The Crusades1095-1204

Decline of Byzantine Empire• In 1071, Muslim Seljuks

won an important victory at Manzikert.

• Byzantine factions then turned on each other in civil war, allowing the Seljuks almost free rein in Anatolia

• The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius Comnenus asked Pope Urban II to help him against the Muslims

Pope Urban II• Urban responded to

Byzantium’s request with a rousing speech in Clermont, France in 1095 in which he called upon Christians to “Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves…”

• Urban’s speech would help launch the first of several Crusades

Reasons for the Crusades• The Pope hoped to unite

the entire eastern Mediterranean and the divided Christian faith under the banner of the Latin Church– Remember the Schism of

1054• Italian city-states, with

their large navies, hoped for commercial gains and were therefore keen supporters of the Crusades

Reasons for the Crusades• The Byzantine Empire was

in decline and no longer could act as a buffer between the Muslim East and the Catholic West

• Christian pilgrims visiting the holy sites in Jerusalem began experiencing increased harassment and danger

“A pilgrim camp near Jericho”by David Roberts

A New Concept of War• Augustine’s Just War Theory

– Waged under the auspices of the state– Vindication of justice (defence of life and property)– Restrained conduct with regard to the enemy, non-combatants, and

prisoners

• The Crusades– At behest of the Pope, but under operational control of the kings– Defence of the faith– No restraint in dealing with the infidel

• The change was justified based on the Biblical accounts of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua.

Mobilisation of the Crusades• Pope Urban travelled to various cities for nine months

preaching the Crusade and offering extraordinary inducements to include a plenary indulgence remitting all punishments due to sin for those who died on the Crusade.

• Serfs were allowed to leave the land to which they were bound.

• Citizens were exempted from taxes.• Debtors were given a moratorium on interest.• Prisoners were freed and death sentences were commuted by

a bold extension of Papal authority to life service in Palestine.

The Crusaders

• The variety of motivations resulted in a varied assembly– Men tired of hopeless poverty– Adventurers seeking action– Merchants looking for new markets– Lords whose enlisting serfs had left them

labourless– Sincerely religious individuals wanting to

rescue the land of Christ

The First Crusade• The word “crusade”

comes from the Latin crux which means ‘cross’.– Crusaders wore red

crosses on their chests to symbolise their purpose

– The crusaders called themselves pilgrims not crusaders.

The First Crusade• Urban had appointed August

1096 as the time of departure, but many of the impatient peasants, who were among the first recruits, could not wait.

• Led by such personalities as Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless, they set out in three groups and quickly devolved into disorder, hunger, and ill-discipline.

• They were annihilated by a force of Turks at Nicaea led by Kilij Arslan.

“Alexius Comnenus, Emperor of the East, receives Peter the

Hermit at Constantinople, August 1096”

by Gillot Saint-Evre

The First Crusade• The more organised

Crusaders, under the divided leadership of various feudal leaders, moved by various routes to Constantinople

• There the Emperor Alexius gave them provisions and bribes in exchange for a pledge of fealty - Alexius was afraid the Crusaders

had designs on Constantinople as well as Jerusalem.

- He made them promise to return any recaptured lands to the Byzantine Empire. Duke Godfrey of Bouillon was

among the most brave, pious, competent, and fanatical of the

First Crusade leaders

The First Crusade• The First Crusaders met an

even more divided Muslim force and won victories at Nicea on June 19, 1097 and Antioch on June 3, 1098

• By June 7, 1099, after a three year campaign, 12,000 of the original 30,000 Crusaders reached Jerusalem

Siege of Antioch

The First Crusade• On July 15 the

Crusaders went over the city walls and unleashed unbridled carnage– Blood reportedly ran

knee-deep– 70,000 Moslems were

slaughtered– Jews were herded into a

synagogue and burned alive

The First Crusade• Administrative rule of Jerusalem

proved problematic.• Eventually the kingdom was parceled

into practically independent fiefs and barons assumed all ownership of land, reducing the former owners to the condition of serfs.

• The kingdom was further weakened by the ceding of several ports to the Italian city-states in exchange for naval support and seaborne supplies.

• The native Christian population came to look back on the era of Moslem rule as a golden age.

Godfrey served as the first ruler of Jerusalem

Knights• The establishment of new orders

of military monks partially offset these weaknesses.

• The Knights of the Hospital of Saint John and the Knights Templar began by protecting and nursing pilgrims but gravitated to active attacks on Muslim strongholds

• Both orders would come to play prominent roles in the battles of the Crusades and earned great reputations as warriors

Seal of the Knights Templar

Muslim Counterattack• Most of the Crusaders returned

to Europe after freeing Jerusalem, creating a manpower shortage.

