crusades articles 1-3

8/14/2019 Crusades Articles 1-3

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/crusades-articles-1-3 1/18

( B"ok)

te;rlJ6ooks

"( 4[,- tr4lrJJ{e- o'l

Q.l* t/Vlon

o,"^. \* ' r1Q

L'o^Jo t

tq lLn r[- |l-L_H'ar >ry



succcss, ccausc ulcrs could no longer invcst. Pa-pal powcr was cnhanced, and neirher side *'on aclear victory.

William rhc Conqucror of England and Philip Iof France werc just as guilty of la,v nvcstiture asthe German cmPcror, and both quarrclcd opcnlywi*t Grcgorl'. Horvever, Rome's conllict with thewcstern ulcrs ncvcr rcached hc proportions ofthcdispute with the Gcrman emPcror. Grcgory VIIand his successors ad the diplomatic sensc toavoid crearing hree enemics t once.'

The long conrovcrs'' had cemcndous social andpolitical .orrr.qr't.t.ts in Gcrmany' For half a cen-tury', between L075 and 1125, civil war lvaschronic in the cmpirc. Preoccupicd virh Italy andthe quarrcl with the PaPacli cmPcrors could dolittlc about it. The lengthy suuggle bctwccn pa-

pary and cmperor dlowed emcrging noblc dynas-des, such as the Ziifuinger of Swabia, o enhancctheir position. As reccnt rcsearch has rcvealed, bythc clcventh cenrury thesc great Gcrman familicshad achicvcd a definite scnse of thcmsclvcs as no-ble.e To control thcir lands, thc grcat lords builtcasdcs, symbolizing thcir incrcascd powcr andgrowing indcpendcncc. In no European countrydo morc casdcs survivc today.) Thc casdes wercboth military suongholds and centcrs of admini-suation for the surrounding tcrritories. Thc Gcr-man aristocracy ubordinated hc knights and rc-inforccd thcir dcpendcncy with strong fcudal ties.Thcy reduced rce mcn and serfs o an cxuemelyservile position. Henry IV and Henry V wcrc com-pellcd to surrcndcr rights and privilegcs to thenobiliry. Whcn the papal-impcrial onflict cndcd n1122, thc nobility hcld thc balancc of powcr inGermany, and latcr Gcrman kings, such asFrederick Barbarossa see pagc 332), would fail inthcir cfforts to strcngthcn thc monarchy againstthc princcly familics. For thesc rcasons, partku-larism, localism, and feudal indepcndcnce harac-tcrizcd thc Holy Roman Empirc in thc High Mid-dle Ages. Thc invcstiturc controvcrsy had a

catastrophic ffcct tlcrc, scvercly ctarding devel-opment of a suong cenrdizcd monarchy.

The Papacy in the High Middle Ages

In thc latc clcvcnth ccnnrry and throughout rhctwclfth, thc papacy prcsscd Grcgory's campaign orrcform of thc church. Popc Urban [I laid thc foun-dations or the papal monarchy by rcorganizing hcccnual govcrnmcnt of thc Roman church, the pa-

?.Lso' p"I *itirrg officc (ttrc chancery), and papal

financcs. Hc rccognizcd the collcgc of cardinals asa defnite consultativc bod-r'. Thcse agcncies, o-gcthcr n'ith thc papal chapel, consdtutcd thc papalcourt, or curia Romana-rhe papary's administra-

dvc bureaucracy and its court of law. Thc papalcuria, although nor fi.rllydeveloped until thc mid-twclfth ccntur'', was thc fusr wcll-organizcd nsd-rudon of rnonarchial authority n mcdicval Europc.

Thc Roman curia had its grcarcst mpact as acourt of larv.As thc highcst ccclesiasrical ribunal,it formulatcd canon au' for all of Christcndom. Itwas thc instrurnent with which the popcs prcssedthc goals of reform and ccntralizcd the church.Thc curia sent legaccs o hold councils n rariouspars of Europe. Councils publishcd dccrccs andsbught to cnforcc thc lart: Whcri individuals in *y

part of Christian Europc felt thcywcre bcing dc-

nicd justicc n their local church courts, they couldappcal to Rome. Slowly but surely, n the HighMiddle Agcs the papal curia dcvelopcd inro thccourt of 6nal appcal or all of Cfuistian Europc.

What kinds of appcals c:unc to thc Roman curiafThc majority of cases clatcd to disputes ovcrchurch propcrry or ccclcsiastical clections andabovc all to questions of marriagc and annulment.Sincc thc fiourth cennuy Christian valucs hadinfluenced hc administration of the law, and bish-ops frcqucndy sat in courts that hcard marriagccascs. Beginning in the tenth and clevcnth ccntu-

rics, church officials began to claim that they hadcxclusivc urisdiction ovcr marriage. Appcals o anecclcsiastical ribunal, rathcr than to a civil court,or appeals rom a civil court to a church court,implicd t}rc acccpancc of thc laftcr's jurisdiction.Morcovcr, most of thc popcs in thc twclfth andthirteenth centurics wcrc canon lawycrs whopresscd he authoriry of church courts. The mostfamous of thcm, the man whose pontificate rcpre-sented thc height of medievd papal powcr, wasInnoccnt III ( I f98-I2f 6).

Innocent judged a vast numbcr of cases. Hc

compclled King Philip Augustus of Francc o takcback his wife,Ingcborg of Dcnmark. Hc arbitratcdthc rival claims of two disputans to the impcridcrown of Gcrmany. Hc forccd King ]ohn of Eng-land to accept as archbishop of Canterbury a manJohn did not rcally want.

By thc carly thirtccnth ccnnrry, papal cfforts atrcform bcgun more than a ccnrury bcforc hadanaincd phenomcnal succcss. Thc popcs thcm-sclvcswcrc mcn of high principlcs and strict mord



J(bo"k>

n ll;'loru o( r,th"{nr^C;r;liza{'o'l{ol,,n ?- ilncKay (Bennct to; t t t . J ;{o"Joh^ B^rk e' /

nq5Hourlklo^

tq'tz/w;K{;n o.



77$for thc opcrarion of thcA govcrnmcnB, Gregory'sprogram sccmcd to spcll disasrcr or stablc-roi,aladminisuarion. t provokcd a tcrriblc crisis.

.f fHr GnrcorueN RrvortmoNThe papal rcform mo1'cmcnr of thc clcvcnth ccn-

tury is frcqucndy callcd thc Grcgorian reformmovemcnq after Popc Grcgorv III (1073-1085).The labcl s nor accuratc, n that rcform bcgan ongbcfore Gregory's pontificatc and continued after t.Gregory's rcign did, howevcr, nauguratc a radicalor rcvolutionary phase hat had imporrant polidcaland social onscqucnces.

