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The Causes and Effects of the Crusades - Honors
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What were the Crusades?
The Crusades were holy wars fought between Christians in Europe and Muslims in the Middle East between 1095 and
1291. Although the main goal of the Crusades was to take control of Jerusalem away from the Muslims, there were many
reasons why European knights and others were willing to travel and fight a war in a foreign land.
Why were Europeans willing to fight the Crusades?
For centuries, Christian pilgrims traveled from Europe to Jerusalem. In the 11th century, however, the Seljuk Turks, who
were Muslim, began to interfere with these pilgrimages. In 1071, the Seljuk Turks fought against the Byzantine Empire at
the Battle of Manzikert. The Byzantines, who were Christian, lost. The Byzantine emperor asked the Christians in Europe
to help protect his empire from the Turks. In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a crusade against the Muslims to regain
control of Jerusalem.
Read the following list of reasons and decide whether the reason is religious, political, or economic. Then, put a letter next
to each reason: R (religious), P (political), and E (economic).
Religious, Political or
Reason
Economic?
The desire to take control of Jerusalem away from Muslims.
The belief that fighting in a crusade would give you forgiveness of sins.
The chance to travel and make money.
The desire to defend the Byzantine empire from the Turks.
The opportunity for younger sons of European nobles to get new land in the Middle
East.
The possibility of opening up new trade routes between Europe and the Middle East.
Take another look at the reasons why Europeans were willing to fight. Which one would have convinced you most to go
on a crusade? Why?
Timeline of the First Four Crusades
There were nine Crusades fought by European Christians against Muslims. The following chart summarizes the first four.
Crusades Years
Summary
First
10951099
At the urging of Pope Urban II in 1095, the First Crusade succeeded in taking Jerusalem and was the
most successful from the European point of view. When Jerusalem fell in 1099, crusaders massacred
Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Then the leaders divided up the land into territories, each
governed by a European feudal lord.
Second
11471149
The Second Crusade started when Europeans lost control of Edessa, territory that they had previously
controlled, to the Muslims. Led by King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany, the
Europeans failed to regain any land and the crusade was a failure from a European point of view.
11891192
The Third Crusade was a response to Jerusalem’s fall in 1187 to Salah al-Din (Saladin). Three great
armies from Europe were led by Richard the Lion-hearted of England, Philip II of France, and the
Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Europe’s greatest warrior. However, Frederick
accidentally drowned, the other two kings quarreled, and the whole crusade failed from a European
point of view.
12011204
Instead of going to Jerusalem, the Fourth Crusade went to the Byzantine Empire’s capital,
Constantinople, for various reasons. The European armies looted (robbed) the city and overthrew the
Byzantine emperor. The main outcomes of the Fourth Crusade were to deepen the division between
Greek and Latin Christianity and to hasten the Byzantine Empire’s decline.
Third
Fourth
1) Why did the first crusade begin? What happened in Jerusalem?
2) Why was the second crusade seen as a failure?
3) What was the purpose of the third crusade?
4) What made the fourth crusade different from the first three?
Effects of the Crusades
Read the following, after each section summarize 2 of the major ideas in the organizer.
Luxury Goods
Having experienced the luxuries of the East, many Europeans returned home with a desire to possess more of
the rich goods they had seen and brought back with them; rugs, silks, spices, camphor, musk, ivory, and pearls.
This desire made trade and commerce necessary. Hundreds of Italian merchants from Venice, Genoa, Pisa and
Naples settled in Asia Minor and set up trading stations. At these stations they could buy and ship home the new
articles, which Muslim caravans were bringing from China, India and the Spice Islands (Sri Lanka and
Indonesia). This trade was extremely profitable to the Italian merchants, who took advantage of the fact that
sailing vessels had been improved and made larger during the Crusades. For Europeans, this increased trade
was one of the important outcomes of the Crusades.
Feudalism Weakens The Crusades also weakened both feudalism and the manorial system of medieval
Europe. Many knights left their fiefs to fight in the Crusades, and many serfs were freed for service in the
crusader armies. As the powerful nobles became involved in wars outside of Europe, the kings of Europe
became more powerful. The Crusades also increased the use of money throughout Europe. A crusading knight
could not pay his expenses with sacks of grain and needed a simpler way to pay for goods. Although most of
these changes were slowly taking place as Europe became more stable, the Crusades helped to speed the process
up.
Political Changes in Europe and the East
Nearly 200 years of struggle between the crusaders produced important political changes in the Muslim world.
After the Fourth Crusade the Muslims won nearly all of Asia Minor. Zangi, Nural-Din, and Saladin drove the
Christians back to the coasts and wiped out almost all the gains of the First Crusade, but the Europeans retained
naval control of the Mediterranean and its islands, they established kingdoms in Sicily, Cyprus, Malta and
Rhodes from which they could trade with or raid the Muslims. Although a split between the Greek Orthodox
and Roman Catholic churches destroyed the last chance of a united Christian front against the Muslims, the
death of Saladin in 1193 led to political fragmentation in the united Muslims.
An Exchange of Ideas
Intellectually, the Crusades produced some positive results. Through the conflict over the Holy Land, Muslims
learned how to improve their defenses and build better protections, which would later influence the designs of
castles in Europe. Europeans also benefitted from the capture of parts of Spain in 1085 as it brought Europe into
closer contact with the rich accumulation of Muslim learning. A school of translators had been established
there, and Arabic works on science and philosophy were translated into Latin and circulated throughout leading
universities of Europe. The sophisticated urban culture of Muslims also instructed its Christian conquerors in
the planning and construction of cities, and the art of scholarship of the Muslim world extended its influence
deeply into Italy, contributing to the Renaissance.
Trade and Commerce
Another means of interchange took place in the form of trade and commerce between the Europeans and the
Muslims. All of the major seaports of the Mediterranean were inhabited by a wide variety of peoples, all
brought together in the interest of exchanging goods and services. In this manner, particularly in Genoa and
Venice, and exchange of languages took place. For example, the words sugar, syrup, cotton, admiral, magazine,
and many others came directly from Arabic. Also, dockside workers and sailors often passed their free time by
playing chess, which came to Europe through the Muslims. The introduction of paper led eventually to the
development of the printing press in Europe. The Muslim pointed arch led to the contribution of enormous
cathedrals with their vaulted ceilings. Also, Arabic themes began appearing in literature, as in Chaucer's The
Squire's Tale. The silks and spices of India and China were exchanged for furs, leather goods, and wood from
Europe. With such an enormous exchange of goods and ideas, the Muslims were able to create an advanced
civilization.
Luxury Goods
Feudalism Weakens
Political Changes in Europe and the
East
An Exchange of Ideas
Trade and Commerce