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1071 The Battle of Manzikert sees the destruction of the Byzantine army by the Seljuk Turks.

1081 Alexius I Comnenus becomes Emperor of Byzantium.
1095 Pope Urban II calls for a Crusade at the Council of Clermond following Emperor Alexius I of Byzantium's appeal for military support.
1096 Departure of the First Crusade for the Middle East. Peter the Hermit's crusade destroyed by the Seljuk Turks. Jews massacred by crusaders in Germany.
1097-8 Siege of Antioch by the first Crusade.
1098 Establishment of the County of Edessa by Baldwin of Boulogne.
1099 The Crusaders capture Jerusalem on the 1st July, and establish the Kingdom of Jerusalem with Godfroi de Bouillon as its ruler. Death of El Cid. Battle of Ascalon, 12th August.
1100 The Crusaders capture Sidon. On the death of Godfroi de Bouillon Baldwin I becomes King of Jerusalem.
1101 Crusader army defeated by the Turks in Anatolia. The Crusaders capture Arsuf and start the crusader siege of Tripoli.
1107 Crusaders capture al-Wu’aira in southern Jordan.
1109 Tripoli surrenders to Crusaders after an eleven year siege.
1113 The Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem is recognised as a religious Order of the Church
1115 Crusaders defeat Seljuk attempts to retake northern Syria. A Muslim army attacks crusader held Afamia; Muslim army takes crusader held Kafr Tab.
1115-16 Crusader campaign in southern Jordan.
1118 Death of Baldwin I. Accession of Baldwin II.
1119 Death of Roger of Antioch.
1119 A group of nine Frankish knights, led by Hugh de Payen, with the support of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and the Canons of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem found a religious brotherhood to fight Muslim bandits and protect pilgrims in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1119-1136 Hugh de Payen
1120 The council of Nablus agree that the new brotherhood is a valid religious order and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gives the brothers his palace in the former Asqua Mosque - the ‘Temple of Solomon,’.
1124 Crusaders capture Tyre.
1128 Countess Theresa of Portugal gives the Order of the Temple the castle of Soure on the Muslim frontier of Portugal. Imad al-Din Zangi of Mosul takes Aleppo.
1129 The Council of Troyes. The Order of the Temple receives papal approval.
1130 The Hospitallers receive their first Rule of the Order of Hospitallers
Early 1130s Bernard of Clairvaux writes ‘In praise of the new knighthood’ on request of Hugh de Payen, the Grand Master of the Order of the Temple; Establishing the Latin religious rule of the order.
1131 Death of Baldwin II followerd by the accession of Fulke de Anjou  to the throne of Jerusalem as husband of Baldwin's daughter Melisande. Count Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona gives the Templars the border stronghold of Granyena.
1134 King Alphonso I of Aragon is killed in after falling into a Muslim ambush. He bequeaths his entire kingdom jointly to the Templars, the Hospitallers and the canons of the Holy Sepulchre.
1136-7 The Templars are established in an area north of Antioch, the Amanus March, in the Amanus Mountains of north west Syria.
1137-1147 Robert de Craon.
1137 Extensive lands in Essex are gifted to the Templars by the Queen of England, Matilda of Boulogne, niece of Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Edessa. John Comnenus, the successor to Alexius as Byzantine Emperor campaigns in Armenia.
1139 Pope Innocent II issues ‘Omne datum optimum’ at the request of the Templar Grand Master, Robert de Craon.
1143 Death of Fulke and accession of Baldwin III. Death of Emperor John Comnenus and accession of Manuel Comnenus. Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, ruler of Aragon, reaches an agreement with the Templars whereby the Templars commit themselves to the war against the Muslims in Aragon in exchange for the gift of certain castles and lands.
1144 Pope Celestine II issues ‘Milites Templi’, a papal bull containing a set of religious privileges for the Templars. Imad al-Din Zangi of Mosul re-takes Edessa..

1145 Pope Eugenius III issues the papal bull ‘Milites Dei,’ giving further privileges.
1146 Zangi is succeeded by his son Nur al-Din.
1147 Second Crusade is launched. It is led by the German Emperor Conrad III and the French King Louis VII. King Alfonso I of  Portugal diverts crusaders from northern Europe to help successfully capture Lisbon.
1148 Second Crusade is defeated at Damascus.
1149-1152 Everard de Barres.
1149-50 The Templars gain the strategic castle of Gaza.
1152-1153 Bernard de Tremelay.
1153 Ascalon is captured by the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1153-1156 Andrew de Montbard
1153 Nur-al-Din captures the city of Damascus.
1155 Baldwin III makes an alliance with the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus.
1156-1169 Bernard de Blanquefort
1157 A serious earthquake damages many fortifications in north west Syria.
1162 Death of Baldwin III, accession of his brother Amalric I.
1163-69 Five failed attempts by Kingdom of Jerusalem to take control of Egypt. Rise of Saladin.
1169 Saladin takes control of Egypt for Nur al-Din.
1169-1171 Philip de Nablus
1171-1179 Odo de Saint-Amand
1170 earthquake seriously damages many fortifications in north west Syria. Saladin captures the Crusader castle of Ayla.

