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Summary of the Crusades THE FIRST CRUSADE The First Crusade began in the autumn of 1096. Armies made their way to Constantinople by land and sea, with between 30,000 and 100,000 present, although the exact numbers are uncertain. The armies were led by Raymond of Saint Gilles, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois and Bohemond of Taranto. A less organized band of knights and commoners set off before the others, under the command of the preacher known as Peter the Hermit. They were known as the ‘People’s Crusade’ (or first wave of crusaders) and were a popular movement that comprised largely inexperienced soldiers. Peter ignored the Byzantine Emperor Alexis’ advice to wait for the rest of the crusaders and crossed the Bosporus in early August where they were easily defeated. Alexis was reportedly displeased with the armies he found who consisted of untrained and undisciplined enthusiasts, including the clergy, women and children, instead of the trained soldiers he had requested. On 19th June Nicaea was seized from the Sultan and the crusaders continued their journey to the Promised Land. The journey was extremely difficult, proving to be a stark contrast to the conditions the crusaders were accustomed to in their homeland, leaving them hungry and thirsty as they made their way through the dry and barren Asian uplands. Many men and horses were lost along the way. Antioch was taken after an eight month siege in June 1098, leaving the Christian army able to approach Jerusalem. Having expected the Holy Land they had read about in the Bible, the crusaders were shocked by the reality of Jerusalem. The June of 1099 saw a five week siege of Jerusalem. The crusaders took over many cities along the Mediterranean coast on the way and built a large number of fortified castles for protection. Godfrey of Bouillon After the successful capture of Jerusalem much of the army went home leaving Godfrey of Bouillon, the chosen ruler, with only one or two thousand infantry men. THE SECOND CRUSADE The Second Crusade, which took place from 1147-1149, involved the French King Louis VII who led his army to the Holy Land. He was inspired to take the cross by the Cistercian monk Bernard of Clairvaux and was accompanied by his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine and joined by the German expedition of King Conrad III. This was the first time that Kings led Crusaders. Along their journey the Crusaders, in particular those from Germany, burned and pillaged farms, villages and even attacked a monastery, leading to an unpopular reception from the local people along the way. The armies suffered heavy losses and the crusade was deemed a failure largely due to a lack of communication between the two kings. This defeat had a negative effect in Europe, displayed in its economy, lack of recruits and internal turmoil. Furthermore Saladin now ruled the Egyptians, meaning that Syria and Egypt now surrounded the Crusaders, with the common enemy of the Christians uniting them. THE THIRD CRUSADE Philip Augustus of France, Richard the Lionheart of England and Frederick Barbarossa of Germany set out as leaders of the Third Crusade in 1187. They fought against the great leader Saladin, an interesting character who, when he saw Richard’s horse fall in battle, sent him a groom and two fresh horses, and then lost the battle himself. He also sent Richard snow from Mount Hermon to be used as drinking water, peaches and pears when he was ill. The crusade itself was seen as a moral failure with compromise as the result. Both sides had to be content with negotiations and the Holy City was opened to Christian pilgrims once again. Richard the Lionheart fighting Saladin THE FOURTH CRUSADE In 1198 Pope Innocent III promoted another expedition which came to be known as the Fourth Crusade and took place between 1202 and 1204. The crusaders had made a contract with the Venetians for transport to the Holy Land for 30,000 men and 4,500 horses but could not afford the service. As a compromise the Venetians offered a reduced price for the transport, if the Crusaders captured the rival commercial city of Zara in Dalmatia. The crusaders took Constantinople on 12th April 1204, with the following three day looting spree considered once of the most profitable and disgraceful in history. Monasteries, libraries and churches weren’t spared and thousands of treasures including art works and statues were taken. The Byzantine Empire never fully recovered. These actions led the Crusaders to become more despised than ever and because of this the Fifth Crusade was called for. THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE The 12 year old peasant boys Stephen from France and Nicholas from Germany led thousands of children on crusade in 1212. Stephen promised his followers that angels would follow them and the seas would divide but the reality provided a stark contrast. Few of the German children reached Palestine with many disappearing along the way. Even more horribly, the French group was intercepted by the Marseilles ship-owners known as Hugh the Iron and William the Pig. They offered free transport, which was unsurprisingly accepted and sold the children as slaves to Arab dealers in North Africa. THE FIFTH CRUSADE The Fifth Crusade was called for in 1213 by Pope Innocent III who appealed to regular Christian citizens, instead of the leaders who were fighting each other. Many did not want the possibility of another defeat following the failure of the Second, Third and Fourth crusades so Pope Innocent offered indulgences to those willing to fight. The Crusaders tried to regain the Holy Land by first conquering the Egyptian state of Ayyubid. The European armies consisted of that of Oliver of Cologne’s and William I, count of Holland’s. The Crusaders attacked an important Egyptian settlement called Damietta, succeeding in entering it after several months. They looted the city and moved on to Cairo which was their only obstacle before Jerusalem. The Egyptian leader waited for the Crusaders close to Damietta. They proceeded to attack and the size of their army caused the Egyptians to flee close to Cairo, next to the Nile. The Crusaders followed but suffering from a lack provisions, they eventually became trapped behind a flooded canal. As a result many Christian Crusaders marched home as the Egyptians attacked. The sultan of Egypt, Al-Kamil captured the remaining army, demanding to have Damietta back and ending the Fifth crusade. THE SIXTH CRUSADE The Sixth Crusade was paid for entirely from Holy Roman Empire funds as a result of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II feeling guilty for not leading the Fifth Crusade. Interestingly Frederick raised an army and sailed to Syria in 1228 without the Pope’s blessing. Due to the fact he had a smaller army than that of the Fifth Crusade Frederick decided the wisest option would be to march towards the sultan of Egypt, pretending to have a larger army, in the hope of gaining Jerusalem through diplomacy. This approach paid off and the sultan ceded Jerusalem in exchange of a ten year truce. Frederick marched into Jerusalem on 17th March 1229. The following crusades were similarly all led by single kingdoms as opposed to the combinations of nations that had characterized the early crusades. THE SEVENTH CRUSADE This crusade was led by Louis IX as a result of the loss of Jerusalem to the Moslems. The Crusaders focused on Egypt but as they waited until autumn to avoid fighting in the heat of summer, the Sultan was able to restore the effectiveness of his soldiers. The fighting took place surrounding the Ashmoun canal with the Battle of Mansura in February 1250 seeing Louis cross the river, although circumstances meant he was later forced to retreat. The battle of Fariskur in April 1250 saw the Egyptians break the French infantry and capture Louis. Louis was released after a ransom and then after attempting some diplomacy in Acre he returned to France, leaving the seventh crusade to be remembered as a failure for the French army. THE EIGHTH CRUSADE Louis XI tried his luck again on the eighth crusade after the Mamluks took Antioch and Jaffa in 1268. He decided to land in Tunis but his army was immediately surrounded by the Tunisian forces. Louis died the following month, leaving his brother Charles of Anjou to conclude a peace treaty and return to France. THE NINTH CRUSADE The Final Crusade was undertaken by the future Edward I of England. The year following his arrival in Acre, Edward was forced to enter negotiations with the Mamluk Sultan Baybars I who had ordered his assassination. After receiving news of the illness of Henry III, Edward returned to England and never visited the Holy Land again. In 1291 Acre fell leaving the Christians with no foothold in the Holy Land, ending the crusades.