Crusade - 1096-1162

<p><strong>1096</strong>- First Crusade against Islam Peter the Hermit leads hundreds of peasants men women and children who cross the Dardanelles to be massacred or enslaved by the troops of Kiliç Arslan of Rum. Meanwhile five armies are heading towards Constantinople: that of the French king a Flemish army a Norman army from Italy a Norman-French army and finally an army of French feudal lords from the south all travelling by different routes plundering on the march; the Crusaders organize bloody persecutions of Jews in Worms Cologne Mainz Trier and many other cities of the Holy Empire the Bishop of Cologne and the Polish King Vladislav I oppose the persecutions thousands of Jews take refuge in Poland but the Princes Zbigniew and Boleslav Vladislav's brothers do not accept the immigrants and a civil war breaks out. Finally the Crusaders are concentrated in Constantinople Emperor Alexius demands an oath of vassalage and that the conquests of the Crusade belong to Byzantium. Pope Urban II grants several prerogatives to Roger I of Sicily which enable him among other things to appoint bishops and collect the income of the churches in the region all of which made Roger a kind of legacy of the Pope in his territories. Spain: Battle of Alcaraz Pedro I of Aragon defeats Al-Mustain of Zaragoza and conquers Huesca Umar ibn Muhammad is defeated by Alfonso VI in Caceres. England: construction of Alnwick Castle. The Cuman chief Boniek attacks Kiev by surprise and burns the prince's palace and other buildings. </p><p>1097...</p>