T.L. Winslow's 1090s Historyscope 1090-1099 C.E.

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1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099

1090-1099 C.E.



The Cult of the Assassins First Crusade Decade? The last decade of the 11th century is nothing if not interesting, drenched in the blood of the God squads fighting for the holy city of Jerusalem, site of the supposedly empty Holy Sepulchre of Christ or mythical Farthest Mosque of Muhammad?

Country Leader From To
England William II Rufus (1057-1100) 1087 Aug. 2, 1100 William II Rufus of England (1057-1100)
Scotland Malcolm III Canmore (1031-93) 1057 Nov. 13, 1093 Malcolm III Canmore (1031-93)
France Philip I (1052-1108) 1060 July 29, 1108 Philip I of France (1052-1108)
Germany HRE Henry IV (1050-1106) 1056 1106 HRE Henry IV of Germany (1050-1106)
Papacy Urban II (1042-99) 1088 July 29, 1099 Pope Urban II (1042-99)



1090 - The Cult of the Assassins Year?

Hasan-i Sabbah of the Assassins (1050-1124) Church of Paray-le-Monial, 1090-1110

1090 On Apr. 30-May 8 Christian troops enter Santarem, Lisbon, and Sintra after they are ceded by Abbasid emir Al-Mutawwakil of Badajoz in return for protection from the Muslim fundamentalist Murabitun ("hermits") of NW Africa, AKA the Almoravids. In Sept. after Berber Murabitun leader Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1061-1106) returns to Spain for the 3rd time, he takes over the kingdoms of Granada and Malaga (but not Zaragoza), destroying the Jewish community in Granada, causing the survivors to flee to Toledo, and returns to Africa by the end of the year, leaving his nephew Ibn Abi Bakr to continue the conquest. The Normans under Roger Guiscard (1031-1101) (son of the late Robert Guiscard) complete the conquest of Sicily (begun 1060), and Jolly Roger Guiscard becomes the first Norman count of Sicily. HRE Henry IV attacks Tuscany. After Fatimid Nizar is defeated in a struggle for the caliphate in Egypt, Persian Nizari Ismaili missionary Hassan-i Sabbah (Hasan ibn Sabah) (1050-1124) founds the Shiite anti-Sunni Cult of the Assassins (Hashshashin) in Damascus (until 1113), who begin conducting political assassinations throughout the Muslim world while holing-up in fortified settlements in the midst of their enemies in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, with the first being the Fortress of Alamut in Daylam S of the Caspian Sea (the first institutionalized special ops force in history?); for ages Westerners think the name proves that they smoke hashish, but they don't, the name meaning "people faithful to Asas, the foundation of the faith", but it's such good folk etymology, who wants to give it up now? :) Laszlo I of Hungary occupies Slavonia. Rodrigo Diaz, Count of Vivar ("El Cid") and his trusty warhorse Babieca (Sp. "stupid") defeat Berenguer Ramon II for the 2nd time. In this decade in Provence (Occitania) in S France, the aristocratic musician Troubadours begin to travel from court to court spreading poems and songs of courtly love and knightly virtues - and knowledge in code of the Mary Magdelene thingy? Architecture: The Burgundian Romanesque Church of Paray-le-Monial in France is begun on the orders of Abbot St. Hugh of Cluny (finished 1110). Inventions: The first Water-Driven Mechanical Clock Tower is built in Peking, China. Science: The Giralda Observatory in Seville, Spain is built; it doubles as a minaret. Births: Norwegian king (1103-30) Sigurd I Magnusson (Jorsalfare) (the Jerusalem-Farer) (the Crusader) (d. 1130); son of Magnus III (1073-1103); brother of Eystein I (1088-1123) and Olav (1099-1115). Danish king (1134-7) Eric II Emune (the Memorable) (d. 1137); bastard son of Eric I; gives himself his own nickname? English soldier Robert of Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester (Robert the Consul) (Rufus) (d. 1147); eldest illegitimate child of Henry I; created earl in 1121-2. French count of Champagne (1125-51) and Blois and Chartres (1102-51) Theobald (Thibaut) II the Great of Champagne (d. 1152); father of Henry I of Champagne (-1181). French scholar-preacher-reformer and Cistercian abbot-monk (St.) Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) near Dijon in Burgundy; #1 spiritual figure in the West; co-founder of the Knights Templar, pope-maker, preventer of Jewish pogroms, et al.; 350 Cistercian houses are created in his name. Italian Augustinian monk-reformer Arnold (Arnaldus) of Brescia (d. 1155) in Brescia. French scholastic philosopher William of Conches (d. 1155) in Conches, Normandy. English Norman archbishop of Canterbury (1139-61) Theobald of Bec (d. 1161) in Normandy. Flemish gen. William of Ypres (d. 1165); illegitimate son of Philip of Loo, son of Count Floris I of Holland and Gertrude of Saxony; earl of Kent in 1141-55. Deaths: Chinese painter Kuo Hsi (b. 1020). Norman priest William of Poitiers (b. 1020) in England; leaves Gesta Guillelmi ducis Normannorum et regis Anglorum (The Deeds of William, Duke of Normandy and King of England); earliest bio. of William the Conqueror, with an eyewitness account of the 1066 Battle of Hastings incl. the feigned flight. Norman lord Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1034) in England.



1091 - The Almoravid Ash Wednesday Year?

1091 Early in the year after El Cid and Alfonso VI fail to reconcile at Granada, the Murabitun under Muhammad ibn al-Hajj take Cordoba and the Guadalquivir Valley, then defeat a Castilian force under Alvar Fanez (Fáñez) (Háñez) de Minaya (-1114) who are attempting to aid Abbasid ruler of Seville (since 1069) Al-Mutamid (1040-95); in Sept. Seville surrenders without much of a fight to the Murabitun under Ibn Abi Bakr, and Al-Mutamid is deposed and exiled to Aghmat, S Morocco; Murabitun armies take Aledo and Almeria, followed by Ronda, where Murabitun cmdr. Garur executes Al-Mutamid's son al-Radi; the Almoravids institute their strict al-Maliki version of Sharia, trash the opulent trappings of their predecessors, and subject Jews and Christians to harsher taxes and intolerance, causing them to develop many enemies. HRE Henry IV captures Urban II's supporter Matilda of Canossa. William II Rufus and Robert of Normandy agree to the Treaty of Caen; Malcolm III takes advantage of William II's absence in Normandy to lead a plundering raid into England, causing William II and his elder brother Robert III Curthose to return to kick his butt out of England, then conquer Cumberland in SW Scotland, and force him to do homage and swear fealty again in return for a promise to restore his properties; Edgar Aetheling sees his chance and supports Curthose against William II, ending up in exile in Scotland again. Emperor Alexius I buys the Cumans off and uses them to annihilate the Patzinaks at the Battle of Leburnion, then quashes the Bogomil Revolt (begun 1086). Artuq bin Ekseb dies, and is succeeded as gov. of Jerusalem by his sons Ilghazi (Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq) (-1122) and Sokmen. The Synod of Benevento declares the Wed. following the three days of celebration of the end of winter to be Ash Wednesday. Science: Walcher of Lorraine (later prior of Malvern Abbey) records observing lunar eclipses in Italy using an astrolabe, becoming the first observational astronomy in Christian Europe. Deaths: German Benedictine abbot Wilhelm of Hirsau (b. 1026).



1092 - The Su Song Star Chart Medieval Fat Jokes Year?

