Salles des Croisades


The Salles des Croisades is a set of rooms located in the north wing of the Palace of Versailles.
The rooms were created in the mid-19th century by king Louis-Philippe, and opened in 1843, at a time when France was seized with enthusiasm with its historical past, and especially the Crusades period. The rooms are filled with over 120 paintings related to the Crusades. King Louis-Philippe included the names of the thousands of family whose ancestors went to the Crusades, encouraging many forgeries at that time.

First room paintings

Painting TitlePainterYear Depicted
Philip Augustus takes the banner to Saint-DenisPierre Révoil24 June 1190
Raising the siege of SalernoEugène Roger1016
Battle of CivitellaAdolphe Roger18 June 1053
Battle of CeramiProsper Lafaye1061
Henry of Burgundy receives the royal investiture of PortugalClaudes Jacquand1094
Passage of the BosphorusÉmile Signol1096
Emperor Alexis Komnenos receives Peter the Hermit in ConstantinopleGillot Saint-Evre1096
Adoption of Godfrey of Bouillon by Emperor Alexis I KomnenosAlexandre Hesse1097
Battle under the walls of NiceaHenry Serrur1097
Baldwin seizes the city of Edessa Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury1097
The siege of Antioch by the CrusadersLouis Gallait3 June 1098
Battle under the walls of AntiochHenri Frédéric Schopin28 June 1098
Combat of Harim Oscar Gué9 February 1098
Siege of MarrahHenri Decaisne1098
One-on-one combat of Robert, Duke of Normandy, with a Saracen warrior under the walls of AntiochJean-Joseph Dassy1098
Siege of AlbareÉdouard PingretSeptember 1098
Siege of JerusalemÉmile Signol15 July 1099
Godfrey of Bouillon is chosen as King of JerusalemFederico de Madrazo23 July 1099
Bohemond I, Prince of AntiochMerry-Joseph Blondel
Roger I, Count of SicilyMerry-Joseph Blondel
Raymond IV, Count of ToulouseMerry-Joseph Blondel
Odo I, Duke of BurgundyMerry-Joseph Blondel
Robert Guiscart, Duke of Apulia and CalabriaMerry-Joseph Blondel

Second room paintings

PaintingPainterYear Depicted
Godfrey of Bouillion hangs the trophies of Antioch on the Vaults of the Church of the Holy SepulchreFrançois Marius GranetAugust 1099
Battle of AscalonJean-Victor Schnetz12 August 1099
Funeral of Godfrey of BouilionÉdouard Cibot23 July 1100
Siege of TripoliCharles-Alexandre Debacq12 July 1109
Battle of JaffaHenry Serrur27 May 1102
Siege of BeirutEugene le Poittevin13 May 1110
Raymond of Puy takes body of Turks as prisoners?1130
Defense of northern Syria by Raymond of Puy, grand master of the Knights HospitallersÉdouard Cibot1130
Preaching the Second Crusade in Vézelay in BurgundyÉmile Signol31 March 1146
Knights Templars’ chapter held in Paris under the Grand Master, Robert of BurgundyFrançois Marius Granet1147
Eleanor of Guyenne takes the cross with the women of the courtFranz Xaver Winterhalter1147
Louis VII takes the oriflamme to Saint DenisJean-Baptiste Mauzaesse1147
Surprise of the Camp of Nur ad-Din, Sultan of Aleppo?1150
Allain Gergent, Duke of BrittanyÉdouard Odier
Josselin of Courtenay, Count of EdessaÉdouard Odier
Baldwin II, King of JerusalemÉdouard Odier
Eustace III, Count of BoulogneÉdouard Odier
Saint Louis the mediator between the English King and his baronsGeorges Rouget23 January 1264

