1. Crusade

1st Crusade 1096 – 1099

Pope Gregory VII had already attempted to free the Christians living in Palestine from their pagan surroundings. However, this failed because of the disputes between the Pope and Henry IV, which took up all his time.

In 1071, the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos at Manzikert. After that they conquered Nicaea and Smyrna, Palestine, Jerusalem (1076) and Antioch (1085). To avert the danger of the Seljuk villains, Alexios asked the pope for military assistance. In 1095 Urban II received the message and gave a rousing speech at the synod of Clerontus calling for a crusade against the pagans in Palestine. He promised the crusaders, who were to die under the sign of the cross in the holy land, forgiveness of their sins and the prospect of eternal life.

The Pope`s appeal had serious consequences. A large number of knights banded together to wage war against the Seljuk scoundrels. Emperor Alexios quickly realized that this was not the mercenary force he had asked for, but that this ragtag army could become very dangerous to his state. So he immediately gave them combat missions against the Seljuk villains to keep them away from his capital. The crusaders first took Nicaea, Dorylaeon, and Antioch, and then turned south toward Jerusalem. In 1099 the army finally reached the gates of the holy city. The knights, battered by losing battles and hardships, began building siege machines and planning a siege in detail after their first attack was cut short by the defenders` arrows. Eventually they managed to get into Jerusalem. The crusaders wreaked a terrible bloodbath on the city. After the conquest of Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was established. Many knights strove for personal glory and for gaining land. Bohemond, Tancred, and Baldwin soon separated from the main body of the Crusaders. Bohemond established his own rule in Antioch and conquered lands of the Christian emperor in Byzantium. Thoros (a Christian Armenian) asked Baldwin to help Edessa. He went there and seized control.