The Crusades

1. The Crusades Success, Failure, Success

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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