Third room paintings

PaintingPainterYear Depicted
Preaching the first crusade to Clermont in AuvergneHendrik SchefferNovember 1095
Tancred's Siege of BethlehemPierre Révoil7 June 1099
Procession of the Crusaders around Jerusalem, the day before the siege of the city, 14 July 1099Jean-Victor Schnetz14 July 1099
Godfrey of Boullion holds the first Conference of the kingdom of JerusalemPierre-Jules JollivetJanuary 1100
Institution of the Knights HospitallersHenri Decaisne15 February 1113
Siege of Tyre by the crusadersAlexandre-François Caminade7 July 1124
Institution of the Knights TemplarsFrançois Marius Granet1123
Pope Eugenius receives the ambassadors of Baldwin III, King of JerusalemHortense Haudebourt-Lescot1145
Siege of Lisbon by the crusadersAugustus Desmoulins24 October 1147
Louis VII defends himself against seven SaracensAntoine-Félix BoisselierJanuary 1148
Louis VII, Emperor Conrad, and Baldwin III, deliberate at Ptolemais on the conduct of the holy warCharles-Alexandre Debacq1191
Siege of AscalonSébastien Cornu19 August 1153
Battle of PutahaÉloi Firmin Féron1159
Combat near Nazareth?1 May 1187
Ptolemais returns to King Philip Augustus and King Richard the LionheartMerry-Joseph Blondel12 July 1191
Margaret of France, Queen of Hungary, leads the Hungarians to the crusadeÉdouard Pingret1196
Siege of Constantinople by the crusadersEugène Delacroix1204
Siege of Damietta by John of BrienneHenri Delaborde5 November 1219
Raising of the siege of RhodesÉdouard Odier17 August 1480
Entrance of the Knights Hospitallers into ViterboAugustus Debay1527
The Knights Hospitallers take possession of the island of MaltaRené Théodore Berthon26 October 1530
Raising the siege of MaltaCharles-Philippe LarivièreSeptember 1565
Pierre of Aubusson, master of the Knights HospitallersÉdouard Odier
John, Lord of JoinvilleMerry-Joseph Blondel
Charles of France, Count of AnjouHenri Decaisne
Phillip of Villiers of l'Isle-adam, Grand Master of the Knights HospitallersGillot Saint-Evre
Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights TemplarsEugène Emmanuel Amaury Duval
Louis IX, King of FranceÉmile Signol
Robert of France, Count of ArtoisHenri Decaisne
Alphonse of France, Count of PointersHenri Decaisne
Richard the Lionheart, King of EnglandMerry-Joseph Blondel
Saint Bernard of ClairvauxLeon de Lestang-Parade
Philip Augustus, King of FranceEmile Signol
Albéric Clément, Marshal of MayHenri Decaisne
Foulques de Villaret, Grand Master of the Knights HospitallersEugène Goyet1305-1319
Raymond of Puy, Grand Master of the Knights HospitallerAlexandre Laemlein
Louis VII, King of FranceÉmile Signol
Henry I, Count of ChampagneHenri Decaisne
Hugh of Payens, Grand Master of the Knights TemplarsHenri Lehmann
Baldwin I, King of JerusalemMerry-Joseph Blondel
Godfrey of Bouillon?
Robert II of Flanders, the JerusalemiteHenri Decaisne
Robert III Curthose of NormandyHenri Decaisne
Tancred, prince of TiberiasMerry-Joseph Blondel
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa between the Spanish and the MoorsHorace Vernet16 juillet 1212
Peter the HermitLéon de Lestang-Parade
Hugh of France, Count of VermandoisHenri Decaisne
Adhemar of Monteil, Bishop of PuyMerry-Joseph Blondel
John Parisot of La Valette, Grand Master of the Knights HospitallersCharles-Philippe Larivière

Fourth room paintings

PaintingPainterYear Depicted
Reception of John of Brienne in Ptolemais?13 September 1210
Landing of Saint Louis in EgyptGeorges Rouget5 June 1249
Saint Louis receives the patriarch of Jerusalem in DamiettaOscar Gué1249
Gaucher of Châtillon defends the only entrance of a street in the neighborhood of Munyat Abû AbdallahKarl Girardet6 April 1250
William of Clermont defends PtolemaisDominique PapetyMay 1291
Siege of Rhodes by the Knights HospitallersÉloi Firmin Féron13 August 1310
Defense of Rhodes against the Ottoman SultanGustaf Wappers1315
Naval battle won by the Knights Hospitallers; siege of the island of Escopia by the Ottoman TurksAugustus Mayer1323
Siege of Smyrna by the Knights of RhodesCharles-Alexandre Debacq28 October 1344
Naval battle won by the Knights Hospitallers; siege of the island of Escopia over the Ottoman TurksEugène Lepoittevin1347
The Knights Hospitallers reestablish religion in ArmeniaHenri Delaborde1347
Siege of the Citadel of JaffaÉdouard Girardet31 July 1191
The Marshal of Boucicault defends Constantinople against the sultan BajezetJean-Pierre Granger1402
Chapter of the Knights Hospitaller, convened at Rhodes by the Grand Master Fabrizio del Carretto to deliberate over the defense of the island against the TurksClaudius Jacquand1514
Boucicault, known as John of Meingre, Marshal of FranceAlexandre Laemlein
Philip III, called the Adventurous, King of FranceAlexandre Laemlein
John Bonpar of Lastic, Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of RhodesAlexandre Genet

Fifth room paintings

Gallery