This chronology presents the timeline of the Crusades from the beginning of the First Crusade in 1095 to the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. This is keyed towards the major events of the Crusades to the Holy Land, but also includes those of the Reconquista and Northern Crusades as well as the Byzantine-Seljuk wars.

The growth of Islam The history of the Crusades begins with the advent of Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land combined with the rise of Islam and its subsequent conquest of Jerusalem.Adrian Fortescue (1910). "Jerusalem (A.D. 71-1099)". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 326. Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, travels to the Holy Land.Johann Peter Kirsch (1910). "St. Helena". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company. She returns with Holy relics and begins a tradition of Christian pilgrimage.Bede Jarrett (1911). "Pilgrimages". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company. After 334. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux writes of his journey to the Holy Land in Itinerarium Burdigalense.Florentine Bechtel (1910). "Itineraria" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company. November 636. The Siege of Jerusalem begins as part of the Muslim conquest of the Levant. The city surrenders in 637, remaining under Muslim rule until 1099. 711. The Muslim conquest of Spain begins.

718. Pelagius of Asturias defeats the Moors at the Battle of Covadonga, beginning the Reconquista. He later founds the Kingdom of Asturias.Alan Deyermond (1985). “The Death and Rebirth of Visigothic Spain in the Estoria de España.” Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Vol. 9, No. 3, pgs. 345–367. 719. Moorish occupation of al-Andalus reaches its largest extent in Iberia.Ian Meadows (1993). The Arabs in Occitania. Saudi Aramco World. 10 October 732. Charles Martel defeats the Moorish forces led by Abd al-Rahman at the Battle of Tours.William E. Watson (1993). "The Battle of Tours-Poitiers Revisited". Providence: Studies in Western Civilization. 2 (1): 51–68. 25 January 750. The Umayyads are defeated at the Battle of the Zab, leading to the Abbasid Revolution. The Abbasid Caliphate assumes control of the Holy Land.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abbasids". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pg. 10. 777. Charlemagne and Harun al-Rashid pursue an Abbasid–Carolingian alliance.Arthur William Holland and Margaret Bryant (1911). "Charlemagne". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pgs. 891–897.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Hārūn al-Rashīd. Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pg. 37. 15 August 778. A contingent of Basques ambush Carolingian forces at the first Battle of Roncevaux Pass.Kennedy Hickman (2015). "Charlemagne: Battle of Roncevaux Pass". Military History. Before 787. Saint Willibald writes of his travels to the Holy Land.Francis Mershman (1912). "Sts. Willibald and Winnebald". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 25 July 812. During the reign of Alfonso II of Asturias, Bishop Theodemir of Iria finds the remains of St. James the Greater. The site later is known as Santiago de Compostela.Charles Moeller (1912). "Order of Saint James of Compostela". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 846. In the Arab raid against Rome, marauding Muslims from Ifriqiya sacked the outskirts of the city. 865. Frankish monk Bernard the Pilgrim writes his Itinerarium of Bernard the Wise, an account of his travels to the Holy Land.Henry Bradley (1885). "Bernard (fl. 865)". In Dictionary of National Biography. 4. London. pgs. 374–376. 27 August 909. The Fatimid Caliphate is established in Egypt.David Samuel Margoliouth (1911). "Fatimites". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pgs. 202–204. 910. The Kingdom of León is founded under Garcia I of León.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Leon (province). Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pgs. 443–444. 16 January 929. The Caliphate of Córdoba established under Abd ar-Rahman III. 16 August 935. Egyptian Muslims conduct a raid on the Ligurian coast, culminating in the Fatimid sack of Genoa. May 965. The Muslim conquest of Sicily is completed with the successful Siege of Rometta against the Byzantines. 969. The Fatimids take control of Jerusalem. 960–990. Christian churches are established among the West Slavs, Danes, Poles and Russians. 974–975. The Syrian Campaigns of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes fail to take Jerusalem.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). John I (Roman emperor). Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pg. 438. 978–997. Almanzor becomes chamberlain of the Caliphate of Córdoba and begins his campaigns against the Christians. This leads to the Sack of Barcelona (in 985) and the destruction of Santiago de Compostela (in 997). 983. The Wends participate in the Slavic Revolt of 983 against the Holy Roman Empire under Otto the Great.James Westfall Thompson (1916). The German Church and the Conversion of the Baltic Slav s. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 20, No. 2, pgs. 205–230. 997. St. Adalbert of Prague is martyred in Prussia.St. Adalbert, Bishop of Prague. Britannica.

Origins of the Crusades Origins of the Crusades are traceable to the combination of increased popularity of Christian pilgrimage and aggressive behavior of the dominant Muslim populations of Fatimids in Egypt and the Seljuk Turks in the Levant.Louis René Bréhier (1908). "Crusades". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

1000 29 July. Almanzor defeats Castile at the Battle of Cervera. (Date unknown). The Archdiocese of Gniezno is founded in Poland.Joseph Lins (1909). "Archdiocese of Gnesen-Posen". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

1009

27 September. Fatimid caliph al-Hakim orders the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

1015

(Date unknown). Mujahid al-Amiri of Dénia seizes control of the Balearic Islands.D. J. Wasserstein (2012) “Mud̲j̲āhid”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, et al. 1018

(Date unknown). The Byzantines defeat the Lombards at the Battle of Cannae.John Beeler (1971). Warfare in Feudal Europe, 730–1200. Cornell University Press. pgs. 65–66. 1022

(Date unknown). The Orléans heresy that became the Cathars are dealt with at the Council of Orléans.Michael Frassetto (2005). "The Heresy at Orleans in 1022 in the Writings of Contemporary Churchmen". Nottingham Medieval Studies. xlix: 1–17.

