queen of Poland, and being crowned King thereof.  After his return in 1387, his court converted, followed by most of the nobles and many peasants.  The Teutonic Knights challenged the conversions at the See of Rome, and continued fighting.

The Lithuanian Crusade culminated in the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War (1409-1411), in which the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order were supported by the Duchy of Pomerania, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Duchy of Oels, and the Holy Roman Empire.  The climax of the war was the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, a significant defeat for the Teutonic Knights.  The war ended with the Treaty of Melno in February 1411.

The State of the Teutonic Order withdrew to Prussia, leaving Terra Mariana to govern itself as the Livonian Confederation.

Aragonese Crusade (1284-1285)

This crusade was declared by Pope Martin IV against the Kingdom of Aragon and its king, Peter III, whose forces had recently conquered the Kingdom of Sicily.  The crusading forces came from the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Majorca, the Kingdom of Navarre, and the Republic of Genoa.  The Crusaders had early successes but in the end lost badly.

Siege and Fall of Tripoli (1289)

This ended the County of Tripoli.

The Crusader forces included the County of Tripoli, the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Republic of Genoa.  The victorious besieging force, of course, came from the Mamluk Sultanate.

Siege and Fall of Acre (1291)

This ended the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Levant, though the rulers of the Kingdom of Cyprus carried the title King of Jerusalem.

The crusading forces came from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Teutonic Knights, and the Knights of Saint Thomas.

The Knights Templar relocated to Cyprus, the Knights Hospitaller to Rhodes, the Teutonic Knights to the State of the Teutonic Order, and the Knights of St. Thomas to England.

Third Swedish Crusade (1293)

This was the second crusade into southern Finland led by Birger Magnusson, now King of Sweden, and this time the target was the Karelians.

First Smyrniote Crusade (1343)

The aim of this crusade was to deprive the Beylik of Aydin of the port of Smyrna, its main launching point for attacks in the Aegean Sea.  Involved were the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Dauphine, and the Knights Hospitaller.

The crusaders won a naval victory and took the harbor and citadel of Smyrna, but not the acropolis.

Novgorod Crusade (1347-1349)

This crusade was an attempt by Magnus II, King of Sweden and Norway, to forcibly convert the people of the Novgorod Republic from Eastern Orthodox to Roman Catholic.

Second Smyrniote Crusade (1351)

Involving the same forces as the prior Smyrna crusade, this one accomplished little other than a small victory at Mytilene and shoring up some defenses in the Christian section of the city.

The Crusaders did manage to hold the city until 1402, when it fell to the Turco-Mongol forces of Timur (or Tamerlane).

Alexandrian Crusade (1365)

This can only be called a crusade in the broadest definition of the term.  Peter I led the forces of the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Republic of Venice, and the Knights Hospitaller in what he intended as the capture of Alexandria to provide a beachhead for further crusades into the Mamluk Sultanate.  What happened instead was a three-day sack of the city in which mosques, churches, temples, and the library were the primary targets.  Five thousand were enslaves and twenty thousand, mostly civilians, were killed.

Savoyard Crusade (1366-1367)

Carried out by the County of Savoy, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, and the Basilea Rhomain, this crusade targeted the Bulgarian Empire.

The crusaders took Gallipoli, which they handed over to the Basilea, and some territory from the Bulgarian Empire, which they likewise handed over to Constantinopolis.

Barbary Crusade (1390)

This crusade was called by the Doge of Genoa, Antoniotto Adorno, and supported by the Pope with a view toward crushing the pirates operating out of North Africa.  The only crusading forces came from the Kingdom of France and the Republic of Genoa.  These faced forces from the Caliphate of Ifriqiya, the Emirate of Bejaia, and the Sultanate of Tlemcen, all in North Africa and all allies of the pirates.

The whole crusade was pretty much limited to the Siege of Mahdia, which lasted three months, and related skirmishes.  The end result was the city of Mahdia agreeing to pay tax to Genoa for fifteen years.

