The Crusades
Decline of Byzantium
• In 1071, Muslim
Saljuqs won an
important victory at
Manzikert
• Byzantine factions then
turned on each other in
civil war, allowing the
Saljuqs almost free rein
in Anatolia
• The Byzantine Emperor
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
from Lesson 6
• 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 severe 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
(defense of life and
property)
– Restrained conduct with
regard to the enemy, noncombatants, and prisoners
• The Crusades
– At behest of the Pope, but
under operational control of
the kings
– Defense 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
(remember Lesson 10)
Mobilization of the Crusades
• Pope Urban traveled 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 laborless
– Sincerely religious individuals
wanting to rescue the land of Christ
The First Crusade
• The word “crusade”
comes from the
Spanish cruzade
which means “marked
with the cross”
– Crusaders wore red
crosses on their
chests to symbolize
their purpose
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 all but annihilated
by a force of Turks at Nicea
“Alexius Comnenus, Emperor
of the East, receives Peter the
Hermit at Constantinople,
August 1096”
by Gillot Saint-Evre
The First Crusade
• The more organized
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 somewhat
afraid the Crusaders
had designs on
Constantinople as well
as Jerusalem
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
Moslem 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
Moslem Counterattack
• Most of the Crusaders
returned to Europe after
freeing Jerusalem, creating a
manpower shortage
• Moslem refugees retreated to
Baghdad and demanded a
force retake Jerusalem
• In 1144, Moslems under
Zangi retook the Christian’s
eastern-most outpost at alRuah and then Edessa
• Such developments would
spur 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 Moslem enemies
were moving toward unity
Saladin
• In 1175, Saladin brought Egypt
and Moslem 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 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
– Moslems and Christians could
pass freely into and from each
other’s territory
– Pilgrims would be protected in
Jerusalem
– But… Jerusalem would remain in
Moslem 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 Moslem 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
Collapse of the Crusades
• The scandal of the
Fourth Crusade and the
failure of the Third
quenched the greater
fire for Crusades but
several half-hearted
efforts would continue
until 1291
• In 1291, the Moslems
seized Acre
• Tyre, Sidon, Haifa, and
Beirut fell soon
afterward
Among the ineffective latter
crusades was the “Children’s
Crusade” of 1212 in which
thousands of children ended up
drowning or being sold into slavery
Results of the Crusades
•
•
Failures
– Moslem civilization had been victorious over Christian civilization
– Indigenous eastern Christians were caught in the middle between
Crusaders and Moslems, and many who were outraged by the
excesses of the Crusaders or who wanted to avoid persecution by
Moslem leaders who saw them as collaborators with the Crusaders
converted to Islam
– In fact, the Crusades ironically proved instrumental in making the
eastern Mediterranean predominantly Moslem
– Jerusalem was in Moslem hands
– Christian pilgrims became fewer and more fearful than ever
– The effort of the popes to bring peace and unity to Europe had been
thwarted by nationalistic ambitions, avarice, and internal dissension
Successes
– The Turkish capture of Constantinople was delayed until 1453
– The Moslems, even though victorious, had themselves been weakened,
and fell more easily when the Mongols attacked
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
CRUSADES
• This led to a rise in trade in commodities from the East like
silk and spices and thus the reintroduction of currency/money
economy as well as International Banking. The rise of the
merchant class and the growth of towns occurred as well as
the creation of powerful city –states particularly in Italy. Some
European serfs found new opportunities by travelling to the
east as part of the various Crusader entourages.
• Increased social mobility and access to goods helped create a
rise in the overall standard of living. The manorial system as
the economic aspect of the feudal system began to die.
• This same interest ushered in the Age of Exploration helping
to motivate explorers to take extraordinary risks in the hopes
of making a fortune.
•
Trade in that area also introduced the Black Plague.
Significance Cont’d
• The Moslem powers, once tolerant of religious diversity, had
been made intolerant by attack and defeats galvanized the rift
between the two faiths. This was a driving influence behind the
strengthening of Spanish attempts to retake southern Spain (The
Reconquista). Spanish nationalism subsequently flourished
making it the preeminent power of the day and also saw it
become the most fervent inquisitional state.
• The influence of the Catholic Church but more specifically the
position of the pope declined as the failure of the Crusades
undermined the infallibility of the Pope. The schism between the
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church widened as many
Crusaders had attacked Orthodox Christians and wounds from
the failure of the Crusades continued to fester. Also taxes used
by the Church to finance the Crusades continued to be expected
but were not surprisingly resented by the people who had to pay
them.
Significance Cont’d
• Classical knowledge maintained in the Byzantine and Islamic
world led to increased questioning of the Church.
• The majority of that knowledge first found its way to the Italian
merchant states who were responsible for transportation of
crusaders and goods. Thus the Renaissance was first seen
in Italy and the area became very powerful
• The failure of the Crusades undermined the prestige of the
knightly class and many troublesome nobles were killed off.
Those same knight and the castles around them began to
become obsolete as gunpowder and other technological
developments were introduced from eastern merchants and
eastern thought.
• Ultimately all these various effects would bring about the end
of The Medieval Era.
Trade
• Italian traders obviously
benefited from supplying the
Crusades while they were
going on, but they also saw
an opportunity to expand
their market by establishing
direct trade with the Moslem
world
• The lucrative trade provided
great profit to the Italian citystates and ultimately
provided the economic basis
for the Italian Renaissance
we’ll discuss in Lesson 24
Lorenzo de Medici was part of a
family that ruled Florence and
served as bankers for the
Crusades and patrons of the
Renaissance
Trade
• The most important trade
item were spices
– Other items included
cotton, linen, dates,
coral, pearls,
porcelain, silk, and
metal goods
• Damascus was a key
center for industry and
commerce and a stopping
point for pilgrims on their
way to Mecca
Egyptian scarf or garment
fragment ca 1395
Trade
• European Christians also became exposed to new ideas
as they traveled throughout the Mediterranean basin
– The works of Aristotle
– Islamic science and astronomy
– “Arabic” numerals which the Moslems had borrowed
from India
– Techniques for paper production which the Moslems
had learned from China
• While the Crusades may have largely failed as military
adventures, they helped encourage the reintegration of
western Europe into the larger economy of the western
hemisphere
The Reconquista of Spain
• The Christians did have
better success wresting
Sicily and Spain from the
Moslems in actions
separate from the Crusades
• Sicily was regained
relatively easily
– Moslems had conquered it in
the 9th Century but in the
1090, after about 20 years of
fighting, Norman warriors
returned it to Christian hands
• Spain would be a bit more
of a challenge
The Reconquista of Spain
• Moslems invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th
Century and ruled all but small Christian states such as
Catalonia
• In the 1060s Christians began attacking outward from
these toeholds
The Reconquista of Spain
• By 1150 Christians had recaptured Lisbon and controlled
over half the peninsula
• These successes lured reinforcements from England and
France and a new round of campaigning in the 13th
Century brought all but Granada into Christian hands
• In 1492, Christian forces conquered Granada and the
Reconquista was complete
Immediate Impact of the
Reconquista
• After the successful
Reconquista, the
devoutly Christian rulers
of Spain and Portugal
were eager to dominate
the Islamic states in
North Africa and to
convert non-Christians
• The desire to spread
Christianity would be
one of the motives for
the European
explorations
1492 was the year of both the
completion of the Reconquista and
Columbus’ voyage to the New
World