1172 Death of King Henry II of England. His will leaves a large sum of money to the crusading orders.
1174 Death of Amalric, he was succeeded by Baldwin IV - a leper. Death of Nur al-Din, Saladin takes Damascus.
1175 Voulaine presented to the Templars by Duke Hugh III of Burgundy.
1176 Byzantine army defeated by Seljuk Turks at Myriokephalon.
1177 Battle of Mont Gisar or Tail al-Safiya. Victory for King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem over Saladin, ruler of Egypt and Damascus.’
1179 The battle of Marj al-‘Uytun which was a victory for Saladin. The partially built Templar castle of Vadum Jacobi in northern Galilee is destroyed by Saladin.
1180 Baldwin IV's sister Sybilla marries Guy of Lusignan. Death of Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenis.
1180-1184 Arnold de Torroja
1183 A provocative campaign by Reynard of Chatillon, current Lord of Outrejourdain, in northern Arabia and the Red Sea area. Reynard of Chatillon’s attempt to attack Mecca defeated. Saladin takes control of Aleppo. Baldwin IV becomes ill and Guy of Lusignan becomes Regent of the kingdom of Jerusalem.
1185-1189 Gerard de Ridefort

1187 The formidable castle of Krak de Chevalier is attacked by Saladin. The Battle of Hattin. Disaster for the Crusader states; a victory for Saladin. Saladin executes all his Templar and Hospitaller prisoners. Then Saladin captures Jerusalem and most of the kingdom of Jerusalem. The Templars lose their headquarters. Saladin’s siege of crusader held Tartus is unsuccessful. Toron surrenders to Saladin 26th July. As do Sidon, Acre, Gibelet, Beirut, Ascalon, Tiberius. A Siege of Tyre by Saladin's forces is unsuccessful.
1188-9 Saladin captures the crusader castles of Krak and Montreal in Southern Jordan.
1189 Third Crusade sets out for Outremer. King Guy of Jerusalem besieges Acre, held by Saladin.
1190 Death of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in Silicia. The castle of Tomar, headquarters of the Portuguese Templars, besieged.
1191 King Richard I of England (Lionheart) seizes Cyprus from the Byzantine Empire. King Philip Augustus arrives in Outremer.
1191-1193 Robert de Sable
1191-2 The Third Crusade retakes Acre. Saladin is defeated at the Battle of Arsuf. Richard I agrees a peace treaty with Saladin after the Crusaders fail to reach Jerusalem. The Templars establish their new headquarters at Acrewhich has become the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat. Richard the Lionheart departs Outremer accompanied by Templars.
1191-1216 Intermittent war between the Templars and King Leon of Cilician Armenia over the Amanus March.
1193 Death of Saladin.
1194 Raymond VI becomes count of Toulouse. Amaury of Lusignan becomes first king of the crusader Kingdom of Cyprus.
1194-1200 Gilbert Erail
1195 King Amaury of Cyprus becomes King of Jerusalem ; German Crusade to the Middle East.
1197-98 German Crusade achieves little
1198 Innocent III becomes Pope. Papal recognition of the reconstituted German Hospital as the ‘Brethren of the German Hospital of St.Mary’ - the Teutonic Knights
1200 Saladin's brother becomes Sultan of Syria and Egypt.
1201-1209 Philip de Plessiez
1204 The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople. Count Baldwin of Flanders elected first Latin Emperor. The Templars gain some lands in the new crusader states in Greece.
1210-1219 William de Chartres
1205 Hugh I becomes king of Cyprus.
1210 John of Brienne becomes king of Jerusalem.
1212 Children's Crusade.
1218 Henry I becomes king of Cyprus. The Fifth Crusade invades Egypt by sea. Death of Al-a-Dil.
1219 Damietta captured by the crusaders.
1219-1232 Peter de Montaigu.
1220-22 Mongol invasion of eastern Islamic lands.
1221 Fifth Crusade is defeated at the first battle of Mansurah. Crusaders lose Damietta.
1225 Emperor Frederick II of Germany and Italy becomes ruler of the kingdom of Jerusalem.
1228-9 Crusade of Emperor Frederick II; the emperor recovers part of Jerusalem by treaty, but not the Temple Mount where the Templars original headquarters had been.
1229-33 Civil war in the crusader kingdom of Cyprus.
1229-30 King James I of Aragon captures the Muslim held Balearic Islands; his forces include Templars who receive lands in return.
1230 The Templars receive their first properties in Bohemia.
1231 Mongol invasion of Iran and Armenia.
1231-42 Commune of Acre becomes centre of resistance to Emperor Frederick II’s rule in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1232-1244 Armand de Perigord
1233 King James I of Aragon, with the help of the Templars, invades the Muslim kingdom of Valencia.
1237 The Templars are heavily defeated trying to recover their castle of Darbsak in the principality of Antioch from the Muslims of Aleppo.
1239-40 Crusade of Theobald of Champagne and Navarre.
1240-1 Crusade of Earl Richard of Cornwall.
1240 The Templars begin to rebuild their castle of Safed in northern Galilee.
1241 The Mongols invade Hungary and Poland defeating the Christian defenders including local Templars.
1243 The Mongols defeat the Seljuk Turks of Rum (Anatolia). Conrad becomes King of Jerusalem.
1244-1247 Richard de Burres.
1244 The Kingdom of Jerusalem forms an alliance with the Ayyubid rulers of Damascus and Kordan against the Ayyubid rulers of Egypt. Jerusalem falls to the Khwarezmian Turks. The Battle of La Forbie; the Franks are heavily defeated by Egyptian forces in alliance with the Khwarezmian Turks.