Crusade of Nicopolis (1396)

The crusade was called by Pope Boniface IX to recover the city of Nicopolis for the Bulgarian Empire from the Ottoman Sultanate.

The crusading forces came from the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Principality of Wallachia, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Scotland, the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Aragon, the Kingdom of Castile, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Navarre, the Basilea Rhomain, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Teutonic Knights.

Opposed were the Ottoman Sultanate and Moravian Serbia.

The Crusader force laid siege to Nicopolis, for which they were woefully unprepared.  Two weeks into the siege, the commanders launched a battle for which they were also woefully unprepared.  The result was a complete disaster and the loss of all but a small contingent of the army of 16,000, as well as the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

Hussite Crusades (1419-1434); overview

Also called the Hussite Wars, the Bohemian Wars, and the Hussite Revolution.

These were called against the followers of the early reformer John Hus, murdered by the Church and the Holy Roman Empire in 1415.

The crusading forces came from the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of England, the Knights Hospitaller, the Teutonic Knights, the Serbian Despotate, Polish volunteers, and the Moderate Hussites after 1423.

The opposing forces were the Hussite Coalition (before 1423), the Radical Hussites (after 1423), and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, all of which were supported by the Kingdom of Poland.

In the end, the wars ended with the defeat of the Radical Hussites by the Moderate Hussites at the Battle of Lipany in 1434.

First Hussite Crusade (1420)

Called by Pope Martin V against “Wycliffites, Hussites, and all other heretics in Bohemia”, this one was led by Sigismund, King of Hungary, also a pretender to the crown of Bohemia.  It ended with the Battle of Viktov Hill, a victory for the Hussites.

Second Hussite Crusade (1421-1422)

Ultimately led by Sigismund, this crusade ended at the Battle of Deutschbrod.

Third Hussite Crusade (1422-1424)

This crusade was largely abortive.  Its most significant features were the invasion of Moravia by the Hussites and the split in the Hussite Confederation between Moderates (Ultraquists) and Radicals (Taborites).

Sigismund, King of Hungary, did invade with a large army in 1424, but his main action was to negotiate a peace between the two Hussite factions.

Fourth Hussite Crusade (1426)

The divided but allied Hussite army defeated the crusaders led by Boso of Vitzthum at the Battle of Aussing.

Fifth Hussite Crusade (1427)

Led by Henry Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and Otto von Ziegenhain, Archbishop of Trier, this crusade ended at the Battle of Tachov.

Sixth Hussite Crusade (1431)

Led by Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, this crusade met its end at the Battle of Domazlice.

Crusade of Varna (1443)

Also called the Long Campaign.

Called by Pope Eugene IV to drive the Turks out of Europe, these crusaders led by Hungarian general John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania and Regent of Hungary, came from the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Poland, the Papal States, the Serbian Despotate, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia-Moravia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Principality of Wallachia, the Principality of Moldavia, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States, the Teutonic Knights, and Bulgarian rebels.

The crusade ended with the Battle of Varna in 1444, a significant victory for Ottoman forces.

Crusade of 1448

This year, Hunyadi led another army of Crusaders, this one from the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Poland, the Principality of Wallachia, and the Principality of Moldavia against the Ottoman Sultanate.  The crusade ended with the three-day Battle of Kosovo which proved yet another disastrous loss for the Crusaders.

Fall of Konstantinopoulis (1453)

The forces of the Ottoman Sultanate laid siege to Konstantinopoulia in April of this year.  By this time, the city, which had at one time hosted over a million people, had but 50,000 living within its walls, less than the number of westerners in the city at the Massacre of the Latins centuries before.  Only 7000 of these were soldiers.  The Ottoman army numbered 80,000.

After fifty-three days, the city fell, followed by three days of plunder in which thousands were raped or murdered and some 30,000 expelled or sent into slavery.

