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First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest of the Levant, Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk Empire, Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This call was met ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding territories from Muslim rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which culminated in the Siege of Jerusalem (1099), capture of Jerusalem in 1099, these expeditions spanned centuries and became a central aspect of European political, religious, and military history. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid,Helen J. Nicholson, ''The Crusades'', (Greenwood Publishing, 2004), 6. Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, AlexiosI Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sultanate Of Rum
The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The name ''Rum'' was a synonym for the medieval Eastern Roman Empire and its peoples, as it remains in modern Turkish. The name is derived from the Aramaic () and Parthian () names for ancient Rome, via the Greek () meaning the Anatolia. The Sultanate of Rum seceded from the Seljuk Empire under Suleiman ibn Qutalmish in 1077. It had its capital first at Nicaea and then at Iconium. It reached the height of its power during the late 12th and early 13th century, when it succeeded in taking key Byzantine ports on the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. In the east, the sultanate reached Lake Van. Trade through Anatolia from Iran and Central Asia was developed by a system of caravanserai. Especially strong trade ties with the Genoese forme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Empire, Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenos, Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. The son of John Komnenos (Domestic of the Schools), John Komnenos and a nephew of Isaac I Komnenos, Alexios served with distinction under three Byzantine emperors. In 1081, he led a rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates and took ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tancred, Prince Of Galilee
Tancred ( 1075 – December 5 or December 12, 1112) was an Italo-Normans, Italo-Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch. Tancred came from the Hauteville family, house of Hauteville and was the great-grandson of Norman lord Tancred of Hauteville. Biography Early life Tancred was a son of Odo the Good Marquis and Emma of Hauteville. His maternal grandparents were Robert Guiscard and Guiscard's first wife Alberada of Buonalbergo. Emma was also a sister of Bohemond I of Antioch. First Crusade In 1096, Tancred joined his maternal uncle Bohemond on the First Crusade, and the two made their way to Constantinople. There, he was pressured to swear an oath to Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, promising to give back any conquered land to the Byzantine Empire. Although the other leaders did not intend to keep their oaths, Tancred refused to swear the oath altogether. He participated in the siege of Nicaea in 1097, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bohemond I Of Antioch
Bohemond I of Antioch ( 1054 – 5 or 7 March 1111), also known as Bohemond of Taranto or Bohemond of Hauteville, was the prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, leading a contingent of Normans on the quest eastward. Knowledgeable about the Byzantine Empire through earlier campaigns with his father, he was the most experienced military leader of the crusade. Early life Childhood and youth Bohemond was the son of Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia and Calabria, and his first wife, Alberada of Buonalbergo. He was born between 1050 and 1058—in 1054 according to historian John Julius Norwich. He was baptised Mark, possibly because he was born at his father's castle at San Marco Argentano in Calabria. His parents were related within the degree of kinship that made Impediment (Catholic canon law)#Impediments to marriage, their marriage invalid under canon law. In 1058, Pope Nicholas II strengthened existin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Curthose
Robert Curthose ( – February 1134, ), the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy as Robert II from 1087 to 1106. Robert was also an unsuccessful pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of England. The epithet "Curthose" originated in the Norman French word ''courtheuse'' ("short stockings"). The chroniclers William of Malmesbury and Orderic Vitalis wrote that his father had derisively called him ''brevis-ocrea'' ("short boot"). Robert's reign is noted for the discord with his brothers, the English kings William II and Henry I. He mortgaged his duchy to finance his participation in the First Crusade, where he was an important commander. In 1106, his disagreements with Henry led to defeat in the Battle of Tinchebray and lifelong captivity, with Normandy temporarily absorbed into England's possession. Early life Robert was the eldest son of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England and Matilda of Flanders. Estimates of Robert's birth-dat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert II, Count Of Flanders
