The Crusades Myth and Romanticism For centuries, the crusades have been romanticized and mythologized in the Western world Crusaders were glorified in Europe where the people had little knowledge or understanding of what actually occurred In truth, the crusades had little real impact on the Islamic world their initial success was due to the divisions that existed in the region between Muslim rulers Modern Myth and Romanticism This myth has persisted into modern times Modern Western media depicts the crusades as an epic struggle between the Christian West and the Islamic East In the Muslim world today, the crusades have become a symbol of Western Imperialism and are far more significant now than they ever were one thousand years ago Background Europe in the 1000s Europe was emerging from the Early Middle Ages (Dark Ages) Violence was endemic Primogeniture the custom of the oldest son inheriting all of his father s property had begun and many of the younger sons of nobles had no future other than to fight Even nobles who had inherited land would fight their neighbors for more land kings were to weak to stop this Pope Urban II 1088 Urban II became Pope He believed that increasing the power of the church would bring stability to Europe The young knights of Europe needed to focus their aggression on a righteous cause He would have his cause in 1095 March 1095 an ambassador of the Byzantine Emperor requested the Pope s aid against the Seljuk Turks The Seljuk Turk Empire had been expanding since the 9th century and by the 11th century it was quickly taking land from the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia (modern- day Turkey) This request coupled with stories of pilgrims being attacked by Turks in the Holy Lands gave Urban his cause 1
Church of the Holy Sepulchre A Roman temple converted to a Christian church around 325 C.E. Christians believe this church contains both the mount where Jesus was crucified and his empty tomb The church has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries 1009 it was destroyed on the orders of the Fatimid caliph Al- Hakim as part of his suppression of Christian churches throughout Egypt and Palestine Christian Europe reacted in shock and a desire to liberate Jerusalem increased The Byzantine Empire negotiated with the next caliph, Ali az- Zahir, to rebuilt the church and construction would be complete in 1048 The perception in Europe of Christians being oppressed in the Holy Land remained The Council of Clermont Urban II convened a council in Clermont, France There he outlined the dangers of the Turks to the Christian World He called upon all Christians to defend Christendom Hundreds of knights and nobles volunteered for the Crusade, particularly those with no prospect of inheriting land God wills it! became the slogan of the crusaders Mobilization of the Crusades Urban travelled across Europe for the next nine months recruiting for the crusades Offered extraordinary inducements to the people: Exempted citizens from taxes Freed prisoners Death sentences were commuted in exchange for a life of service in Palestine Permitted serfs to leave their lord s land The Crusades Motivations Those who went on crusade did so for a variety of reasons: Many were deeply religious and truly inspired to liberate the land of Christ Peasants sought an escape from crushing poverty Fortune- seekers saw the crusade as an incredible opportunity Nobles second and third- born sons with no prospect of inheriting land Crusaders The origins of the word crusade comes from the Spanish word cruizado and the French word croisée which means to be marked with the cross Crusaders would wear a red cross to signify their intentions to go on crusade 2
Launching the First Crusade Goal of Crusades Primary goal was to assist the Byzantine Empire push back the Turks Secondary goal was to take Jerusalem The Holy Land away from Muslims Jerusalem was the site of the Jewish Holy Temple, also where Jesus was crucified, buried, and was to come again The Pope believed it was vital for Christians to control the city Peasants Crusade Filled with religious zeal, many peasants were unwilling to wait for the main crusade of knights and nobles Led by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless Eager to fight in the name of God Killed many German Jews on their march through Europe Were slaughtered by a Turkish army Knights Crusade Took longer to prepare their equipment and leave their estates Led by nobles, no kings went on the First Crusade ~35,000 strong Incredibly long and brutal journey, took three years before reaching Jerusalem Would set out from different parts of Europe before meeting in Constantinople and continuing on through Anatolia on route to Jerusalem Antioch Second only to Jerusalem in importance to the Crusaders The apostle Peter found the first Christian church in the city Was the gate- way to Syria and the rest of the Holy Land If the Crusaders didn t take it their supply line would be cut off The Turks were the rulers of the city but most of the inhabitants were Eastern Christians Crusaders took the city on June 3, 1098 Upon taking Antioch the Crusader leader Bohemond refused to turn it over to the Byzantines as the Crusaders had promised and crowned himself Prince of Antioch This fractured the alliance between the Crusaders and the Byzantine Empire and would have serious repercussions for both sides The leaders of the Crusaders settled in to rule their new Principalities, the soldiers grew restless as it seemed the Crusade to take Jerusalem had stalled Siege of Jerusalem 1099 June 7, 1099 - ~13,000 Crusaders reached the walls of Jerusalem far less than had set out on Crusade three years earlier June 15, 1099 the Crusaders went over the walls and slaughtered ~30,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem on their way to pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Crusaders would control Jerusalem for almost a century 3
