1098
Foundation of Citeaux
Robert of Molesme and twenty-one fellow monks left their Benedictine abbey to establish a new monastery in a Burgundian marshland at Citeaux, seeking a stricter return to the Rule of Benedict. Within decades the Cistercians would become the most dynamic monastic order in Latin Christendom, ultimately numbering hundreds of houses.
Crusaders storm Antioch
After eight months of fruitless siege, Bohemond bribed an Armenian guard to open a tower and the Crusaders poured into Antioch overnight, massacring the garrison and inhabitants. Within days they themselves were besieged inside the city by Kerbogha of Mosul's relief army, trapped in starvation behind their newly captured walls.
Battle of Antioch and Holy Lance
Inspired by the discovery of what was said to be the Holy Lance that had pierced Christ's side, starving Crusaders sallied out of Antioch and broke Kerbogha's besieging army. The miracle revived their morale and secured Antioch as a Latin principality under Bohemond's rule. Doubters questioned the lance from the start.
County of Edessa founded
Baldwin of Boulogne, separating from the main Crusade, reached Edessa on the Upper Euphrates where the Armenian ruler Thoros adopted him as son. Within weeks Thoros had been murdered by the townspeople and Baldwin was installed as the first Latin ruler in the East. The first Crusader state was born.
Carthusian order takes shape
Bruno of Cologne and six companions, having founded the Grande Chartreuse a decade earlier in the Alps above Grenoble, refined the order's rule emphasizing silence, solitude, and manual labor. The Carthusians would remain one of the strictest and most admired monastic orders in Western Christianity, proud of never being reformed.