Download The Crusades

The Quest for the Holy Land
The Crusades were a
series of eight Christian
military expeditions from
western Europe
conducted between 1096
and 1270 to recapture
Palestine, and the holy
city of Jerusalem.
The word “crusade” comes from the Latin word crux,
meaning cross. “to take up the cross” meant to became
a crusader. Christians sewed symbols of the cross onto
their clothing before going into battle.
Jerusalem is the destination of pilgrimages for
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as well as cultural
mother-figure and eternal spiritual honor.
The Jewish claim to Jerusalem uses the Torah.
It was to Jerusalem that King David brought the
ark containing the original Torah.
It is the site where the Messiah will appear on the
Day to End All Days.
At this time all dead Jews will crawl through
tunnels in the earth and return to Jerusalem.
For Christians, Jerusalem is the site of Jesus’ life and
preaching, as well as his death, reappearance before
ascending to heaven and resurrection.
The city was home to the original cross and sacred
stone of Christ’s tomb. It remains the home of sacred
shrines to the Holy Sepulchre.
According to the Qur’an, both Jews and Arabs are
descendants of Abraham.
God’s decree of giving the Holy Land to Abraham is
meant equally for the Arabs, who became the first
Muslims. In addition, Jerusalem is the site of
Muhammad’s ascending into heaven to meet God.
Pope Urban II called for the First The First (or Peasants’)
Crusade
Crusade in 1095. His call motivated
over 30,000 European Christians to
take the cross.
One reason was he felt he had the
responsibility to protect all
Christians from the threat of the
increasingly powerful Muslim
Turks.
Another reason was that he
knew if he were able to unite all
of Europe’s Christian population in a holy war with
himself as leader, Bishop Clement could not challenge
his authority.
France in the late 11th century was too small and poor
for so many people. The French ruling class looked for
new opportunities in the Holy Land, hoping to add to
their fortunes.
For both knights and peasants, the Crusade offered the
hope of adventure.
Knights had no place to perform the activity for which
they were trained (fighting and killing). Since the Pope
declared Jerusalem to be the fief of God, it became
every knight’s duty to defend the holy city.
For peasants, the crusade provided a chance to escape
from their lords who ruled their existence. All serfs who
took the cross were released from their obligations to
stay on the land and pay rent to their lord.
The most popular motivation was to rid Jerusalem of the
Seljuk Turks who posed a danger to Christian pilgrims from
Europe.
All Christians who took the cross and fought for the Holy land
were promised forgiveness of past sins. Christians of all
classes answered Pope Urban’s call. Women and children
went with their husbands and fathers. Peter the Hermit
managed to attract peasant followers with his eloquent
speaking and religious preaching.
The long and difficult journey involved many months of
traveling through unfamiliar territory. The knights dressed to
fight, wearing coats of chain mail that covered their heads,
and carrying long, triangular-shaped shields made of strong
wood wrapped in leather. A sword dangled from each one’s
belt. Communication was difficult and carrier pigeons were
used to pass information along.
The peasant armies engaged in a lot of fighting and attacked
farmers, looted cottages and burned wheat fields. Villagers poisoned
their wells and attacked crusader camps. Jews were massacred.
Four armies took four different land routes through Europe. At
Antioch the crusader army slaughtered all the Muslims within the
city.
Once the crusaders reached the Holy Land it was greatly weakened.
Supplies were short, and a fast was declared until food arrived.
With their siege towers and scaling ladders, the crusaders entered
Jerusalem. Muslim and Jewish men, women and children were
killed. Survivors were sold into slavery.
The capture was a great victory for the crusaders. Many returned
to their homes. Others stayed in the Holy Land. However, many
crusaders never returned home, having died of disease or in battle
along the way.
The Third (or Kings’) Crusade
The Third Crusade was provoked
by an increasingly powerful Muslim
threat to the crusader states in the
Holy Land.
Muslim leaders took advantage
of the idea of the jihad, or
struggle, against the Christians,
to capture crusader leaders an
produce a great deal of instability
in the Christian empire around
Jerusalem.
Saladin, a great Muslim military leader, was widely respected
among many different Islamic groups. He created a more unified
Islamic army and made treaties with the European countries
which helped him gain strength in the eyes of other Muslims.
Saladin and his men went to war after Christian
forces under Reginald of Chatillon attacked a
Muslim caravan enroute to Damascus. This battle
triggered the Third Crusade. It fought at the
Horns of Hittin. His army surrounded the crusader
camp and set it on fire. Knights who survived were
released if they paid a fine. Others were sold into
slavery. The Muslims then recaptured Jerusalem.
The Third Crusade is often called the Crusade of
Kings. Philip, king of France, Richard, king of
England, and Frederick I Barbossa, king of
Germany all took the cross and headed toward the
holy land.