Pope Gregory Vtr's Ideas

Cardinal Hildcbrand had rcccivcd a good cduca-tion at Romc and spcnt somc imc at Cluny, whcrchis strict views of clerical ife wcrc sucngthcncd.He had served n thc papd secrchriat undcr koIX and aftcr 1065 was probably *rc chiefinflucnccthcrc. Hildebrand was dogmatic, inflcdblc, andunaltcrably convinccd of thc truth of his ownvicws. Hc bclicvcd that thc popc, irs hc successorof Saint Pctcr, was thc Vicar of God on carth andthar papal ordcrs wcrc thc orden of God.

Oncc Hildcbiand bccamc pope, thc rcform ofthc papacy ook on a ncw dirncnsion. ts goal wasnot j'rs1 the moral rcgcncration of thc clergy andccntralization of thc church under papal authority.Grcgory and his assistans bcgan to insist on thc

"frccdom of thc church.' By this thcy mcant thcfrccdom of churchmcn o obcy canon aw and rcc-dom from conrrol and intcrfcrcncc by lay pcoplc.

'Frccdom of rhe church' pointed to thJ end oflay investirure-rhe sclection and appointrncnt ofchurch officials by sccr:lar authority. Bishops andabbots wcrc invested wirh thc staff rcprcscntingpastoral urisdiction and thc ring signifiing unionwith thc dioccsc or monastic communitv. Whcnlaymcn gavc thcsc symbols, rhcy appcarca to Ucdistributing spirinral aurhority. Ecclcsiastical oppo-sition to lay invcstinrrc was not new in thc clcvcnthccntury. Ig too, had bccn part of church thcoryfor ccnturies. But Gregory,s attcmpt to put thcoryinto practice was a radical dcparturc from radition.Sincc fcudd monarchs dcpcndcd on churchmcn

The Connoversy over Lay lnvesrirure

In Fcbruary 1075 Popc Grcgory hcld a council atRomc. t publishcd ccrccs nor onh'against Nco-laism and simony but also againsr a,v nvcsrirurc:

IJ anyone henceforth hall receive bishopric or ab-be>

fro^the hands of a lay person,

he shall not beconsidered s among he number of bishops and ab-bots. . . if any empercti ing . . . or any one at all ofthe secular powers, shall presume o perform investi-ture with bishoprics or with any other ecclesiasticaldigniry . . . he shall eel the divine displeasure as wellwith regard o his body os to his other belongings.s

In short, clcricswho acccpted nvestiture rom lay-mcn were o bc deposcd, and aymcn who invcsteddcrics wcrc to be excommunicated ant off from thcsacramcnts nd all Christian worship).

, Thc church's pcnalry of cxcommunication clicdfor its

cffccrivcncss on public opinion. Grcgorybclicvcd the strong support hc cnjoycd for hismoral reform would carry.ovcr o his political ones;hc thought that cxcommunication would compclrulcrs to abidc by his changes. mmediatcly, how-evcr, Henry fV in thc cmpirc, William t}lc Con-querorinEngland,and Philip I in Francc protcstcd.

The strongest rcaction camc from Gcrmany.Hcory TV had supportcd the moral aspccts ofchurch rcform within the cmpire. In fact, thcywould not havc had much success without him.Most clevcnth-cennrry ulcrs depended on church-mcn for thcir govcrnmcnts; hcy could not survivcwithout thc litcracy and administrativc knowlcdgcof bishops and abbos. Naturally, rhcn, kings sc-lectcd and invcstcd most of them. In this rcspecqas recent rcsearch has shown, German kingsscarccly varicd from othcr rulers. In two basicways, howcvcr, thc rclationship of the Gcrmankings to thc papacy diffcrcd from that of othcrmonarchs: thc popc crowncd t}tc German cm_pcror, and both thc cmpirc and thc papal statcsdaimcd norricrn Italy. Sincc thc timc of Charlc-magnc (scc pagc 244), thc cmpcror had controllcdsomc tcrritory and bishops n Ialy.

In additionto thc zubjcct of lay invcstih:re, amore fundamcntal ssuc uras at stake. Gregory's

dccrcc raiscd thc qucstion of the proper role of thcmonarch in a Christian socicry. Did a king havc

R flis{Jofi^?.

John

o{ uJcsluF, ;v;z."+F-M'9,1, cn,nEtf. H;[

B,^r.klcl-crl,torS2I b""r<)

11(

n75 -loro,^'[o fl0,^qh-[o,ntlif{l;^Co.



obchavior. The frcqucncy of clcricd marriagc and

rhc cvcl of violcncc had dcdincdconsidcrably' hc

practicc of simony was much more thc exccprion

rhan thc ruJc.Yct thc secds of future difficulties wcrc being

phnted. As the volumc of appcals o Romc muld-pli.d, to did thc size of the papal burcaucraq'. Asthc numbcr of lawycrs ncreascd, o did conccrnfor legal niccrics and tcchnicalities, fces, andchurch offices. u early as rhe mid-twelfth century,

fohn of Salisbur,v, n Englishman working in thepapal curia, had wrinen that the peoplc con-icmncd thc curia for its grccd and indifference ohuman suffering. Ncvcrthelcss, hc powcr of the

curia continued to grow, as did ia bureaucrac.v.Thirteenth-ccntury pcipes devoted their arten-

tion to thc burcaucracy and thcir conflicts wirh theGcrman cmpcror Frcdcrick I. Somc, ikc GrcgoryIX (1227-124I), abuscd hcir prcrogatives o suchan cxtcnt that their moral impact was seriouslywcakcncd. Evcn worse, nnoccnt I\I (L243-L254)uscd sccular wcapons, nduding military',force, omainain his leadership. Thcsc popcs badly dam-agcd papal prcsdgc and influcncc. By thc carlyfourtcenth ccntury, the secds of disorder wouldgrow into a vast and sprawling uee, and oncc againcrics ior rcform would bc heard.

S t** cRuseoes p.a6\The Crusadcs of the clcvcnth and rwclfth ccnnrrieswere thc most obvious manifcsnrion of the papalclaim to thc leadership of Christian socicq'. Thecnorrnous popular rcsponsc to papal calls for cru-sading rcvcals thc i4flucncc of thc reformcd papaq'.The Crusades also rcflect thc church's ncrv undcr-sanding of thc noblc warrior class. As a distin-guished scholar of thc Crusades urotc:

At around the turn of the millennium [the year 1000],the aninde of the church toward the military classunderwent a significant change. The conftast beweenmititia Christi

[war forChrist] and militia saecularis

[war for worldly purposes] wcts overcome and ust asrulership earlier had been Christianized . . . , so nowwas the military profession; it acquired a direct ec-clesiastical purpose, for war in the sen'ice of thechurch or Jor the weak came to be regarded as holyand was declared to be a religious dury not only forthe king but also or every individuat lozight.ro

Crusades in the latc clcvcnth and carly rwclfthcenturics wcre holy wars sponsored by thc paparyfor thc rccovcry of the Holy knd from the Mus-lim Arabs or thc Turks. They grcw out of the longconflict betwccn Christians and Muslims in Spain,



