The Crusades

Success, Failure, Success

Crusades of the 11th and 12th

Strengthened the papal claim to leadership of Christian society

The Christian warrior class as a new nobility New prestige in the knightly class

According to Perry they represent an outpouring of Christian Zeal and an attempt by the papacy to regain preeminence

These were also a sign of vitality, strength, and self confidence in western Europe.

Leading up to the Crusades

Pilgrimages to the holy land Mid 11th Seljuk Turks, from central Asia took

control over most of middle east 1085 they captured Jerusalem Byzantium appealed for help from the west The West had been fairly successful prior to

this In 11th Pisa and Genoa had driven Muslims out of

Sardinia; then they attacked Tunis wiping out the base for Muslim pirates and forcing the emir to free Christian captives and to trade with Italy; in 1091 Normans drove them out of Sicily and took southern Italy from Byzantium

Motives for the Crusaders

Spiritual reasons Christian Obligation Plenary Indulgences

Personal Reasons Younger sons had a chance to gain territory There was much wealth to be gained Personal Glory Dreams of Adventure

Papal Reasons Might extend his influence over the east which was

lost after the Schism of 1054

1st Crusade 1096-1099 1091 Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus I

requested aid from Pope Urban II Protection from the Turks Protection for pilgrims

1095 – Council of Clermont – Urban speaks to crowds about fighting the Turks, claiming that “God wills it!”

Hundreds sign up to fight under the leadership of the Church

Peter the Hermit’s Army of peasants The German Peasant army

Beat up by the Magyars and then again by the Turks before making it

Jerusalem

A real army of Knights finally assembled at Constantinople in 1097

Crusaders first took Antioch and reached Jerusalem in the spring of 1099

Godfrey of Bouillon broke through the city walls Crusaders were merciless and contemporary

accounts say they were wading through blood up to their knees

Thousands of Moslems and Jews were killed

The Next Century

As the Western Nobles sapped up the luxuries of their Eastern conquests the Muslims organized and called for a jihad

Also during this time, church ordained military orders came into existence in the East

Military Orders

1118, a group of knights stationed in Jerusalem organized the Knights of the Temple or the Knights Templar Headquartered on the site of Solomon’s Temple

Started off as a group to protect the holy lands Eventually lost sense of original purpose, became

extremely wealthy and served as a large-scale banking organization

A second order – the Knights of St John, later known as the hospitalers – founded in 1083 at the Benedictine abbey of Amalfi

3rd order – the Knights of St Mary of the Teutons, or Teutonic Knights – organized in 1127 by the crusaders from Germany

2nd Crusade – 1147-1149

Muslims set out to drive the crusaders back into the sea and recaptured Edessa in 1144

Pope Eugenius III ordered Bernard of Clairvaux to call a crusade Spoke to a large group of knights: “forgiveness of

sins and absolution we grant…so that he who has devoutly undertaken so holy a journey and finished it or died there shall obtain absolution for all his sins”

King Louis VII of France and Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II responded to the call

Much of the two armies (traveling separately) was lost by the time they arrived and the siege failed; Edessa remained in Moslem control

3rd Crusade – 1189-1192 The gifted leader Saladin conquered Iraq, Syria and

Egypt so he surrounded the crusaders on 3 sides In 1187 he invaded and recaptured Jerusalem, defeated

the crusaders and captured King Guy of Lusignon but permitted no needless slaughter of Christians

Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire, Phillip Augustus of France, and Richard the Lionhearted of England took on the crusade Frederick drowned in a river and his army went home Phillip and Richard got into a beef in Sicily and again in

Palestine and Philip went home Richard fought but lost and made an arrangement with

Saladin that Christians could still visit the Holy Land On his way home, he was taken prisoner by Leopold of

Austria, whom he had insulted during the war England had to pay a ransom but John took advantage

4th Crusade – 1202-1204 Pope Innocent III called a new crusade 10 thousand French knights met in Venice Crusaders didn’t enough money to pay for the voyage The Doge offered to pay if the crusaders would capture Zara,

a trade rival in the Adriatic The crusaders did so but were in trouble with the Pope

because Zara was a Catholic city so the Pope excommunicated them…for a little while

Next a deal was cut with Alexius IV who offered big money for the crusaders to restore his throne in Constantinople

So did while others went to Syria It fell for the first time ever- major disaster for all involved-

the crusaders massacred people and looted and the moral authority of the Church suffered

Latin Kingdom only lasted until 1261 when Byzantine empire got it back only to fall to Ottoman Turks in 1453

This embittered relationship between east and west churches

Children’s Crusades

Children’s crusade of 1212 stirred by shepherd boy Stephen of Cloyes who claimed that Christ was guiding him Thousands of French peasant kids with priests

marched to the Mediterranean expecting it to part When it didn’t they got on ships supplied by William

the Pig and Hugo the Iron 2 Ships were lost at sea and 5 were captured by

Muslim pirates who worked out a deal with William and Hugo and the kids were sold into slavery in North Africa and never heard from again

Another Children’s crusade originated in Germany and thousands of kids died

Later Crusades

By 1217 Italian cities were fighting for trade routes 5th crusade- invasion of Egypt did nothing and they all

came home 6th crusade- Emperor Frederick II negotiated without

fighting to gain some control in the Holy Lands 7th Crusade- 25 year old King of France Louis IX took up

the cause but was not supported by fellow monarchs He was taken captive and ransomed by the Moslems in

1254 He tried again in 1270 but died

In the End, the holy land remained in Moslem control

Results

May have contributed to the decline of feudalism because many lords died and many squandered their wealth to finance these expeditions

Introduced thousands of Europeans to the larger world Increased trade between Europe and the eastern

Mediterranean But this had already begun with the Italian city-states

Awestruck by luxuries and advanced civilizations But most of the intellectual contact was made in Spain

and Italy Increased the pace of economic changes – new systems

of money, credit, and banking practiced were introduced May have contributed to the growth of shipping