1095

In the spring, Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus sends legates from Constantinople to Pope Urban II’s Council of Piacenza requesting military help against the Seljuk Turks.

On November 27, prompted by false reports of Muslim atrocities, Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont-Ferrand.  He stays in France for the next year to help organize troops and supplies, promising their souls would be saved in return for military service.

1096

In March, Pope Urban II sends a unit of commoners (the People’s Crusade) under the command of Peter the Hermit and knight Walter Sans-Avoir (a.k.a. Walter the Penniless).  While in Nicea, Sultan Kali Arslän kills Walter but Peter escapes and rejoins de Bouillon’s forces near Nicomedia the next year.

In May, renegade crusaders passing through Germany under the leadership of Counts Emico, Clarebold, and Thomas kill thousands of Jews in Speyer, Mainz, and Cologne.  Many Jews hiding from the mobs kill themselves rather than face capture and certain execution.

On August 15, having sold his castle and all his estates, Duke of Lower Lorraine Godfroi de Bouillon (born 1061) departs France as commander of the First Crusade.   Other crusaders notables include:

• His brother Count of Boulogne Eustace III (1059-1125)
• His brother Baudouin (a.k.a. Baldwin) of Boulougne
• His cousin Baudouin (a.k.a Baldwin) du Bourg
• Marcus Bohemond I of Tarento (born around 1056), Norman Prince of Sicily and son of Robert Guiscard
• Marcus Bohemond's nephew Tancred the Norman
• Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy, Papal Legate (dies 1098), who will carry the “Holy Lance” after its “discovery” in Antioch
• Raimond IV (a.k.a. Raymond IV), Count of Toulouse, Nimes, Narbonne, and St. Gilles
• Count of Vermandois Hugh the Great, brother of French King Phillippe
• Baron Henri de Saint Clair of Rosslyn (1058-1110), son of William Saint Clair and Dorothy Dunbar of Raby  
• Duke of Normandy Robert de Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror
• Robert de Curthose’s sister Adela of England
• Adela’s husband Etienne III de Blois (a.k.a. Stephen of Blois), son of Count Thibaud I de Champagne and half-brother to Count Hugues de Champagne
• Etienne III de Blois’s cousin Robert II, Count of Flanders
• Hugues de Payns

According to Andrew Sinclair in The Sword and The Grail, all nine future Templars are involved with de Bouillon on the First Crusade.

On the way to Constantinople, the Catholic crusaders pillage nearly every village they come across.

Byzantine Emperor Alexius I imprisons the just-arrived crusader Hugh de Vermandois until he pledges loyalty.

1097

Godfroi de Bouillon arrives in Constantinople and makes peace with Byzantine Emperor Alexius I.

On April 26, Bohemond arrives in Constantinople with other crusader armies arriving over the next few weeks.  They move to conquer Nicea, capital of Sultan Kilij Arslan, with the help of Byzantine Emperor Alexius I. 

On June 17, just as the crusaders are about to take the city and plunder it, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I arranges a secret treaty allowing Nicea’s surrender in exchange for the lives and property of its citizens.  Crusaders get angry at the Emperor’s leniency and receive a bribe for their cooperation.

At the Battle of Dorlyaeum, Godfroi de Bouillon’s troops arrive and by July 1, Turkish Sultan Arslan pulls out and allows the crusaders passage to Antioch.

Construction begins on the castle at Gisors in France.

By September, crusaders reach Caesarea. 

Beginning October 21, crusaders fight Turkish ruler Yaghi-Suyan at Antioch and conduct a long siege from through the following June.

1098

In July in Antioch, after Peter Bartholomew “discovers” the Holy Lance of Christ buried in the Church of St. Peter, crusaders rally around this “relic” and conquer the city.  Even with Bishop Adhemer le Puy believing the lance is a fake, this does not stop crusaders from killing everyone in Jesus’ name.  Bohemond becomes Prince of Antioch.

In August, Bishop Adhemer le Puy dies.

Tancred the Norman and Baudouin of Boulogne capture Tarsus 

In October, Pope Urban II convenes the Council of Bari in a futile attempt to reconcile Roman and Byzantine Christians.

In November, Baudouin of Boulogne captures Edessa and establishes the first Latin settlement in the East.

Only about one-third of the knights who left Europe for the First Crusade are still alive at this point.  Meanwhile, Egyptians take Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks.

In December, armies under Count Raimond IV de Saint Gilles and Count Robert of Flanders capture Ma’arat al-Nu’man and kill all 20,000 inhabitants.  Crusaders, desperate for food, begin eating those they kill.  Reports chronicler Ralph of Caen, “In Ma’arat our troops boiled pagan adults in cooking pots; they impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled.”  After the cannibalism, crusaders set fire to the city.

On February 14, crusaders try to take the town of Arquah but it successfully resists.

On April 8, Peter Bartholomew decides to prove the “Holy Lance” is real by a test of fire – on himself.  He comes out horribly burned and dies 12 days later, having proved nothing.  Count Raimond IV takes possession of the lance.

