THE WORLD ATLAS

Chapter · High Middle Ages

Crusaders in Jerusalem

The world in 1100

In 1100 the First Crusade has just ended in triumph for the Latin Christians: Jerusalem fell in July 1099, and the crusaders have founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem, whose first king, Baldwin I, is crowned this Christmas. Their success owes much to the divisions of the Muslim world, where the Seljuk Turks, who conquered Iran, Iraq and most of Anatolia in the 1000s, are fighting among themselves, and the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt is weakened.

In the far west, the Berber Almoravids rule a vast empire from Senegal to Spain. The Byzantine Empire is recovering under Alexios I Komnenos. In China, the Song dynasty is entering the reign of the artistic Emperor Huizong, while the Liao and Western Xia hold the north. In India, the Cholas still rule the south, though Sri Lanka broke free in 1070. Cahokia on the Mississippi is the largest city north of Mexico, and Angkor in Cambodia is one of the largest cities in the world.

Open the map in 1100

The great powers

Region by region

Southern Africa

In the Limpopo valley, the town of K2 grows rich trading gold and ivory to the Indian Ocean; around 1220 its rulers will move onto Mapungubwe Hill, founding southern Africa's first state. On the coast, Swahili city-states such as Kilwa grow wealthy. Madagascar's Malagasy chiefdoms and Khoisan herders in the southwest complete the picture.

Northern Africa

The Almoravid dynasty under Yusuf ibn Tashfin (d. 1106) rules Morocco, western Algeria and Muslim Spain from Marrakesh, which it founded around 1070. The Fatimids, under the caliph al-Musta'li and his powerful vizier al-Afdal, still rule Egypt, while the Zirids and Hammadids rule Tunisia and eastern Algeria. Makuria rules Nubia, Ghana is declining after Almoravid pressure, and Kanem, whose Muslim king Hummay (c. 1075–1086) founded the Sayfawa dynasty, controls the Lake Chad region.

Europe

Henry IV (king from 1056, emperor 1084–1105) rules the Holy Roman Empire amid the Investiture Controversy with the papacy, Philip I rules France, and Henry I takes the English throne in August 1100. Alexios I Komnenos rules Byzantium, Alfonso VI of Castile and León, who took Toledo in 1085, leads the Christian advance in Spain, and the Normans hold Sicily and southern Italy. Kyivan Rus is divided among princes, with Sviatopolk II in Kyiv, while Hungary under Coloman and Poland under Władysław I Herman rule central Europe.

Middle East & South Asia

The Great Seljuk Empire, torn by civil war between Sultan Barkiyaruq and his brother Muhammad Tapar, rules Iran and Iraq, while Kilij Arslan I's Sultanate of Rum holds central Anatolia. The crusaders have founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa. In India the Ghaznavids under Mas'ud III hold the Punjab, the Cholas under Kulottunga I rule the south, the Western Chalukyas under Vikramaditya VI the Deccan, and many Rajput dynasties the north.

Northern & Central Asia

The Karakhanids rule Transoxiana and Kashgar in two rival branches, and Khwarazm is governed by a dynasty of Seljuk vassals. The Cuman-Kipchak confederation dominates the vast western steppe from the Danube to the Irtysh, and the Volga Bulgars trade furs from the north. Siberia remains home to hunting and herding peoples.

East Asia

The Song dynasty rules from Kaifeng under Emperor Huizong (r. 1100–1126), a gifted painter and calligrapher. The Khitan Liao, under Emperor Daozong, rule the north, but the Jurchens in Manchuria are about to rise against them, and the Tangut Western Xia under Chongzong rule the northwest. Goryeo rules Korea, and in Japan Retired Emperor Shirakawa governs through the system of cloistered rule while samurai clans grow powerful; Mongol tribes are still divided on the steppe.

Southeast Asia

The Khmer Empire rules from Angkor, and Suryavarman II, who will take power in 1113, will build Angkor Wat. Pagan, under King Kyansittha, rules most of Burma, and Đại Việt under the Lý dynasty rules northern Vietnam. Srivijaya, weakened by a Chola naval raid in 1025, still trades through the Strait of Malacca, and the Kediri kingdom rules eastern Java.

Northern North America

The Thule people, ancestors of the Inuit, are perfecting their whaling way of life with dog sleds and skin boats in Alaska, while the Dorset still hold the Canadian Arctic. The Norse colony in Greenland is thriving. Athabaskan, Algonquian and Beothuk peoples live in the subarctic.

Southern North America

Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis, is at its peak, with perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 people and the giant earthen platform of Monks Mound. Chaco Canyon is the centre of the Ancestral Puebloan world, and the Hohokam farm the Arizona desert. In Mexico, the Toltecs rule from Tula, Chichen Itza dominates Yucatán, and in Oaxaca the Mixtec lord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw is building a kingdom.

Northern South America

With Tiwanaku and Wari gone, the Andes are divided among regional peoples. The Chimú are building their capital Chan Chan on Peru's north coast, and the Sicán culture rules nearby. The Muisca live in the Colombian highlands, and Tupi peoples along the Brazilian coast.

Southern Cone

Hunter-gatherers roam the pampas and Patagonia, and canoe peoples live in Tierra del Fuego. Diaguita farmers live in northwest Argentina, Mapuche ancestors farm central Chile, and Guarani farmers live in Paraguay and southern Brazil.

Australasia & Oceania

Aboriginal Australians live across the continent. Polynesians have recently settled the Society Islands and will soon spread to the Marquesas, Hawaii and beyond, and Tonga's Tu'i Tonga kings are building a maritime chiefdom. On Pohnpei in Micronesia, the Saudeleur dynasty is rising and will begin building the stone city of Nan Madol (c. 1180).

Events

  1. Great Schism between Rome and Constantinople
  2. Norman conquest of England
  3. Seljuks defeat Byzantium at Manzikert
  4. Castile captures Toledo
  5. Almoravids defeat Castile at Sagrajas (Zallaqa)
  6. Pope Urban II calls the First Crusade
  7. Crusaders capture Jerusalem
  8. Baldwin I crowned king of Jerusalem

Moments of this period

Wars of this period

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Sources