2AZ CHAPTERg REVIVAI. RECOVERY, AND REFORM

whercby about 1250 Christian kings had rcgaincdroughly 90 perccnt of thc pcninsula. Throughoutthis period, Cfuisdan pilgrims alone and n groupslcft Europe n a steady rickle for thc Middlc East.Akhough people of all agcs and classcs articiparcdin thc Crusades, o manv knighrs did so that cru-sading bccame a distincdvc fcarure of drc upper-class ifcstylc. In an arisrocratic, military socict!.,mcn covercd cputations as Crusadcrs; hc Chris-tian knight who had bccn to the Holy I-and en-joyed great prcstige. The Crusades manifesred hcrcligious and chivalric idcals-as well as the trc-mendous vitalir,v---ofmedicval socicrl:

The Roman papacy supported thc hol.vwar inSpain and by thc latc clevcnth ccnnrry had srrongreasons or wanring o launch an cxpedition againstMuslim infidels in thc Easr as wcll.

Thc papacy hadbccn nvoh'ed n rhe biner suugglc over nvesdrurcu'ith thc German emperors. f the popc could rnus-tcr a arge army against hc encmies f Christianiry,his daim to bc lcadcr of Christian socicry n thcWcst would be strcngthencd. Morcovcr, n 1054 ascrious theological disagrccmcnt had split thcGrcck church of Byzandum and he Roman churchof thc West. Thc pope bclievcd thar a crusadcwould lcad to suong Roman influence n Grecktcrritorics and cvenrually he rcunion of the twochurchcs.

In l07l at Manzikerr n castcrn Anatolia, Turk-

ish soldiers in thc pay of thc Arabs defcated aGreek army and occupied much of fuia Minor.The cmpcror at Consrantinople appealcd o thcWest for supporr. Shordy aftcrward, thc holy ciryof Jerusalem, hc sccnc of Christ's preaching andbudal, fcll to the Turks. Pilgrimages o holy placesin thc Middlc East bccamc cry dangcrous, nd thepapasy claimcd to bc outraged thar thc holy cirywas n the hands of unbelicvcrs. Sincc he Muslimshad hcld Palestine since thc cighth ccntury, thepapacy acnrally cared *rat thc Scljuk Turk w.ouldbc lcssaccomodating o Christian pilgrims rhan hcMuslims had bccn.

In 1095 Popc Urban II journeycd to Clcrmontin Francc and callcd or a grcat Cfuistian holy waragainst hc infidcls. Urban's appcal ar Clermontrcprcsents is policy of rapprcchement, r rcconcili-ation with Byzantium, with church union his ulti-matc god. (Munrat ill will, quarrcls, and thc plun-dcring of Byzantinc propcrry by undiscip-lincd ,wcstcrners wcrc to frusratc this hopc.) Hc strcsscdthe suffcrings and pcrsccution of

-trirti*,

io J.-rusalcm. Hc urgcd Christian knighs who had bcen

fighting onc anothcr ro dirccr thcir cncrgics againstfhc truc cnemics of God, the Muslims. Urban pro-daimcd an indulgence, r remission of thc tcmporalpcnalties mposcd by thc church for sin, ro thosewho would 6ghr for and rcgain the holy ciry ofJcrusalcm. Fcw spccches n histor,v havc had sucha dramacic cfFcct as tlrban's call at Clcrmonr forthe First Crusadc.

Thc rcsponse o Urban's call at Clermonr rvascnthusiastic. Godfrcy sf lq rillen, Geoffrey of Lor-raine, and othcr grcat lords from norrhcrn Franccimmediatcly had thc cross of rhc Crusader sc\4Tr nthcir runics. Encouragcd by popular prcachers ikcPctcr the Hcrmit and b1'papal cgates n Germanl',Italy and Englmd, thousands of pcoplc of all

' dasses oincd thc crusadc. Although mosr of the

Crusadcrs wcrc Frcirch, pilgrims from many rc-gions sucamcd sourhward from thc Rhineland,*rough Gcrmany and thc Balkans. Of all of thedevelopmcnts f the High Middlc Agcs, nonc bet-tcr rcveals Europcans' cligious and cmorional fer-vor and thc influcncc of thc rcforrncd papacy hanthe cxtraordinary outpouring of support for theFirst Crusadc scc Listcning to the past).

Rcligious convictions nspired manl', bur mun-dane modvcs were also involvcd. For the curiousand the adventurous, hc crusade offcred forcigntrarrl and excitcmcnt. t providcd kings, who weretrying to cstablish ordcr and build statcs, he per-fect opporunity to ger rid of uoublemakingkrrigha. It gavc land-hungry younger sons achancc to acquirc fiefs in thc Middlc East. Evensome mcmbers of thc middle class who srayed athomc profitcd from rhe crusadc. Nobles oftcn hadto borrow rnoney from *re burghcrs to pay fortheir cxpcditions, and thcy put up paft of thcir landas sccurity. f a noble did not rerurn homc or couldnot pay thc intcrcst on the loan, rhe middlc-classcrcditor took over the land.

The Crusadcs lso brought to thc surface atcnrCfuistian prcjudicc against hc ]ews. Berwcen he

sixth and tenth ccnturies, desccndana of Scphardic(from thc modcrn Hcbrcw word Separaddi, mcan-ing Spanish or Portuguese) ews had sctrlcd alongthe uade rourcs ofwcstcrn Europc; n thc clcvcnthccnilry, thcy playcd a major rolc in the interna-tional tradc bctwccn thc Muslim Middlc East andthc Wcst. cws dso lcnt moncy to peasann, owns-pcoplc, and noblcs. Because hc ]cws pcrformcdthcsc uscfuI economic services, kings and lordsprotectcd rhcm. Whcn thc First Crusadc waslaunchcd, many poor ktrightr had to borrow from



o

Thc c,apt'rc oflcr'salqn in 1099 As cngincs_hurr rorcs o brcach hc wa[s,crusadcrs nrcr on scaling addcrs. ccncs &6m cuir,t p.*lri i"i.".l-ia*urythc city as |crusdcm. (Soirce: Bibliot&que Nationale, paris) ' - -r l

l*.

cquip rhemsclvcs or thc cxped.ition.Dcbrbrcd rcscntrncnr. Furrhcr, Christian prcachcrsoftcn focused thcir rcmark on Icrujcm, rhcsccnc of Jczus's crucifixion. (prcachcn convcn_icntly ignorcd thc fact *rat |csus had forgivcn allhis exccutioncrs-Luke 22:34.) With thc- atmos-qhcrc -thus

poisoncd, crusading armics passingtfuough thc Rhincland in 1096 dfucctcd taultson ]cwish communities in Sprycr, Worms, Mainz,Colognc, Tricr, and McE, ,ojtirrg in tcrriblcmassacres. hcsc pogroms tcsti& to tlrc gcneral g-

norancc, bigotry, and lack ofconccntratcd stratcgythat charactcrizcd thc entirc crusad.ing movcmcnt.

