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Anna Comnena
Anna, born in 1083, was the princess of the Byzantine Empire. When the Crusaders arrived in Constantinople, she had
mixed feelings about them. She respected them but at the same time feared and disliked them because she saw them as
unstable and dangerous and saw them as invaders. She respected the crusaders because they were helping protect the
Byzantine Empire from the Turks and she, like the crusaders was Christian.
Anna wrote “The Alexiad of the Princess Anna Comnena” which included her thoughts on the First Crusade. She wrote
about the Crusaders, “…when they piled up the corpses of the slaughtered men which were lying on either side they
formed, I say, not a very large hill or mound or a peak, but a high mountain…so great the pyramid of bones.”
Overall, Anna was suspicious of the Crusaders, she wondered if some were truly fighting for God or just for glory in
battle.
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Born in 1122, Eleanor married King Louis VI of France and became Queen. She then left Louis VI and married Henry II,
King of England. Eleanor was wealthy, well educated, and refused to spend her life as an obedient wife.
She proved her stubbornness by joining her first husband, Louis VI, on the Second Crusade. It was uncommon for women
to join men at war. This act encouraged many to join the Second Crusade and inspired people to support the cause of
the Crusaders.
Eleanor went on the Second Crusade to escape the boredom of being a royal wife. She wanted to find freedom and
excitement.
Eleazar ben Judah of Worms
Eleazar, was born around the year 1165 to a well-known German-Jewish family. He was personally affected by the Second
Crusade. He and all the Jews of Worms and the surrounding town were forced to escape from the invading Crusaders. In
1196, Crusaders invaded Eleazar’s home killing his wife, two daughters, and his son. He was badly hurt but survived.
He was devastated by the loss of his family.
The death of his family is the subject of a story and poem by Eleazar. He depended on his wife and loved her deeply.
During the Crusades, Jews did their best to defend themselves. They fought at their city gates, but remained
untrained and a weak force. Other Jews paid bishops for protection.
Eliezer ben Nathan
Eliezer was a Jewish poet and writer born around the year 1090. One of his writings, “The Persecutions of 1096,”
told about the violence of the Crusaders as they marched to Jerusalem. In this book, Eliezer described how the
Crusaders stole from the Jews, destroyed their homes, and murdered anyone who refused to convert to Christianity.
One of the most powerful sections of his “The Persecutions of 1096,” was the account of how Jews would kill their
children and themselves, rather than be forced to give up their religion and convert to Christianity or be killed by
Crusaders.
Eliezer’s “The Persecutions of 1096” is one of only three histories every written about the First Crusade.
King Richard I
Richard was born in England in 1157. He was the son of King Henry II of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Richard was known for his bravery and generosity, as well as his hot temper. Because of his reputation of bravery in
war, Richard was known to the English people as Richard the Lionheart.
Richard tried to raise money to start the Third Crusade. While he lacked money, he still started the Third Crusade to
recapture Jerusalem. By organizing the best equipment, the biggest ships, the most troops, and the most money,
Richard became the leading fighter in the Third Crusade.
Richard and his troops conquered Sicily and Cyprus and later the Muslim city of Acre. As a peace treaty took too long
to be created between Richard and Muslim leader Saladin, Richard ordered his Crusaders to kill all 2,700 in the city
of Acre.
His troops were exhausted from battling with Saladin. When he and his troops reached the city of Jerusalem, Richard
knew he could not capture the city. Richard turned around without ever seeing Jerusalem and headed back to England.
Richard was devoted to the Catholic Church and to the knightly ideals of courage and honor in battle.
He later signed a peace treaty with Saladin in 1192.
Saladin
Saladin was born in 1138 to a powerful Muslim family. He was a schoolboy in the city of Damascus when the Crusaders
attacked the city during the Second Crusades. He observed how important it was for Muslims to defend their religion
and themselves from the Crusaders. As a teenager he served in the Syrian army. He was well respected and successful
as a soldier.
His success in the military brought him honor and leadership positions. He rose to be commander of the Nur al-Din
army. At this time many groups of Muslims fighting against the Crusaders were not united. Sometimes Saladin even had
to fight other Muslim armies. Because Saladin was widely respected and known by many Islamic groups, he was able to
unify many of the Muslim armies.
Under the leadership of Saladin, the Muslim forces defeated one Crusader attack after the other. Unlike the Crusaders
who killed Muslims and Jews when they captured Jerusalem, Saladin was generous with the Christians who surrendered to
him.
It was largely due to the leadership of Saladin that he Crusaders failed to conquer Jerusalem during the Third
Crusade. Despite the pain and deaths the Muslims experienced by the Crusaders, Saladin spoke respectfully of Richard
the Lionheart. Saladin said that he “thought King Richard so pleasant [and] upright that if he had to lose Jerusalem
he ‘would rather have it taken into Richard’s might power’ than anyone else’s.”
He was considered to be a religious, sincere, and generous man who was devoted to Islam and the Muslim people.
Stephen of Blois
At the age of 50, Stephen, a Frenchman, took up arms to fight during the First Crusade. He was a well-respected man
and held great honor. Due to his success in battle he became the leader of the Crusader army. His was flooded with
wealth and fame.
But the terror of the Crusades became more difficult for Stephen to handle. He lost a lot of men as the leader of the
army. He once lost 500 men after a surprise attack from the Muslim army. After defeat began to weigh on him, he
abandoned his army and headed back to France to his wife. He dropped out of the Crusades and lost the honor he
recently gained. He was hated by many and was seen as a disappointment.
To earn his honor back, his wife convinced him to return to battle. He rejoined the army and fought in 1101-1102. He
died in battle at the Battle of Ramleh in 1102.
Usamah ibn-Munqidh
Usamah, born in 1095, was the son of a very famous and widely respected soldier for the Muslim army. He grew up to
become a poet, hunter, and warrior who defended the Holy Land from the Christians during the Crusades.
Usamah’s fought in battle after battle during the Second Crusades. He didn’t fear death nor felt sorry for himself
for the danger and injury he experienced during the war. Intensely devoted to Islam, he considered Christians and
Jews spiritually similar to Muslims because they all shared a belief in one God. While he compared the Crusaders to
animals, he was relatively tolerant of the Christians who lived among the Muslims in his home country of Syria.
Usamah did not fear death during battle because he felt deeply that he was fighting for a just cause—to save and
protect the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from the Crusaders.
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II was responsible for starting the Crusades. He called for the First Crusades and gathered a force of
30,000 Christians to take over Jerusalem. Pope Urban II feared the increasing power of the Muslim Turks surrounding
the Christian empire of Byzantine. Urban felt, as Pope, it was his responsibility to protect all of Christianity. In
an attempt to protect Christianity, Urban II saw a weakness in the Turkish empire so he decided to attack.
Pope Urban II was also threatened by Bishop Clement. Clement was power hungry and wanted to be Pope. Urban knew that
is he was able to unit all of Europe’s Christians in a holy war with himself as the spiritual leader, no one could
challenge his authority.
Urban II convinced Christians that if they fought and died in battle they would be sent to heaven and forgiven of
their sins.