On June 6, Tancred takes Bethlehem.

On July 15, Godfroi de Bouillon captures Jerusalem. In over a week of incredible carnage, crusaders kill more than seventy thousand people.  They kill Muslims in the al-Aqsa Mosque. They burn Jews inside synagogues.  They destroy the monuments of saints, the mosque of Umar and the tomb of Abraham.  They even kill Christians of the Jacobite and Eastern Orthodox sects.  Writes Guilliame de Tyre, “The victors were covered in blood from head to foot.” To avoid an epidemic, the few remaining prisoners are forced to clear the streets of the bodies.  Only Count Raimond IV shows any small sign of mercy, allowing some citizens to buy their freedom and leave unharmed.

In late July, a secret conclave offers Count Raimond IV the title of King of Jerusalem.  He refuses, and the conclave offers it next to de Bouillon, who declines for religious reasons (no one should be King other than Jesus) and instead chooses the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri (a.k.a Defender of the Holy Sepulchre).  De Bouillon then builds the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on this famous site where Jesus was buried after his crucifixion and establishes the Sacred and Military Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem to protect it.  He converts the al-Aqsa Mosque to a royal palace.

On July 29, Pope Urban II dies unaware of the Catholic victory in Jerusalem.

On August 12 at Ascalon, de Bouillon defeats over 100,000 Egyptian troops moving to retake Jerusalem.  Peter the Hermit runs Jerusalem while de Bouillon is out of town.

On August 13, Cardinal Rainer assumes the Papacy as Paschal II.

Hugues de Payns returns to Europe to become a vassal for Count Hugues de Champagne, one of the wealthiest lords in Europe. 

According to Holy Blood, Holy Grail, de Bouillon and other family members, all descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, start the Prieuré de Sion (a.k.a. Priory of Sion).  De Bouillon builds the impressive Abbey of Notre Dame du Mont de Sion as the organization's first headquarters.    

1100

On July 18 de Bouillon dies and is buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Muslims capture Prince Bohemond of Antioch, holding him until 1103.  Tancred acts as regent for Bohemond in his absence.

Peter the Hermit returns to Europe and founds the monastery of Neufmoutier in Flanders on land provided by de Bouillon’s family. 

On August 5, Henry I becomes King of England.

On December 11, de Bouillon’s brother Baudouin of Edessa becomes King of Jerusalem.

1101

Hugues de Payns marries Frenchwoman Catherine de Saint Clair (niece of fellow crusader Baron Henri de Saint Clair).   Custodians of Truth cites author Thierry Leroy, who put de Payns’ marriage at between 1108 and 1114 to a woman known only as Elisabeth.

In August at Merisvan, Sultan Kilij Arslän kills 15,000 Catholic pilgrims in Nicea under escort from Count Raimond IV.  Raimond and a few others narrowly escape to Antioch.

In September, William IX of Aquitaine and Welf IV Duke of Bavaria leave from Europe to take thousands more colonists to Jerusalem.  Unfortunately, Sultan Kilij Arslän’s troops have already poisoned or filled wells along the route.  Badly dehydrated, the colonists finally arrive at a river -- where Arslän’s archers kill almost everyone.

In October, crusader Hugh de Vermandois dies in battle at Tarsus.

1102

In March, Tancred the Norman is named Prince of Antioch and ravages Muslim neighborhoods, killing everyone.

In April, Count Raimond IV and his last 300 knights attack Arslän at Tripoli and kill 7000.  He later captures Tortosa and the castle of Hisn al-Akrad, which will become known as the Castle Krak or Krak des Chevaliers.

1103

Tughtekin, Governor of Damascus, frees Marcus Bohemond I of Tarento for a ransom from his nephew Tancred, an amount which Bohemond recoups by pillaging villages before returning to Europe and marrying the daughter of French King Phillippe I. 

King Baudouin I of Jerusalem attacks Haifa and Acre.

1104

According to Dr. Johannes Fiebag and Peter Fiebag in The Eternity Machine, Count Hugues de Champagne funds research using Cistercian monks at Citeaux and Rashi scholars from Troyes to translate ancient Hebrew texts taken from Toledo in search of treasure and artifacts.  Perhaps, even the Holy Grail.  The Fiebags believe the Grail is a machine from an advanced alien culture that produced an algae-culture “manna” from water using a nuclear-powered light-source.

At the Council of Troyes, Count Hugues de Champagne gives land to several religious groups including the Cistercians of Molesmes.    

According to Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Count Hugues de Champagne meets in Molesmes with nobles from the esteemed families of Chaumont (of Gisors), Brienne, and Joinville -- including the liege lord of Andre de Montbard, future Templar and Tibaud I de Payns (1055-1130), Lord of Gisors and cousin to Templar Hugues de Payns. 