1245 Emperor Frederick II deposed.
1247-1250 William de Sonnac.
1248-54 Crusade of Louis IX of France; campaigns in Egypt and Palestine. Capture of Damietta.
1250 The second Battle of al-Mansurah in Egypt; Louis IX and the crusaders are defeated and many Templars are killed. Crusaders lose Damietta. Establishment of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt.
1250-1256 Reginald de Vichiers.
1253 Hugh II becomes King of Cyprus.
1254 King Louis IX returns to France. Conraddin becomes King of Jerusalem.
1255-58 Civil war in Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1258 Mongols invade Iraq and sack Baghdad massacring inhabitants.
1256-1273 Thomas Berard.
1260 Mongols invade Syria. Crusader Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Cilician Armenia ally with the Mongols. At the Battle of ‘Ayn Jalut the Mongols are defeated by the Mamluks of Egypt. Baybars becomes Mamluk Sultan of Egypt.
1261 Byzantines retake Constantinople from Latins.
1263-66 Mamluks destroy Nazareth, and take Caeserea and Arsuf. Sultan Baybars of Egypt captures the Templar castle of Safed.
1267 Hugh III becomes king of Cyprus .
1268 Baybars captures Antioch, Jaffa and Belfort.
1269 King Hugh III of Cyprus becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Aragonese Crusade arrives in Acre.
1270 Louis IX second crusade to Tunisia.
1271-2 Crusade of Prince Edward of England. Mamluks retake Castel Blanc, Krak de Chevaliers and Montfort
1273-1291 William de Beaujeu.
1274 Second council of Lyons; discusses a new crusade which never sets out.
1276-77 King Hugh III abandons the mainland of Outremer for Cyprus. Mary of Antioch sells the crown to King Charles of southern Italy. Kingdom of Jerusalem divided between lords who recognise or reject Charles.
1277 Death of Baybars. Civil War in the County of Tripoli.
1281 Mongols defeated near Homs.
1284 John I becomes King of Jerusalem and Cyprus.
1285 Henry II becomes king of Cyprus (he was nominal ruler until 1324) Mamluks take Margat.
1187 Crusade led by Alice of Blois reaches Acre.
1289 Sultan Qalawun of Egypt captures Tripoli and Latakia
1290 Northern Italian Crusade to the Holy Land.
1291 Acre is captured by al-Ashraf Khalil, son of Qalawun signifying the end of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. The Templars evacuate Castle Pilgrim, Sidon and Tortosa and move their headquarters to Limassol, Cyprus. Beirut lost to crusaders.
1291-1293 Theobald Gaudin.
1293-1314 Jaques de Molay.
1298 At the Battle of Falkirk, when Edward I defeated the Scots under William Wallace, in 1298 the only recorded deaths of note on the English side were both Templars. The English Master of Templars, Brian de Jay, and the Scottish Master of Templars John de Sawtrey were both cut down as they pursued the fleeing Scots through the Forest of Callendar.
1302 The Templars lose the island of Ru'ad off the coast from  Tortosa, to Sultan Al-Malik al-Nasir Mohammad of Egypt.
1305 Robert the Bruce excommunicated by the pope on February 10th.
1306 King Henry II of Cyprus is ousted by his brother Amaury de Lusignan, Lord of Tyre. The Templars support the new King Amaury. The Hospitallers invades the Byzantine island of Rhodes. Robert the Bruce is crowned King of Scotland.
1307 The Templars in France are arrested on the orders of King Philip IV.
1309 Hospitallers transfer their headquarters to Rhodes.
1310 King Henry II of Cyprus returns to power and puts the Templars on Cyprus under close arrest.
1311-12 Church council held at Vienne in France.
1312 Pope Clement IV abolishes the Order of the Temple in the bull ‘Vox in excelsio’. He issues the bull ‘Ad providam’, transferring the Order’s property to the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem ( the Hospitallers ).
1314 Two of the leading Templar officers Jaques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Order, and Geoffrey de Charney, commander of Normandy, are burned at the stake in Paris.
1316-17 Ayme d’Oselier, Marshal of the Temple, and many other Templars on Cyprus die in prison with other leading opponents of King Henry II of Cyprus.
1319 The Order of Montesa is established in the kingdom of Valencia. The new Order receives the property of the former Order of the Temple and of the Order of the Hospital in Valencia. The Order of Christ is established in Portugal, with the property of the former Order of the Temple.
 

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