Richard, nicknamed the Lion Heart for his bravery in
battle, led the troops, but they were too weak to capture
the Holy City.
He and Saladin became great enemies.
The Third Crusade was not won decisively by either
Richard’s or Saladin’s forces. Although Richard had many
successes in battle, Saladin’s armies were also powerful.
The crusaders were never able to recapture Jerusalem.
The crusaders were allowed to remain in control of their
states along the Mediterranean coast. Muslims would
permit Christian pilgrims to visit the holy shrines in
Jerusalem. The Muslims remained in control of the holy
City. Jerusalem would never be conquered by the
Christian crusaders.
The Fourth Crusade: The
Pope Innocent III called for the Sack of Constantinople
Fourth Crusade to unite
Christians and free the Holy Land
of the non-Christians. Although
the crusading spirit had dwindled,
a group of French knights took
the cross, pledging to free
Jerusalem.
They were aided by merchants
from Venice, who committed all
of Venice’s wealth and resources to help the crusaders, in
exchange for the promise of half of the wealth the army acquired
or stole during their journey. When the secret agreement to
invade Egypt was disclosed, many soldiers who had considered
themselves pilgrims abandoned the army.
As the crusaders set sail on Venetian ships, they were
asked to attack the city of Zara to pay off their debts.
They continued to Constantinople and looted and
destroyed the Muslim quarter of the city.
Even with the Pope protesting, the crusaders set fires
to libraries, desecrated churches, stole paintings,
sculptures, jewelry and gold, and shipped the stolen
wealth back to the Venetian bankers to pay off their
debt.
The results of the Fourth Crusade were tragic for the
Byzantine Empire. The beautiful, glittering city of
Constantinople forever lost its splendor and glory. The
once magnificent Byzantine capital was in ruins.
The Children’s Crusade
The Children’s Crusade began
in 1212 in France and
Germany. Two boys, Nicholas
from Cologne and Stephen
from Cloyes, became the
leaders. Children carried
bundles, candles and staffs on
the procession “to God.” They
represented the ideal of poverty-stricken, innocent
crusaders armed only with divine will; not the wealth and
knightly training of the many of crusaders who had gone
before them.
While the children’s dedication was admired. Many,
including Philip II of France, demanded that the children
return to their homes.
The children gathered in Cologne, then traveled up the
Rhine River, over the Alps, into Lombardy, and Genoa,
Italy.They believed that God would part the seas for
them. When this failed to happen, the crusade broke
apart.
Barefoot, hungry, exhausted children were scattered.
They were offered ships to return to their homes. Two
that set sail sank, killing all on board. Other ships were
owned by merchant slave-traders who tricked the
children. Girls were raped, some were killed, many
were sold to Muslim slave markets.
Those who returned home were lost, sick and had lost
their faith in God. The Church claimed the tragic fate
of the children crusaders was the work of the devil.
The Europeans reaped
considerable and long-term
benefits. The Crusades gave
thousands of Europeans an
opportunity to see the world and
cultures of the East.
These people wanted to possess the
rich goods they had seen - rugs,
silks, spices, camphor, musk, ivory
and pearls.
This desire made trade necessary.
Italian merchants from Genoa and
Venice set up trading stations.
Trade was exceedingly profitable.
It was one of the important
outcomes of the Crusades.
The Impact of the
Crusades
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. Kings
became more powerful. And the Crusades
increased the use of money throughout Europe.
Nearly 200 years of struggle between the
crusaders produced important changes in the
Muslim world. The Muslims won nearly all of
Asia minor, but were driven from Spain.
Europeans retained naval control of the
Mediterranean. After the death of the Muslim
leader Saladin, the Muslim world became split.
The Crusades did produce positive results. The Muslims
learned to improve their defenses and built better
fortifications based on the castles of Europe.
Europeans came into closer contact with the rich
accumulation of Muslim learning. Arabic works on
science and philosophy circulated throughout Europe’s
universities.
Other interchanges took place in the form of trade,
commerce and language. Words as sugar, syrup, cotton,
admiral and magazine came from Arabic. Sailors passed
their free time playing chess. The introduction of paper
led eventually to the development of the printing press in
Europe. The Muslim pointed arch led to vaulted ceilings
of European cathedrals.
The Muslims also benefited. He textile industries of
the Byzantines led the Muslims to develop mills.
The Muslims also adopted the Byzantine way of
maintaining an army. In trade, the Muslims acted
as go-betweens for all goods flowing through the
Muslim world. Silks and spices from the East were
traded for furs, leather goods and wood from
Europe.
Although Muslims were familiar with Christianity
and generally respected Christians as “People of the
Book” (Bible), Christians were bitterly opposed to
Islam.