Noncthclcss, hc First Crusadc was successful,mostly becausc of thc dynamic cnthusiasm of thcparticipans. Thc Crusadcrs had lirtlc morc thanrcligious zeal. Thcy kncw nothing about thc gcog_raphy or dimatc of thc Midd; East. Althoufhdrcrc wcrc scveral counB with miliary cxpcricnccirmong thc host, thc Crusadcrs could ncvcr agrecon a lcadcr, and thc cntire cxpcdition was markcdby dispurcs among thc grcat lords. Lincs of supply



owcrc never sct up. Starvadon and diseasc wrackcdthe arm\', and the Turks slaughtcrcd hundrcds ofnoncombatanrs. Ncvertheless, convinced that'God wills it"-thc war cry of thc Crusadcrs-thcarmy pressed n and in 1099 caprurcd erusalem.Although t}rc Crusadcrs ought bravel,v, rab dis-uniry was a chief rcason or thcir victory. At Jeru-salcm, Edessa, Tripoli, artd Andoch, Crusaderkingdoms werc foundcd on the Wcstcrn fcudalmodcl Map 9.1) .

Bcnvcen 1096 and I27A, rhe crusadingideal

il?s cxpressed n cight papally approved cxpedi-tions to thc East. Dcspite the succcss f rhc FirstCrusadc, none of thc later ones accomplishcd erymuch. The Third Crusadc 1189-1f92) rvasprc-cipirated by the rccapture of Jerusalcm y rhc sul-ran Saladin n 1187. Frederick Barbarossa f thcHoly Roman Empire, Richard (Lion-Hcart) ofEngland, and Philip Augustus of'France partici-

pated, and the Third Crusade was bccer financcdthan previous ones. But disputcs among he cadcrsand sratcgic problcms prcvcnted any lasting re-sults. In 1208, in onc of thc most mcmorablcepisodes, wo cxpeditions of childrcn sct out on acrusadc o the Holy Land. One contingent rurnedback; he orler was capturcd and sold into slavery.

During thc Fourth Crusade 1202-1204), carc-less prcparation and inadcquatc inancing had dis-astrous conscqucnccs or ktin-Byzandnc rcla- itions. Whcn the Crusaders could not pay the IVenetians he moncy promiscd or uansporr o the ,Holy'knd, the Vcnctians grccd o postponc he idebr in return for a Crusadcr artack on the Cfuis- itian ciry of Zara on rhe Dalmatian coast, he Dal- Imatian oress bcing the sourcc of thc oak used or ,Venetian hips.Thc Crusadcrs-tookZara n No- ivembcr 24, 1202. Whilc at Zarz, the crusaders mer :with cnvoys from thc dcthroned Byzantinc em_pcror Isaac I and his son Alcxius, who promisedrcunification of thc Grcek and l^arin churchcs,large payments o thc Vcnctians, and Blzanrinesupporr or the expedition o thc Holy Land. Thusin Aptil 1204, rhc Crusadcrs and Venetiansstormcd Constandnoplc, ackcd hc city dcstroying

its magnificcnt ibrary-and grabbcd tirousands frclics, which wcrc later sold in Europe. From thisdcstruction hc Byzantinc Empirc.as political unitncvcr rccovcrcd. Although rhc Crusadcr BaldwinIX of Flandcrs was choscn cmpcror, thc cmpircsplinrercd nto thrcc parts and ioon consistcd oflitdc morc than rhc ciry of Constantinoplc. More_ovcr, thc assault of onc Christian p.opl. on an_

odrcr-when onc of rhc goals of chc crusade .r,asrctrnion of Grcck and I-atin churchcs-madc rhcsplit bcnvecn rhc Grcck and ktin churchcs pcr-mancnt. It also hclpcd to discrcdit rJre cndre cru-sading mo.vemcnt. Two larer crusades againsr hcMuslims, undertaken by King Louis IX of Fr-..,addcd to his prcsrige

as a pious rulcr. Thc last ofthc official crusades ccomplishcd othing at all.Crusades vcrc also nountcd against groups pcr-

ceivcd as Cfuisdan Europe's social cncmics. In1208, Pope Innoccnr III proclaimcd a crusadeagainst he Albigcnsians, a hcredcal sccr. The Al-bigensians, hosc name derivcd rom tltc.southernFrench town of Albi wherc thcy r+'cre conccn-trated, rcjcctcd orthodox docrinc on thc relation-ship of God and man, thc sacrarlcnrs, and clcricalhierarchy. Fcaring that rcligious division wouldlcad to civil disordcr, rhe Frcnch monarchy oinedthe crusadc against hc Albigcnsians. Under CountSulon dc Montforr, rhc Frcnch inflicrcd a sa!?gcdcfeat on the Albigensians ar Murct in l2I3; thccounty of Toulouse passed o thc aurloriry of thcFrcnch crown. Fcarful of encirclcmcnt by impcrialtcrritorics, thc popes also promoted crusadesagainst Empcror Frederick l n lZ27 and L239.This use of force backfired, damaging papal credi-bility as he sponsor of pcacc.

What impact did ttrc Crusades ave on womcn?That is a difficult question. Fcwer women thanmcn directly participatcd, since he Crusadcs wcreprimarily military expeditions and all socictics haveperceived war

as a masculinc entcrprisc. Givcn thearistocratic bias of the cfuoniclers, we havc morcinformadon about royal and noble adics who wcntto the Holy l:nd than about middlc-class andpeasant women, though thc laEcr groups contrib-utcd ttrc grcatcr numbcrs. Elcanor of Aouitaine(ll22l-L204) accompanicd hcr husband, KingInuis VII, on the Sccond Crusade L147-LL4}),and the thirteenth-century English cfuoniclcr Mat-thcw Paris says rat largc numbers of womcn wcnton the Sevcnri Crusade L248-LZS4) so rhar thcycould obain rhe crusading ndulgcncc. Thc Cru-sadcs llustratc that women in fcudal socicw excr-ciscd considcrablc power. Womcn who staycdhome assumcd hcir husband's csponsibilitics nthc managcmcnt of cstares, thc dispcnsation ofjusticc to vassds and scrfs, urd thc protcction ofpropcrty from anack. Since Crusadcrs frcqucntly1g$d financc thc cxpcdition only by borrowing, iifcll to thcir wivcs ro rcpay rhc toans. Thcse hJvyrcsponsibilitics brought womcn a degrec of powcr.

a({



o

The many womcn who operatcd nns and shops nthe towns through which crusading armics passedprofitcd from the rcntal of lodgings and the sale offoodstuffs, dothing, arms, and fodder for animals.For prostitutcs, also, crusading armics offcrcdbusiness pporilnitics.

