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What were the Crusades?
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns during the time of Medieval England
against the Muslims of the Middle East. In 1076, the Muslims had captured Jerusalem the most holy of holy places for Christians. Jesus had been born in nearby Bethlehem and
Jesus had spent most of his life in Jerusalem. He was crucified on Calvary Hill, also in
Jerusalem. There was no more important place on Earth than Jerusalem for a true
Christian which is why Christians called Jerusalem the "City of God".
However, Jerusalem was also extremely important for the Muslims as Muhammad, the
founder of the Muslim faith, had been there and there was great joy in the Muslim world
when Jerusalem was captured. A beautiful dome - called the Dome of the Rock - was
built on the rock where Muhammad was said to have sat and prayed and it was so holy
that no Muslim was allowed to tread on the rock or touch it when visiting the Dome.
Therefore the Christian fought to get Jerusalem back while the Muslims fought to keep
Jerusalem. These wars were to last nearly 200 years.
The First Crusade
The First Crusade played a very important part in Medieval England. The First Crusade
was an attempt to re-capture Jerusalem. After the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims in
1076, any Christian who wanted to pay a pilgrimage to the city faced a very hard time.
Muslim soldiers made life very difficult for the Christians and trying to get to Jerusalem
was filled with danger for a Christian. This greatly angered all Christians.
One Christian - called Alexius I of Constantinople - feared that his country might also fall
to the Muslims as it was very close to the territory captured by the Muslims.
Constantinople is in modern day Turkey. Alexius called on the pope - Urban II - to give
him help.
In 1095, Urban spoke to a great crown at Clermont in France. He called for a war against
the Muslims so that Jerusalem was regained for the Christian faith. In his speech he said:
"Christians, hasten to help your brothers in the East, for they are
being attacked. Arm for the rescue of Jerusalem under your captain
Christ. Wear his cross as your badge. If you are killed your sins will
be pardoned."
Those who volunteered to go to fight the Muslims cut out red crosses and sewed them on
their tunics. The French word "croix" means cross and the word changed to "croisades"
or crusades. The fight against the Muslims became a Holy War.
Many people did volunteer to fight on the First Crusade.
There were true Christians who wanted to reclaim Jerusalem for their belief and get the
Muslims out of the city. There were those who knew they had committed sin and that by
going on the Crusade they might be forgiven by God. They had also been told by the
pope that if they were killed, they would automatically go to heaven as they were fighting
for God. There were those who thought that they might get rich by taking the wealth that
they thought existed in Jerusalem. Any crusader could claim to be going on a pilgrimage
for God - pilgrims did not have to pay tax and they were protected by the Church.
A Crusader knight
The First Crusade had a very difficult journey getting to the Middle East. They could not
use the Mediterranean Sea as the Crusaders did not control the ports on the coast of the
Middle East. Therefore, they had to cross land. They traveled from France through Italy,
then Eastern Europe and then through what is now Turkey. They covered hundreds of
miles, through scorching heat and also deep snow in the mountain passes. The Crusaders
ran out of fresh water and according to a survivor of the First Crusade who wrote about
his experiences after his return, some were reduced to drinking their own urine, drinking
animal blood or water that had been in sewage. Food was bought from local people but at
very expensive prices. These men who were fighting for God were reduced to pillaging
and plunder in order to get food.
Disease was common especially as men were weakened by the journey and drinking dirty
water. Dysentery was common. Heat stroke also weakened many Crusaders. Disease and
fatigue affected rich and poor alike.
By 1097, nearly 10,000 people had gathered at Constantinople ready for the journey to
the Holy Land. There was no one person in charge of the First Crusade. Urban II had
made Bishop Adbenar the leader but he preferred to let others do the work and make
decisions. They were four separate proper Crusader armies in the First Crusade but also a
large number of smaller armies. However, there was no proper command structure and
with the problems of communications at that time, it is possible that a command structure
with one person in charge was an impossibility.
The first target of the Crusaders was the important fortress city of Nicaea. This
city was taken by the Crusaders without too much trouble as the man in charge
of it was away fighting!
The next target for the Crusaders was Antioch - a strongly protected Turkish city.
It took a seven month siege before the city fell. The next target was Jerusalem.
The attack and capture of Jerusalem started in the summer of 1099. Jerusalem
was well defended with high walls around it. The first attacks on the city were
not successful as the Crusaders were short of materials for building siege
machines. Once logs had arrived, two siege machines were built.
A monk called Fulcher was on the First Crusade. He wrote about the attack on
the Holy City and he can be treated as an eye-witness as to what took place.
Fulcher claimed that once the Crusaders had managed to get over the walls of
Jerusalem, the Muslim defenders there ran away. Fulcher claimed that the
Crusaders cut down anybody they could and that the streets of Jerusalem were
ankle deep in blood. The rest of the Crusaders got into the city when the gates
were opened. The slaughter continued and the Crusaders "killed whoever they
wished". Those Muslims who had their lives spared, had to go round and collect
the bodies before dumping them outside of the city because they stank so much.
