The
Crusades
A Religious
Journey
(Pilgrimage)
to freedom
The Myth
The crusades were wars of unprovoked
aggression against a peaceful, enlightened
Muslim world
 Crusaders were bloodthirsty villains, hungry
for money, power and land

Key Figures of the First Crusade

The first crusade was launched by Pope Urban II.
He made the following speech:
“God himself will lead them, for they will be
doing His work. There will be absolution and
remission of sins for all who die in the service
of Christ. Here they are poor and miserable
sinners; there they will be rich and happy. Let
none hesitate; they must march next summer. God
wills it!”
GOD WILLS IT!
“Deus Vult” – or “God wills it!” became the
battle cry of the Crusades!
Problems faced by the First Crusade:
No single leader
 No chain of command
 No supply lines
 No detailed strategy

The Path of the First Crusade
The First Crusade was a success…
The Crusader States after the First Crusade
The Strategic
Problem…
To big chunk of
Muslim empire
The First Crusade
avoided Aleppo
and Damascus,
missing the
opportunity to cut
the Muslim empire
in half.
Syrian
belt
In the long run this
meant the
Crusades were
doomed.
To Egypt
To Mecca
What happened after the First
Crusade?



County of Edessa fell to the Turks and Kurds in
1144.
Second Crusade, 1145–1149, French and
German armies, failed miserably.
Battle of Hattin, 1187: Saladin’s unified army
(100,000) met the combined armies of the
Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem (<20,000)
The March to Hattin


Crusader army was wiped out
Jerusalem surrendered not long after (Chapter 32)
Conclusion






The Crusades were not an example of Christian
aggression. They were a series of just wars in
response to Muslim conquest.
Crusaders weren't in it to get rich, or for a bit of
sport, killing, robbing and pillaging in a faraway
land.
The Sack of Jerusalem and the Sack of
Constantinople were bad and can’t be excused
(although there were atrocities the other way too).
Overall, the Crusading effort in the Holy Land was a
failure.
By the 16th century, the battleground of the
Crusades was Europe itself (e.g. Lepanto [Greece],
Vienna), as Christian civilisation fought for survival.
Eventually, Christendom won, but it was more
through economic development than military might.
The Kingdom of Heaven

Not just the thugs everyone thought!
Chapter 21!