1029

12 May. The Fatimids defeat a coalition of Syrian Bedouin tribes at the Battle of al-Uqhuwana, establishing control over the Bilad al-Sham, including Palestine, under the governor Anushtakin al-Duzbari. 1035 February. The Kingdom of Aragon is founded under Ramiro I of Aragon.Ramón Ruiz Amado (1908). "Castile and Aragon". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

1037

(Date unknown). The Seljuk Empire is founded by the brothers Tughril Beg and Chaghri Beg. (Date unknown). The Kingdom of Castile founded under Sancho II of Castile and León. 1040

Not earlier than. The 12th-century work The Song of Roland is written, based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and the exploits of the legendary Frankish military leader Roland.John O'Hagan, translator (1998). . Fordham University. 1045

(Date unknown, as late as 1050). The cathedrals of Holy Wisdom, the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Novgorod and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk, are built.

1046

(Date unknown). A Byzantine army under the command of Liparit IV of Kldekari is defeated by a Seljuk force led by Qutalmish at the Battle of Ganja in Azerbaijan. Ganja was followed by another Seljuk victory at the Battle of Vaspurakan.Ayşe Beyza Ercan (2020). "The Byzantine Empiire in the Kingdom of Georgia's Foreign Policy in the 11th Century". Karadeniz Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Dergisi 11:331-344.

1048

18 September. The Seljuks under Ibrahim Inal are defeated by a Byzantine–Georgian army at the Battle of Kapetron. The Georgian general Liparit IV of Kldekari was taken prisoner.

1054

16 July. The East–West Schism splits the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. (Date unknown). Tughril Beg is unsuccessful in his Siege of Manzikert.

1055

December. Seljuk leader Tughril Beg conquers Baghdad. 1061

May. The Norman conquest of Sicily begins under Robert Guiscard. 30 September. Alexander II is elected pope.James Francis Loughlin (1907). "Pope Alexander II". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company. pg. 286. 1063 June. A Norman expeditionary force under Roger de Hauteville defeats a Muslim alliance from the Emirate of Sicily and the Banu Ziri at the Battle of Cerami. 1 October. Alp Arslan becomes sultan of the Seljuk Empire.K. A. Luther (2011). "Alp Arslan". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. I, Fasc. 8–9, pgs. 895–898.

1064

9 July. Ferdinand I of León captures the Portuguese city of Coimbra from the Moors after the first Siege of Coimbra. Summer. Alexander II sanctions the Crusade of Barbastro against the Muslim Taifa of Lérida. 16 August. Alp Arslan and Nizam al-Mulk capture the Byzantine city after the 25-day Siege of Ani.Manolis Papathanassiou (2011). Capture of Ani. Byzantine Battles. (Date unknown). Gunther of Bamberg leads the Great German Pilgrimage of 1064–1065 to the Holy Land.Einar Joranson (1928). The Great German Pilgrimage of 1064–1065. In: The Crusades, and other historical essays: presented to Dana C. Munro by his former students. Lewis J. Paetow, editor. F. S. Crofts & Co., pgs. 8–43. 1066

10 November. Bishop John Scotus is killed during a Wendish revolt against Christianity.Joseph Lins (1911). "Mecklenburg". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 30 December. Much of the Jewish population of the city is killed in the 1066 Granada massacre.Erika Spivakovsky (1971). "The Jewish presence in Granada". Journal of Medieval History. 2 (3): 215–238.

1067

(Date unknown). The city of Caesarea was sacked and its Cathedral of St. Basil desecrated by Alp Arslan.

1068

1 January. Romanos IV Diogenes marries empress Eudokia and becomes Byzantine emperor.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Eudocia Macrembolitissa. Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pgs. 681–682.Charles M. Brand and Anthony Cutler (2005). Romanos III Argyros. Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1069

(Date unknown). Romanos IV Diogenes repels the Seljuks at the Siege of Iconium. He then begins his Campaign of 1069.George Finlay (1877). The Byzantine and Greek empires, A.D. 1057–1453. Clarendon Press, pg. 35.

1070

(Approximate). A hospital is opened in Jerusalem under the Benedictine Blessed Gerard which later forms the basis of the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.Charles Moeller (1910). "Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem". In Catholic Encyclopedia. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company. (Date unknown). The Seljuks defeat Byzantium at the Battle of Sebastia.Manolis Papathanassiou (2011). Battle of Sevastia. Byzantine Battles. (Date unknown). Adam of Bremen writes his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church).Arthur F. Remy (1907). "Adam of Bremen". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1071