Download The Crusades: Holy Wars or Barbarous Blasphemy?

The Crusades:
Holy Wars
or
Barbarous Blasphemy?
Theme: Mixed reasons for
and mixed results of warfare
Decline of Byzantium
• In 1071, Muslim
Seljuks won an
important victory at
Manzikert
• Byzantine factions then
turned on each other in
civil war, allowing the
Seljuks almost free rein
in Anatolia
• The Byzantine
Emperor asked Pope
Urban II to help him
against the Muslims
Pope Urban II
• Urban responded to
Byzantium’s request with
a rousing speech in
Clermont, France in 1095
in which he called upon
Christians to “Enter upon
the road to the Holy
Sepulcher; wrest that
land from the wicked
race, and subject it to
yourselves…”
• Urban’s speech would
help launch the first of
several Crusades
Reasons for the Crusades
• The Pope hoped to
unite the entire eastern
Mediterranean and the
divided Christian faith
under the banner of
the Latin Church
• Italian city-states, with
their large navies,
hoped for commercial
gains and were
therefore keen
supporters of the
Crusades
Reasons for the Crusades
• The Byzantine Empire
was in severe decline and
no longer could act as a
buffer between the
Muslim East and the
Catholic West
• Christian pilgrims visiting
the holy sites in
Jerusalem began
experiencing increased
harassment and danger
“A pilgrim camp near Jericho”
by David Roberts
A New Concept of War
• Augustine’s Just War
Theory
– Waged under the auspices
of the state
– Vindication of justice
(defense of life and
property)
– Restrained conduct with
regard to the enemy, noncombatants, and prisoners
• The Crusades
– At behest of the Pope, but
under operational control of
the kings
– Defense of the faith
– No restraint in dealing with
the infidel
• The change was justified
based on the Biblical
accounts of the conquest
of Canaan by Joshua
Mobilization of the Crusades
• Pope Urban traveled to various cities for nine months
preaching the Crusade and offering extraordinary
inducements to include a plenary indulgence remitting all
punishments due to sin for those who died on the
Crusade
• Serfs were allowed to leave the land to which they were
bound
• Citizens were exempted from taxes
• Debtors were given a moratorium on interest
• Prisoners were freed and death sentences were
commuted by a bold extension of Papal authority to life
service in Palestine
Result
You can be a knight AND go on pilgrimage!
AND recover the Holy Land, where Jesus
lived! AND make it safe for other pilgrims!
AND, moreover, be forgiven of sins!!
Plus, quite simply, "Dieux Le Volt!"
 sense that “God wills it.”
Still, “the role of pious idealism in the
decision to crusade does not mean that all
(or any) crusaders were saints, or that
they were very saintly in their daily
conduct on the march. It also does not
preclude the presence of other motives.”
The Crusaders
• The variety of motivations resulted
in a varied assembly
–
–
–
–
Men tired of hopeless poverty
Adventurers seeking action
Merchants looking for new markets
Lords whose enlisting serfs had left
them “labor-less”
– Sincerely religious individuals
wanting to rescue the land of Christ
Moreover, all of this probably would have
meant little if, in fact, the first Crusaders
had failed.
They take Jerusalem in July 1099.
Bloodbath ensues and the “Crusader
states” set up.
Now can believe God must have willed it
because they succeeded. Movement
takes on its own momentum, becoming
better organized and financed.
