| History 121 | The Crusades |
I. Introduction
Definition: The crusades were holy wars "fought against those perceived to be the external or internal foes of Christendom for the recovery of Christian property or in defense of the Church or Christian people."Pope Urban II's speech at Clermont, 1095 [IMAGE]
IMAGES: Battle between Crusaders and Muslims in the Holy Land Jews being executed 2700 Muslims executed by Richard the Lionhearted at Acre (3rd Crusade, 1189-93)
Major questions to be answered: 1. Why did the Crusades occur? What forces came together to cause the Crusades? 2. What path did the Crusades take? Did they achieve their goal? 3. What was the impact of the Crusades on Europe? - on the Byzantine Empire? - on the Islamic world?
II. Context and Causes A. Western Europe 1. religious revival during the High Middle Ages 2. aristocratic warriors a. Peace of God b. Truce of God c. chivalry 3. split between the Roman and Greek Orthodox Churches B. Islamic World - rise of the Seljuk Turks C. Byzantine Empire 1. decline in power of the Empire (11th c.) 2. recent resurgence of the Empire under Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118) D. the catalyst: - Byzantine emperor asks the pope for monetary aid to hire mercenaries to fight the Turks
III. First Crusade (1096-1101) [Path of the Crusaders] A. preached by Pope Urban II in 1095 at Clermont, and then throughout France B. Why did people respond? (- Possibly as many as 100,000 during entire first crusade.) 1. Landless knights seeking fortune? 2. Adventure? 3. Piety? C. 3 main waves of people; but also a steady stream of people 1. first wave (1096): a. left too early; not large enough or well-organized b. massacre of Jews c. famine in Europe; not enough supplies; foraged for food = problems along the way; many defeated by the Hungarians d. crushed by the Muslims 2. second wave (1097-99): a. many groups led by great lords of Europe b. Byzantine emperor very nervous/skeptical - not what he expected c. eventually all groups assembled (ca. 40,000) and made way across Anatolia and down the coast d. captured several cities; captured Jerusalem in July 1099 - killed all the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem e. relatively easy reconquest; amazing because: 1. poorly supplied = starvation, death of horses 2. little support from the Byzantines 3. constant bickering; no real leader 4. outnumbered by Muslims - Why so easy? - disorganization of the Muslims - local lords had been busy fighting each other in Anatolia - seen by Europeans as divine intervention - they truly were doing God's work 3. third wave (1101): a. most of them wanted to help defend the Holy Land b. Lombards wanted to move eastward - quickly defeated by the Muslims D. set up Crusader Kingdoms 1. County of Edessa 2. County of Tripoli 3. Principality of Antioch 4. Kingdom of Jerusalem E. creation of military religious orders 1. Hospitallers - Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem 2. Knights Templar
IV. Muslim Response A. intially shocked by the crusades B. eventually launched counter-invasions from Egypt and Iraq C. also developed the idea of a Holy War to retake the land taken by the Christians D. realized they had to unite politically and religiously to achieve this - thus, the Sunnis tried to get rid of Shi'ite dissension E. by the 1170s, Syria had been united with Egypt under its control F. Saladin became leader in 1174 - he regularly attacked the crusader kingdoms from 1174-87 - in 1187, amassed a force of about 30,000 and invaded the kingdom of Jerusalem - victorious over a Christian force of about 20,000 - captured Jerusalem and various other cities
V. Effects of success of First Crusade A. spread of crusading to other areas 1. Spain -- reconquista took the form of a crusade - crusades against Muslims in Spain called repeatedly - Christians had retaken all but Granada by mid 13th c. 2. Saxony -- against the pagan Wends; inconclusive results 3. Southern France -- Albigensian Crusade 4. Italy -- against the Normans - struggle with the papacy; they had supported an anti-pope - nothing really came of this B. continued crusading to the Holy Land 1. against the Byzantine Empire - organized by Bohemond, ruler of the principality of Antioch - Byzantines wanted Antioch returned to them - failure; forced to submit to the Byzantines 2. against the Muslims - besieging various cities and helping defend the Holy Land
VI. "Second" Crusade (1147-1148) A. Edessa had fallen to the Muslims B. preached by the pope and St. Bernard of Clairvaux C. failure; defeated by the Muslims D. led to low morale and a decrease in crusading until Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187
VII. "Third" Crusade (1189-1193) A. Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187 B. Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, drowned in a river - without leadership most of his army returned to Germany C. King Philip Augustus of France and King Richard the Lionhearted of England helped take Acre D. Philip returned to Europe E. Richard was the only one left; couldn't capture Jerusalem
VIII. "Fourth" Crusade (1201-1204) A. preached by Innocent III B. never made it to the Holy Land: 2 detours 1. didn't have enough money to pay for the Venetian ships; agreed to capture port city of Zara, one of Venice's rivals 2. then got sidetracked at Constantinople; pillaged the city and placed Count Baldwin IX of Flanders on the imperial throne
IX. Later Crusades A. several more crusades to the Holy Land in the later Middle Ages - none were able to recapture Jerusalem B. several other crusades within Europe - for example: 1. Livonian Crusade in the Baltic (1190s-1230) - against pagans 2. Albigensian Crusade in southern France (1209-29) - against Cathars C. last crusade was probably in 1578 1. Europeans slowly lost interest by the late 14th c. 2. the Reformation focused people's minds on the conflict within Europe 3. also, the idea of a Holy War slowly falls out of fashion - especially by the Age of Reason
X. Outcome of the Crusades A. ultimately unsuccessful in re-taking the holy land B. successful in re-taking most of Spain C. successful in Christianizing the Baltic
XI. Impact of the Crusades A. Europe 1. Christian Europe is unified and secure - Spain has been retaken; the Baltic has been Christianized 2. facilitated rise in wealth and power of Italian cities - treaties for trade even during open warfare 3. new luxury items brought back by crusaders and Italian merchants - everyday life of European aristocracy highly influence by this 4. the crusades required many European leaders to rethink organization of government, finance, transportation - they needed more efficient systems 5. created first widespread attacks on Jews - initiated a tradition of European anti-Semitism that has survived up to the present - Map of Jewish persecution during the First Crusade B. Byzantine Empire 1. further weakened the Byzantine empire 2. not strong enough to fight off the new rising power of the of the Muslim world: the Ottoman Turks 3. eventually, Constantinople falls in 1453 C. Islamic World - the Islamicization of the eastern Mediterranean 1. many Arab Christians were outraged by the excesses and massacres perpetrated by the crusaders 2. they had been fairly well treated by the Muslims between 638 and 1096 3. thus, many converted to Islam
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