Chronology of the Crusades
Sixth Crusade 1222 - 1244
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Launched in 1228, the Sixth Crusade achieved some small measure of success - though not by military might. It was led by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, King of Jerusalem through his marriage to Yolanda, daughter of John of Brienne, King of Jerusalem. Frederick had promised to participate in the Fifth Crusade but failed to do so, thus he was under a great deal of pressure to do something substantive this time. This Crusade ended with a peace treaty granting Christians control of several important holy sites, including Jerusalem.
There are several different types of color-coded dates in this timeline of the Crusades, explained in a color key at the bottom of the timeline.
| Timeline of the Crusades: Sixth Crusade 1222 - 1244 | |
| 1222 | Now in his seventies, John of Brienne travels to Europe in order to find a husband for his eleven-year-old daughter, Yolanda. The task is difficult because whoever marries her will rule the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. becoming not only responsible for what little remains of it but also for the recapture of the many cities controlled by Muslims - including Jerusalem itself. This is an honor that few desire, but Frederick II decides to accept, even though an actual marriage would not occur until she reached the legal age of 14. |
| 1222 | Death of Theodore I Lascaris, founder of the Byzantine Empire of Nicaea. He is succeeded by John III Ducas Vatatzes. |
| 1223 | Pagans from the island of Saaremaa revolt against new Christian leaders, recapturing most of Estonia. They would lose it all again by the next year. |
| July 14, 1223 | Philip II Augustus of France dies. Philip had been one of the leaders of the Third Crusade and leaves an inheritance of 50,000 marks to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. |
| 1224 | Amaury de Montfort, leader of the Crusade against the Cathars, flees Carcassonne. The son of Raymond-Roger de Trencaval returns from exile and reclaims the area. |
| October 1225 | Yolanda, Queen of Jerusalem. arrives in Brindisi with her father, John of Brienne, for her marriage to Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. |
| November 1225 | Raymond, son of Raymond of Toulouse, is excommunicated. |
| November 09, 1225 | Frederick II of Hohenstaufen marries Yolanda (Isabella) of Jerusalem. daughter of John of Brienne, nominal king of Jerusalem. Many expected this marriage to turn the tide in Palestine against the Muslims. For years the local barons had been selling off their estates to the military monastic orders which did little to press the Christian cause against Islam. |
| June 1226 | The Crusade against Cathars in southern France is renewed. |
| 1227 |
Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas is born. Aquinas codified Catholic theology in works like Summa Theologica, marking the high point of the medieval scholastic movement.
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| 1227 | Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for having failed thus far to honor his promise to launch the Sixth Crusade |
| 1228 - 1229 | The Sixth Crusade is led by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, King of Jerusalem through his marriage to Yolanda, daughter of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem. Frederick had promised to participate in the Fifth Crusade but failed to do so, thus he was under a great deal of pressure to do something substantive this time around. This Crusade would end with a peace treaty granting Christians control of several important holy sites, including Jerusalem. |
| 1228 | Baldwin II is crowned emperor of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, with John of Brienne as regent. |
| April 25, 1228 | While in Palermo, Yolanda, Queen of Jerusalem. gives birth to Conrad, son of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. The delivery is hard on the sixteen-year-old and she dies a few days later. |
| May 01, 1228 | Death of Yolanda, Queen of Jerusalem. Yolanda was sixteen years old and had just given birth to Conrad, son of German emperor Frederick II. With her death, Jerusalem was now ruled by Frederick alone, a man with no blood ties to the first families that had captured Jerusalem and the Holy Lands. In effect, Jerusalem was now ruled by foreigners again. |
| June 28, 1228 | Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen officially (and finally) sets forth on a Crusade. |
| July 21, 1228 | Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen arrives in Cyprus to participate in the Sixth Crusade. An outbreak of fever among the Crusaders forces Frederick to return, but Pope Gregory IX doesn't accept this as a valid reason - besides, Gregory was looking for an excuse to punish Frederick because for years he had been infringing up on papal lands and power throughout Italy. Frederick is excommunicated and a Crusade is actually preached against him, with his lands around Naples occupied by the pope. |
| 1229 | The Teutonic Order launches a Crusade to conquer Prussia. |
| 1229 - 1231 | James I of Aragon launches a Crusade in Spain, conquering Valencia and the Balearic Islands. |
| 1229 | Death of Albert, the third Bishop of Buxtehude (Uexküll). Albert had been a major driving force behind the Baltic Crusade. |
