On This Day – 10 November 1202
The siege of Zara began. This was the first major action of the fourth crusade and the first attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders. The attack was forbidden by Pope Innocent III who threatened the crusaders with excommunication.
4 July
During the Crusades, Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin on this day in 1187. Continue reading “1187 – The Battle of Hattin”
24 May
The Fifth Crusade (1213–1221) was an attempt by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt.
Continue reading “1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt”
15 March
The Battle of Halmyros, (known also as; the Battle of the Cephissus or Battle of Orchomenos), was fought on this day in 1311 between the forces of the Frankish Duchy of Athens and its vassals under Walter of Brienne and the mercenaries of the Catalan Company, resulting in a devastating victory for the Catalans. Continue reading “1311 – Battle of Halmyros”
4 March
Frederick I (1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick Barbarossa, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on this day in 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He became King of Italy in 1155 and was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. Two years later, the term sacrum (“holy”) first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire. He was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. He got the name Barbarossa from the northern Italian cities he attempted to rule: Barbarossa means “red beard” in Italian; in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which has the same meaning. Continue reading “1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany”
10 November
The Battle of Varna took place on this day in 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II defeated the Hungarian-Polish and Wallachian armies commanded by Władysław III of Poland (also King of Hungary), John Hunyadi (acting as commander of the combined Christian forces) and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the Crusade of Varna. Continue reading “1444 – Battle of Varna: Crusading forces defeated”
12 September – On this day
At the Battle of Muret was fought on this day in 1213, by the Crusader army of Simon IV de Montfort who defeated the Catharist, Aragonese and Catalan forces of Peter II of Aragon, at Muret near Toulouse. Continue reading “1213 – Battle of Muret”
7 September – On this day
Arsuf was a battle of the Third Crusade in which Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) defeated Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb), in Palestine. Continue reading “1191 – Battle of Arsuf”
