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The Crusades
Crusade
From the crosses sewn into the
garments of those who took the vow
to free the Holy Places from the
Muslims.
Rise of Mohammedan Dynasties:
1. Egypt: Fatimites
2. Palestine and Syria: Seljuk Turks
1071: Battle of Manzikert: the Turks
annihilated the Byzantine Army and
were about to take Constantinople.
1095: Pope Bl. Urban II held a council in
Clermont (France); called for a
Crusade to reclaim the holy places in
the East.

For your brethren who live in the East are in urgent need
of your help, and you must hasten to give them aid
which has often been promised them. For, as most of
you have heard, the Turks and Arabs have attacked them
and conquered the territory of Romania [the Greek
Empire] as far west as the shore of the Mediterranean
and the Hellespont. They have occupied more and more
lands of those Christians and have overcome them in
seven battles…On this account I, or rather the Lord,
beseech you as Christ’s heralds to publish this
everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank,
foot soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid
promptly to those Christians.
- Pope Bl. Urban II, 1095
Crusades: Defensive Wars of
Liberation
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Series of military expeditions to free
formerly Christian lands from militantfanatical Muslim oppression.
To provide safety and protection for
Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Places.
Many had been robbed, beaten, or killed by
Muslims for years.
Pope St. Gregory VII had been ready to
invade the Holy Land with 50,000 troops
20 years before Urban II.
The Crusader Vow included a Plenary
Indulgence.
The First Crusade: 1095-1099
Armies were divided into four groups all set to meet in
Constantinople:
1. Godfrey of Bouillon: Duke of Lower Lorraine, led the
people of Lorraine [Germans, and Northern
Frenchmen] (uncle of St. Norbert!)
2. Hugh of Vermandois: Duke of Normandy (son of
William the Conqueror and brother of King Philip I of
France) led bands of French and Normans.
3. Raymond of Saint-Gilles and Adhemar of Moneil
(Bishop of Puy): led the Southern French.
4. Bohemund and Tancred: led Normans from southern
Italy. Both are related to Robert Guiscard, the founder
of Norman Sicily.
• All armies, with some delays, arrived in Constantinople
by April of 1097.
The Relic of the Holy Lance
First Crusade: the Siege of Antioch
2 June 1098: Bohemund takes Antioch
 Two days later, a Muslim relief force
arrived and began to siege/starve the
Crusader Army.
 All was about to be lost when a miracle
took place:
14 June: Peter Barthelemy (French pilgrim)
had a vision during a dream of the sacred
relic of the Lance (pierced Christ’s side at
the crucifixion); it was buried under a
church.
 Crusaders excited, made an attack on the
Muslims and wiped them out!
St. Longinus
Crusader Victory!
Spring 1097: campaign begins and 4 armies
are quite successful.
 First Victory: siege Nicaea.
1098: captured Antioch
1099: Captured Jerusalem (July 15)
 Pope Bl. Urban II died before receiving
news of the sacking of Jerusalem.
 Crusaders were able to take advantage of
the Muslim disunity in the area.
 After the Reconquest of the Holy Land,
the Crusaders organized the lands into
counties, fiefs, and principalities based on
the medieval feudal system.
Godfrey and the
Leaders of the
1st Crusade
Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
Godfrey of Bouillon becomes first
Crusader “king” of Jerusalem
1100: at Godfrey’s death, younger brother
Baldwin I is crowned King.
 Major Task: to control Jerusalem and
the surrounding areas.
Three Principal Fiefs:
1. County of Tripoli
2. Principality of Antioch
3. County of Edessa
 Muslims in Crusader territory were
allowed land-ownership rights and
treated with fairness.

King Baldwin I
(1058-1118)
Second Crusade
Subsequent crusades were never as well
organized as the First.
 After the First Crusade, the Crusader
Kingdom in Palestine was under attack.
1144: Turks recaptured Edessa
 King Louis VII of France and Conrad
II of Germany set out to capture
Damascus.
 Hoping to create a defensive front for
the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
 They failed.
 Many saw this as a sign from God that
penance needed to be done in order to
purify the Crusaders’ intentions.

King Louis VII
of France
(1120-1180)
Third Crusade: 1189-1192
Most famous as the background
to the Robin Hood stories.
Three Great Kings:
1. Richard of England
2. Frederick I Barbarossa
3. Phillip of France
 To confront a united Muslim
Turkish Army under Saladin.
 Saladin had proclaimed a jihad
against Christianity.
1187: Saladin captured Jerusalem and
took the relic of the True Cross.

The Battle of Arsuf
Sept 1191: Richard the Lionheart vs. Saladin
 After a grueling 70 mile march from
Acre on route to Jaffa.
 Jaffa will be a launching place for the
liberation of Jerusalem.
 Saladin used standard Turkish tactics:
harassment, encirclement, annihilation.
 Richard’s army was diminished after the
siege of Acre.
 Crusaders marched in 3 divisions, with
their western flank protected by English
ships on the Mediterranean.
 Saladin could not break Richard’s ranks.
The Battle Rages
Richard placed Hospitallers and
Templars in charge of the rearguard.
7 Sept 1191: Saladin ordered a full-scale
engagement.
 Turkish tactics: used loud music to
encourage their own troops and terrify the
enemy.
 Hospitallers could not resist the
temptation to charge, Richard joined his
knights on the line.
 They rode on to victory!
 Saladin failed to break-up the Christian
army. He would never be able to challenge
Richard again!
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“So great was the slaughter
among Saladin’s more noble
Saracens that he lost more
that day near Arsuf….than
on any day in the previous
forty years.”
- Letter from Richard I to St. Bernard
of Clairvaux