Bertha of Holland (1055-93) Su Song Star Chart, 1092

1092 On Jan. 14 Vratislaus II dies of a hunting wound after a 30-year reign, and is succeeded as duke of Bohemia by his brother Conrad I of Brno, ruler of Moravia, who dies on Sept. 6, and on Sept. 14 is succeeded by his nephew Bretislaus (Bretislav) II (1060-1100) (until 1100), who goes on to fight the old pagan Slavic culture. On May 15 11th cent. bimbo Bertrada (Bertrade) of Monfort (1059-1117) (daughter of Simon I of Montfort and Countess Agnes of Evreux) deserts her hubby Count Fulk IV of Anjou for Philip I of France, who deserts his older and allegedly enormously fat wife (since 1070) Big, er, Bertha (Berthe) of Holland (Frisia) (1055-93) (who only bore him heir Louis the Fat after nine years of marriage and the prayers of hermit Arnoul, who named him), and after Philip I locks Big Bertha up in the fortress of Montreuil-sur-Mer, they double-bigamously marry, starting a Medieval Scandale at the Casino Royale - Medieval fat jokes here? In Oct. Henry IV's army is defeated by Matilda of Canossa's army at the Battle of Canossa, causing his son Conrad to switch sides. In Oct. while El Cid is out of the way in Zaragoza making an alliance with the kings of Zaragoza and Aragon, the Valencians under qadi (chief judge) Ibn Jahhaf, supported by a small Almoravid (Murabitun) force drive the Castilian garrison out and assassinate their emir Yahya al-Qadir, after which Ibn Jahhaf sets himself up as emir and starts negotiating with both El Cid and the Murabitun as his own man; too bad, El Cid doesn't buy it and sieges Valencia (ends 1094), causing the Almoravids to place agents in the city; El Cid sacks La Rioja after Count Ordonez refuses to defend his lands. John II Comnenos, brother of Anna Comnena is designated Byzantine emperor by Alexius I; meanwhile Anna's mother Irene Doukaina tries to talk him into designating Anna's hubby Nikephoros Bryennios as emperor, starting a big court intrigue after Anna proves to have all the ambition. William II Rufus takes control of Carlisle (Caer Luel) on the Eden River 8 mi. S of the Scottish border (1 mi. S of Hadrian's Wall) (80 mi. SE of Glasgow), begins a colonization program, and builds Carlisle Castle, which becomes an English bulwark during wars with the pesky Scots; meanwhile William II repeatedly fails to live up to his side of the 1091 agreement in order to bait Malcolm III? Malik Shah is assassinated by the hashed-out Assassins (Nizari Isma'ilis) along with his minister Nizam al-Mulk (b. 1018), and is succeeded as ruler of the Sunni Seljuks based in Iconium by his 5-y.-o. son Mahmud I (1087-92), who is overthrown by Berkyaruq (Berqyaruq) (d. 1104); Alp Arslan's son David Kilidge-Arslan (Kilij-Arslan) (d. 1100 ("sword of the lion") becomes rival sultan of the Seljuk Turks, moving the capital from Iconium (Konya) in S Turkey to Smyrna, becoming the first Seluk sultan to face the *!?*! Crusaders; the Great Seljuk Empire begins to tank as Malik Shah's four warring sons split it up, just at the worst time as the schismed Christians decide to link up long enough to take back the Holy Land? King Ruaidri O'Connor is blinded by Flaithbertaigh Ua Flaithbertaigh (FLaherty O'Flaherty) (-1098), who makes himself king of Connacht, later declaring himself high king (Ard Ri), leading to the domination of Connacht by the Dal Cais of Munster, led by Muirchertach Ua Briain; in 1098 Ruaidri's family dethrones and kills him. Ermengol IV (b. 1056) dies, and his son Ermengol (Armengol) V (Mollerussa) (1078-1102) becomes count of Urgell in Spain (until Sept. 14, 1102). Alexius I reforms the currency of the Byzantine Empire, placing it on a new base. Nonfiction: The Annals of Inisfallen begins to be compiled in Ireland (ends in 1450), starting in the year 433 C.E. Nan Song statesman-scholar-astronomer Su Song (1019-1101) writes Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao (New Design for an Armillary Sphere and Celestial Globe), an atlas of five star charts featuring a Mercator-like cylindrical projection with the corrected position of the Pole Star, becoming the oldest printed star map to survive to modern times. Births: Arab Abassid caliph #29 (1118-35) Al-Mustarshid Billah (d. 1135); son of al-Mustazhir. German Hohenstaufen Swabian duke #2 (1105-47) Frederick II (the One-Eyed) (d. 1147); eldest son of Frederick I (1050-1105) and Agnes of Germany (1072-1143) (daughter of HRE Henry IV); husband (1121-) of Judith of Bavaria (-1131) and Agnes of Saarbrucken (-1147); father of Frederick I (III) Barbarossa (1122-90) and Conrad of Saarbrucken (-1147). Jewish rabbi and Bible commentator Abraham ben (ibn) Ezra (d. 1157) (d. 1167?). Deaths: Bohemian king Vratislaus II (b. ?) on Jan. 14 (hunting wound). Seljuk sultan Malikshah. Seljuk minister Nizam al-Mulk (b. 1018) (assassinated by the Nizari Isma'ilis, AKA the Assassins or Hashshashins); leaves The Book of Government (Siyasat-nama) ("Mirror for Princes").



1093 - The Do Sip Me St. Anselm Ontological Argument for God Year? The original Revenge of the Jedi Year in Scotland, and the Pinot Noir Year in Portugal? Big year for Benedictines in England?

Donald Bane (Donald Ban) of Scotland (1033-1107) Count Henrique I of Portugal (1066-1112) Countess Theresa of Portugal (1080-1130) Count Hugh I of Champagne (1074-1125) Sviatopolk II of Kiev (1050-1113) St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) Pinot Noir Grapes

1093 On Mar. 6 after stalling for three years, with illness inducing him to repent his greed and promise good behavior, only to recover and turn into a tyrant again, William II Rufus orders the appointment of Italian Benedictine scholastic philosopher (St.) Anselm (1033-1109), abbot of Bec, the originator of the Ontological Argument for God ("There exists, therefore, beyond doubt something than which a greater cannot be imagined, both in the understanding and in the reality") as Canterbury archbishop #36, who takes office on Dec. 4 (until Apr. 21, 1109); it's all allegedly against Anselm's will since he doesn't like admin. duties; this doesn't stop him from standing for the extreme claims of the Church and provoking a struggle with the king over securing the pallium, which kingy won't let him do because he doesn't recognize either pope, but Anselm claims he has to do because ecclestical law is superior to state law; after a papal legate outwits William II in diplomacy to get Anselm his way, it leaves the king bitter, and he puts Anselm on a short rope; meanwhile on Apr. 8 in the presence of almost all of the bishops and abbots of England, the monks move from the Saxon cathedral church of the Old Minster to the brand-new Winchester Cathedral (begun 1079), "with great rejoicing and glory", while Hugh le Gros founds the Benedictine Monastery in Chester, England with the monks that had been kicked out of Scotland; meanwhile the N European Scholasticism movement isn't bought by many in Italy and S Europe? In Mar. 1093 English chancellor (since Jan. 1091) Robert Bloet (Bloett) (Bluett) (-1123) becomes bishop of Lincoln (until Jan. 10, 1123), going on to embellish Lincoln Cathedral and other religious houses, educate some of Henry I's illegitimate children, and patronize Henry of Huntingdon, Christina of Markyate, and Gilbert of Sempringham, becoming known for his ostentatious luxurious lifestyle. In Aug. Scottish king (since 1057) Malcolm III Canmore (b. 1031) travels to Gloucester to meet William II Rufus to talk about their 1091 treaty, but Rufus slights him, pissing the Gaelic warlord off (Margaret's civilizing didn't work?), causing him to return to Scotland, raise an army, and invade Northumbria in Nov., accompanied by his son and heir Edward (b. 1074); on Nov. 13 (St. Brice's Day) after capturing Alnwick Castle in Cumberland then getting bogged down in rain and mud, the Scots, led by Sir Henry Sinclair (1060-1110) are ambushed at the Battle of Alnwick by the Normans under Northumbrian earl (1086-95) Robert de Mowbray (-1125), during the ceremony where the keys to the castle are supposed to be handed over, and Malcolm is KIA near Malcolm's Well; the Scots flee, leaving Malcolm's body on the field, and on Nov. 15 Edward dies of his wounds near Jedburgh, causing his mother Margaret (b. 1045) to die on Nov. 17 after hearing the bad news on Nov. 16; the Scottish chieftains, long pissed-off at Malcolm's and Margaret's Anglicization activity see their chance and revolt, inviting Malcolm's true-test younger brother (an old fart by now) Donald (Donnchada) Bane (Ban) (1033-1107) (Gael. "fair-haired") (Donaldbane in Shakespeare) to Scotland, where he sieges Edinburgh Castle and drives Margaret's sons and their Anglo-Saxon retainers from Scotland, causing them to drop their dreams of an Anglo-Saxon revolt against the Normans and seek help from William II Rufus to get their hands on Scotland again as a good consolation prize?; Margaret's English Benedictine monastery in Dunfermline is closed and the monks expelled; next year Donald Bane is crowned king Donald III of Scotland at Scone (until 1097), becoming Scotland's last truly Gaelic king. On Apr. 13 grand prince (since 1078) Vsvelod I (b. 1030) dies, and his nephew (son of Yziaslav I) Sviatopolk (Michael) Iziaslavich II (1050-1113), ruler of Novgorod in 1078-88 becomes grand prince of Kiev (until Apr. 16, 1113), going on to let Jewish merchants and Variangian officials speculate in grain and salt, pissing-off the pop.; meanwhile he engages in rivalry with his cousin Vladimir II Monomakh (1053-1125). On Oct. 5 Robert I (b. 1029) dies, and his eldest son Robert II (1065-1111) becomes count of Flanders (until 1111), going on to become known as Robert the Crusader after joining the First Crusade. In Dec. a Murabitun army under Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahiim approaches Valencia but retreats without attacking, and El Cid's siege continues. After giving up on inheriting Burgundy from his older brothers and joining the Reconquista in Spain, then helping Alfonso VI of Castile-Leon conquer Galicia and N Portugal, French knight Henrique (Henry) of Burgundy (1066-1112) founds the County of Portugal with lands given him by Alfonso VI, marrying his illegitimate daughter (by Ximena Moniz) Theresa of Portugal (1080-1130) and becoming Count Henrique I of Portugal (his son makes it a kingdom), founding the long-lived "We're #2, We Try Harder" Avis Dynasty of Portuguese rulers (ends 1580); not the kind to be caught without something to drink, he introduces the Pinot noir grape into Portugal from France, becoming the forerunner of modern port wines; the old Celtic town of beautiful Braga, held by the ancient Romans (as Bracara Augusta), Suevi, Visigoths and Moors becomes the capital of Portugal (until 1147). Olav III the Peaceful dies, and his nephew Hakon Magnusson Toresfostre (1068-95) becomes king of Norway (until Feb. 1095). German king (since 1087) Conrad II is crowned king of Italy in Milan by Canterbury archbishop Anselm III after turning against his daddy HRE Henry IV and joining the papal camp, then is crowned again for good measure in Monza with the Iron Crown. Hugh I (-1125) becomes count of Champagne (until 1125). To secure an alliance against Robert Curthose of Normandy, Duke Alan IV Fergant of Brittany marries Ermengarde of Anjou (1067-1146), daughter of Count Fulk IV of Anjou; after he leaves for the Holy Land in 1098, she wears the britches in the family and becomes the real ruler of Brittany until 1101, helping found Cistercian abbeys, then following her hubby to the Holy Land in the 1130s and becoming a nun in Jerusalem? Architecture: Benedictine Maria Laach Abbey on the SW shore of Lake Laach near Andernach, Germany is founded by Heinrich II von Laach, 1st count palatine of the Rhine and his wife Adelheid von Orlamunde-Weimar (widow of Hermann II of Lotharingia). Science: According to the Chinese, the Muslims first use a magnetic compass for navigation; the Muslims don't document it until 1282, after the Christians do it first in 1205. Births: German Hohenstaufen king #1 (1138-52) and duke of Franconia (1115-52) Conrad (Konrad) III (d. 1152); son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes of Germany (daughter of HRE Henry IV); younger brother of Frederick II of Swabia (1090-1147); uncle of HRE Frederick I Barbarossa. Georgian Bagrationi king (1125-56) Demetre I (d. 1156); eldest son of David IV (1073-1125) and 1st wife Rusudan of Armenia. Deaths: Flemish count Robert I the Frisian (b. 1029) on Oct. 13 in Kassel. Russian grand prince of Kiev (1078-93) Vsevolod I (b. 1030) on Apr. 13 in Vyshhorod. Scottish king (1057-93) Malcolm III (b. 1031) on Nov. 13 near Alnwick (KIA). Scottish queen St. Margaret Aetheling (b. 1045) on Nov. 17; buried in Dunfermline Abbey alonside Malcolm; canonized in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV; her head gets into the possession of Mary, Queen of Scots, and later the Jesuits of Douai, but is lost during the French Rev. French queen consort (1072-92) Bertha of Holland (b. 1055) on July 30 in Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais. French duke of Burgundy (1076-9) Hugh I (b. 1057) on Aug. 29 in Cluny. Scottish heir apparent Edward (b. 1074) on Nov. 15 near Jedburgh.