Robert II, Count of Flanders ( 1065 – 5 October 1111) was Count of Flanders from 1093 to 1111. He became known as Robert of Jerusalem (''Robertus Hierosolimitanus'') or Robert the Crusader after his exploits in the First Crusade. Early life Robert was the eldest son of Robert I of Flanders (also known as Robert the Frisian) and Gertrude of Saxony. His father, hoping to place the cadet branch (or "Baldwinite" branch) of Flanders over the county, began to associate him with his rule around 1086. From 1085 to 1091 he was regent of the county while his father was away on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Robert II became count in 1093 and supported the restoration of the diocese of Arras in order to limit the influence of the Holy Roman Empire in his dominion. With the approval of Pope Urban II, the diocese was split off from the diocese of Cambrai in 1093/94 and Lambert of Arras, Lambert of Guines elected as its first bishop. First Crusade In 1095, Robert joined the First Crusade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen II, Count Of Blois
Stephen Henry (in French, ''Étienne Henri'', in Old French, ''Estienne Henri''; – 19 May 1102) was the count of Blois and County of Chartres, Chartres. He led an army during the First Crusade, was at the siege of Nicaea, surrender of the city of Nicaea, and directed the siege of Antioch. Returning home without fulfilling his crusader vows, Stephen joined the crusade of 1101. Making his way to Jerusalem, he fought in the Second Battle of Ramla, where he was captured and later executed. Life Stephen was the son of Theobald III, count of Blois, and Gersent of Le Mans. He is first mentioned as approaching William the Conqueror to ask for and receive the hand of his daughter Adela of Normandy. In 1089, upon the death of his father, Stephen became the Count of Blois and Chartres, although Theobald had given him the administration of those holdings in 1074. Stephen was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, leading one of the major armies of the crusade and often writing en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh I, Count Of Vermandois
Hugh (1057 – October 18, 1101), called the Great (, ) was the first count of Vermandois from the House of Capet. He is known primarily for being one of the leaders of the First Crusade. His nickname ''Magnus'' (greater or elder) is probably a bad translation into medieval Latin of an Old French nickname, ''le Maisné'', meaning "the younger", referring to Hugh as younger brother of King Philip I of France. Early years Hugh was a younger son of King Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev and younger brother of Philip I of France, Philip I. He became the first Capetian count of Vermandois after his mentally deficient brother-in-law, Odo, was disinherited. In 1085, Hugh helped William the Conqueror repel a Danish invasion of England. First Crusade In early 1096, Hugh and Philip began discussing the First Crusade after news of the Council of Clermont reached them in Paris. Although Philip could not participate, as he had been excommunicated, Hugh was said to have been influenced to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baldwin I Of Jerusalem
Baldwin I (1060s – 2 April 1118) was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny. He received the County of Verdun in 1096, but he soon joined the crusader army of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon and became one of the most successful commanders of the First Crusade. While the main crusader army was marching across Asia Minor in 1097, Baldwin and the Norman Tancred launched a separate expedition against Cilicia. Tancred tried to capture Tarsus in September, but Baldwin forced him to leave it, which gave rise to an enduring conflict between them. Baldwin seized important fortresses in the lands to the west of the Euphrates with the assistance of local Armenians. Thoros of Edessa invited him to come to Edessa to fight against the Seljuks. Taking advantage of a riot against Thoros, Baldwin sei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godfrey Of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as prince (''princeps'') under the title ''Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri'', or Title of Godfrey of Bouillon, Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre. He was the second son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne in present day France. He received an inheritance from his mother's family in 1076 when he became Lord of Bouillon, which is now in Belgium. In 1087 Emperor Henry IV also confirmed him as Duke of Lower Lorraine, in reward for his support during the Saxon revolt of 1077–1088, Great Saxon Revolt. Along with his brothers Eustace III, Count of Boulogne, Eustace III and Baldwin I of Jerusalem, Baldwin of Boulogne, Godfrey joined the First Crusade in 1096. He took part in actions at Siege of Nicaea, Nicaea, Battle of Dorylaeum (1097), Dorylaeum, and Siege of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adhemar Of Le Puy
Adhemar (also known as Adémar, Aimar, or Aelarz) de Monteil (died 1 August 1098) was one of the principal figures of the First Crusade and was bishop of Puy-en-Velay from before 1087. He was the chosen representative of Pope Urban II for the expedition to the Holy Land. Remembered for his martial prowess, he led knights and men into battle and fought beside them, particularly at the Battle of Dorylaeum and Siege of Antioch. Adhemar is said to have carried the Holy Lance in the Crusaders’ desperate breakout at Antioch on 28 June 1098, in which superior Islamic forces under the atabeg Kerbogha were routed, securing the city for the Crusaders. He died in 1098 due to illness. Life Born around 1045 into the family of the Counts of Valentinois and elected Bishop of Le Puy around 1080, he was an advocate of the Gregorian Reform. Among his supporters were the future Pope Urban II and Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse and the richest, most powerful nobleman in France. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
