1147 AD - 1149 AD - The Second Crusade was waged in response to the fall of the County of Edessa

The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe as a Catholic ('Latin') holy war against Islam. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade (1096–1099) by King Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.

The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, and was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings, namely Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, with help from a number of other European nobles. The armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks. The main Western Christian source, Odo of Deuil, and Syriac Christian sources claim that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos secretly hindered the crusaders' progress particularly in Anatolia, where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks to attack them. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem and participated in 1148 in an ill-advised attack on Damascus. The crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims. It would ultimately have a key influence on the fall of Jerusalem and give rise to the Third Crusade at the end of the 12th century.

The only significant Christian success of the Second Crusade came to a combined force of 13,000 Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and German crusaders in 1147. Travelling from England, by ship, to the Holy Land, the army stopped and helped the smaller (7,000) Portuguese army in the capture of Lisbon, expelling its Moorish occupants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Crusade

1107 AD - 1110 AD -Sigurd I of Norway led the Norwegian Crusade against Muslims in Spain, the Balearic Islands and in Palestine

Sigurd I Magnusson (c. 1090 – 26 March 1130), also known as Sigurd the Crusader (Old Norse: Sigurðr Jórsalafari, Norwegian: Sigurd Jorsalfar), was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his half-brother Øystein (until Øystein died in 1123), has been regarded by historians as a golden age for the medieval Kingdom of Norway. He is otherwise famous for leading the Norwegian Crusade (1107–1110), earning the eponym "the Crusader", and was the first European king to personally participate in a crusade.^[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_the_Crusader

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The Norwegian Crusade was a crusade or a pilgrimage (sources differ)^[2] that lasted from 1107 to 1111, in the aftermath of the First Crusade, led by Norwegian king Sigurd I.^[3] This crusade marks not only the first time a Scandinavian king personally went crusading to the Holy Land, but also the first time any European king did so.^[4]

The journey to Jerusalem

From Norway to England (1107-08)

Sigurd and his men sailed from Norway in the autumn of 1107 with sixty ships and perhaps around 5,000 men.^[1] In the autumn he arrived in England, where Henry I was king. Sigurd and his men stayed there the entire winter, until the spring of 1108, when they again set sail westwards.

In mainland Iberia (1108-09)

After several months they came to the town of Santiago de Compostela (Jakobsland)^[2] in Galicia(Galizuland) where they were allowed by a local lord to stay for the winter. However, when the winter came there was a shortage of food, which caused the lord to refuse to sell food and goods to the Norwegians. Sigurd then gathered his army, attacked the lord's castle and looted what they could there.

In the spring they continued along the coast of Portugal, capturing eight Saracen galleys on their way, and then conquered a castle at Sintra (probably referring to Colares, which is closer to the sea), after which they continued to Lisbon, a "half Christian and half heathen" city, said to be on the dividing line between Christian and Muslim Iberia, where they won another battle. On their continued journey they sacked the town of Alkasse (possibly a reference to Al Qaşr), and then, on their way into the Mediterranean, near the Strait of Gibraltar (Norfasund), met and defeated a Muslim squadron.^[2]

In the Balearics (1109)

The route taken by Sigurd I to Jerusalem and Constantinople (red line) and back to Norway (green line) according to Heimskringla. (Legend in Old Norse.)

After entering the Mediterranean (Griklands hafi) they sailed along the coast of the land of the Saracens (Serkland) to the Balearic Islands. The Balearics were at the time perceived by Christians to be nothing more than a pirate haven and slaving center. The Norwegian raids are also the first recorded Christian attacks on the Islamic Balearic Islands (though smaller attacks certainly had occurred).^[2]

The first place they arrived at was Formentera, where they encountered a great number of Blåmenn(Blue or black men) and Serkir (Saracens)^[2] who had taken up their dwelling in a cave. The course of the fight is the most detailed of the entire crusade through written sources, and might possibly be the most notable historic event in the small island's history.^[2] After this battle, the Norwegians supposedly acquired the greatest treasures they had ever acquired. They then went on to successfully attack Ibizaand then Menorca. The Norwegians seem to have avoided attacking the largest of the Balearic Islands, Majorca, most likely because it was at the time the most prosperous and well-fortified center of an independent taifa kingdom.^[2] Tales of their success may have inspired the Catalan–Pisan conquest of the Balearics in 1113–1115.^[2]

In Sicily (1109-10)

In the spring of 1109, they arrived at Sicily (Sikileyjar), where they were welcomed by the ruling Count Roger II, who was only 12–13 years old at the time.

Kingdom of Jerusalem (1110)

In the summer of 1110, they finally arrived at the port of Acre (Akrsborg)^[2] (or perhaps in Jaffa),^[1] and went to Jerusalem (Jorsala), where they met the ruling crusader king Baldwin I. They were warmly welcomed, and Baldwin rode together with Sigurd to the river Jordan, and back again to Jerusalem.