1094 - The El Cid of Valencia Year?

El Cid of Spain (1043-99) Duncan II of Scotland (1061-94) St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, 1094

1094 Ireland has a bad winter causing many deaths. In Feb. caliph (since Apr. 1075) Al-Muqtadi dies, and his son Al-Mustazhir (1078-1118) succeeds him as Abbasid caliph #28 (until Aug. 6, 1118). By Easter Pope (since 1088) Urban II finally sits on the papal throne in Rome; meanwhile about this time Cardinal Deusedit pub. Libellus Contra Invasores et Symoniacos et Reliquos Schismaticos, giving him some ammo in the big fight, arguing that the temporal authority has no right of ecclesiastical investiture. In May after a 20-mo. siege, El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz, Count of Vivar) (1043-99) captures Valencia, then defeats the Murabitun army of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim in Cuarte in a daring night attack; the Murabitun retreat to Jativa, and El Cid executes Ibn Jahhaf by burning him alive, then becomes ruler of Valencia, which incl. a large kingdom on the Mediterranean coast, striking an alliance with Sancho's son Pedro I of Aragon; El Cid claims to rule in the name of Alfonso VI, but is really independent, and both Christians and Moors serve in his govt. and army; meanwhile the Murabitun under Ibn Abi Bakr take Badajoz and Lisbon. In May Donald Bane's eldest nephew (grandson of Duncan I) Duncan (Donnchad) II (1061-94), son of Malcolm III MacDuncan by his 1st wife Ingibjorg (whom Malcolm had passed over for the sons of Margaret on the Scottish throne because he's not half Anglo-Saxon, and whom had been kept hostage in England and turned into a good Norman knight married to Octreda, daughter of Northumbrian earl Cospatric) marches into Scotland at the head of a Norman and Anglo-Saxon army and defeats Donald Bane, and is crowned king of Scotland; he rules for a few mo. when a coup forces him to dismiss his foreign soldiers, then on Nov. 12 he is murdered in Mondynes near Stonehaven by Maelpedair, ruler of Mearns, causing Octreda to flee to England with their son William, allowing Donald Bane to regain the throne, giving a share of power to Edmund I (1071-97), 2nd and eldest surviving son of Malcolm III and Margaret (until 1097), possibly because he has no son, only a daughter, Bethoc - still hoping for an Anglo-Saxon revolt are we? Constantine Diogenes (b. 1070) claims the Byzantine throne, crosses the Danube River with an army of Cumans, and sieges Adrianople, then is defeated and KIA by Alexius I Comnenus in the Battle of Taurocomon. William IV (b. 1040) dies, and his brother Raymond IV of St. Gilles becomes permanent count of Toulouse, pissing-off his sister Philippa, who later marries William IX of Aquitaine and claims the county. The Synod (Council) of Constance excommunicates Philip I of France for adultery after he repudiates his fat loose wife Bertha for the much leaner tighter Bertrada, wife of Fulk IV of Anjou; it also hears (with priests telling her what to say behind the scenes) the laments of the wife of German HRE Henry IV, who tells how he had subjected her to prostitution; Philip I holds a parliament in Paris 2 mo. after the council ends. Ladislav I of Poland founds the bishopric of Zagreb. Architecture: St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice (begun 976) is completed and consecrated; the first Venice Carnival is held (1162?), ending on Shrove Tues., becoming known for its elaborate masks. Inventions: The first flat-bottomed Gondolas are recorded in Venice; the distinctive elongated shape and iron prow take until the 17th cent. to develop. Births: Irish archbishop of Armagh (1132-8) (St.) Malachy (d. 1148) in Armagh; real name Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair; feast day: Nov. 3. Spanish Muslim #1 physician Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) (d. 1162) in Seville; #3 in six generations of famous physicians; friend of Averroes, who calls him the greatest physician since Galen. Moroccan Almohad caliph (1130-63) Abd al-Mumin (al-Mu'min) (d. 1163). Deaths: Arab geographer-historian Abu Abdullah al-Bakri (b. 1014) in Cordoba. Scottish king Duncan II (b. 1061) on Nov. 12 in Mondynes (near Stonehaven) (murdered).



1095 - The First Crusade Year? It's going on a hundred years after Christ missed his Big Date, so maybe there's a hundred-year fudge factor, cogito ergo scum, and therefore it must be time for the First Crusade, the original Red Cross and Hospitalers, bringing the red to Mohammed? Pope Urban II begins Mission Impossible II: Prepare Jerusalem for Arrival of Christ, starting the first of nine Crusades, which peter out by 1291?

Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus (1048-1118) Pope Urban II (1042-99) Peter the Hermit (1050-1115) Count Raymond IV of Toulouse (1038-1105) St. Leopold III of Austria (1073-1136) Kalman I the Booklover of Hungary (1070-1116) Bishop Adhemar of Puy (-1098) Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (1058-1111)