All that remained of the Basilea Rhomain were the Empire of Trebizond (until 1461), the Principality of Gothia (1475), and the Despotate of Epirus (1479), as well as the surviving Crusader States: Duchy of Athens (1458), Aegean possessions of Genoa (1462), Kingdom of Negroponte (1470), County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos (1479), Kingdom of Cyprus (1489), Hospitaller State of Rhodes (1522), Lordship of Chios (1566), Duchy of Naxos (1579), and Kingdom of Candia (aka Crete; 1669).

Council of Mantua (1459-1460)

Pope Pius II issued a call for a three-year crusade at this council, to which various leaders pledged a total of 80,000 men.  The army never materialized.  The only leader truly enthusiastic for the endeavor was Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, but he hand his hands full defending his own realm.

Capitulation of Granada (1491)

In February 1482, the Castile-Aragon Union began its final drive against the Emirate of Granada, the last remaining part of Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula.  The “Capitulation” refers to the Treaty of Granada at the end of 1491 surrendering the emirate to the Spanish.

Holy Leagues (1538-1717)

Although the Battle of Kosovo was the last official crusading action, it did not end the See of Rome engaging in military actions against the Ottoman Sultanate.  Beginning in 1538, it organized a number of alliances referred to as Holy Leagues, the primary action of which were naval over control of the Mediterranean Sea, though there was some accompanying land action as well.

The Holy League of 1538 (1538) included the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Kingdom of Sicily.  Given the players, it should not be surprising that military action was all naval.

The Holy League of 1571 (1571-1573) included the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Parma, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Knights of Saint Stephen.

The Holy League of 1594 (1592-1606) included the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, the Principality of Transylvania, the Principality of Wallachia, the Principality of Moldavia, the Cossacks of the Zaporozhian Sich, Serbian hadjuks, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Ferrara, the Duchy of Mantua, the Republic of Ragusa, the Duchy of Savoy, and the Knights of Saint Stephen.  This league's goal was to push the Ottoman Sultanate out of Europe during the Long Turkish or Thirteen Years War.

The Holy League of 1684 (1684-1699) included the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Republic of Venice, and the Tsardom of Russia.

The Holy League of 1717 (1717-1718) included the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Portugal, and the Knights Hospitaller of Malta.

CRUSADER STATES

Outremer

There are the states founded in the wake of the First Crusade, with the dates of their founding and of their final dissolution.

County of Edessa (1098-1150)

Principality of Antioch (1098-1268)

Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291)

Major direct vassals
        Principality of Galilee
                Lordship of Beirut
                       Lordship of Banias
                       Lordship of Toron
                Lordship of Nazareth
                Lordship of Cayphas (Haifa)
        County of Jaffa and Ascalon
                Lordship of Ramla
                Lordship of Ibelin
                Lordship of Mirabel
        Lordship of Sagette (Sidon)
                Lordship of Caesarea
                Lordship of the Schulf
        Lordship of Oultrejordan

Minor direct vassals
        Lordship of Adelon
        Lordship of Arsulf
        Lordship of Bethlehem
        Lordship of Blanchegard
        Lordship of Caymont
        Lordship of Darum
        Lordship of Dera
        Lordship of Hebron
        Lordship of Montgisard
        Lordship of Naples (Nablus)
        Lordship of St. Abraham
        Lordship of St. George de la Beyne
        Lordship of St. Jorge de Lidde (Lydda)
        Lordship of Scandalion
        Lordship of Suhete
        Lordship of Tyre

County of Tripoli (1104-1289)

Kingdom of Cyprus (1191-1489)

Kingdom of Cilicia (1198-1375)

            Principality of Cilicia (1080-1198)

Note: Cilicia was not a Crusader State and therefore not really part of the Outremer, but as a Christian Armenian state, it was closely allied with the Crusaders States and it was raised to a kingdom by the pope.

Francocracy

The Francocracy is the collective term for the “Latin” states carved out of the Basilea Rhomain after the Fourth Crusade, with the dates of their founding and of their final dissolution.  All the states fell under the suzerainty of the Empire of Romania as long as that lasted, at least on theory, but in practice most had a great degree of autonomy.