Thc Crusadcs ntroduccd some Europcans oEastcrn luxury goods, but thcir overall cutruralimpact on the West rcmains debatablc. Bythc latcelevcnth ccntury, strong cconomic and intcllectualties with the East had alrcady bccn made. TheCrusadcs cstift to thc rcligious cnrhusiasm f thcHigh Middlc Agcs. Bur, as Stcvcn Runciman, adistinguishcd scholar of thc Crusadcs, oncludcdin his tfucc-volumc

history:The triumplu of the Crusade were the tiumplu offaith- But faith witlwut wisdom is a dangercusthing. . . . In the long sequence f interaction attdfusion between Orient and Occident out of which ourcivilization has grown, he Crusades were a tragic anddestrucrtve pisode. . . High ideals were besmirched,by cruehy and greed, enterprise and endurance y a

Trc CRUSADEs 285

blind and narrow self-righteousness; nd the HolyWar tself was nothing more than a long act of intol-erance n the name of God, which is the sin againstthe Hoty Ghost.rr

Along thc Syrian and Palcstinian oasrs, hc Cru-sadcrs cr up a string of fcudal stares hat managcdto survive or about wo cennrrics bcfore thc Mus-lims rcconqucrcd rhcm. Thc Crusadcrs cft womore permancnt egacies n the Middlc East, how-evcr, that continue to affect us today. First, thelong strugglc betwccn slam and Chrisrcndom andthc cxarnplc of persecution ser by Christian kingsand prclatcs eft an inhcritance of decp bittcrncssl

rcladons bctwcen Muslims and thcir Cfuistian andIewish subjcca worsened. Hcrc is a funny rwclfth-ccnlury accounr of a Muslim's imprcssion of primi-tivc Europcan mcdical practicc:

The Lord of Mwaytira (a Crusading Baron) wrcteto my uncle asking him to send a physician to treatone of his companions who was sick. He sent him aplrysician alledThabit. He had hardly been away or

MAP 9.r rhc Routcs of thc crusades Thc crusadcs cd to a maior culrural cn-countcr betwccn Muslim and Chrisrian valucs. Whar significant ntcLiccrual nd eco-nomic cffccts resultcdf

-Fkst Crusade, 096-t099

e Second Crusade. 147-1 4!le ThirdCrusade. 189-l lg2+ Fourth Crusacte. 12O2-1ZC4 -

-_̂11 Crusader kingdoms in the Eas

ISLAMIC

21 Major batde



79(oten days, when he returned, andwe said to him: "How - slowly imp.cving thcir agricultural ourput tlroughquickly you hwe healed the sick!" and he replied, incrcascd mcchanization, cspecially thc usc of wa-"They brought me two patients, a knight with an ab- tcrpowcr and windpowcr; thcsc adv'anccs, aidcd byscesE n his leg, and a woman afiicted with a mental warmcr wcather, meant morc food and incrcasinedkorder I made the knight a poubice, and the abscess populadon.

burst and, he elt better I put the wonurn on a diet and In thc clcvcnth ccntury also, rulcrs and localkept her humour moist. Then a Frankish physician authoritics gradually imposed some dcgrcc of or-came to them and said to them: 'This man loows der within thcir territorics. pcace and domcsticnothing about how to treat them!'Then he said to the sccuriry conributed to thc risc in population,knight: 'Which do you prefer to live with one leg or brirrgttg largcr crops for thc pcasanrs andimprov-to die with two?' and the knight said: 'To live with ing trading conditions for the townspcople.- Thcone.' Then the physician said: 'Bring me a strong church ovcrthrcw rhc domination of lay ioh,r.r..r,knight and an ax,'and they brought them. Meanwhile and thc sprcad of rhc Cluniac and Cistircian ord.crsI 1to1d b,Then he put the sick man's leg on a wooden markcd thc ascendancy of monasdcisrn. Thc Grc-block and said to the loight: 'Strike his leg with the gorian rcform'movcmcnt, with its stress on .rhcat and cut it of with one Slow!'Then, while I watched, frccdom of thc church. lcd ro e gravc conflict withhe struck one blow, but the leg was not severed: then kings ovcr lay investiturc. Thc p"p".y achievcd ahe struck a second blow, and the martow of the teg tcchnical

succcss on the rcligiousissue, but in Gcr-spurted out, and the man died at once. many thc grcatly incrcascd-powcr of ttrc nobility,"The physician then urned to the woman, and said: at thc cxpJx. of tt. .-p.r'o., rcprcscnts rhc sij-

'This woman has a devil in'her head who has ailen nificant rLi"l .oor.qo.r... iauing put irs ownin love with hen Shave her hair ofi' So they shaved housc in ord.cr, thc Roman papacy in the twclfthher hea4 and she began once again to eat their usual and thirtcenti ccnturics buili rirc i'rrt ,t orrg gou-diet, with garlic and mustard and, such like. Her dis- crnmenr bureaucracy. In thc High Middlc Agcs,order got worse, and' he said: thc church cxcrciscd gcncral lcadership of Euro-

"'The devil has entered her head-'Then he tyk a pcan socicty. Thc Crusadcs cxhibitthailcadcrship,razor, incised a cross on her head and pulled of the though thc.u conscquenccs for Byzantinc-Wcsternskin in the middle until the bone of the skull appeared; and for Christian_Musfim rclations provcd disas_this he rubbed with sah, and the wonutn died fonh_ Eous.with.

"Then said to them: Have you any urther needof me?'and hi said no and so I camc home, avinglearned things about their medical practice which Idid not aww before.Lz"

Sccond, Europcan mcrchans, primarily [relis6,had csablished communitics in rhc Crusadcrstatcs. Aftcr thosc kingdoms collapscd, Muslim rul_crs still encouraged Eadc wirh Europcan busincss_men. Commcrcc wit}t thc Wcst bcncfircd bottrMtr1!i-t and Europcans, nd t continucd o flour-ish.l3



3( b"rk\

l1(rI

IOrArn-f O

loh^ Lo;ler1 ,'d 1oas, rrc

oTt*-R;s" n^J D"uJopne^l "( L}rr{rrnC|ril'J oA,.L. lt;pp ' ,fr [en o-D; /;r-', \ 'C . toc,*e''t tl,{[;s{e' {

d' lors

Horo[ t ' Bau^o^ 1



The Crusades

Background nd First CrusadeThe Crusades o the Holy Land were he

most spectacular nd self-conscious cts ofWestern Christian expansionism in the.High Middle Ages, although by no meansthe most asting. They arose n response oa major political crisis in the Near East'During the eleventh century a new warliketribe from Central Asia, the Seljuk Turks'

^ 4t QfJ . oL b u

swept nto Persia, ook up the Islamic-faith'

and turned the Abbasid caliphs of Bagh-

da d into their pawns. n l07l th e Seljuk

Turks inflicteda nearly atal blow upon the

Byzantine Empire, smashing Byzantine

army at.the battle of Manzikert and seiz-ing Asia Minor, the essential eservoir of