• Muslim refugees retreated to Baghdad and demanded a force retake Jerusalem

• In 1144, Moslems under Zengi retook the Christian’s eastern-most outpost at al-Ruah and then Edessa

• Such developments would cause the Second Crusade

The Second Crusade• St. Bernard appealed to Pope

Eugenius II to call for another Crusade, but Eugenius begged Bernard to undertake the task himself.

• Bernard persuaded King Louis VII of France and then Emperor Conrad III of Germany to accept the Crusade.

• At Easter 1147 the Germans set out and the French followed at Pentecost. Conrad approaching

Constantinople

The Second Crusade

• This time the Moslems were ready:-• At Dorylaeum, the Germans were defeated so badly that barely one in ten

Christians survived.• At Attalia, nearly every Frenchman was slaughtered.• Eventually the Crusaders joined forces and lay siege to Damascus, but were

soundly defeated.

The Second Crusade

• News of the defeat of the Second Crusade shocked Europe– Christians wondered how God could allow them to be so

humiliated by the infidel– Bernard explained that the defeat must be punishment for

sins– Enthusiasm for the Crusades waned rapidly

• While the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem continued to be torn by internal strife, its Muslim enemies were moving toward unity.

Saladin• In 1175, Saladin brought Egypt

and Muslim Syria under one rule.• In 1185, he signed a four-year

truce with the Latin kingdom but the Christians violated it by attacking a Moslem caravan and capturing Saladin’s sister.

• He declared a holy war (jihad) against the Christians and captured Jerusalem in 1187– His terms were much more

generous than those of the Crusaders in 1099.

Saladin: one of the few Crusade personalities generally

described favorably by both Eastern and Western sources

The Third Crusade• The Christians were

able to retain Tyre, Antioch, and Tripoli and the Italian fleets still controlled the Mediterranean.

• William, Archbishop of Tyre, returned to Europe to call for a Crusade.

• Frederick Barbarossa of Germany set out with his army in 1189 but had little success.

“March of the Crusaders” by George Inness

The Third Crusade• Then Richard I the Lion Heart of

England took up the cause and took Philip Augustus, the French king, with him to ensure the French didn’t encroach on English territory in his absence.

• The Christians captured Acre and an ill Philip Augustus returned to France, leaving Richard in sole charge of the Third Crusade.

• Still Richard would face divisions as the German troops returned to Germany and French troops repeatedly disobeyed orders.

The Third Crusade• Richard and Saladin embarked on a “unique campaign in

which blows and battles alternated with compliments and courtesies” – (Durant, 599)

• The two executed enemy prisoners they held.• Richard proposed his sister marry Saladin’s brother.• They signed peace treaties then rejected them.• Richard conferred knighthood on the son of a Moslem

ambassador.• Richard got sick and Saladin sent him his own physician

and some fruit.• Saladin saw Richard unmounted in battle and sent him a

horse.

The Third Crusade• In the end Richard and Saladin

signed a peace for three years beginning Sept 2, 1192– Richard would keep the coastal

cities he had captured from Acre to Jaffa.

– Muslimms and Christians could pass freely into and from each other’s territory.

– Pilgrims would be protected in Jerusalem.

– But… Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands

The Third Crusade

• Richard had possessed superior brilliance, courage, and knowledge of the military art, but Saladin’s moderation, patience, and justice had carried the day

• The relative unity and fidelity of the Moslems had once again triumphed over the Christians’ divisions and disloyalties.

The Fourth Crusade• Acre was free but Jerusalem was still in Muslim hands• Europe was in turmoil with problems such as renewed fighting

between France and England, but the death of Saladin and the breakup of his empire renewed hope for another Crusade.

• In exchange for its financial support, Venice exacted a promise that the Crusaders would capture the important port of Zara and turn it over to her– Zara belonged to Hungary and was stiff competition to

Venice’s maritime trade– Pope Innocent III denounced the scheme but to no avail– The Fourth Crusade would be marked by avarice.

The Fourth Crusade

• Part of the avarice was the temptation to capture Constantinople which had derived much profit from the Crusades.

• Seizing Constantinople would not only provide financial benefit, it would also restore it to the Western Church.

• In 1204 the Crusaders captured and looted Constantinople.

The Fourth Crusade• The Byzantine Empire was divided into feudal

dominions, each ruled by a Latin noble• Most Crusaders returned home, perhaps thinking

that by securing Constantinople they now had a stronger base against the Moslems

• Only a handful continued to Palestine and had no effect there

• The Byzantine Empire never recovered and the Latin capture of Constantinople served to prepare it for capture by the Turks two centuries later