The Norwegians were given many treasures and relics, including a splinter off the True Cross that Jesus had allegedly been crucified on. This was given on the condition that they would continue to promote Christianity and bring the relic to the burial site of St. Olaf.

Siege of Sidon (1110)

Main article: Siege of Sidon (1110)

Later, Sigurd returned to his ships at Acre, and when Baldwin was going to the Muslim town of Sidon (Sætt) in Syria (Sýrland), Sigurd and his men accompanied him in the siege. The town was then taken and subsequently the Lordship of Sidon was established.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Crusade

1095 AD - 1099 AD - First Crusade

The First Crusade (1095–1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called for by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095. Urban called for a military expedition to aid the Byzantine Empire, which had recently lost most of Anatolia to the Seljuq Turks. The resulting military expedition of primarily Frankish nobles, known as the Princes' Crusade not only re-captured Anatolia but went on to conquer the Holy Land (the Levant), which had fallen to Islamic expansion as early as in the 7th century, and culminated in July 1099 in the re-conquest of Jerusalemand the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The expedition was a reaction to the appeal for military aid by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Urban's convocation of the Council of Clermont was specifically dedicated to this purpose, proposing siege warfare against the recently occupied cities of Nicaea and Antioch, even though Urban's speech at Clermont in the testimony of witnesses writing after 1100 was phrased to allude to the re-conquest of Jerusalem and the Holy Land as additional goals.

The successful Princes' Crusade had been preceded by the "People's Crusade", a popular movement gathered by Peter the Hermit in the spring of 1096. It moved against the Turks in Anatolia, on its way attacking populations of Jews in the Rhineland, and being decisively defeated in October.

The Princes' Crusade, by contrast, was a well-organized military campaign, starting out in late summer of 1096 and arrived at Constantinople between November 1096 and April 1097. They marched into Anatolia, capturing Nicaea in June 1097 and Antioch in June 1098. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem in June 1099 and took the city in an assault on 7 July 1099, massacring the defenders. A brief attempt to recapture Jerusalem was repulsed by the Crusaders at the Battle of Ascalon.

During their conquests, the Crusaders established the Latin Rite crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. This was contrary to the wishes of the Eastern Rite Byzantines, who wanted the land that the Muslims took from them returned, rather than occupied by Latin Catholics. After the retaking of Jerusalem, most of the crusaders returned home. This left the crusader kingdoms vulnerable from Muslim reconquests during the Second and Third Crusades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade

1054 AD-East–West Schism

The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches, which has lasted since the 11th century.^[1] It is not to be confused with the Western Schism which lasted from 1378 to 1417 (which is also sometimes called the "Great" Schism).

A succession of ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Greek East and Latin West pre-dated the formal rupture that occurred in 1054.^[2][3][4] Prominent among these were the issues of the source of the Holy Spirit, whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist,^[a] the Bishop of Rome's claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of the See of Constantinople in relation to the Pentarchy.^[8]

In 1053, the first step was taken in the process which led to formal schism: the Greek churches in southern Italy were forced either to close or to conform to Latin practices.^[9][10][11] In retaliation, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Michael I Cerularius ordered the closure of all Latin churches in Constantinople. In 1054, the papal legate sent by Leo IX travelled to Constantinople for purposes that included refusing to Cerularius the title of "Ecumenical Patriarch" and insisting that he recognize the Pope's claim to be the head of all the churches.^[2] The main purpose of the papal legation was to seek help from the Byzantine Emperor in view of the Norman conquest of southern Italy and to deal with recent attacks by Leo of Ohrid against the use of unleavened bread and other Western customs,^[12] attacks that had the support of Cerularius. Historian Axel Bayer says the legation was sent in response to two letters, one from the Emperor seeking assistance in arranging a common military campaign by the eastern and western empiresagainst the Normans, and the other from Cerularius.^[13] On the refusal of Cerularius to accept the demand, the leader of the legation, Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, O.S.B., excommunicated him, and in return Cerularius excommunicated Humbert and the other legates.^[2] This was only the first act in a centuries-long process that eventually became a complete schism.^[14]