Byzantine manpower. Stories began ilter-

in! into the West of Turkish atrocities

"g.inttChristian pilgrims to Jerusalem'

and when he desperate yzantine emperor'Atexius Comnenus, swallowed his pride

and appealed o the West for help, Europe'under- the leadership of a reinvigoratedpapacy, was only too glad to respond'-

itt" Crusades represented a fusion of

three characteristic mpulses of medieval

man: sanctity,pugnacity, and greed' All

three were essential. Without Christian

idealism the Crusades would be incon-

ceivable, yet the pious dream of liberating

Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the

infidel was reinforced mightily by the lure

of new lands and unimaginable wealth' TheCrusades provided a superb opportunttyfor the Christian warrior aristocracy to 'perform their knightly skills in the servicelf tn" Lord-and to make their fortunes n

the bargain.It was to PoPe Urban Il that EmPeror

Alexius Comnenus en t hi s envoys askingfor military aid against the Turks, andUrban il , a masterful reform poPe, wasquick to grasp the opportunity. The Cru-sade presented many advantages o theChurch. It enabled he papacy to put rt-

self at the forefront of an mmense popular

movement and to grasp thereby the moralleadership of Europe. Moreover' theChurch may well have seen n the Crirsadea partial solution o the problem of endemicprivate warfare in Europe-a means of

irawing off many of the more warlike andrestive members of the European nobilityand turning their ferocity outward againstthe Moslems rather than inward againsteach other. And as a rescue mission toByzantium, he Crusade opened he possi-bility of reuniting he Eastern and Western



a Churches which had been in schism ormore than a generation. inally, Urbanshared with many other Europeans of hisda y the beguiling ream of winningJerusa-le m or Christendom

Accordingly, n 1095 PoPe Urban IIsummoned he European nobility to takeup th e Cross and reconquer he HolYLand. He delivered a powerful, epoch-making address o the Frankish aristocracyat Clermont-Ferrand, alling uPon hem toemulate he brave deeds of their ancestors,ro avenge he Turkish atrocities which hedescribed n gory detail), o win the Biblical"land of rnilk and honey" for Chri stendomand drive the infidel from the holy city ofJerusalem. inally,he promised hose who

undertook the enterprise the highest ofspiritual rewards: Undertake this ourneyfor the remission of your sins, with theassurance f the imperishable lory of thekingdom of Heaven."

The response was overwhelming. Withshouts of "God wills it!" Frankish warriorspoured nto the crusading rmy. By 1096the First Crusade was under way. A greatinternational military force-with a largenucleus of feudal knights from central andsouthern France, Normandy, and Sicily-made their way across the Balkans andassembled at Constantinople. Altogetherthe warriors of the First Crusade numberedaround tqenty-five or thirty thousand, arelatively modest igure by modern stand-ards but immense n the eyes of contem-poraries. Emperor Alexius was gravely dis-turbed by the magnitude of the WesternEuropean response. Having asked for acertain amount of military support, he had,as he put it , a new barbarian nvasion on hishands. Cautious and apprehensive, e de-manded and obtained rom the Crusaders a

promise of homage or all the lands theymigirt conquer.

From the beginning here was frictionbetween he Crusaders nd he Byzantines.They differed in temperament and also inaim, for the Byzantines wished only to re-captuie the lost provinces of Asia Minor

THE HIGH lvllDDLE AGES 269

whereas he Crusaders ,!'ere etermined nnothing es s han he conquest f the HolyLand. Alexius promised military aid, bu t itwas never forthcoming, and not long afterthe Crusaders left Constantinople theybroke with the Byzantines altogether.Hurling themselves outheastward crossAsia Minor into Syria, they encounteredand defeated Moslem forces, capturedancient Antioch after a long and complexsiege, and in the summer of 1099 tookJerusalem tself. Urban II , who had re -mained behind, died us t before he newsof Jerusalem's al l reached Rome.

The Crusaders celebrated heir captureof Jerusalem by plundering the city andpitilessly laughtering ts inhabitants. s a

contemporary eyewitness describes t,If you had been here you wouldhave een urfeet colored o our ankles with the blood of theslain. But what more shall relate? None olthemwere eftalive;neitherwomen or childrenwere spared. . . Afterward, ll ,clergy nd ay-men,went o the Sepulcher f the Lord and Hisglorious-temple,inginghe ninth chant.Withfittinghumility hey epeated rayers nd madetheir offering t the holy places hat they hadlongdesired o visit.

With the capture of Jerusalem, fter onlythree years of vigorous campaigning, hegoal of the First Crusade had been achieved.No future crusade was to enjoy such anotable success s the first, and during thetwo centuries that followed, the originalconquests were gradually lost. For themoment, however, Europe rejoiced at thespectacular uccess f its Crusaders. omeof them returned to their homes and re-ceived heroes' welcomes. Others emainedin Latin Syria to enjoy the fruits of theirconquests. A long strip of territory alongthe eastern Mediterranean shore had beenwrested rom Islam and was now divided,according o feudal principles, among he'Crusader knights. These warriors consoli-dated heir conquests by erecting arge andelaborate castles whose ruins still excitethe admiration of travelers.

The conquered lands were organized



THE CRUSADER STATES'' -9*

SU { ANATEoF &OUM -t 'couNrY oF

J EDESSA/ 'il*.

,$?*^'*

c{l--':--^f\.- EuPh,atzsa-"*,\

t*i*.'ro,,r,OF ANTIOCH

1;-*Rot Tripotiso -couxrv or

; / t i lPous

M c d i t c I r a^. 8^ rY .D.*r.u,

274 MEDIEVAL LIFE

into four Crusader States: he County ofEdessa, he Principality of Antioch, theCounty of Tripolis, and the Kingdom ofJerusalem. This last was the most im-portant of the four states, and the king ofJerusalem was theoretically the feudaloverlord of all the crusader territories. Infact, however, he had difficulty enforcinghis authority outside his own kingdom. In-deed, he feudal knights who settled n theHoly Land were far too proud and warlikefor their own good, and he Crusader Stateswere characterized from beginning bydangerous ivalries and dissensions.

Second CrusadeGradually, over the years, the Moslems

began o reconquer heir lost lands. n I 144the County of Edessa fell before Islamicpressure, and the disaster gave rise to a re-newal of crusading fervor in Europe. Therenowned twelfth-century abbot, St.

Bernard ofClairvaux, preached he crusadeacross Europe, and described the en-thusiastic response to his preaching asnothing less than miraculous. The SecondCrusade l147-48) was ed by King LouisVII of France and Emperor Conrad III of

Germany. Louis transported his army b) 'sea while Conrad's forces took the landroute. They met in Jerusalem and at onceencountered riction with the establishedChristian residents who had earned o livealongside he Moslems, who imitated theirdress and customs, and who lacked thezeal of the newly-arrived warriors- Thiscontrast in mood between establishedresidents and new crusaders was to be a re-curring problem in the HolY Land.