The First Crusade
• The word “crusade”
comes from the
Spanish cruzade
which means “marked
with the cross”
– Crusaders wore red
crosses on their
chests to symbolize
their purpose
The First Crusade
• Urban had appointed August
1096 as the time of
departure, but many of the
impatient peasants, who
were among the first
recruits, could not wait
• Led by such personalities as
Peter the Hermit and Walter
the Penniless, they set out
in three groups and quickly
devolved into disorder,
hunger, and ill-discipline
• They were all but annihilated
by a force of Turks at Nicea
“Alexius Comnenus, Emperor
of the East, receives Peter the
Hermit at Constantinople,
August 1096”
by Gillot Saint-Evre
The First Crusade
• The more organized
Crusaders, under the
divided leadership of
various feudal leaders,
moved by various routes
to Constantinople
• There the Emperor
Alexius gave them
provisions and bribes in
exchange for a pledge of
fealty
– Alexius was somewhat
afraid the Crusaders
had designs on
Constantinople as well
as Jerusalem
Duke Godfrey of Bouillon was
among the most brave, pious,
competent, and fanatical of the
First Crusade leaders
The First Crusade
• The First Crusaders met
an even more divided
Muslim force and won
victories at Nicea on June
19, 1097 and Antioch on
June 3, 1098
• By June 7, 1099, after a
three year campaign,
12,000 of the original
30,000 Crusaders
reached Jerusalem
Siege of Antioch
The First Crusade
• On July 15 the
Crusaders went over
the city walls and
unleashed unbridled
carnage
– Blood reportedly ran
knee-deep
– 70,000 Muslims were
slaughtered
– Jews were herded into
a synagogue and
burned alive
The First Crusade
•
•
•
•
Administrative rule of Jerusalem
proved problematic
Eventually the kingdom was
parceled into practically
independent fiefs and barons
assumed all ownership of land,
reducing the former owners to the
condition of serfs
The kingdom was further weakened
by the ceding of several ports to the
Italian city-states in exchange for
naval support and seaborne
supplies
The native Christian population
came to look back on the era of
Muslim rule as a golden age
Godfrey served as the
first ruler of Jerusalem
Knights
• The establishment of new
orders of military monks
partially offset these
weaknesses
• The Knights of the Hospital of
Saint John and the Knights
Templar began by protecting
and nursing pilgrims but
gravitated to active attacks on
Muslim strongholds
• Both orders would come to play
prominent roles in the battles of
the Crusades and earned great
reputations as warriors
Seal of the Knights
Templar
Muslim Counterattack
• Most of the Crusaders
returned to Europe after
freeing Jerusalem, creating a
manpower shortage
• Muslim refugees retreated to
Baghdad and demanded a
force retake Jerusalem
• In 1144, Muslims under Zangi
retook the Christian’s
eastern-most outpost at alRuah and then Edessa
• Such developments would
spur the Second Crusade
The Second Crusade
• St. Bernard appealed to
Pope Eugenius II to call for
another Crusade, but
Eugenius begged Bernard to
undertake the task himself
• Bernard persuaded King
Louis VII of France and then
Emperor Conrad III of
Germany to accept the
Crusade
• At Easter 1147 the Germans
set out and the French
followed at Pentecost
Conrad approaching
Constantinople
The Second Crusade
• This time the Muslims were ready:
– At Dorylaeum, the Germans were defeated so badly that barely
one in ten Christians survived
– At Attalia, nearly every Frenchman was slaughtered
• Eventually the Crusaders joined forces and lay siege to
Damascus but were soundly defeated
The Second Crusade
• News of the defeat of the Second Crusade
shocked Europe
– Christians wondered how God could allow them to be
so humiliated by the infidel
– Bernard explained that the defeat must be
punishment for sins
– Enthusiasm for the Crusades waned rapidly
• While the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem continued
to be torn by internal strife, its Muslim enemies
were moving toward unity
Saladin
• In 1175, Saladin brought Egypt
and Muslim Syria under one
rule
• In 1185, he signed a four-year
truce with the Latin kingdom
but the Christians violated it by
attacking a Muslim caravan
and capturing Saladin’s sister
• He declared a holy war against
the Christians and captured
Jerusalem in 1187
– His terms were much more
generous than those of the
Crusaders in 1099
Saladin: one of the few
Crusade personalities
generally described
favorably by both Eastern
and Western sources
The Third Crusade “All-Stars”
Philip Augustus II
(France)
Richard I “the
