Certainty: 2 Ioannes II lost Rason to the Serbs, punished its commander, but won a great victory. Ioannes II achieved one of his greatest victories in Serbia. The Serbians had broken many treaties, and captured the fortress of Rason. The Byzantine commander of Rason, Kritop(ou)los, was punished for failure to stop the capture of the city by being paraded on a donkey in women's dress. Ioannes completely defeated the Serbs (whose military reputation was not high). He settled many prisoners in the area of Nikomedeia, adding to the army and to tax-registers
Certainty: 2 A revenge attack by a Venetian fleet on Kerkyra, on its way to Palestine. Ioannes II Komnenos, in revenge for his expulsion of the Venetians, had to endure raids from the large Venetian fleet of Doge Domenico Michiel. This had set out the previous year: it attacked Kerkyra and wintered there, without apparently capturing the town. [Kinnamos suggests that there were other raids en route to Palestine: other sources make it plain that most damage was done on the reurn journey]. The fleet was carrying pilgrims, 300 horses and timbers for siege machines, making constant stops to water the horses. The Venetians would successfully besiege Tyre. Venetians were also involved in general piracy
Certainty: 2 Baldwin II, trying to protect Edessa from Balak, was himself also captured. After the imprisonment of Joscelin of Edessa and Waleran of Birejik, Baldwin went on to Edessa, and carefully inspected the defences of its fortresses, guarding against further attacks. But as he toured the area, he too was unexpectedly captured by Balak's forces and taken to the prison of Kharpurt, where Joscelin and Waleran were also held
Certainty: 3 Eustace Garnier the constable was chosen at Acre as regent for Baldwin II. The capture of Baldwin II near Edessa obviously demanded the appointment of a regent. A council was held at Acre, in which the patriarch Gormond played a significant role. The choice fell on Eustace Garnier, lord of Caesarea and Sidon
Certainty: 2 Attempt by Baldwin II & Joscelin to escape from Kharpurt. Baldwin II and Joscelin of Edessa (and friends) in their prison at Kharpurt made plans to escape: their first step was to establish good relations with the local Armenians, so that any help they got from outside would be maximised in its effect. Then a group of fifty Armenians from Edessa entered the fortress of Kharpurt in disguise. Different sources claim that they were dressed as monks or as poor traders. One of them assassinated the commander of the guard as he was playing chess, causing a fracas in which all hundred Turkish troops in Kharpurt were killed. They then freed Baldwin II and a nephew of his, as well as Joscelin and other prisoners. Balak saw a dream of Joscelin blinding him - a sign of the danger he posed. He therefore surrounded the castle with troops, but Joscelin was to get away. Balak's wife and other family members were caught inside. The escapees chose different roles: Baldwin was to organise the defence of Kharpurt against Balak, while Joscelin and three companions escaped to get help
Certainty: 2 Joscelin of Edessa escaped from Kharpurt to Tell Bashir & finally Jerusalem. Joscelin escaped from the immediate area of the fortress, and sent one of his companions back with a ring to confirm the fact to Balswin II, as they had planned. He then had to conquer hunger, thirst and exhaustion on his unfamiliar journey on foot to the Euphrates. With the help of the other two, who were strong swimmers, Joscelin, who was not, crossed the river on inflated wineskins. He then slept a little, and met an Armenian family who gave him some figs and grapes. The husband recognised him, had been kindly treated by him in the past and wanted to help, but had to be warned not to act in a way which would draw people's attention. Joscelin travelled for a distance on their donkey, with their daughter sitting in front of him crying loudly, and he could not pacify her. He eventually reached Tell Bashir, where he was welcomed by his wife and the whole castle, and rewarded the Armenian. From there he was escorted to Antioch and Jerusalem, trying everywhere to organise forces for the rescue of Baldwin. He dedicated at Mt Calvary the two fetters he still carried, one of iron, the other of silver
Certainty: 2 Baldwin II tried, but failed, to defend Kharpurt against Balak. Balak was warned of the crisis by his dream of Joscelin, and immediately surrounded the castle. Baldwin II tried to fortifiy Kharpurt, rejecting a polite offer of a safe-conduct for himself and his companions to Edessa or Antioch. Balak quickly lost patience with the negotiations, threatened vengeance, and undermined the fortress, brought down a tower, and eventually forced Baldwin to surrender unconditionally. The fifty Armenians were brutally butchered. The remaining prisoners, including Baldwin, his nephew and Waleran, were recaptured and taken for safer imprisonment to Harran
Certainty: 2 Defeat by Eustace Garnier of a sea & land invasion from Egypt, to exploit absence of Baldwin II. The Egyptians used the opportunity presented by the captivity of Baldwin II to launch an attack on the kingdom of Jerusalem by land and sea. It was met by the regent Eustace Garnier. The Egyptian fleet nearly took Jaffa with a spectacular bombardment which was to be combined with undermining of the walls. Eustace drove the fleet away from Jaffa, then gathered the full military strength of the kingdom for a battle at Ibelin. The Egyptian cavalry was driven off almost immediately while the infantry was left to be massacred. The Franks won a splendid victory, winning rich booty
Certainty: 2 Venetian fleet punished retreating Egyptians, capturing their ships at Askalon. Domenico Michiel, doge of Venice, reached Cyprus with a large fleet which had attacked Kerkyra. It arrived in Palestinian waters just after an Egyptian naval attack on Jaffa. He followed the retreating Egyptians to Askalon, baited his trap with a few ships looking like a pilgrim fleet, and captured or sunk most of the Egyptian fleet nearby. The Venetians then took ten richly-laden Egyptian merchant ships from beyond Askalon, and brought back many of their prizes to Acre, to a warm welcome
Certainty: 3 Death of Eustace Garnier, who was replaced as regent by William of Bures. Eustace Garnier died as regent of Jerusalem for the imprisoned Baldwin II. He was replaced as regent by William of Bures, lord of Tiberias
Certainty: 2 Joscelin took armies of Jerusalem & Antioch to rescue Baldwin II; but Kharpurt had fallen. After three days in Jerusalem, Joscelin of Edessa took the army of Jerusalem northwards with the True Cross, which had already been sent on to Tripoli. He combined the armies of Jerusalem and of Antioch, in the hope of reaching Kharpurt in time to save Baldwin II from returning to captivity. But at Tell Bashir they learned that they were too late: Kharpurt had fallen, and so their quest was fruitless. Joscelin used the two armies to make a sharp raid on Aleppo for four days, destroying everything outside the walls, but then had to withdraw for lack of food. Joscelin then sent the troops from Jerusalem back southwards, where they made a raid across the Jordan and gained extensive booty before reaching home, and putting the True Cross back in its place
Certainty: 2 Reconciliation between emperor Henry V & pope Calixtus II (concordat of Worms). There was a joyful reconciliation between the western emperor Henry V and pope Calixtus II (at the concordat of Worms). This marked the reunification of western Christendom
Certainty: 3 Venetians spent Christmas at Holy Places, negotiating an agreement to attack Tyre. The doge Domenico Michiel was welcomed to Acre by William of Bures, the new regent. The patriarch Gormond of Picquigny and the royal chancellor Pagan were also on hand to welcome the Venetians. The latter toured the Holy Places and spent a joyful Christmas there. They then negotiated an arrangement to use the fleet in the support of the Latin kingdom. Lots were drawn to decide which Muslim seaport to attack, and Tyre was chosen rather than Askalon. Money had to be found for Jerusalem (which then had none) to pay the troops, by pledging church ornaments. A complex treaty was drawn up to reward Venice with trade privileges for its share in the enterprise [William of Tyre quotes it at length]. It was put into practice after Tyre was captured