| February 18, 1229 | Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen signs a treaty with Sultan Malik Al-Kamil of Egypt and thus acquires controls of Jerusalem. Nazareth, and Bethlehem from Muslim forces. Al-Kamil had been impressed with Frederick's knowledge of Arabic language and culture, leading to a mutual exchange of ideas and respect which allowed the dramatic and unexpected peace treaty to be signed. In exchange, Frederick agrees to support Al-Kamil against his own nephew, al-Nasir. Frederick had been essentially forced to negotiate because at the time he had been excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX and most of the Crusaders in the region (for example, Patriarch Gerald of Lausanne, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Knights Templar) simply failed to obey his commands. Gregory refuses to accept the treaty as valid and doesn't support it. |
| March 18, 1229 | Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Conrad IV of Germany had become titular King of Jerusalem the previous year with his father Frederick II as regent. Frederick's wife, Yolanda of Jerusalem and titular Queen of Jerusalem. had died the previous year, so Frederick took the crown for himself. |
| April 12, 1229 | A peace treaty formally ends the Albigensian Crusade in southern France. |
| May 1229 | Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen returns home and regains control of his lands around Naples from Pope Gregory IX. |
| August 1229 | Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen arrives at a peace treaty with Pope Gregory IX. |
| November 1229 | The Inquisition is established in Toulouse to eliminate the last of the Cathars hiding in the Languedoc region. |
| 1230 | Returning Crusaders bring leprosy to Europe. |
| 1233 | The Inquisition launches a ruthless campaign against the Cathars, burning any that they find and even digging up bodies to burn. |
| 1234 | The Teutonic Knights arrive in the Baltic region to assist in fending off invasions from pagan Prussians. |
| 1236 | The city of Cordova, controlled to the Moors, falls to the Christian kingdom of Castile. |
| 1237 | Death of John of Brienne, former regent of Jerusalem and Latin Emperor of Constantinople. His successor is Baldwin II. |
| 1237 | Batu Khan, son of Ghengis Khan, crosses the Volga river with an army of at least 150,000 horsemen. In short order he conquers all of the Russian principalities and defeats both the Hungarians and the Poles. Later he would be stopped from marching right into the heart of Europe only by the news of his father's death, causing him to immediately return home. |
| May 12, 1237 | By decree of Pope Gregory IX, the crusading order "The Swordbrothers" is merged into the order,"The Teutonic Knights." Both orders had been heavily involved in Crusades against pagan Prussians; the Swordbrothers, however, had experienced numerous defeats (especially at the Battle of Saule in 1236) and their growing weakness necessitated that they join with the Teutonic Knights. |
| 1238 | Malik Al-Kamil, Sultan of Egypt and nephew of Saladin, dies. |
| February 18, 1239 | The truce between Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and Sultan Malik Al-Kamil, signed to end the Sixth Crusade, officially ends. |
| 1240 | Mongols capture Moscow and destroy Kiev. |
| 1240 | The Sultan of Egypt agrees to turn over control of all lands west of the Jordan earlier captured by Saladin to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. |
| October 1240 | Raymond-Roger de Trencavel is defeated at Carcassonne by Crusaders going after Cathars. |
| 1241 | The first person recorded to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in England is pirate William Marise. |
| April 09, 1241 | Battle of Wahlstatt (Polish: Legnickie Pole): A Crusade against the Mongols is proclaimed after the Teutonic Knights and Henry II the Pious, duke of Poland, are defeated by the Mongols. Mongol leader Batu Khan, son of Ghengis Khan, is only stopped from continuing into the heart of Europe by the news of his father's death, causing him to immediately return home. |
| April 05, 1242 | Battle on Lake Peipus (Chudskoye): Russian forces under Prince Alexander Nevsky utterly defeat an army of Teutonic Knights on the frozen Lake Peipus. |
| 1243 | The Sultan of Syria and Egypt offers to withdraw Muslims from the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem in order to get the Franks to support him. |
| March 16, 1244 | Montsegur, the largest Cathar stronghold, falls after a nine month siege. |
| July 11, 1244 | Khorezmian Turkish horsemen launch an attack on Jerusalem. Khwarezmia is at this time a state located around the Aral Salt Flats near the Caspian Sea. |
| August 23, 1244 | http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/christian/blxtn_jerusalem.htm falls to the Khorzmian horsemen who had begun attacking the city the previous month. Large numbers of the city's inhabitants are slaughtered. |
| October 17, 1244 | Battle of LaForbie: A large army of Crusaders is utterly destroyed by Muslims near Gaza. Egyptian forces are commanded by Baibars, a Mamluk soldier who would later lead a revolt against the Egyptian Sultan and take control of the region. |
Color Key: This chart explains which sorts of topics are given which colors in the chronologies.
| Color | Topic |
| Blue | Christian victories, advances, and actions. |
| Yellow | Other events: births, deaths, marriages, peace treaties, etc. |
| Green | Muslim victories, advances, and actions. |
| Orange | Other conflicts: Christians fighting Christians, Christians fighting heretics, Muslims fighting Mongols, Christians fighting Jews, etc. |
| Grey | Miscellaneous events to provide historical context and comparison |
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