1095 On Jan. 3 a great snowstorm hits Ireland, followed by famine and plague, which continues through 1099. On July 29 Ladislas I (b. 1040) dies, and his nephew (son of Geza I and Sophia van Looz) Kalman (Koloman) (Coloman) I (the Booklover) (1070-1116) becomes one of the stronger kings of Hungary (until 1116); being bookish is not considered a compliment by his contemporaries, so later historians call him "the Wise"? The Fatimids of Egypt under emir (sultan) Aphdal take advantage of the quarrels among the Seljuks and take Palestine incl. Jerusalem and Tyre; Peter the Hermit (Peter of Amiens) (1050-1115), a priest of Amiens in Picardy (a former soldier under the counts of Boulogne, who took holy orders after his wife got old and ugly) visits the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, gets pissed-off at the "sufferings of the natives and pilgrims of Palestine", and goes to ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople (1084-1111) Nicholas III Grammaticus (-1111) lobbying for Byzantine emperor (1081-1118) Alexius I Comnenus (Alexios I Komnenos) (1048-1118) to take it back, but is stonewalled, causing him to land in Bari and meet with Pope (1088-99) Urban II (Otto de Lagery) (1042-99), who shines to the idea, telling him to go out and preach the cause, which he does with gusto in Italy and France; "His diet was abstemious, his prayers long and fervent, and the alms which he received with one hand, he distributed with the other: his head was bare, his feet naked, his meagre body was wrapped in a coarse garment; he bore and displayed a weighty crucifix; and the ass on which he rode was sanctified, in the public eye, by the service of the man of God... every breast glowed with indignation when he challenged the warriors of the age to defend their brethren, and rescue their Saviour... The most perfect orator of Athens might have envied the success of his eloquence... and Christendom expected with impatience the counsels and decrees of the supreme pontiff" - Gibbon, Ch. 58; the whole story is phony baloney, made up by later writers as a coverup?; meanwhile, after receiving a letter from Byzantine emperor Alexius I seeking help against the Seljuks, Urban II hastily summons a church council to discuss the problem (really the opportunity to unite the two churches under himself); the 200-bishop, 4K-clergy, 30K-laity Council of Placentia hears Byzantine ambassadors pleading their Western European Christian brethren to come save Constantinople from the Turks, to take the battle to Muslim Asia before the Muslim Turks take the battle to Europe (later used by U.S. Pres. George Dubya Bush?), revealing the pope's true reason for the Crusade; like Bush, he wants Congress to approve it first, so he calls the 8-day Council of Clermont in Auvergne, France (his native country), which he attends on Nov. 27 with 13 archbishops, 225 bishops, and 400 priests, while thousands of adoring laity (plus lords and knights) attend; it proclaims the Truce of God (a suspension of hostilities four days of each week), places women, priests, husbandmen and merchants under the protection of the church from the current private wars, and the nine Christian Crusades to Jerusalem begin with the First Crusade when on Nov. 27 Pope Urban II gives a Killer Sermon, calling for an end to private wars among Christians and an all-out effort to sweep the Muslim infidels back and restore the site of the Holy Sepulchre into Christian hands, sweetened by a plenary (paid in full for all sins) indulgence for enlistment, telling them not to do it for vengeance but for contrition or penance; (you had to be there, but) as the crowd shouts "God wills it, God wills it!" (Deus vult, Deus vult!) (Deus lo volt) (Deix el volt), the pope exclaims, "And let this memorable word, the inspiration surely of the Holy Spirit, be forever adopted as your cry of battle, to animate the devotion and courage of the champions of Christ. His cross is the symbol of your salvation; wear it, a red, a bloody cross, as an external mark, on your breasts or shoulders, as a pledge of your sacred and irrevocable engagement"; after great numbers of clergy and laity get red and put the bloody cross on, and ask popey to lead them into battle, he, ahem, begs that his official duties preclude him from taking time from his busy schedule, and appoints Bishop Adhemar (Ademar) of Le Puy (-1098) (the first bishop he ever elevated) as his legate to the Crusades in Dec., and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse (Raymond I of Tripoli) (Raymond of Saint-Gilles) (1038-1105) as the military cmdr., with instructions to depart for the Holy Land on Aug. 15 of next year (Festival of the Assumption); meanwhile Urban II stays far from the action, traveling around in the rear giving more speeches to raise more suckers, er, soldiers and support; not to be left out, Benedictine brain man Guibert of Nogent (1055-1124) informs the Crusaders that Jerusalem must be seized as a necessary prelude to its eventual capture by Antichrist, followed by the Second Coming of Christ, with the soundbyte "The End of the World is already near" - he meant 1099, the next available Millennium Fever year? On Oct. 12 Leopold II the Fair (b. 1050) dies, and his son (St.) Leopold III (the Good) (1073-1136) becomes margrave of Austria (until 1136). Olaf I (b. 1050) dies, and his brother Eric (Erik) I Ejegod (Evergood) of Man Loving (1060-1103) returns from exile in Sweden and becomes king of Denmark (until 1070), becoming known as a loud strapping fellow popular with the commoners who likes to party, and who visits Rome to get his half-brother Canute IV of Denmark canonized along with an archiepiscopal see for Denmark separate from Hamburg-Bremen. The Murabitun take Santarem (Santarém) in Portugal, who hold it until Mar. 15, 1147. We're Avis and we try harder? Hakon Magnusson Tesfostre dies, and Magnus III Barelegs (Barefoot) (1073-1103) becomes king of Norway, adopting the bare-legged Scottish kilt instead of Viking trousers, and becoming known for a scorched earth policy in the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) (Harris, Lewis, et al.) and elsewhere. Prince (since 1080) Reuben I (b. 1025) dies, and his son Constantine (Gosdantin) I (1050-1102) becomes prince #2 of Lesser Armenia (Cilicia) (until Feb. 24, 1102). Earl Robert of Mowbray joins a revolt against William II in favor of his cousin Stephen of Aumale (1070-1127), but when the other barons chicken out, he and fellow conspirator Count William of Eu (-1096) get found out when they impound four Norwegian trading ships and keep the cargo, after which Mowbray is sieged in Bamburgh Castle, flees to Tynemouth, is sieged again, caught, dispossessed and imprisoned for life, dying a childless a monk at St. Alban's Abbey in 1125; Eu is challenged to trial by battle next Jan., defeated by Geoffrey Baynard, sheriff of Yorkshire, then blinded and castrated, after which he soon dies; meanwhile Edmund's alliance with Donald Bane pisses off his exiled family, and when he supports rebel earl Mowbray too, William II Rufus passes over Aethelred (incompetent?) and backs Edmund's younger brother Edgar for the Scottish throne, investing him with the kingship after he accompanies him on the campaign against Robert; Edmund, backed by his uncle Edgar Aetheling (Anglo-Saxon claimant to the English throne) then leads an English army into Scotland (ends 1097). Henry IV of Germany issues a charter to the Jews and a decree against forced baptism, and continues to claim the right of investitures (confirming his bishops by giving them the ring and crozier); meanwhile his rebel son Conrad II swears an oath of loyalty to Pope Urban II in Cremona and serves as the pope's squire, leading his horse as a gesture of humility in return for a promise of the imperial crown and an arranged marriage with Constanze of Sicily, daughter of Roger I of Sicily. The Spanish city of Salamanca is conquered from the Moors by the Christians, but remains disputed until 1187. After taking Syria from his brother Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I in 1085 (losing it in 1086 and reconquering it in 1094) and finishing the Citadel of Damascus (begun 1076), Seljuq Damascus sultan (since 1079) Tutush I is KIA in a battle with Seljuk sultan (since 1093) Berkyaruq ibn Malikshah (-1105) near Ray along with his gen. Kakuyid Ali ibn Faramurz, and his younger son Duqaq (Abu Nasr Shams al-Muluk Duqaq (-1104) inherits Damascus, and elder son Ridwan (Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan) (-1113), inherits Aleppo, but gets ideas and seizes Damascus, launching a civil war, with Duqaq aided by Yaghi-Siyan of Antioch, and Ridwan aided by Jerusalem gov. Ilghazi and his brother Sokmen of the Artuqids; after Ridwan's atabeg Janah ad-Dawla splits and captures Homes from him, Yaghi-Siyan flops and marrries his daughter to Ridwan, and the two set out to attack Shaizar until they hear of the arrival of the infidel First Crusaders, and everybody returns home rather than unite to fight them; Tutush's kingdom in Syria falls apart as his sons contest the succession, making the Crusaders' work easier, even though the Seljuks continue to rule Syria E of the Frankish states until 1128. Persian Sunni jurist-theologian Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (1058-1111) (Algazel), later called "Proof of Islam" gives up his chair at the Nizamiyya religious college in Baghdad, and begins 10 years of wandering and meditation to reconcile Suni and Sufi beliefs (until 1106), starting with a visit to Jerusalem in 1095-6. Following the example of Bishop Rudiger of Speyer, HRE Henry IV issues a charter for all Jews in his realm guaranteeing their autonomy and security. Pope Urban II introduces the Callagium, an annual tax on clergy who keep mistresses, reducing their use while increasing clerical urban, er, metro, er, homosexuality? Architecture: Pope Urban II consecrates the rebuilt Abbey Church of Cluny. Nonfiction: Abu Abdullah al-Bakri (1014-94), Book of Geography; first recorded mention of the city of Dubai (Dibei) (Arab. "Daba Dubai" = They came with a lot of money [to the souq]) on the SE Persian Gulf coast (modern-day pop. 2.9M), known for its pearls, as mentioned by Venetian pearl merchant Gasparo Balbi in 1580; in 1822 it has a pop. of 700-800 and is ruled by the emirs of Abu Dhabi; in 1833 the Al Bu Falasa tribe led by Ubaid bin Saeed (-1836) and Maktum bin Butti, who become joint rulers of Dubai, with Maktum establishing the Maktoum Dynasty of the Emirate of Dubai, going on to become the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Births: Norman duke of Apulia and Calabria (1111-27) William II of Apulia (d. 1127); son of Roger Borsa (1060-1111); cousin of Roger II of Sicily (1095-1154); half-brother of Charles the Good (1083-1127). English "Gesta Regum Anglorum" Benedictine monk-historian William of Malmesbury (Willelmus Malmesbiriensis) (d. 1143) (b. 1080?) in Wiltshire; Norman father, Anglo-Saxon mother; most learned man in 12th cent. W Europe? Norman Sicilian king #1 (1127-54) Roger II (d. 1154); son of Count Roger I (1031-1101) and 3rd wife Adelaide del Vasto (1075-1118); brother of Simon of Hauteville (1093-1105); husband (1117-35) of Elvira of Castile (1100-35) (daughter of Alfonso VI), (1149-50) Sybille of Burgundy (1126-50) (daughter of Hugh II), and (1151-4) Beatrix of Rethel (1131-85) (grandniece of Baldwin II of Jerusalem); father of Roger III (1118-48), Tancred (1119-38), Duke Alfonso of Naples (1120-44), William (1131-66), and Constance of Sicily (1154-98). Deaths: English bishop St. Wulstan (b. 1008). Armenian Cilicia prince #1 (1080-95) Ruben I (b. 1025) in Kormogolo. Hungarian king (1077-95) Ladislaus I (b. 1040) on July 29. Muslim ruler of Seville (1069-91) Al-Mutamid (b. 1040) in Aghmat, Moroco. Austrian Babenberg margrave (1075-95) Leopold II (b. 1050) on Oct. 12.



