First Crusade

The First Crusade was a Western European military expedition, launched in 1096, that captured Jerusalem in 1099 and established several Latin Christian states in the eastern Mediterranean.

Council of Clermont: A church council held in 1095 where Pope Urban II called for an armed expedition to aid Eastern Christians and recover Jerusalem. Urban II’s appeal at Clermont began the recruitment that turned crusading into a mass movement.
Pope Urban II: The pope from 1088 to 1099 who called for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. His call supplied the expedition’s central religious authorization and public appeal.
Godfrey of Bouillon: A Frankish nobleman and one of the principal leaders of the First Crusade, who became ruler of Jerusalem after its capture. He led forces in the final campaign and became the first Latin ruler in Jerusalem.
Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Latin Christian kingdom established after the First Crusade’s capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was the expedition’s principal territorial outcome and endured for nearly two centuries.
People's Crusade: An early, poorly organized movement of crusaders that traveled toward the eastern Mediterranean in 1096, before the main armies. It shows how popular preaching sent an expedition east before the nobles’ armies were assembled.
Byzantine–Seljuk wars: A series of conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuk Turkish powers over territory in Anatolia and the surrounding regions. Byzantine losses and requests for military assistance formed part of the political background to the crusade.
Bohemond I of Antioch: A Norman prince who led crusading forces and became the first prince of Antioch after its capture. His military leadership and seizure of Antioch helped shape the crusaders’ northern state.
County of Edessa: A Crusader state established in northern Mesopotamia in 1098, before Jerusalem was captured. It was the first of the Latin states created during the expedition’s conquests.
Siege of Antioch: A prolonged siege in 1097–1098 during which crusaders captured Antioch from the Seljuk Turks. The siege tested the expedition’s supply, alliances, and endurance before its advance toward Jerusalem.
Battle of Manzikert: A 1071 battle in which the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine army under Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. The defeat weakened Byzantine control in Anatolia, the region where later appeals for aid arose.

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