Download The Crusades

From: Calliope, 1990-11
Issue Theme: Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul
Subject: Ancient Civilizations, Religions, Asia, War, Middle East
Time Period: AD1000-1500: Medieval Times
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The Crusades
The Arab Muslims, who occupied Jerusalem and the Holy Land beginning in the seventh
century A.D., were tolerant of Christians, allowing them to live and worship freely there.
In the eleventh century A.D., the Seljuk Turks overran Asia Minor and the Holy Land.
Gradually, bands of Seljuk Turks spread northward, invading and seizing land belonging
to the Byzantine Empire. The emperor of Constantinople, Alexius I (1081–1118), sent
envoys to Rome asking Pope Urban II to send help.
The response was immediate and overwhelming. Thousands of devoted Christians joined
the First Crusade. Pope Urban encouraged the crusade because he hoped it would help
reunite the Byzantine Church in the East and the Roman Church in the West. Originally,
these two branches had been one church under the authority of the pope in Rome. They
had split in 1054 because of differences over the relationship of church and state and the
supremacy of the pope. In July 1099, the First Crusade accomplished its goal, as
Christians retook Jerusalem for a short time. After the Muslims recaptured the city, the
Second and Third crusades marched to the Holy Land. Neither was successful in
returning the Holy Land to Christian rule.
The Fourth Crusade set out in 1202. This time, the Crusaders traveled first to Venice,
Italy, where their leaders had agreed to pay Venetian merchants an enormous sum of
money to transport them across the Mediterranean Sea. While the Crusaders were in
Venice, the younger cousin of Alexius III, the emperor of Constantinople at the time,
petitioned the Crusaders to help him win the Byzantine throne in return for financial and
military aid. The Crusaders and the Venetians accepted the offer and set sail not to
recover the Holy Land, but to fight in Constantinople.
When Alexius's cousin could not afford to pay those who had helped his cause, rioting
broke out. In 1204, Constantinople, a city that had withstood attacks for centuries, fell
to the Crusaders.
In 1261, the Byzantines finally regained control of Constantinople. But while the city was
ruled by the Christians, they carried many of its exquisite treasures home to adorn and
enrich the cities and culture of the West.
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