Empire of Romania, or Latin Empire (1204-1261)

Kingdom of Thessalonica (1205–1224)

Principality of Achaea (1205–1432)

Duchy of Athens (1205-1458)

Duchy of Naxos (1207–1579)

Duchy of Philippopolis (1204–1230)

Triarchy of Negroponte (1204-1390)

            Kingdom of Negroponte (1390-1470)

County of Salona (1205-1410)

Marquisate of Bodonista (1204-1414)

County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos (1185–1479)

Hospitaller State of Rhodes (1310-1522)

            Hospitaller State of Malta (1530-1798)

Lordship of Chios (1304-1329; 1346-1556)

Kingdom of Candia (1211–1669)

Possessions of the Republic of Genoa (1304-1462)

            Island of Lesbos (1355–1462)

            Island of Lemnos (1414–1462)

            Island of Thasos (1414–1462)

            Island of Samothrace (1355–1457)

            City of Ainos (1376–1456)

Possessions of the Republic of Venice

            Corfu (1207–1214, 1386–1797)

            Lefkas (1684–1797)

            Zaknythos (1479–1797)

            Caphalonia and Ithaca (1500–1797)

            Tinos (1390-1715)

Mykonos (1390-1715)

Various others

The County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, founded decades before the Fourth Crusade, became part of the interconnected Latin states.

The Kingdom of Candia was the Venetian-held island of Crete.

The Empire of Romania fell to the Empire of Nicaea in 1261, after which the two were rejoined as the Basilea Rhomain once again.

All the Latin states of Greece accepted the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Sicily after 1267.

In 1390, the Republic of Venice, which owned all three baronies of the Triarchy of Negroponte, turned them into the Kingdom of Negroponte, but also maintaining the three separate territories intact, but under a Venetian podesta at Chalkis.

Byzantine Successor States

These were the rump-states of the Greek Basilea Rhomain after the Fourth Crusade.

Empire of Nicaea (1204-1261)

Despotate of Epirus (1205-1479)

            Empire of Thessalonica (1224-1242)

            Despotate of Thessalonica (1242-1246)

Empire of Trebizond (1204-1461)

            Perateia (1204-1238)

Principality of Gothia (1238-1475)

Also known as the Lordship of Theodoro

The Depotate of Epirus conquered the Latin Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1224, and the Despot moved his seat to the city, renaming his expanded realm the Empire of Thessalonica.  The Empire of Nicaea forced Thessalonica to submit in 1242, reducing its ruler to a Despot.  Four years later, Nicaea assimilated the territory, forcing the Despot to retreat to Epirus.

The  Empire of Nicaea lasted until it conquered the Latin Empie of Romania in 1261, after which it became the revived Basilea Rhomain.

Under the Empire of Trezibond, its exclave of Perateia took in all of the Crimean Peninsula, along with the Kerch Peninsula and the Taman Peninsula on either side of the Strait of Kerch into the Sea of Azov.  After the Mongol invasion of 1238, this entity was reduced to the Heracles Peninsula of Crimea and cut off from Trebizond, becoming the Principality of Gothia.

(Historical note:  The territories of the Empire of Trezibond approximated roughly those of the Kingdom of Pontus, 281-63 BCE, including its exclave territory in Crimea.  After the Roman conquest in 63 BCE, the southern Anatolian regions became the province of Bithynia et Pontus while the Crimean region thrived as the autonomous but client Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, the name referring to the Strait of Ketch, surviving until the Huns overran it in the last quarter of the 4th century.)

Terra Mariana (1207-1561)

Terra Mariana was erected in Old Livonia, more or less coterminous with modern Latvia and Estonia by the Knights of the Sword in 1207, early in the Livonian Crusade.  In 1228, the lands were divided into the following jurisdictions, with the Knights of the Sword being first among equals and possessors of all the lands outside the ecclesiatical districts.