After getting his marriage to Constance de France annulled for lack of an heir, Count Hugues de Champagne and Hugues de Payns leave from Molesmes for their first visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

At the Battle of Harrân, Seljuk Turks move against Edessa capturing Baudouin of Edessa and his cousin Jocelin de Courtenay on May 7.  Tancred takes over as ruler of Edessa.

On May 26, King Baudouin takes Acre and destroys the city and its population.

1105

On February 28, Count Raimond IV dies waiting out the siege of Muslim city of Tripoli.  His cousin William Jordan takes command.  The city will not fall until 1109.

Henry V (1081-1125) forces his father, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, to abdicate.

Hugh of Saint Omer, Lord of Tiberias, builds the Castle Toron in Tyre.

1106

On September 28, King Henry I of England defeats his brother Robert at the Battle of Tinchebrai, reuniting England and the Normandy area of France.

With funding from Count Hugues de Champagne, a new church is consecrated at Citeaux.

Prince of Antioch Tancred the Norman successfully attacks the Assassin castle of Apace outside of Aleppo.

1107

In July, Kilij Arslan dies in battle at Mosul.

Bohemond of Taranto returns from Italy with 34,000 troops intent on conquering the Byzantine Christian Empire.

1108

Hugues de Payns and Count Hugues de Champagne return to France from Jerusalem, meeting in Châtillon-sur-Seine with the same families of Chaumont, Nevers, and Joinville convened in 1104.

King Bauduoin I of Jerusalem captures Sidon with the help of King Sigurd of Norway, the first European King to visit the Holy Land.  Baudoin also forces his wife to enter a monastery in Jerusalem, accusing her (probably falsely) of sexual relations with Muslim men.

Count Hugues de Champagne marries Elizabeth de Varais, his second.

On August 3, Louis VI (a.k.a. Louis the Fat) becomes King of France upon the death of his father Philippe I on July 29.  According to Jean Markale, Louis VI immediately establishes a treaty with English King Henry I putting the fortress at Gisors in charge of a knight named de Payens or de Payn.  This is assumed to be Hugues de Payns.

According to The Sion Revelation, the castle at Gisors is put under the command of a knight named Payns.

In September, Bohemond of Taranto decides not to attack the Byzantines, signs an agreement pledging loyalty with Byzantine Emperor Alexius, and returns to Italy.  Years of disputes between Roman and Byzantine Christians come to a peaceful end.

1109

Upon the death of Alberic, Etienne Harding, a close colleague of Count Hugues de Champagne, becomes Abbot at Citeaux.

Bertran de Saint Gilles, son of Count Raimond IV, comes to Jerusalem from France in March to claim his birthright to Tripoli from William Jordan.  They appeal to King Baudouin I who works out an equitable division of the area.  However, on July 12, Tripoli surrenders to King Baudouin I.  After a 2000-day siege, Tripoli’s civilians are sold as slaves with the rest expelled and their possessions seized.  William Jordan dies and his lands fall to Bertran de Saint Gilles.

1110

Toledo blossoms as a center for the transmission of Islamic culture and science to Europe. Under the supervision of Archdeacon Domenico Gundisalvi, and with the cooperation of Johannes ben David, the translation school of the Archbishop of Toledo renders into Latin and Hebrew a large number of Arabic works on mathematics, science, and philosophy. Among the scholars are Gerard of Cremona (1117- 1187), John of Seville, Arabic specialist Adelard of Bath (1070-1146), Robert of Chester, Rudolf of Bruges and Hermann of Carinthia, Michael Scot, Stephenson of Saragossa, William of Lunis and Philip of Tripoli.

It is quite possible that Toledo’s translators provided researchers at Troyes with help to document the possibility of sacred artifacts and treasure under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

On December 4, King Baudouin I destroys Beirut and its population.

1111

Death of Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (born 1058), one of the brightest Muslim theologians.  His extensive writings include The Incoherence of the Philosophers, an attack on rationalism.

Death of Bohemond of Taranto.

On April 13, Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

King Baudouin I begins attacks on Syrian ports.

1112

In February, Count Bertran de Saint Gilles dies, leaving one son, Pons, who is sent to train as a knight under Tancred the Norman.

In March, Bernard de Fontaine leaves his home with 30 relatives, including his father and four brothers Bartholomew, Andrew, Guy and Gerard, to join Abbot Etienne Harding at the near-bankrupt Cistercian monastery at Citeaux. Bernard will become the most influential spiritual leader of the Cistercians -- and later one of the most widely respected and influential men in the world.  If translation research at Troyes determined the need for a mission to Jerusalem, Bernard’s new abbey could have been the European headquarters for planning excavation operations at the Temple Mount.

In September, the Synod of Viennes excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.

Friar Gerard de Martigues founds the Knights of Malta.  

Upon Tancred’s death, Pons becomes Count of Tripoli and receives four fiefs plus Tancred’s young wife, Cecilia of France.  Roger of Salerno succeeds Tancred in Antioch.