1096 - The Crippled Crusaders trip into Muslim territory and promptly get their butts kicked, only making the next wave madder? Europe is transformed by the 911 of the Turkish Seljuks into a new consciousness, "a common belief, a linking idea, to which men may devote themselves... in a universal enterprise. Here for the first time we discover Europe with an idea and a soul!" (H.G. Wells) - kill Muslims for Christ?

Count Hugh the Younger of Vermandois (1057-1101) Godfrey de Bouillon (1058-1100) Tancred (1075-1112) Count Bohemund I de Hauteville of Taranto (1057-1111)

1096 By this year the Holy Roman Empire stretches from Italy to Jutland. In Jan. William II hangs Anglo-Saxon rebel William of Aldrie, cousin and steward of William of Eu for poaching royal deer. On Feb. 11 despite Philip I's excommunications preventing him, a lunar eclipse makes Count Hugh the Younger of Vermandois (1057-1101) decide to join the First Crusade, taking the smart route via the Alps and Rome to Bari, then across the Adriatic Sea to Illyricum, sending an "absurd message" (The Alexiad by Anna Comnena) to Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus: "Know, Emperor, that I am the King of Kings, the greatest of all beneath the heavens. It is fitting that I should be met on my arrival and received with the pomp and ceremony appropriate to my noble birth", later sending 24 envoys to the doux of Dyrrhachium with the message: "Be it known to you, Doux, that our Lord Hugh is almost here. He brings with him from Rome the golden standard of St Peter. Understand, moreover, that he is supreme commander of the Frankish army. See to it then that he is accorded a reception worthy of his rank and yourself prepare to meet him"; too bad, his fleet is lost in a storm, and he is thrown ashore near Epirus and brought to Dyrrachium, where the doux, the emperor's nephew John Comnenus (Komnenos) shows him hospitality and has him escorted by Gen. Manuel Boutoumites (Butumites) to the emperor, who talks him into swearing fealty and swearing that he will restore all former Byzantine territories lost to the Turks, and hold any conquests as fiefs; too bad, he tries to talk Godfrey of Bouillon into doing ditto, and receives the reply: "You left your own country as a ruler... with all that wealth and a strong army. Nnow from the heights you've brought yourself to the level of a slave. And then, as if you had won some great success, have you come here to tell me to do the same?", to which Hugh replies "We ought to have stayed in our own countries and kept our hands off other people's." In Mar. the Synod of Tours reconfirms the excommunication of Philip I of France, and he relents and dismisses his wife Bertrada, and is absolved by Pope Urban II in July - nothing like a healthy heart? On Apr. 20 (Easter), with Millennium Fever at a high pitch, and large numbers of unemployed mercenaries left over from Normandy and Sicily needing work, the People's Crusade (60K mainly poor knights and peasants), led by barefoot, ass-riding, cross-wearing Peter the Hermit (Peter of Amiens) (1050-1115) leaves Cologne for the Holy Land, and is soon joined by 20K German peasants led by the monk Godescal, followed by another 200K lowlifes, led by two holy mascots, a goose and a goat, who warm up by massacring prosperous Jewish colonies along the Rhine River (Cologne, Moselle, Verdun, Treves, Mentz, Spires, Worms, etc.) for fun and profit along the way after being put up to it by Count Emicho, who is killed by King Coleman of Hungary in late May; on May 3 the Crusaders drag 11 Jews into a church in Speyer, then kill them when they refuse to convert, while the rest of the Jews are protected by Bishop Johannsen, who gets some of the guilty Crusaders executed; on May 27 Archbishop Ruthard of Mainz hides 1.3K Jews in cellars, causing the Crusaders to break in and massacre 1,1014, a remnant being saved by concealment in the cathedral, and four Jews accepting baptism later committing suicide; on June 1 after Bishop Egilbert of Trier offers protection to Jews only on the condition of conversion, several women kill themselves and their children by drowning in the Moselle River; in June after the Jews of Cologne are given shelter in Christian homes while the Crusaders burn their quarter and kill stragglers, Bishop Hermann sneaks them to Christian homes in the country, but is discovered, and most of them are massacred, incl. 200 in two villages, and mass Jewish suicide in four others; on Aug. 20 after Bishop Allebranches of Worms tries to hide Jews in his palace and a crowd sieges it, he advises conversion to save themsleves, but 800 (most) commit suicide; the Jewish colonies take 70 years to recover; the first party of Crusader lumpen, lurdans, and rabble under the command of Walter de Pexejo and Walter the Penniless (Gautier Sans-Avoir) passes through Hungary safely, but are attacked in Bulgaria; Peter the Hermit and his 20K crusaders follow, but sack Belgrade and Semlin in June after seeing the clothing of 16 Crusaders on the walls of the latter, then march to Nissa (Nish) in Serbia, where they are first greeted hospitably but have their butts kicked on July 3 after an accidental quarrel; they then proceed to Constantinople, arriving in Aug.; while Peter is negotiating with the Byzantine emperor, his 300K-man army, led by the well-financed Walter the Penniless (eight horsemen for each 15K foot soldiers) is annihilated on Oct. 21 by Turkish bowmen at the Battle of the Plains of Nicaea (Nice), leaving a "pyramid of bones" (Gibbon); the Crusaders in Constantinople are shocked when they encounter the Turcopoles (Turopoliers), mixed Greek-Turkish mounted archers working for the emperor who profess to be Christian but might be Muslim inside, but they end up employing them as long as they eat at separate tables?; avg. Crusader height is 5'3", and they wear chain not plate mail, which isn't invented until the late 12th cent.; their horses are puny compared to the Muslims for lack of Arabian blood, and it takes two cents. to catch up. The second stringers are down, so call in the first string? On Aug. 15 after selling Bouillon to Bishop Orbert of Liege for 1300 marks of silver and 3 marks of gold (1 mark = 230g), bilingual (French and German) Godfrey (Godfroi) (Godefroi) (Geoffrey) de Bouillon (1058-1100), duke (since 108) of Lower Lorraine and Margrave of Antwerp, a direct descendant of Charlemagne in the female line and a descendant of Sigisbert, last Merovingian king) leaves for the Crusades with his brothers Eustace and Baldwin at the head of 80K infantry and 10K cavalry; too bad, he starts out by declaring that he would avenge the blood of Jesus upon the Jews, and kill all who won't convert, abetted by a monk who claims that an inscription on the Holy Sepulchre orders all Christians to convert them; William I the Conqueror's eldest son Robert Curthose pawns Normandy to William II Rufus for 10K marks (1% of its yearly revenue) to finance his departure for the Holy Land, his party consisting of Frankish and Norman barons Tancred (1075-1112) (nephew of Robert Guiscard by his daughter Emma and Marquess Odo), Bohemund I de Hauteville, Count of Taranto (1057-1111) (son of Robert Guiscard) (the #1 military man of the First Crusade, who allegedly fights like a starved lion among a flock of sheep), Count (since 1093) Robert II of Flanders (1065-1111), and Count (since 1089) Stephen II of Blois and Chartres (1045-1102) (known for writing gung-ho Letters to Wife Adele About the Crusade), led by papal legate Bishop Adhemar of Puy and Raymond of Toulouse in several large contingents totaling well over 100K; on Dec. 25 Godfrey's main force of 60K arrives in Constantinople, where suspicious Emperor Alexius I is at first startled because he only asked the pope for 300 top knights, and instead sees a host of heretical locusts, which he locks outside the city gates, but finally gives up on stopping them and decides to use them, making the leaders promise to do homage to him for all territory conquered from their common infidel foes in return for giving them boat passage across the Bosphorus and opening food markets - I'll bet they renege? Taking advantage of their troubles with the Crusaders, David IV of Georgia renounces tribute to the Seljuks. Welf II/V of Bavaria divorces old hag Matilda of Tuscany, allowing his daddy Welf I/IV (d. 1101) to patch things up with HRE IV and get his dukedom back next year; too bad, he never remarries and leaves the dukedom swinging in 1120. European Jewish merchants, finding it unsafe to do business because of the First Crusade resort to moneylending in a big way for the first time to finance Muslim butt-kicking - and it becomes a way of life for ever more? El Cid converts nine mosques of Valencia into Christian churches, with French bishop Jerome appointed as archbishop. The first teaching in Oxford, England. Architecture: The Nave of Norwich Cathedral in England is begun (ends 1145). Births: Danish prince (1st duke of Schleswig) (St.) Canute (Knud) Lavard (the Lord) (d. 1131) on Mar. 12 in Roskiled; only legitimate son of Eric I (1070-1103); nephew of Niels of Denmark (1064-1134); father of Valdemar I (1131-82); first Danish royal to get turned on by German knightly culture; canonized in 1170; feast day: Jan. 7. English Norman king (1135-54) Stephen I of Blois, Count of Boulogne (d. 1154) (b. 1092?) in Blois, France; son of Count Stephen II of Blois (1045-1102) and Adela (daughter of William I of England); brother of Count Theobald II of Champagne (1090-1151), and Henry of Blois (Winchester) (1098-1171); husband of Matilda I (1105-52); father of Count Eustave IV of Boulogne; Matilda de Beaumont; Countess Marie I of Boulogne, and Count William I of Boulogne. English anchoress-prioress Christina (Theodora) of Markyate (d. 1155). French Roman Catholic scholastic theologian and bishop of Paris (1159-60) Peter (the) Lombard (Petrus Lombardus) (d. 1160) in Novara, Lombardy. Deaths: German count Werner I of Habsburg (b. 1025).