Rather than moving on Edessa, he Cru-

saders decided to besiege he great inlanccaravan center of Damascus- t was a wiseplan, n theory, or possession f Damascuswould have added much to the strategic andcommercial stability of the CrusaderStates, but Damascus proved impregnableand the siege failed. The Crusaders re-turned o Europe empty-handed, romptingSt. Bernard to describe the campaign as"an abyss so deep that I must call himblessed who is not scandalized hereby."

The 1170s and llEOs witnessed he riseof a new, unified lslamic state centered nEgypt and galvanizedby the skilled leader-ship of a Kurdish warrior-prince namedSaladin. Chivalrous as well as able, Saladinat first engaged n a truce with the CrusaddrStates, but the rise of his new principalitywas nevertheless an ominous threat toLatin Syria- The truce was broken by aChristian robber baron, a typical product ofthe feudal environment, who persisted nattacking Moslem caravans. Saladin nowmoved on Jerusalem, and in ll87 he captured ic It was not to be retaken bY a

Christian army for the remainder of theMiddle Ages.

Third CrusadeThis new catastrophe resulted in still

another major crusading effort. The Third



Crusade 1189-92) was led by three ofmedieval Europe's most illustrious mon-archs: Emperor Frederick Barbarossa ofGermany, King Philip Augustus f France,and King Richard the Lion-Hearted ofEngland. Frederick Barbarossa ad a ongand successful areer behind him as HolyRoman Emperor: Philip Augustus was aterro become he architect of the great thir-teenth-century Capetian monarchy inFrance: and Richard he Lion-Hearted wasalready a warrior of immense enown onthe battlefields f Europe. Yet for all that.and notwithstanding he abundant growthof legend nd romance hat has sprung uparound the Third Crusade, he enterprisecan hardly be described as successful.

Frederick Barbarossa never reached theHoly Land at all. He drowned while cross-ing a river in Asia Minor and the greaterpart of his army returned to Cermany.Philip and Richard, who had been enemiesat home, were hostile oward one anotherfrom the beginning. They joined forces nbesieging and capturing the importantcoastal city of Acre, but shortly thereafterKing Philip returned to France to plotagainst Richard. There followed a series ofencounters between the forces of Saladinand Richard during which the two chival-rous antagonists developed a degree ofmutual admiration. Richard won severalbattles but failed to retake Jerusalem. ndin the end he settled or a pact with Saladin,granting Christian pilgrims free access othe holy city. It was, all in all, a miserablydisappointing onclusion o such an im-mense ndertaking. s an ronic postscript,King Richard ell into hostile hands on hisreturn ourney and became he prisoner ofFrederick Barbarossa's son, EmperorHenry VI, who released is royal captiveonly after England had. paid the immensesum of 100,000 pounds-quite literally, aking's ransom.

Fourth CrusadeWithin another decade Europe was eady

for still another attempt on Jerusalem. Al-

TH E HIGH MIDDLE AGES 27I

though lacking the distinguished oyalleaders of the previous campaign, theFourth Crusade 1201-4) had as its insti-gator the most powerful of the medievalpopes: nnocent III. Like the First Cru-sade, t was ed by great eudal ords ratherthan kings. The most important of itsleaders wa s Baldwin X.countof Flanders.It was, withal. he oddest of the Crusades.It never reached he Holy Land at all, yetin a certain sense t wa s successful.

The Crusaders resolved to avoid theperils of overland ravel by crossing o theHoly Land n Venetian ships. The doge ofVenice, a Christian bu t also a man of busi-ness, demanded s payment or th e serviceof his ships a sum of money greater han

the Crusaders could afford. He agreed,however, to take what money the Cru-saders had and to transport them to theHoly Land if in return they would do himan errand on the way. They were to cap-ture for Venice the port of Zara which hadrecently ee n aken by th e king of Hungary.Pope Innocent III was infuriated by thisbargain which diverted he crusading armyagainst king who was a Christian and a pa-pal vassal. He repudiated he entire enter-prise an d excommunicated he Crusaders.

Nevertheless, the warriors wentdog-gedly ahead. Capturing Zara in 1202, hey

were then diverted still again by a politicaldisput'e n Constantinople involving thesuccession o the Byzantine hrone. One ofthe two claimants having been driven intoexile, his son contacted he Crusaders andbegged heir support, promising them im-mense wealth, ai d against he Moslems,and reunion of the Eastern and WesternChurches under Rome. Rising o the chal-lenge, he Crusaders moved on Constan-tinople. Entering the city through thetreachery of parties friendly to the exiledclaimant, the Crusaders nstalled him inpower only to have him die. As a conse-quence of his death, they were obliged toflee he city. Having expended onsiderablet All three of these monarchs will be encountered n

the ncxt chapter.



27 2 MEDIEVALLIFEeffort in what was apparently a fruitlesscause, he Crusaders esolved to take thecity for themselves, o elect a new Byzan-tine emperor rom their own ranks, and todivide the Eastern Enpire among

them-selves. Accordingly, he y besieged Con-stantinople and took it by storm ia 1204.The impregnable Byzanrine capital hadfallen at last to enemy conquerors; theCrusaders had succeeded where hordes ofMoslems, Persians, and barbarians hadfailed. Count Baldwin IX of Flanders be-came emperor, and he and his heirs ruledin Constantinople or over half a century.A nucleus of the old Byzantine state heldout in Asia Minor, gathering ts srrength,u'ntil n 126l the Latin Empire was over-thrown and Greek emperors eigned onceagain in Constanrinople. But the FourthCrusade had succeeded n delivering a blowfrom which Byzantium never entirely re-covered.

The wealth of Constantinople per-manently diverted the warriors of theFourth Crusade rom the Holy Land. TheEastern and Western Churches were tem_porarily reunited, however, and under thecircumstances ope nnocent III belatedlvrecognized he remarkable chievements ithe Crusaders nd

readmitted hem o com-munion. The Crusaders, or their part, re-turned o Europe with immense ooty fromConstantinople-precious gems, money,and gold such as ew of them had magined,but the greatest prize of all was the im-mense store of relics which the Westernersliberated from the Byzantine capital andbrought to their homeland. Bones, heads,and arms of saints, he crown of thorns, St .Thomas the Apostle's doubting inger, andmany similar reasures assed nt o WesternEurope at this time. perhaps more impor-tant, the West was given additional accessto the intellectual legacy of Greek andByzantine civilization during the decadesof the Latin Empire.