Muslim Reaction Muslim refugees retreated to Baghdad and Damascus and demanded a force retake Jerusalem The Muslim world was divided and it would be many years before they would launch a counter attack Establishment of Christian Rule Most of the Crusaders returned to Europe after freeing Jerusalem, creating a manpower shortage The Church began recruiting campaigns to convince European families to move to the Holy Land Many pilgrims did set out for the conquered territories but were under constant threat of attack New monastic/military orders (warrior monks) such as the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar were established to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land Many European style castles were built in the conquered territories the most famous being Krak des Chevaliers in Syria Muslim Counterattack Imad ad- Din Zengi was a Turkic noble who, after years of conflicts with other Muslim rulers, would unite a Muslim army In 1144, Zengi retook the Christian s eastern- most outpost at al- Ruah and then Edessa Such developments would spur the Second Crusade The Second Crusade Launched in 1145 it would be led by King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany At Easter 1147 the Germans set out and the French followed at Pentecost Both armies were defeated by the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia before finally reaching Jerusalem Siege of Damascus July 1148 the Crusaders laid siege to Damascus Was a debacle and within five days the Crusader armies had to retreat to Jerusalem resulting in humiliation for Louis VII, Conrad III and King Baldwin III of Jerusalem The Second Crusade was a complete failure Saladin Ṣalāḥ ad- Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, known in the West as Saladin began his rise to power in Egypt during the 1160 s In 1175, Saladin, brought Egypt and Muslim Syria under one rule In 1185, he signed a four- year truce with the Crusader kingdoms but the Christians violated it by attacking a Muslim caravan and capturing Saladin s sister He declared a holy war against the Christians and made plans to retake Jerusalem 4
Battle of Hattin July 4, 1187 The new King of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, decided to ride out and face Saladin Saladin laid a trap knowing the Crusaders would run out of water and try to make for the Sea of Galilee (freshwater lake) Weak from dehydration, the Crusader army was annihilated removing the Christian ability to wage war in the Holy Land With the majority of the Christian forces killed or captured at this battle there were few Crusaders left to defend Christian towns and fortifications in the Holy Land Fifty- two were captured by Saladin s forces soon after the battle By late September 1187, Saladin had arrived at the gates of Jerusalem Siege of Jerusalem Sep. 20 Oct. 2, 1187 Ended when Balian of Ibelin surrendered the city Those citizens who could pay a ransom were allowed to leave There was no massacre of citizens as had happened when the Crusaders had taken the city a century earlier Saladin allowed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to remain in Christian control Third Crusade News of the fall of Jerusalem shocked Europe and enthusiasm for the crusades, which had waned after the failure of the Second Crusade, increased to its highest levels A third crusade was launched to re- take Jerusalem Known as the Kings Crusade as three massive European armies were led by: King Richard I of England King Philip II of France Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa Had been crowned Emperor by the pope in 1155 ruled over the largest area and biggest population of Europe Spent many years of his reign crushing resistance to his rule he was a battle- hardened general At the age of 70 he gathered upwards of 100,000 crusaders Saladin was gravely concerned In Anatolia Frederick drowned in a river and most of the Germans returned home Philip II Philip II, king of France, had set out along with the English army He became sick during the siege of Acre and left for home after the fall of the city Some suspect it was to attack Richard s lands in France while Richard was crusading in the Holy Lands 5
Richard I Lionheart This left Richard in charge of the Third Crusade It was at the siege of Acre where Richard leading from the front and in the thick of the battle was given the name Lionheart Massacre at Ayyadief Aug. 20, 1191 Richard had between 2,500 and 5,000 Muslim prisoners executed before the walls of Acre and in front of Saladin s army who tried in vain to rescue them This was done because ransom arrangements were not proceeding as quickly as Richard had wanted Saladin then executed all Christians captured in future battles Respect between Richard and Saladin Contemporary sources state that Richard and Saladin admired each other as military leaders There were multiple proposals of peace and even a potential marriage between Richard s sister and Saladin s brother religious differences made this an impossibility Saladin sent Richard his surgeon when the Lionheart fell ill Battles of the Third Crusade Richard and Saladin would fight over the Holy Land for months Richard won several battles, most notably the Battle of Arsuf, but was unable to achieve outright victory Upon reaching Jerusalem, Richard realized he did not have the strength to take the city End of the Third Crusade A treaty was negotiated with Saladin to allow Christians to visit Jerusalem Richard had succeeded in securing the coastal Crusader states of Acre, Tyre, and Jaffa Without recapturing Jerusalem, Christian Europe felt the Third Crusade was a failure The Islamic world was unsatisfied with Saladin s inability to drive the Crusaders from the Holy Land Richard returned to his kingdom to secure it and Saladin died within a few months of Richard s departure The Fourth Crusade The Third Crusade had failed and Jerusalem remained under Muslim control 1201 a Fourth Crusade was launched to retake the Holy Land yet again The Crusaders required passage on Venetian ships to take them to the Holy Land but they could not pay for that passage The Venetians convinced the Crusaders to attack the city of Zara in lieu of payment Zara had once been under Venetian control but was now held by the Christian king of Hungary 6
The Pope was furious that the Crusaders had attacked a Christian city and excommunicated the entire crusade 1204 the Crusaders reached Constantinople and attacked the city The city was plundered by the Crusaders and one of its leaders was made Emperor of a short- lived Latin Empire based in Constantinople The Byzantines, now based in the Empire of Nicaea, would retake Constantinople but this event marked a turning point in the Byzantine Empire from which it would not fully recover Only one- tenth of the knights who had set out on crusade would reach the Holy Land Later Crusades There would be five more crusades launched from Europe between 1213 and 1272 All would end in failure for the Christians The crusader zeal was no longer as strong in Europe Events in Europe forced most kings and lords to focus on the home front Effects of the Crusades Economic The crusades increased trade between Europe and the Middle East Many goods such as spices and textiles were brought to Europe on a larger scale Trade led to the increase in size of cities particularly in Italy and in the rise of the merchant class Political Thousands of knights and nobles that went on crusade were killed Their lands in Europe were re- acquired by the crown increasing the power of the king This political change undermined feudalism and with the rise in power of the king so rose the power of a new political entity the nation- state Social Europeans became more liberalized to new ideas and goods People wanted to travel outside their village and to see the wider world Most importantly the knowledge of science and philosophy of the East was brought to the West and would be one of the sparks of the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration 7