1097 - The Despicable Caped Christian Crusaders Draw Their First Blood in the Wild Wild Wild Wild Muslim East Year?

Edgar I the Peaceful of Scotland (1074-1107) Count Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona (1082-1131)

1097 On Apr. 10 Bohemund arrives in Constantinople ahead of his army; Tancred arrives with the army a short time later; Duke Robert of Normandy arrives in May with the last large Crusader army; along the way Crusaders pass through Phlaginia (ancient Butelion) on the Dragur River at the foot of Mt. Pelister in Macedonia,and massacre the pop. and raze the town after discovering they are "heretics", after which a number of Greek monasteries are built in the area, causing it to be called Monastir; the principality of Lesser Armenia aids the Crusaders with equipment and troops; on May 14 the Crusaders siege Nicaea, where Turk leader Kilidge-Arslan (Soliman) holes up with 50K cavalry, and twice attacks the 6-mi.-dia. Christian camp, but the Crusaders capture it on June 19 after first bringing boats from the sea on sledges to Lake Ascanius, renaming it Iznik; the Turks agree to surrender only to Alexius, who takes over and sends the Crusader army under the guidance of a Greek general towards Phrygia, causing them to grumble that the emperor is a traitor to their cause; Soliman calls in all his markers and assembles a force of 200K-360K cavalry (Turks, Medes, Persians, Chaldeans), then catches up with the Crusaders on July 1 at the Battle of Dorylaeum (Eskishehir) 35 mi. S of Nicaea in Phyrgia in hot summer weather, and catches the 20K-man vanguard unprepared, almost defeating them with fast light mounted archers and dismounted archers who hold the bows in their feet while laying on their backs to increase the velocity until Duke Godfrey and the Count of Vermandois arrive with 60K cavalry, followed by Raymond of Toulouse, the Bishop of Puy, and the rest of the Crusader force, and rout Soliman, who evacutes Roum (Iconium) (Asia) with 10K guards, leaving the Latins to bemuse themselves with newfangled camels, then march 500 mi. through Lesser Asia unimpeded, finding the way to Syria blocked by the emirs of Cappadocia, taking Heraclea (modern-day Eregli in Konya Province) in Aug. by a cavalry charge, then coming to a desert which wastes them with heat, thirst, and steep passes on Mount Taurus in the Anti-Taurus Mts., killing 500 plus many horses incl. Baldwin's wife Gothilda, freaking him out because her lands will return to her family, making him desperate to make up for the loss by seizing and looting a city to the E; Soliman moves the capital of the Turkish Sultanate of Rum (Roum) (founded 1077) to Konya (Konia) (Iconium) in SC Anatolia, and the Byzantines recover the entire W coast of Anatolia. On Sept. 10 Tancred and Baldwin leave the main Crusader forces with 1.2K knights, capturing Tarsus and placing the Norman standard on its walls, followed by Mopsuestia (Mamistra); they then quarrel and fall out. On Oct. 21 after Bohemund and Robert of Flanders lead a foraging expedition that is attacked by the Turks outside the city on Oct. 20, the Crusaders begin the Siege of Antioch (ends June 3, 1098); Antioch, known for its strong thick walls with interlocking towers that foil battering rams is led by able Seljuk Turkish cmdr. Yagi-Shihan (-1098), known for his thick grey beard and big hairy ears, who sends the Christian pop. of the city outside the walls to dig trenches then locks them out, forcing the starving Crusaders to have to feed them too; in Dec. the Crusaders defeat a relief army from Damascus outside the city. Donald Bane and Edmund are defeated in battle by Edgar's Norman and Anglo-Saxon army, and captured; Edmund is imprisoned for awhile then becomes a Cluniac monk and dies in Montacute Abbey in Somerset; Donald Bane is blinded (at the urging of his youngest nephew David?); Edgar I (the Valiant) (1074-1107), 4th son of Malcolm III and Margaret Aetheling (and nephew of Edgar Aetheling, who supports him) becomes king of Scotland (until 1007), while William II Rufus claims the credit, beginning the Norman claim to overlordship of Scotland; satisfied, Edgar Aetheling heads to the Holy Land, bringing reinforcements to the 1098 Siege of Antioch. Berenguer Ramon II is forced into exile, and his nephew Ramon Berenguer III (1082-1131) becomes count of Barcelona, Girona and Osana, in NE Spain. Seljuk sultan (1105-18) Muhammad I (d. 1118) appoints his nephew Ahmad Sanjar (Turk. "Thruster") (1085-1157) as sultan of Khorasan (until 1118). King Philip I of France is excommunicated again after relapsing in his affair with Bertrada. Henry IV returns from Italy to Germany, allowing Pope Urban II to enter Rome accompanied by Crusaders, scaring the followers of "imbecile" antipope Guibert. The Hungarians under Kalman I begin conquering Dalmatia from the Venetian Repub. (ends 1102). Anselm of Canterbury goes into voluntary exile after a protracted scrap with William II Rufus over the supremacy of church over state, and they quit talking; while en route to Rome, Anselm is ambushed by robber baron Duke Eudes I of Burgundy, but when Anselm embraces him, with the soundbyte: "My lord duke, suffer me to embrace thee", the duke freaks, embraces him back and offers himself as Anselm's humble servant. After her betrothed (in infancy) Constantine Doukas, son of Michael VII and Maria of Alania dies after forfeiting his imperial claims, Byzantine princess Anna Comnena marries renowned statesman and historian Gen. Nikephoros Brrennios the Younger (1062-1137), going on to have four children, Alexios Komnenos (1102-67), John Doukas (1103-74), Irene Doukaini (1105-), and Maria Byrennaina Komnene (1107-). El Cid allied with Peter I of Aragon defeats the Murabitun under Ali ibn al-Hajj at the Battle of Bairen (Bairén) S of Valencia; El Cid's son Diego is killed at the Aug. 15 Battle of Consuegra by the Almoravid forces of Muhammad ibn al-Hajj. Portugal is recognized as autonomous. The Murabitun under Muhammad ibn Aisha defeat the Castilians under Alvar Fanez (Fáñez) de Minaya (-1114) (El Cid's nephew and right-hand man) at the Battle of Cuenca before ravaging the lands of Valencia. Deaths: Italian cardinal Deusedit (b. ?) in Todi; colleague of Pope Gregory VII.



1098 - The Outremer Holy Lance Year? We can make it happen, or when you're smart it shows?