Later Crusades

The later Crusades equire less discus-sion than the early ones. During the thir-

teenth century crusading ervor graduallywaned. Crusades against he Moslem NearEast were generally unsuccessful, nd thepapacy weakened the crusading ideal bycalling for repeated crusades not onlyagainst he Moslems n the Holy Land bu talso against the Moslems in Spain, theAlbigensian heretics of southern France.and even the Holy Roman Emperor. InIZ|Z a visionary and ill-organized enter-prise known as the "Children's Crusade"ended n utter disaster as housands fboysand girls-gripped by religious fervor andconvinced that the Mediterranean woulddry up before them and provide them amiraculous pathway nto the Holy Land_flocked nto the ports of Southern Europe.Many of them were obliged o abandon heenterprise and return home disillusioned;the remainder were sold into Moslem slav-ery.

The next major effort against he Mos_lems of the Near East, the Fifth Crusade(1217-1221), was directed no t at th e HotyLand but against he real center of Moslem

power: Egypt. The Crusaders aptured heimportant Egyptian port of Damietta in1219 and refused a Moslem offer to tradeJerusalem or it . But dissension within thecrusader ranks and an abortive attackagainst Cairo in which the Crusaders werecaught between a Moslem army and theflooding Nile, resulted n military disaster,the abandonment of Damietta, and thefailure of the Crusade.

Three additional crusades of importancewere undertaken n the thirteenth centurv.The first of

these, ed by the brilliant e;-peror Frederick I[, was at once the mostfruitful and leasr edifying of the three.Frederick negotiated with the suttan ofEgypt rarher than fighting him, and n lZZgobtained possession f Jerusalem y treaty.The triumph was ephemeral, however, orJerusalem fell into Moslem hands once



PETER MANSFIELD

A HISTORYOF THE MIDDLE EAST

tt-APENGUII\ iBOOKS

Iqqa

r{tF1:FEesEE:F ?e!E1{iiiiEgliF Ellelei!g|iligiiFalieiliigig1i'1igilggrii:lluiilgiiEliaEet;aisEaiFi

GiigirigiiillgiilffirliigililiggarFiiFrF*ai :F i :Ei+f EE; sigiFF9 =.1 . a+i- iaE

:5gr AiFite i ;ifi1f3A+sEl l rF s ;;?s i 3; EF

flifggiiiEigli[eiE:i#*sf efF# S; EEiriglqigg*[iF1llilaral}[g|rig1glig: *E Ee+l-i;Egfglli+ari11;nil*t*li a? +



uldmatc urisdicdon over all his subjcca, ncludinggc clergy! For cenruries, uadidon had answercdgris qucstion in favor of thc ruler; so it is no

wonder that Hcnry protcsrcd the papd asscrrionsabout nvesdrurc.. ndirecdl', rhel' undermined m-pcrial pourr and sought to make papal authorirl'suPreme.

An incrcasinglv irtcr cxchangc f lcners ensued.Grcgory accuscd Hcnry of lack of rcspcct or thcpapzcl and insisted har disobcdicncc o the popcu'as disobediencc o God. Hcnry protestcd in anow-famous cncr beginning, Hcnry King nor byusurpation, but b,v hc pious ordinadon of God, toHildebrand, now not Pope, but falsc monk."

lfithin the cmpire, thosc who had most to gainfrom thc dispute quickly took advantage f it. In]anuary 1076 the Gcrman bishops who had becninvcsted by Henry withdrcw their allcgiancc romrhe popc. Grcgor,v rcplied by cxcommunicatingthem and suspending Henry from the kingship.The lay nobility delightcd n the bind thc cmpcrorhad bcen put in: with Henry fV cxcommunicatcdand cast ourside the Christian fold, they did nothavc to obey him and could advancc thcir owninrerests. Gregory hastencd o support them. ThcChristmas cason f LA76witnessed n ronic situ-ation in Gcrmanv: thc dergy supported rhe em-pcror, whilc the grcat nobiliry favored he popc.

Hcnry ourwined Grcgory. Crossing hc Alps inIanuary L077,he approached hc pope's esidenceat Canossa n northern Italy. According o legcnd,Henry stood for tlrce days n the snorv seckingforgivcness. u a priest, Pope Gregory w:rs obligcdto grant absolurion and to rcadmit the cmpcror rothe Christian communiry. Heruy's uip to'C*orr"is oftcn dcscribcd as he most dramatic ncidcnt inthc High Middle Agcs. Somc historians claim thatit markcd rhc pcak of papal power becausc hemost powcrfirl ruler in Europe, thc empcror, hadbowed bcforc the popc. Acrually, Hcnry scored atemporary victory. When thc scntcnce of cxcom-munication was liftcd, Hcnry rcgaincd thc king-ship and authoriry ovcr his rcbcllious subjccrs. Butin rhc ong run, in Gcrmany and clscwhcrc, ecularrulcrs wcrc rcluctant o pose a scrious challengc othc papacy or rhc ncxt rwo hundred ycars.

For Gcrmany thc incidcnt at Canossa settlcdnothing. Thc controvcrsy ovcr lay invcstinrc andthc position of thc king in Ctuistian socicry con-tinued. In 1080 Grcgory VII again cxcommuni-catcd and dcposcd hc cmpcror; in rcturn, Hcnryinvaded taly, capturcd Romc, and conuollcd thc

* Tne Countcss Matilda mcdiarcs. A staunch sup-poncr of thc rcforming idcals of rhc papacy, hcCountess Matilda of Tuscany c. 1046-ll15) ar-rangcd thc dnmadc mecdng of thc popc and cm-pcror at hcr casde at Canossa car Rcggio Emiliain the Appcnincs. The arrangcmcnr of rhefigurcs-with Hcnry IV knc-ling, Grcgory lecrur-ing, and Macilda pcrsuading-suggcsrs conrcmpo-.rary undcrstanding of the sccne whcrc Hcnry rc-ccived absolurion. Madda's vast csrares nnorthcrn Italy and her poliricd conracrs n Romcmade her a powerful figure in thc larc clcventhccn$ry. (So ce B b io e a Apo o ica Vat cana)

city when Gregory dicd in 1085. But Henry wonno lasting victory. Gregory's successors cncour-agcd Hcnry's sons to rcvolt against thcir fathcr.With lay investirurc rhc ostcnsible issue, rhcconflict bctwccn the papacy and the succcssor ofHenry fV continucd inro

the twclfth ccnnuy.Finally, n 1L22, at a confercncc hcld at Worms,the issue was setdcd by compromisc. Bishops wcrcto be chosen according to canon law-that is, bythc clcrgy-in thc prescnce of thc empcror or hisdelegatc. Thc cmpcror surrcndcrcd thc right ofinvesting bishops with thc ring and staff. But sincclay rulcn wcrc pcrmimcd ro bc prcscnr at ccdcsi-astical clcctioru and to acccpt or rcfusc fcudalhomagc from thc ncw prclates, they still posscsscdan cffcctivc vcto ovcr ccclcsiastical appoinuncnts.At thc same dme, thc papary achicvcd tcchnicd

crusades articles 1-3

Documents