Download The Crusades - Living in Medieval Europe

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Monasteries lead religious revival
Problems in the church: illiterate
priests, corrupt and greedy popes
and bishops, priest marriage,
simony, lay investiture
Church reform: led by Pope Leo IX
and Gregory VII, enforced church
laws, restructured church to
resemble a kingdom (with the
pope as “king”)
• Popes establish authority
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New religious orders: Friars,
Dominicans, Francis of Assisi & the
Franciscan order
• Help the poor
• Live humbly
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New Gothic-style churches
P R I M A RY S O U R C E
“Come then, with all your people and give battle
with all your strength, so that all this treasure
shall not fall into the hands of the Turks. . . .
Therefore act while there is still time lest the
kingdom of the Christians shall vanish from your
sight and, what is more important, the Holy
Sepulchre [the tomb where Jesus was buried]
shall vanish. And in your coming you will find
your reward in heaven, and if you do not come,
God will condemn you.”
EMPEROR ALEXIUS COMNENUS, quoted in
The Dream and the Tomb by Robert Payne
 1093
– Byzantine emperor, Alexius
Comnenus sends letter to Robert, Count
of Flanders, asking for help against
Muslim Turks who threatened to conquer
his land
 Pope Urban II reads the letter and calls
for a “holy war” to gain control of the
Holy Land, or Crusade
 In the next 300 years, numerous
Crusades are launched.
 Economic
 Social
 Political
 Religious
 Emperor
wants to protect his land Muslims controlled Palestine (Holy Land)
and threatened Constantinople
 Pope helps the emperor because he
wants to reclaim Palestine from the
Muslims (site of Jerusalem, the holy city)
 Way
to keep the
knights under control
– sending them off to
get rid of fighting
within the kingdoms
and church property
 Younger sons who
didn’t inherit father’s
property went for
land, a position in
society, or adventure
 Merchants
profit by making cash loans
to finance the journey, leased ships to
transport armies
 Merchants hoped to gain key trade
routes to the East from Muslim traders
 Crusaders pillaged and looted along
their journey and once they arrived to
the Holy City
 Enrichment and building of cities
 Knights
were promised glory,
forgiveness, and heaven by the Pope
 “Holy War” – the Crusaders want to
reclaim land from non-Christians and
spread Christianity
Outpouring of religious feeling and support for
the Crusade after Pope Urban makes the call
 1097 – armies made of all classes gathered
outside of Constantinople
 Armies are ill-prepared, lack resources or
training, didn’t know the geography, culture,
climate of Holy Land, no plans
 Less than ¼ of the original army approaches
Jerusalem and captures it after a month of attacks
 1144 – Edessa is reconquered by Turks
 2nd Crusade – attempt to reconquer Edessa
 Meanwhile, Jerusalem is captured by
Muslim/Kurdish leader, Saladin
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Led by 3 powerful monarchs: Philip
II of France, Frederick I
(Barbarossa) of Germany, Richard
the Lion-Hearted of England.
Philip argued with Richard and
went home
Barbarossa drowned on the way
Richard led crusaders to regain
Jerusalem against Saladin
Led to a truce in 1192
Jerusalem remained under Muslim
control, but Saladin promised that
unarmed Christian pilgrims can
still visit holy lands
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Crusade spirit declines  More
crusades, but they fail
Demonstrated power of the Church
Lots of death and lives lost (of
soldiers and civilians)
Expanded trade between Europe
and Southwest Asia
Failure of later crusades weaken
power of pope
Weakened power of feudal
nobility, increased power of kings
Constantinople fell, weakening
Byzantine Empire
Muslims were treated with
intolerance and prejudice by
Christians in Holy Land
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Were the Crusades successful? Why or
why not?
Were the reasons for fighting in the
Crusades justified or not? Why or why not?
Should the Church be involved in nonreligious affairs?
Think about how the perspectives of the
Muslims vs. Christians might be similar
and/or different.