Digging up the Holy Lance at Antioch, 1098 St. Robert of Molesme (1028-1111) Rajarani Temple, 1098 Rajarani Temple Sculpture, 1098

1098 In early Feb. Tancred and his followers return to the main Crusader force; Tancred finds Peter the Hermit fleeing to Constantinople and returns him to the Crusader force; a delegation arrives from Fatimid Egypt sending greetings and offering to ally with the "great and small princes of the Christians" against the Turks, who are described as "a race foreign to me and dangerous to my kingdom"; on Feb. 9 the Crusaders and Fatimids battle Ridwan of Aleppo before the Fatimids return to Egypt with an agreement that if the Crusaders capture and hold Antioch, the Egyptians will retake Jerusalem and help Christians finish their pilgrimage and be assured of restoration of their churches and shrines, after which the Egyptians siege Jerusalem in Aug. and take it from the Seljukes before returning to Egypt, causing the Crusaders to waffle in their decision to march to Jerusalem until next year after deciding that the terms that they must arrive unarmed in groups of 200-300 is taken as an insult, rushing to take it in early 1099 and catching the Fatimids unprepared as they are tearing down the defenses to welcome the pilgrims; on Mar. 9 after Godfrey of Bouillon's brother Baldwin (Baudouin) of Boulogne (1058-1118) is invited by Greek Orthodox Armenian ruler Thoros of Edessa (-1098) of Edessa (Urfa) (modern-day Sanliurfa in SE Turkey) to help resist the Seljuks, capturing Turbessel (Tell Bashir) along the way, he makes an alliance with him in Feb., talking him into adopting him as his son and heir then inciting the people against him by promising to protect them from the Seljuks, getting him assassinated on Mar. 9 and his head carried triumphantly through the streets, after which he is given possession of the city, becoming count #1 of the County of Edessa (ends 1144), the first principality of the new kingdom of Outremer ("beyond the sea"), which lasts 54 years; meanwhile the Siege of Antioch (begun Oct. 21, 1097) grinds on for 7 mo., with at least 100K dead on each side, until Bohemund finds a traitor on the other side, Syrian Christian Tony Shalhoub, er, Phirouz, cmdr. of three towers, a wealthy Armenian Christian convert to islam who accepts a bribe and throws down ladders to help the Christians invade the city in a planned night attack on June 3, allowing them to capture all of the city except the central citadel after a great indiscriminate slaughter that makes the city stink to high heaven with piles of corpses; after hearing false news of the capture of the citadel, Yagi-Shihan flees the city, repents, starts crying, and is killed by a shepherd, who mounts his head on a stick, returning it to the Franks in the city; the next day a 600K-man Seljuk relief army led by Mosul atabeg Kerboga (Kerbogha) and 28 Turkish emirs appears, and on June 5 Stephen II of Blois flees, telling the advancing Byzantine army under Alexius I that he had just seen the kerboga man and all is lost, causing him to chicken-out and return to Constantinople and later get pussy-whipped by his wife Adela to try a 2nd fatal crusade in 1102; on June 7 the Turkish relief army begins a siege of Crusader-held Antioch, demanding unconditional surrender; on June 15 just as Crusader morale is breaking, a vision of St. Andrew by priest Peter Bartholomew (Bartholemy) (-1099) of Marseille, France leads him to choose 12 disciples and miraculously dig up the Holy Lance (Spear of Destiny) (Lance of Longinus) (the head of a Saracen lance he conceals in his robes and secretes at the bottom of a 12-ft. pit when they were about to give up after 1.5 days) in St. Peter's Cathedral in Antioch in front of a big crowd; many believe in this holy farce and morale soars, and Count Raymond of Toulouse latches onto it; on June 28 the Franks led by Bohemund (most of them dismounted due to having eaten all but 200 of 60K horses) win a decisive V against the Seljuk army, aided by the Holy Lance, plus the timely and miraculous appearance of three white-robed knights in the hills, which Bishop Adhemar claims are the martyrs St. George, St. Theodore, and St. Maurice (which J.R.R. Tolkien steals for his 1955 novel "The Two Towers"?); finally the central citadel is captured; Bohemund receives Antioch as a principality; too bad the Crusaders turn the city into a brothel, and an epidemic sweeps it, killing 50K incl. Bishop Adhemar in Aug.; Count Hugh of Vermandois is sent back to Constantinople to appeal for reinforcements to emperor Alexius I, but is pooh-pooh, and returns to France rather than fulfill his vow to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, getting scorned by the pop. and threatened with excommunication by Pope Paschal II, not to mention his wife Adelaide. On Mar. 21 (St. Benedict's Day) St. Robert of Molesme (1028-1111) founds the Benedictine Citeaux Monastery, the first Cistercian (Bernardine) house (abbreviated OCist or SOCist from Lat. Sacer Ordo Cisterciensis); the monks are called White Monks because they wear the white cuccula choir robe over their habits instead of the black cucculas worn by Benedictine monks; they become known for beer brewing. In Apr. HRE Henry IV deposes his son Conrad II in the Reichstag in Mainz, and designates his younger son Henry IV as successor; Conrad becomes a lame duck and dies in 1101 at age 27 in Florence still holding the pope's bridle - gidyap? In Oct. after Castel de Sant'Angelo capitulates to Pope Urban II's forces, a council is held in Bari over the question of the Filioque. On Dec. 12 after the Crusaders in Antioch suffer from starvation despite raiding the surrounding countryside, some Crusaders led by Raymond IV of Toulouse (Raymond I of Tripoli) (Raymond of Saint-Gilles) (1038-1105) and Bohemund I de Hauteville, Count of Taranto (1057-1111) siege and occupy Marre (Marra) (Ma'arra) (modern-day Maarat al-Numaan) between Aleppo and Hama and massacre the 8K pop., but still can't find enough food, resorting to cannibalism of Muslim corpses, boiling the adults and grilling the children along with choice buttock pieces from adults; "A dainty dish is Paynim flesh, with salt and roasting due" ("The League of Antioch"). Louis VI is made coregent by Philip I of France. Donald Bane is deposed by Edgar I, who acts more like an Anglo-Saxon than Scottish king and opens Scotland to Anglicization, a policy that is continued by his brothers Alexander I (r. 1107-24) and David I (r. 1124-53), who are all tied to mommy Margaret's Saxon apron strings and go on to establish the Anglo-Norman feudal system in Scotland, which sells out the Scottish people and calls forth popular English-hating heroes like William Wallace? Magnus III Barelegs of Norway seizes the Orkneys, Hebrides, and Isle of Man, and Edgar signs a treaty with him recognizing Norwegian sovereignty over the Hebrides, even though it is the core of his ancestral kingdom of Dalriada, proving he's sold out his own people? El Cid conquers Almenara and Sagunto (Murviedro), and restores the bishopric of Valencia. Anushtegin Gharchaidies, and his son Qtb ad-Din Mohammed (d. 1127) is appointed gov. of the Khwarzem province by Seljuk sultan Berqyaruq, becoming shah #1 of Khwarezm (until 1127). Lesser Armenia is declared a kingdom as Crusader states are established along its S and E borders. Architecture: Edgar I of Scotland grants Coldigham to the monks of Durham after attributing his V over Donald Bane to the intervention of St. Cuthbert; he also recolonizes and rebuilds the monastery at Dunfermline with monks from Canterbury. Rajarani Temple at Bhubanesvara, Orissa is built, complete with hot voluptuous big-chested sculptured babes. Nonfiction: Nicholas Prevost of Tours writes Antidotarum, a collection of 2,650 medical presciptions from Salerno - anything about eye of newt? Births: German mystic Benedictine nun (St.) Hildegard of Bingen (Sibyl of the Rhine) (d. 1179) in Bermersheim vor der hohe, Rhine Palatinate.



1099 - The Daze da Pope Year? The Millennial Century ends with a splash of eye shadow? Big date in the history of Christian-Muslim relations in Jerusalem, the City of Peace on the eve of Apocalypse Now, as soldiers of Christ take it back from the Muslims after 460 years, and dance knee-high in Muslim blood, just knowing they'll be with their Savior in Paradise now that he'll live up to his famous promise, "I'l be baack?"

Siege of Jerusalem, 1099 Siege of Jerusalem, 1099 Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem HRE Henry V (1081-1125) Pope Paschal II (-1118) Blessed Fra' Gerard Tom (1040-1120) Pierre Plantard (1920-2000) Henry Lincoln (1930-) Francois Sauniere (1852-1917) Michael Baigent (1948-2013) Richard Leigh (1943-2007) Dan Brown (1964-) Constantine the African (-1099)