The validity of the Western legates' act is doubtful, since Leo had died and Cerularius' excommunication applied only to the legates personally.^[2] Still, the Church split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographical lines, and the fundamental breach has never been healed, with each side sometimes accusing the other of having fallen into heresy and of having initiated the division. The Crusades, the Massacre of the Latins in 1182, the West's retaliation in the Sacking of Thessalonica in 1185, the capture and Siege of Constantinople in 1204, and the imposition of Latin patriarchs made reconciliation more difficult.^[2] Establishing Latin hierarchies in the Crusader states meant that there were two rival claimants to each of the patriarchal sees of Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, making the existence of schism clear.^[15] Several attempts at reconciliation did not bear fruit. In 1965, Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras I nullified the anathemas of 1054,^[2] although this nullification of measures taken against a few individuals was essentially a goodwill gesture and did not constitute any sort of reunion.^[16] Contacts between the two sides continue: every year a delegation from each joins in the other's celebration of its patronal feast, Saints Peter and Paul (29 June) for Rome and Saint Andrew (30 November) for Constantinople, and there have been a number of visits by the head of each to the other. The efforts of the Ecumenical Patriarchs towards reconciliation with the Catholic Church have often been the target of sharp criticism from some fellow Orthodox.^[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism

850 AD-Masoretic Text

The Masoretic^[1] Text (MT, 𝕸, or ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {M}}}$) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretesbetween the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The oldest extant manuscripts date from around the 9th century.^[2] The Aleppo Codex (once the oldest-known complete copy but now missing the Torah) dates from the 10th century. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and their precise letter-text, with their vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text

788 AD - 820 AD - Adi Shankara (Advaita Vedanta)

Adi Shankara (pronounced [aːd̪i ɕəŋkəɾə]) or Shankara, was an early 8th century Indian philosopher and theologian^[2] who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.^{[1][3][note 1]} He is credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.^[6][7][8]

His works in Sanskrit discuss the unity of the ātman and Nirguna Brahman "brahman without attributes".^[9] He wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon (Brahma Sutras, Principal Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita) in support of his thesis.^[10] His works elaborate on ideas found in the Upanishads. Shankara's publications criticised the ritually-oriented Mīmāṃsā school of Hinduism.^[11] He also explained the key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that Hinduism asserts "Atman (Soul, Self) exists", while Buddhism asserts that there is "no Soul, no Self".^[12][13][14]

Shankara travelled across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers. He established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mīmāṃsā school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. He is reputed to have founded four mathas ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta of which he is known as the greatest revivalist.^[15] Adi Shankara is believed to be the organiser of the Dashanami monastic order and unified the Shanmata tradition of worship. He is also known as Adi Shankaracharya, Shankara Bhagavatpada, sometimes spelled as Sankaracharya, (Ādi) Śaṅkarācārya, Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda and Śaṅkara Bhagavatpādācārya.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara

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Advaita Vedanta (IAST, Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त, literally, not-two), originally known as Puruṣavāda,^{[1][note 1]} is a school of Hindu philosophy and religious practice, and one of the classic Indian paths to spiritual realization.^[2] The term Advaita refers to its idea that the soul (true Self, Atman) is the same as the highest metaphysical Reality (Brahman). The followers of this school are known as Advaita Vedantins, or just Advaitins,^[3] and they seek spiritual liberation through acquiring vidyā (knowledge)^[4] of one's true identity as Atman, and the identity of Atman and Brahman.^[5][6][7]

Advaita Vedanta traces its roots in the oldest Upanishads. It relies on three textual sources called the Prasthanatrayi. It gives "a unifying interpretation of the whole body of Upanishads",^[8] the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita.^[9][10] Advaita Vedanta is the oldest extant sub-school of Vedanta,^{[note 2]} which is one of the six orthodox (āstika) Hindu philosophies (darśana). Although its roots trace back to the 1st millennium BCE, the most prominent exponent of the Advaita Vedanta is considered by the tradition to be 8th century scholar Adi Shankara.^[11][12][13]

Advaita Vedanta emphasizes Jivanmukti, the idea that moksha (freedom, liberation) is achievable in this life in contrast to Indian philosophies that emphasize videhamukti, or moksha after death.^[14][15] The school uses concepts such as Brahman, Atman, Maya, Avidya, meditation and others that are found in major Indian religious traditions,^[10][16][17] but interprets them in its own way for its theories of moksha.^[18][19] Advaita Vedanta is one of the most studied and most influential schools of classical Indian thought.^[20][21][22] Many scholars describe it as a form of monism,^[23][24][25] others describe the Advaita philosophy as non-dualistic.^[26][27]

Advaita influenced and was influenced by various traditions and texts of Hindu philosophies such as Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, other sub-schools of Vedanta, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, the Puranas, the Agamas, other sub-schools of Vedanta, as well as social movements such as the Bhakti movement.^[28][29][30] Beyond Hinduism, Advaita Vedanta interacted and developed with the other traditions of India such as Jainism and Buddhism.^[31] Advaita Vedanta texts espouse a spectrum of views from idealism, including illusionism, to realist or nearly realist positions expressed in the early works of Shankara.^[32] In modern times, its views appear in various Neo-Vedanta movements.^[33] It has been termed as the paradigmatic example of Hindu spirituality.^[34][35]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta

http://www.vedanta.gr/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/SwBhajan_4BasicPrincAdvVed_ENA4.pdf