Lionheart” (England)
Frederick I “Barbarossa”
(Holy Roman Empire)
The Third Crusade
• The Christians were
able to retain Tyre,
Antioch, and Tripoli
and the Italian fleets
still controlled the
Mediterranean
• William, Archbishop
of Tyre, returned to
Europe to call for a
Crusade
• Frederick Barbarossa
of Germany set out
with his army in 1189
but had little success
“March of the Crusaders” by
George Inness
The Third Crusade
•
•
•
Then Richard I the Lion
Heart of England took up the
cause and took Philip
Augustus, the French king,
with him to ensure the
French didn’t encroach on
English territory in his
absence
The Christians captured
Acre and an ill Philip
Augustus returned to
France, leaving Richard in
sole charge of the Third
Crusade
Still Richard would face
divisions as the German
troops returned to Germany
and French troops
repeatedly disobeyed orders
The Third Crusade
• Richard and Saladin embarked on a “unique
campaign in which blows and battles alternated with
compliments and courtesies” (Durant, 599)
• The two executed enemy prisoners they held
• Richard proposed his sister marry Saladin’s brother
• They signed peace treaties then rejected them
• Richard conferred knighthood on the son of a Muslim
ambassador
• Richard got sick and Saladin sent him his own
physician and some fruit
• Saladin saw Richard un-mounted in battle and sent
him a horse
The Third Crusade
• In the end Richard and Saladin
signed a peace for three years
beginning Sept 2, 1192
– Richard would keep the coastal
cities he had captured from Acre
to Jaffa
– Muslims and Christians could
pass freely into and from each
other’s territory
– Pilgrims would be protected in
Jerusalem
– But… Jerusalem would remain in
Muslim hands
The Third Crusade
• Richard had possessed superior brilliance, courage, and
knowledge of the military art, but Saladin’s moderation,
patience, and justice had carried the day
• The relative unity and fidelity of the Muslims had once
again triumphed over the Christians’ divisions and
disloyalties
The Fourth Crusade
• Acre was free but Jerusalem was still in Muslim hands
• Europe was in turmoil with problems such as renewed
fighting between France and England, but the death of
Saladin and the breakup of his empire renewed hope for
another Crusade
• In exchange for its financial support, Venice exacted a
promise that the Crusaders would capture the important
port of Zara and turn it over to her
– Zara belonged to Hungary and was stiff competition
to Venice’s maritime trade
– Pope Innocent III denounced the scheme but to no
avail
– The Fourth Crusade would be marked by avarice
The Fourth Crusade
• Part of the avarice was
the temptation to capture
Constantinople which had
derived much profit from
the Crusades
• Seizing Constantinople
would not only provide
financial benefit, it would
also restore it to the
Western Church
• In 1204 the Crusaders
captured and looted
Constantinople
The Fourth Crusade
• The Byzantine Empire was divided into feudal
dominions, each ruled by a Latin noble
• Most Crusaders returned home, perhaps
thinking that by securing Constantinople they
now had a stronger base against the Muslims
• Only a handful continued to Palestine and had
no effect there
• The Byzantine Empire never recovered and the
Latin capture of Constantinople served to
prepare it for capture by the Turks two centuries
later
Collapse of the Crusades
• The scandal of the
Fourth Crusade and the
failure of the Third
quenched the greater
fire for Crusades but
several half-hearted
efforts would continue
until 1291
• In 1291, the Muslims
seized Acre
• Tyre, Sidon, Haifa, and
Beirut fell soon
afterward
Among the ineffective latter
crusades was the “Children’s
Crusade” of 1212 in which
thousands of children ended up
drowning or being sold into slavery
Crusades and the Principles of War
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Maneuver
Mass
Surprise
Security
Objective
Economy of Force
Offensive
Unity of Command
Simplicity
The Crusades and the Principles of War
• Maneuver
– Very limited. Heavy reliance on sieges.
• Mass
– The Germans and French advanced separately on the Second
Crusade and were each defeated at Dorylaeum and Attalia,
respectively
• Surprise
– The Second Crusade advanced along the same route as the
First Crusade and the Muslims were ready for them
• Objective
– The Crusades meant different things to different people and the
various objectives often worked at cross-purposes such as the
economic motivations of the Italian city-states
The Crusades and the Principles of War
• Economy of force
– ????