1099 On Jan. 13 Count Raymond of Toulouse leads the ragged horseless Crusaders onward to Big J, the brass ring city of Jerusalem, while Bohemund and his followers (except Tancred) claim Antioch for their own for the 2nd Outremer principality, and refuse to recognize the suzerainty of the Byzantine emperor, causing them to go to war; on Feb. 14-Apr. 5 a contingent of Crusaders under Count Raymond of Toulouse detour to lay siege to Arqa in Syria, but fail to take the town, and the whole expedition proves a bust, exhausting his resources. On Apr. 8 to satisfy skeptics of the Holy Lance, Peter Bartholomew is put through the "Trial of Ordeal" (fire) at the insistence of conniving Flemish priest Arnulf Malecorne of Choques (Rohes) (-1118), who hopes to take Adhemar's place in the Crusader ranks; Peter runs very smooth and very sexy through the 12-in. path in a 14-ft.-long pile of 4-ft.-high burning faggots, but is badly burned and dies of his injuries on Apr. 20, and the Holy Lance "soon vanished in contempt and oblivion"; meanwhile after Jerusalem is captured Arnulf becomes Latin patriarch of Jerusalem #1 (and again in 1112-18) - Gibbon, Ch. 58. In May the ragtag Crusaders, 40K strong incl. 5K cavalry (knights) leave Antioch to Laodicea, down the seashore through Tripoli, Tyre, Sidon, Acre, Ashkelon, and Caesarea to the brass ring city of Big J, Jerusalem, arriving with 1.5K cavalry and 12K healthy foot soldiers. On June 7 after the Egyptian Fatimids under Caliph #9 Abul-Qasim Ahmad al-Mustali (Mostali) bil-Lah (1074-1101) offered safe passage to the Holy Sepulchre along with expensive gifts, all in vain, and the Crusaders waited 10 mo. after the defeat of Kerboga "to enjoy the luxury of Syria" (Gibbon), 13K Crusaders begin the Siege of Jerusalem (pop. 200K); the 40K Egyptian defenders under Iftikhar al-Dawla (Arab. "pride of the dynasty") defeat the early assaults while awaiting reinforcements, which are too late, allowing the Crusaders to conquer the city on July 15 after (you guessed it) 40 days; on July 15 First Crusade leader Godfrey (Godfroi) de Bouillon (1058-1100), duke of Lower Lorraine, whose camp was pitched on Mount Calvary enters Jerusalem, and his Crusaders merrily begin a 3-day massacre of the pop., killing 70K for Christ (incl. driving quaking Jews to their synagogue then burning them alive), while the flag of Godfrey's Jerusalem Cross flies over the city; "If you want to know what was done to the enemies found in the city, know this, that in the portico of Solomon and in his Temple, our men rode in the blood of the Saracens up to the knees of their horses" - Godfrey de Bouillon and Raymond Daimbert, Letter to Pope Urban II from Jerusalem; "They went together through the streets with their swords and spears in hand. All that they met they slew and smote right down, men, women, and children, sparing none... They slew so many in the streets that there were heaps of dead bodies, and one might not go nor pass but upon them that so lay dead... There was so much blood shed that the channels and gutters ran all with blood, and all the streets of the town were covered with dead men." (William of Tyre, 12th cent.); this account is fiction, meant to fulfill the prophecies of Armageddon in the Book of Rev.?; the Crusaders take the crescent off the top of the Dome of the Rock and replace it with a cross, then build a Christian altar, only to see the Muslims take it back in 1187 and reverse the process. On July 10 El Cid (b. 1043) dies during a Berber siege of Valencia after being shot by a stray arrow while gathering supplies, leaving the kingdom of Valencia to his widow Jimena Diaz (1046-1116) (without knowing about the big V in Big J), and after she straps his body to his trusty warhorse Babieca to lead the troops for one last battle (which they win?), she flees with his body to Burgos, where he is later buried in Burgos Cathedral; one of her four children dies with daddy on the battlefield; she succeeds her hubby as ruler of Valencia (until 1102). On July 17 a secret conclave is held, and Count Raymond of Toulouse asks for the kingship of Jerusalem, and is refused; Godfrey de Bouillon is offered ditto, and declines the title of king but suggests the title "Baron and Advocate (Defender) of the Holy Sepulchre", and is crowned by Peter the Hermit's associate King Tafur (from Calabria?); the secret conclave are mainly monks from Calabria via Godfrey's home in the Ardennes Forest who accompanied him on the Crusade, and move into the new Abbey of Mount Zion (Sion), built at Godfrey's request?; Raymond leaves Jerusalem, never to return, along with the French nobles; the new Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, based on the cities of Jerusalem (falls in 1187), Antioch (falls in 1268), and Tripoli (falls in 1289) controls only a sliver of territory along the Syrian coast, except for the County of Edessa in SE Anatolia (until 1144), and depends on the Crusades of 1148, 1188, 1202, 1217, 1228 and 1249 for reinforcements, otherwise making little dent on the Muslim world?; the last Crusader fortress of Green Acres, er, Acre falls in 1291; in 1994 the Templar's underground tunnel in Acre is rediscovered by a woman unblocking a sewage pipe under her house. On Aug. 12 after mistaking the Crusaders for Byzantine mercenaries, offering them an alliance against the Seljuk Turks, only to see them capture Jerusalem from his Fatimid forces, causing him to come quick, Egyptian vizier (1094-1121) Al-Malik al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali Shahanshah (1066-1121) and 20K-50K Fatimids are surprised-attacked and defeated at the Battle of Ascalon by 1.2K knights and 9K infantry (last battle of the First Crusade), and Godfrey de Bouillon becomes the first king of the new Kingdom of Outremer ("Beyond the Sea") for one year with a force of 300 knights and 2K infantry, aided by Tancred; Baldwin is sent to rule Edessa; Raymond Daimbert, archbishop of Pisa becomes the patriarch of Jerusalem; one quarter of Jerusalem and Jaffa are ceded to the Church; the Muslim Dome of the Rock is converted into the Templum Domini (Temple of the Lord); Godfrey de Bouillon allegedly composes the Assizes of Jerusalem, a legal code for the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, which is kept in the Holy Sepulchre until the city is retaken by Saladin in 1187; meanwhile the Crusaders abandon Ascalon, allowing al-Afdal to use it as a base for yearly attacks until 1107, incl. three major battles in Ramla in 1101, 1102, and 1105, following by frequent raids into Frankish territory until his assassination on Dec. 11, 1121. On July 29 Pope (since 1088) Pope Urban II (b. 1042) dies without learning the good news that his bloody red Crusaders won the Super Bowl after being pumped by his rave Clermont Council pep talk of 1095, and on Aug. 13 Italian Cluniac monk and cardinal (since 1076) Rainerius is elected Pope (#159) Paschal II (-1118), carrying on Hildebrand's policy against secular investiture; Antipope (since 1080) Clement III has been beaten, and loses most of his influence. Henry V (1081-1125) is crowned joint king of Germany with his father Henry IV. The knight class is born in Europe, earning land in exchange for winning on the battlefield; they wear chain mail, not plate, and learn their siege concepts from the Muslims. The Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem is militarized as the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem by the Blessed Gerard Thom (Thom) (Tum) (Tune) (Tenque) (1040-1120), and formally recognized by Pope Paschal II on Feb 15, 1113. Where's my eye shadow? About this time (Crusader capture of Jerusalem) the Priory of Sion (scion of Zion?), a secret brotherhood to protect some kind of terrific secret about Jesus Christ being the secret husband of redheaded Mary Magdalene and leaving a sacred bloodline in S France is allegedly founded in Rennes-le-Chateau, France; a hoax spread by French draftsman Pierre Athanase Marie Plantard (1920-2000) in France in the 1950s, and fueled by English "Dr. Who" writer Henry Lincoln (Soskin) (1930-), who finds out that Rennes-le-Chateau master (1885-1917) Friar Francois-Berenger Sauniere (1852-1917) engaged in big spending, deducing that it came from money obtained from secret documents he sold, not knowing about a 1910 conviction for illegal trafficking in Masses?; in 1982 Lincoln, Michael Baigent (Michael Barry Meehan) (1948-2013) of New Zealand and Am.-born English writer Richard Harris Leigh (1943-2007) pub. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, after which in 2003 Am. novelist Daniel "Dan" Brown (1964-) pub. The Da Vinci Code, and they all begin dancing with the stars? The Crusades introduce new foodstuffs into the Euro diet, incl. the apricot, orange, shallot, and sugar ("sweet salt"). The Early Arab Period in Archeology ends, and the Crusader/Ayyubid Period in Archeology begins (ends 1291). Architecture: The Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in N Rome between the Porta Flaminia gate of the Aurelian Wall near the starting point of the Via Flaminia road to Rimini (Ariminum) starts as a chapel built by Pope Paschal II to the Virgin Mary at the site of a walnut tree he chopped down that was allegedly haunted by Nero's ghost; it is rebuilt in 1472-7. The Duomo i Modena in Modena, Italy is built by architect Lanfranco, part of Modena Cathedral, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Gemianus; the Porta della Pescheria (Fish Market Gate) in the N contains a high relief carving of scenes from the tales of King Athur, becoming one of the earliest. The Sublime House in Rouen, France is built, becoming the oldest Jewish bldg. in Europe when it is discovered under the parking lot of the courthouse in 1976. Births: Russian Kievan prince (1149-51, 1155-7) Yuri (George) I Dolgoruky (Long Arms) (d. 1157); of Suzdal-Vladimir; son of Vladimir II Monomakh (-1125); brother of Vyacheslav (-1154); father of Andrei I Bogolyubsky (1111-74). French count #15 of Flanders (1128-68) Thierry (Dietrich) of Alsace (d. 1168); eldest son of Duke Thierry II of Lorraine and Gertrude of Flanders (daughter of Robert I of Flanders). Deaths: French pope (1088-99) Urban II (b. 1042) on July 29 in Rome. Spanish Christian military hero El Cid (b. 1043) on July 10 in Valencia (KIA). North African Muslim-turned-Christian Benedictine monk Constantine the African (Constantinus Aficanus) (b. ?) dies in Monte Cassino Abbey, Italy after bringing a load of Arabic medical works with him and translating them into Latin, introducing the examination of urine and other advanced practices.



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