The Muslims claimed afterwards that 70,000 people were killed and that the
Crusaders took whatever treasure they could from the Dome of the Rock.
The Crusader attack on Jerusalem - in the foreground is a siege castle
After the success of the Crusaders, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was created and
its first king was Godfrey of Bouillon who was elected by other crusaders. He
died in 1100 and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin of Boulogne.
The capture of Jerusalem did not end the Crusades as the Crusaders wanted to
get rid of the Muslims from the whole region and not just Jerusalem. This desire
led to the other crusades.
The Third Crusade
Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted are two names that tend to dominate the
Crusades. Both have gone down in Medieval history as great military leaders
though their impact was limited to the Third Crusade.
Saladin was a great Muslim leader. His real name was Salah al-Din Yusuf. He
united and lead the Muslim world and in 1187, he recaptured Jerusalem for the
Muslims after defeating the King of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin near the
Lake of Galilee. When his soldiers entered the city of Jerusalem, they were not
allowed to kill civilians, rob people or damage the city. The more successful
Saladin was, the more he was seen by the Muslims as being their natural leader.
The Christians of western Europe were stunned by the success of Saladin. The
pope, Gregory VIII, ordered another crusade immediately to regain the Holy City
for the Christians. This was the start of the Third Crusade. It was led by Richard I
(Richard the Lionhearted), Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany and King
Philip II of France. These were possibly the three most important men in Western
Europe - such was the importance of this crusade. It was to last from 1189 to
1192.
Frederick was drowned on his march across Europe. He was 70 years of age
and his death shocked his army and only a small part of it continued to the
Middle East.
Richard, Philip and their men traveled by boat. They stopped their journey in
modern day Sicily. In March 1191, Philip then sailed to the port of Acre which
was controlled by the Muslims. This was an important port to capture for the
Christians as it would allow them to easily land their ships and it was also the
nearest big port to Jerusalem. Acre was besieged. Philip's men were joined by
Richard's.
He had captured Cyprus first before moving on to Acre. The port could not cope
against such a force and in July 1191, it fell to the Christians. However, the siege
had had its impact on Philip - he was exhausted and left for France. Richard was
left by himself. While in control of Acre, the Christians massacred 2000 Muslim
soldiers who they had captured. Saladin had agreed to pay a ransom for them
but somehow there was a breakdown in the process of payment and Richard
ordered their execution.
Richard was determined to get to Jerusalem and he was prepared to take on
Saladin. The march south to Jerusalem was very difficult. The Crusaders kept as
near to the coast as possible to allow ships to supply them. It was also slightly
cooler with a coastal breeze. Regardless of this, the Christians suffered badly
from the heat and lack of fresh water. At night when the Crusaders tried to rest,
they were plagued by tarantulas. Their bites were poisonous and very painful.
Both sides fought at the Battle of Arsur in September 1191. Richard won but he
delayed his attack on Jerusalem as he knew that his army needed to rest. He
spent the winter of 1191 to 1192 in Jaffa where his army regained its strength.
Richard marched on Jerusalem in June 1192.
However, by now even Richard the Lionhearted was suffering. He had a fever
and appealed to his enemy Saladin to send him fresh water and fresh fruit.
Saladin did just this - sending frozen snow to the Crusaders to be used as water
and fresh fruit. Why would Saladin do this?
There are two reasons. First, Saladin was a strict Muslim. One of the main beliefs
of Islam is that Muslims should help those in need. Secondly, Saladin could send
his men into Richard's camp with the supplies and spy on what he had in terms
of soldiers, equipment etc.
What they found was that Richard only had 2,000 fit soldiers and 50 fit knights to
use in battle. With such a small force, Richard could not hope to take Jerusalem
even though he got near enough to see the Holy City. Richard organized a truce
with Saladin - pilgrims from the west would once again be allowed to visit
Jerusalem without being troubled by the Muslims. Neither Richard nor Saladin
particularly liked the truce but both sides were worn out and in October 1192,
Richard sailed for Western Europe never to return to the Holy Land.
However, for Richard the adventure was not over. On his journey back to
England, his ship got wrecked in a storm. He found that he had to travel through
Austria. This country was owned by a sworn enemy of Richard - Duke Leopold of
Austria. Leopold had originally been a leading member of the Third Crusade but
he had been ridiculed by Richard who did nothing to stop his men making fun out
of Leopold. They called him "the sponge" because he drank so much and was
drunk too often! Leopold had lost a lot of prestige and now he had a chance to
avenge himself. Richard was betrayed to Leopold who held him captive for two
years until a ransom was paid for him. Richard arrived home in 1194.
Richard was known as the "Lionheart" by his people. Even the Muslims praised
him. The Muslim writer Baha wrote about Richard while the Third Crusade was
going on:
"......a very powerful man of great courage........a king of wisdom, courage and
energy.....brave and clever."