• Offensive
– The Christians relative military, economic, and
political power allowed them to take the offensive, but
extended distances made the offensive difficult to
sustain
• Unity of command
– The Crusaders seldom achieved this, such as in the
Third Crusade when French troops refused to obey
Richard’s orders
• Simplicity
– Motley crew of Crusaders required simple tactics
Results of the Crusades
• Failures
– Jerusalem was in Muslim hands
– Christian pilgrims became fewer and more fearful
than ever
– The Muslim powers, once tolerant of religious
diversity, had been made intolerant by attack
– The effort of the popes to bring peace and unity to
Europe had been thwarted by nationalistic ambitions,
avarice, and internal dissension
– The influence of the Catholic Church and the position
of the pope declined and the schism between the
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church
widened
Results of the Crusades
• Failures
– Muslim civilization had been victorious over Christian
civilization
– Indigenous eastern Christians were caught in the
middle between Crusaders and Muslims, and many
who were outraged by the excesses of the Crusaders
or who wanted to avoid persecution by Muslim
leaders who saw them as collaborators with the
Crusaders converted to Islam
• In fact, the Crusades ironically proved instrumental
in making the eastern Mediterranean
predominantly Muslim
Results of the Crusades
• Successes
– Serfs had used the Crusades to leave their
lands and many found new opportunities
– The Turkish capture of Constantinople was
delayed until 1453
– The Muslims, even though victorious, had
themselves been weakened, and fell more
easily when the Mongols attacked
– Trade and exploration were enhanced
Trade
• Italian traders obviously
benefited from supplying the
Crusades while they were
going on, but they also saw
an opportunity to expand
their market by establishing
direct trade with the Muslim
world
• The lucrative trade provided
great profit to the Italian citystates and ultimately
provided the economic basis
for the Italian Renaissance
Lorenzo de Medici was part of a
family that ruled Florence and
served as bankers for the
Crusades and patrons of the
Renaissance
Trade
• The most important trade
item were spices
– Other items included
cotton, linen, dates, coral,
pearls, porcelain, silk, and
metal goods
• Damascus was a key
center for industry and
commerce and a stopping
point for pilgrims on their
way to Mecca
Egyptian scarf or garment
fragment ca 1395
Trade
• European Christians also became exposed to new ideas
as they traveled throughout the Mediterranean basin
– The works of Aristotle
– Islamic science and astronomy
– “Arabic” numerals which the Muslims had borrowed
from India
– Techniques for paper production which the Moslems
had learned from China
• While the Crusades may have largely failed as military
adventures, they helped encourage the reintegration of
western Europe into the larger economy of the western
hemisphere
Effects of Crusades
 Fatal weakening of Byzantine Empire
 Vast increase in cultural horizons for many
Europeans.
 Stimulated Mediterranean trade.
 Need to transfer large sums of money for
troops and supplies led to development of
banking techniques.
 Rise of heraldic emblems, coats of arms
 Romantic and imaginative literature.
Effects of Crusades
 Knowledge introduced to Europe
 Heavy stone masonry, construction of
castles and stone churches.
 Siege technology, tunneling, sapping.
 Muslim minarets adopted as church spires
 Weakening of nobility, rise of merchant
classes
 Enrichment was primarily from East to
West – Europe had little to give in
return.
The Reconquista of Spain
• The Christians did have
better success wresting
Sicily and Spain from the
Muslims in actions separate
from the Crusades
• Sicily was regained
relatively easily
– Muslims had conquered it in
the 9th Century but in the
1090, after about 20 years of
fighting, Norman warriors
returned it to Christian hands
• Spain would be a bit more
of a challenge
The Reconquista of Spain
• Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th
Century and ruled all but small Christian states such as
Catalonia
• In the 1060s Christians began attacking outward from
these toeholds
The Reconquista of Spain
• By 1150 Christians had recaptured Lisbon and controlled
over half the peninsula
• These successes lured reinforcements from England and
France and a new round of campaigning in the 13th
Century brought all but Granada into Christian hands
• In 1492, Christian forces conquered Granada and the
Reconquista was complete
Immediate Impact of the
Reconquista
• After the successful
Reconquista, the
devoutly Christian rulers
of Spain and Portugal
were eager to dominate
the Islamic states in
North Africa and to
convert non-Christians
• The desire to spread
Christianity would be
one of the motives for
the European
explorations
1492 was the year of both the
completion of the Reconquista and
Columbus’ voyage to the New
World
Relevance of the Crusades Today
•
•
•
•
Just days after the September 11,
2001 attacks, President Bush
declared, “This crusade, this war on
terrorism is going to take a while.”
Bush’s word choice caused significant
controversy, especially in Europe and
Arab countries
Later White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer explained, “I think to the
degree that that word has any
connotations that would upset any of
our partners or anybody else in the
world, the president would regret if
anything like that was conveyed. But
the purpose of his conveying it is in
the traditional English sense of the
word, it's a broad cause.”
Why the fuss?
The Crusades: Summary
• Islam and Feudal Christianity collided in a series of four
“Crusades” in the 12th and 13th centuries.
• The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II in 1095 in
response to a call for help from the Byzantine emperor.
• Noblemen flocked to the Pope’s appeal, but of the four
Crusades, only the first was successful in its goal of
taking Jerusalem.
• The Third Crusade was famous for the three European
kings who personally volunteered to go on it.
• Eventually the Crusades failed and the “Crusader States”
were re-taken by Muslim forces.
• However, the impact of the Crusades lived on in
poisoned relations between Christians and Muslims and
increased trade and cultural exchange between East and
West.