Download The Second Crusade

Directions: Each group will be given a topic by the teacher. Each group will then
read their topic sheet below and fill out this form completely. Each group will also
create a fully developed poster to be displayed with all your information clearly
labeled. Finally finish off your poster with large, stunning descriptive pictures that
you drew, which goes along with your topic….
Poster Title: The_______________________________________________
Who or Whom:
Major Events:
Results Your Crusade:
When and Where:
Why:
The Quest for the Holy Land
The Children’s Crusade
First Crusade: The Peasants
The Second Crusade
(1147-1149)
This was the situation in the summer of 1148 when the armies of the Second Crusade began arriving
in Jerusalem. Nuradin was in the north, but could come south if needed. Unur of Damascus was
trying to be the ally both of Nuradin and of Jerusalem. One faction of the Palestinian barons wished
to keep the Damascus alliance, arguing that now was not the time to break it; another faction,
though, argued that now was exactly the right time because of the presence of the Second Crusade.
The failure of the Second Crusade is recounted elsewhere. The young king had staked his reputation
on the attack, but its failure was blamed more on the newcomers than on the locals. The German
king Conrad went home almost immediately. King Louis stayed around for a few months, but by
1149 the Second Crusade was gone, having accomplished nothing. Even the attack on Damascus had
not completely severed the link between it and Jerusalem.
Events were now increasingly dominated by Nuradin. In 1149 he defeated and killed Raymond of
Antioch. In 1150, he defeated and captured Joscelin of Edessa, whom he blinded and kept prisoner
until his death ten years later. King Baldwin hurried to Antioch's rescue and managed to save the city
itself, but all of the Antiochene fortresses and towns were now in Muslim hands. Joscelin's widow
held out at Turbessel and King Baldwin marched to her rescue. She sold the remaining Edessan
fortresses (six of them) to Emperor Manuel and withdrew to Antioch, King Baldwin providing
protection.
Results of the Second Crusade
King Conrad went home almost immediately. He had political trouble at home to tend to, and there
seemed to be nothing further he could do. King Louis stayed longer. He took part in some desultory
fighting, and stayed long enough to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem in 1149. Then he, too, went home.
Almost none of the Crusader knights remained in the Holy Land.
The Second Crusade was an enormous undertaking. There had been crusades in Spain, activity in
Portugal, and a crusade against the Slavs in Germany, all in addition to the main expedition to
Palestine. Only the un-planned capture of Lisbon yielded any permanent gains. Kings had raised
armies for this. The Church had called upon all its resource, put one of its greatest preachers in the
field, and had staked its reputation on the outcome.
When the pitiable results were known, there was a widespread reaction against crusading as a largescale movement. There were recriminations for everyone, but in truth no one really understood why
there had been so much activity for so little result. But they were sure they did not want to go to such
lengths again.
Over the next forty years, then, there were no more crusades and few calls for one. The armed
pilgrimage had not lost its allure, nor the promise of remission of sins. But now, crusaders went in
small bands, led by local nobles on their own initiative. Over and over, representatives came from
Jerusalem to beg for large armies. What they got was an army from Brabant here, a fleet from Pisa
there, and little more. Nothing coordinated and nothing on the scale needed.
Ironically, "crusading" had become what it was in theory: a pilgrimage of arms. Bands of people
came to Jerusalem in order to visit the holy places and to do battle with the infidel, and then to return
home again. Once in a while, someone came looking to enter the Templar’s, or to marry into the
local nobility, but most visited for a season & then left. The Palestinian barons came to understand
that they must survive largely on their own resources and through alliances with local powers.
Third Crusade: The Kings
Fourth Crusade: The
Sack of Constantinople
The Crusades
Date
Years
Holy
Quest
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Children’s
Leaders
2 Events
Results