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The Crusades
Quick Overview of the RC Church
 The Roman Catholic Church was the main religion of
Western Europe during the Medieval period
 The RC Church had its own hierarchy separate from that of
the feudal system
 The RC Church influenced every aspect of daily life
 Government/Politics
 Education
 Morality
 Culture
The Papacy
 The decision made by the RC Church impacted everyone in
Medieval society - even the kings!
 The Pope was viewed as God’s representative on Earth
 If the Pope made a decision regarding anything, everyone had
to follow it – not doing so could get you excommunicated
 Use of “spirituality” and “faith” as a means of political and
economic gain
Crusades
 The crusades were holy wars – endorsed by the Pope
himself!
 Fought between European Christians and Middle Eastern
Muslims
 Often advertised to Christians as “pilgrimages” to the Holy
Land (Jerusalem).
 Pilgrimage: A journey to a geographical place with religious
significance – search for spirituality
 The First Crusade started in 1095CE when Pope Urban II
wanted access to Christian holy sites in the Middle East
The First Crusade
 The First Crusade started in 1095CE when Pope Urban II
wanted access to Christian holy sites in the Middle East
 Common people were so enthusiastic after the pope’s speech
that they headed out towards Jerusalem without the military
 They believed that they would be protected by God and
would not need weapons or have to do any fighting
 This group did not make it to Jerusalem and instead, attacked
Jews in Germany
 When the actual Crusade army left, they headed toward
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Jerusalem and fought with the Fatimid Caliphate
They were able to conquer the city
The Fatimids underestimated the number of Crusaders
coming and had their forces divided in another fight
The First Crusade was successful
European Christians set up small
kingdoms along the coast for ease
of travel.
The Second Crusade
 After the success of the Europeans of the First Crusade, the
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Fatimid Caliphate counter attacked the conquered cities
Could not take back Jerusalem, but took a nearby city, Edessa
People in Europe were unhappy with the capture of a city by
the Muslim Caliphate
The pope called for another Crusade to take back the lost
city
France and Germany agreed to go
Many soldiers died along the way
The Crusaders attacked Damascus but were unsuccessful
Third Crusade
 Muslim military leader Saladin was able to
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take over Jerusalem
Christians in Europe were unhappy again
Pope called for another Crusade
England, France and Germany headed for Jerusalem
King of Germany died along the way; his soldiers went home
England captured Cyprus, but from a Christian ruler and
made an enemy
France got frustrated after laying siege to a Acre and went
back
 France left England alone to attack Jerusalem
 England could not beat Saladin
 Saladin and England drafted a peace treaty that allowed access
to Jerusalem and promise not to attack each other
Fourth Crusade
 Pope, again, wanted access to Jerusalem and called for
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another Crusade
Kings in Europe mostly ignored the call to Crusade
France and England were at war with each other and did not
want to go
An army was raised and they set out for Jerusalem through
ports in Italy
Could not afford boats for all the men and equipment
Agreed to attack a Byzantine controlled port city as payment
 Crusaders ended up attacking, conquering and looting
Constantinople (the capital of the Byzantine Empire)
 The Pope was angry that the Crusaders attacked another
Christian kingdom instead of Jerusalem
Children’s Crusade
 After the 4th Crusade, two groups of children gathered
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supporters for another Crusade
One boy in France was able to gather 30,000 other children
to follow him on a Crusade against Jerusalem
They did not get support from the French king or the Pope
They got on boats to go to Jerusalem but were never seen
again
A second boy, from Germany, was about to gather supporters
to go ask the Pope if they could go on a Crusade
The Pope refused to support it because he was too young
Why Jerusalem?
 Important holy site to the Western religions; Judaism,
Christianity, Islam
 Jews – The place where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Isaac
 Christians – where Jesus was crucified
 Muslims – location of the Dome of the Rock
- Believed that the prophet Mohammed ascended to Heaven on
that site
Significance of the Crusades
 Exposed Europe to different culture, knowledge and
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technology
An example of the Pope’s influence over people and kings
An example of the importance of religion and holy sites in
Medieval European culture
Acted as a unifying cause for European kingdoms  all came
together as Christians to fight a common enemy
Major conflict between two cultural and religious groups