Archbishopric of Riga (1186-1561)

Knights of the Sword/Livonian Order (1207-1561)

Duchy of Estonia (1219-1346)

Bishopric of Dorpat (1224-1558)

Bishopric of Osel-Wiek (1228-1560)

Bishopric of Courland (1234-1562)

After a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Schaulen against the Samogitians in 1236, the surviving Knights of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights, and Terra Mariana became part of the State of the Teutonic Order.  They remained autonomous, however, as the Livonian Order within the Teutonic Knights.

The Duchy of Estonia, occupying Northern Estonia, was a nominal Danish possession purchased by the State of the Teutonic Order in 1346, which then became part of the possessions of the Livonian Order.

After 1422, Terra Mariana became disconnected from the State of the Teutonic Order and was thereafter governed by the Livionian Confederation.  This state of affairs lasted until 1561, when the Livonian Order was dissolved during the Livonia War (1558-1583).

State of the Teutonic Order (1230-1525)

This was the ecclesiastical state of the Teutonic Knights founded during the Prussian Crusade.  It took in Old Prussia, Terra Mariana (1237-1422), and at times Gotland, Neumark, Pomeralia, and Samogitia.  The Teutonic Knights suffered a disastrous defeat against the Sarmogitians in 1410, and by 1422, the Livonian Confederation, comprising Terra Mariana, had broken away.

In 1466, western Prussia was taken from the State of the Teutonic Order and given to the Kingdom of Poland as Royal Prussia.  Royal Prussia’s autonomy ended in 1569 and it was absorbed into the Crown lands.

In 1525, the Grand Master of the Order secularized its lands and became Albert, Duke of Prussia, establishing Lutheranism as the state religion, the first state to do so.

In 1701, the Duchy of Prussia was elevated into the Kingdom of Prussia.  It absorbed the lands of the former Royal Prussia in 1722 as part of the First Partition of Poland.

Iberia

The surviving Christian territories after the Umayyad conquest of Hispaniae were the Kingdom of Asturias and the Kingdom of Pamplona/Navarre.  During the Reconquista, they added the Kingdoms of Portugal, Galicia, Castile, Leon, Aragon, Valencia, and Majorca, the Principality of Catalonia, and the Lordship of Biscay.  While not strictly crusader states, they were states established during a crusade.  By 1492, these had consolidated into the Kingdoms of Castile & Leon, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal.

CRUSADER ORDERS

There were other military orders founded during this time, but these operated entirely outside the theaters of war.  The orders listed here either fought in the Crusades or were formed specifically to do so.

Order of the Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem

Aka: Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Cyprus, Knights of Rhodes, Knights of Malta

Founded:  1099, Jerusalem

Operated in: Levant, Cyprus, Rhodes, Malta, and virtually every country in Western Europe

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades, Balkans

Dissolved: Extant

Successors: Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta (Rome); Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital of Jerusalem; Order of St. John in the Netherlands; Order of St. John in Sweden; Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (UK)

The first of the successors is the official Catholic continuation of the original order.  The second represents the branch in the Holy Roman Empire which became Protestant; the Dutch and Swedish orders branched off from that.  The British order descends from members of a French branch of the Dutch order which moved to UK in the 1830s.

Sacred and Military Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

Aka: Knights of the Holy Sepulchre

Founded: 1099, Jerusalem

Operated in: Levant

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades

Dissolved: Extant

Successors: Redesignated as the Sacred and Military Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1496; known as the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem since 1931

Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon

Aka: Knights Templar

Founded:  1119, Jerusalem

Operated in: Levant and virtually every country in Western Europe

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades, Reconquista

Dissolved:  1312

Successors:  Knights of St. John and the Temple; Military Order of Christ (Portugal, formerly Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ); Order of Montesa (Aragon and Valencia); Supreme Order of Christ (Rome); Imperial Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Brasil)

The Templars in Scotland, the whole country of which was excommunicated at the time of the dissolution and therefore not under the aegis of Rome, merged with the Scottish Hospitallers under the above name and remained until the Scottish Reformation in 1564.  The Military Order of Christ (1317) and the Order of Montesa (1317) were formed from the former Templars in their respective kingdoms.  The Supreme Order of Christ was formed by the Pope from surviving Templars in 1319.  The Brasil order branched off from the Portugese order.

Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem

Aka: Knights of Saint Lazarus

Founded: 1119, Jerusalem

Operated in: Levant, southern Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, France, England

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades

Dissolved: 1572

Successors: Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1572-present); Royal Military and Hospitaller Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem united (France, 1608- 1830/1910); Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (1910-present)

The Order of Saint Maurice was founded in Savoy in 1434.  The second of the successors was established by the French crown from elements of the Order of Saint Lazarus in France.

Knights of the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz

Aka: Knights of Saint Benedict, Knights of Aviz

Founded: 1146, Portugal

Operated in: Iberia

Crusade theater: Reconquista

Dissolved: 1789

Successors: Became the Royal Military Order of Aviz in 1789; Military Order of Aviz in 1910

Royal Equestrian and Military Order of Saint Michael of the Wing

Aka: Knights of Saint Michael

Founded: 1147, Santarem (Portugal)

Operated in: Iberia

Crusade theater: Reconquista

Dissolved: 1732

Successors: Revived in 1828, and again in 1981

Order of Calatrava

Aka: Knights of Calatrava

Founded: 1158, Calatrava la Vieja (Castile)

Operated in: Iberia

Crusade theater: Reconquista, Baltic Crusades

Dissolved: 1838

Order of Alcantara

Aka: Knights of Saint Julian

Founded: 1166, Alcantara (Leon)

Operated in: Iberia

Crusade theater: Reconquista

Dissolved: Extant

Order of St. James of the Sword

Aka: Order of Santiago, Knights of St. James

Founded: 1170, Caceres (Leon)

Operated in: Iberia

Crusader theater: Reconquista

Dissolved: Extant

Military Order of Saint James of the Sword

Aka: Order of Santiago, Knights of St. James

Founded: 1172, Portugal

Operated in: Iberia

Crusade theater: Reconquista

Dissolved: Extant

Order of Mountjoy

Aka: Knights of Mountjoy

Founded: 1176, Alfambra (Aragon)

Operated in: Iberia, Levant

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades, Reconquista

Dissolved: 1196

Successors: Remnants who didn’t merge with the Templars in 1196 became the Order of Montfrague (Castile) until 1221, when that merged with the Order of Calatrava

Hospitallers of Saint Thomas of Canterbury at Acre

Aka: Knights of Saint Thomas

Founded: 1191, Acre

Operated in: Levant, England

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades

Dissolved: 1538 in the English Reformation

Order of the Brothers of German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem

Aka: Teutonic Knights

Founded: 1192, Acre

Operated in: Levant, Holy Roman Empire, Balkans, Prussia

Crusade theater: Eastern Crusades, Baltic Crusades, Balkans

Dissolved: Extant

Livonian Brothers of the Sword

Aka: Knights of the Sword, Christ Knights, Sword Brethren, Militia of Christ of Livonia

Founded: 1202, Riga

Operated in: Livonia

Crusade theater: Baltic Crusades

Dissolved: 1236

Successors: Absorbed into the Teutonic Knights as the autonomous Livonian Order until 1561, when that was dissolved after a disastrous defeat.

Order of the Holy Faith of Jesus Christ

Aka: Militia of Jesus Christ

Founded: 1209, Languedoc

Operated in: Languedoc, adjacent regions

Crusade theater: Albigensian Crusade

Dissolved: c. 1301

Successors: Merged with the Order of Penance of Saint Dominic to become the Third Order of Saint Dominic about the year 1301.

Military Brothers of Christ in Prussia

Aka: Prussian Cavaliers of Jesus Christ, Order of Dobrin, Knights of Dobrin

Founded: c. 1217, Prussia

Operated in: Prussia

Crusade theater: Baltic Crusades

Dissolved: 1240

Successors: The majority joined the Teutonic Knights in 1237; the remainder were captured by the forces of Kiev in 1240.