THE CRUSADES 1095 A.D.

1. THE CRUSADES 1095 A.D.

2. Seljuk Turks invade Byzantine Empire • Alexius I asks Pope Urban II for help • Meet at the Council of Clermont • Urban II encourages a movement to recover Palestine, the Holy Land, from Muslim control • People who responded to this calling were called Crusaders • What happened? • There were altogether Ten Crusades covering between the 11th through the 13th centuries: • The next slides will provide some overview of the Crusades Beginning of the Crusades

3. Reasons for the Crusades • Some believe the pope thought that the Crusades would increase his power in Europe • Christians believed that their sins would be forgiven if they participated in the Crusades • Nobles hoped to gain wealth and land by participating in the Crusades • Adventurers saw the Crusades as a chance for travel and excitement • Serfs hoped to escape feudal oppression by fighting in the Crusades

5. An Initial Christian “Victory” • The First Crusade, 1095-1099, saw the Christians taking of Jerusalem from the Muslims, the slaughter of both the Muslim and Jewish populations of the city. • We have one account describing hair-raising behavior of unnecessary brutality-Thousand of Muslim men, women and children were slaughtered. • The Knights Templars were stationed on the Temple Mount (hence their name). Interestingly, Knights Templars did not destroy the Dome of the Rock (though the Crusaders did destroy all the mosques that they did not turn into churches). • Why? • They thought it was the "Temple of Solomon," and that the nearby Al Aksa mosque was the "Palace of Solomon." • So what did they do? They removed the crescent from the top of the Dome of the Rock, replaced it with a cross, and called the place Templum Domini, "Temple of God.“ • Muslims will fight back • “The poor Jews had all huddled together in a synagogue and this is where the Crusaders found them, set the place on fire, and burned them alive.” • One of the Crusaders, joyfully recounted: • "With the fall of Jerusalem and its towers one could see marvelous work. Some of the pagans were mercifully beheaded, others pierced by arrows plunged from towers, and yet others, tortured for a long time, were burned to death in searing flames.”

6. The Second Crusade, 1147-1149 • Was organized to help the Christians to recover lands which they lost to the Turks, but it ended in dismal failure.

7. The Third Crusade 1189-1192 • Was organized after Saladin recaptured Jerusalem. • This is the Crusade in which King Richard the Lionhearted figured. • Sultan Saladin beat the Crusaders at what was one of the most important battles in the medieval history of the Middle East (at the Horns of Hattin, which is northwest of the Sea of Galilee.) • There Saladin very skillfully managed to lure the Crusaders out into the open. In the middle of the summer and burning heat, the Crusaders found themselves vastly outmaneuvered and outnumbered. • Saladinforbade his soldiers to kill, harm, or steal from the defeated Crusaders and eventually granted them access to Christian holy sites there. • Saladin was well respected and admired by Christians and Muslims • Even though they lost Jerusalem, the Crusaders didn't give up. • They mounted campaign after campaign to regain the Holy Land. • They never did get Jerusalem back.

9. Temple Mount considered the holiest site in Judaism, since it is believed to be where the Temple in Jerusalem once stood. Widely considered, mainly by Sunni Muslims, as the third holiest site in Islam, Muslims believe that prophet Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. Al-Aqsa Mosque

11. Other Crusades • The Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204, saw the capture of Constantinople, which at the time was occupied by Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians, who did not recognize the authority of the Roman Pope. • The Children's Crusade, 1212, sent thousands of children for the Holy Land, where they were captured by Muslims only to be sold as slaves or to die of hunger or disease. • The Fifth Crusade, 1217-21, was aimed at Egypt, but failed. • Four more Crusades mounted in the 13th century failed to reverse the Muslim gains. In 1291 the last Crusader stronghold at Acre fell.

12. The End of the Crusades • Many Crusaders had fallen victim to their own greed, costing them their lands, and more importantly, their lives

13. The Impact of the Crusades • Increased trade • Encouragement of Learning • Changes in the Church • Changes in the Feudal System • People of different religions grow to hate one another

14. HISTORY OF RELIGION

16. War does not determine who is right only who is left.

17. Imperial History of the Middle East In 90 Seconds!