Mr. Cimino’s study sheet on
the Crusades
1. Islam spread far from its birthplace in the modern nation of Saudi Arabia. By AD1095,
land where Jesus Christ lived was controlled by Muslims. Christians considered this land
holy and believed they, not Muslims, should control it.
2. The Crusades were a series of wars initiated by Christians, and fought against
Muslims, in an attempt to win back their holy lands.
3. The Crusaders were ultimately unable to reclaim their holy lands, but the wars
had another effect: Western Europeans had left their homes to fight in a distant war.
The stories of the returning Crusaders encouraged their countrymen to look beyond
their own villages for the first time.
The Arabs
People who speak Arabic as their primary language are known as Arabs. Traditionally, they
lived on the Arabian Peninsula, but the language and culture of the Arabs spread throughout the
Middle East with the expansion of Islam. Arabic is the language of the Quran, the holy book of
Islam. Today more than 200 million Arabs live in nations around the world. Arabs constitute the
substantial majority of people in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and
Morocco.
When Muhammad, the founder of Islam, died in AD632, Abu Bekr became caliph. Caliph
means successor, or “one who comes after.” Abu Bekr wanted everyone around to world to follow
Islam and “to submit to Allah.” H.G. Wells said, “With a faith that moves mountains, he set himself
simply and sanely to organize the subjugation of the entire world to Allah – with little armies of
3000 or 4000 Arabs.”1
A century after Muhammad’s death, the lands of Islam, under Arab leadership, stretched
from Spain in the west across North Africa and most of the modern Middle East into Central
Asia and northern India. The Arabs were great traders whose influence reached as far as
southwest Asia. Today more Muslims live in Indonesia, far from the Arab world, than in any
other nation.
The Arabs were interested in learning and in other cultures. Western Europe was in a period often
called “the dark ages” because the civilizations of Greece and Rome had been extinguished, but the Arabs
made great advances in mathematics, medicine, and physical science. They replaced clumsy Roman numerals
with the Arabic numerals we use today. Algebra and Chemistry are both Arabic words.
The Turks and the First Crusade
The modern nation of Turkey is named for its Turkish inhabitants, but the
Turks were not originally from Turkey. The Turks were nomadic people from
Central Asia. Many Turks remain in that area, in fact, there is a nation in Central
Asia known as Turkmenistan (“land of the Turks”).
One Turkish tribe, the Seljuks, began moving into the Anatolian peninsula, or what we now call Turkey.
These Turks were Muslims, and a Christian emperor, Alexius I, controlled the peninsula. Alexius appealed to
the head of his church, the Pope, to help him rid Anatolia of “the unbelievers.”
Pope Urban II received Alexius’s call for assistance, but decided to use that call to advance a more
ambitious plan. Jerusalem, on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the modern nation of Israel, is
considered holy land to Christians, Jews and Muslims, but in 1095, the city was controlled by Muslims. The
message from Alexius presented Urban with an opportunity to retake the holy lands from the Muslims. The
pope called for a “War of the Cross,” or Crusade, to retake the holy lands from the unbelievers.
Pope Urban persuaded the knights of Western Europe to join the First Crusade
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Urban appealed to the knight's religious convictions
Urban said Muslim Turks were robbing and torturing Christian pilgrims journeying to the holy lands.
The war offered knights a chance for glory and wealth.
Urban suggested the knights fight Muslims instead of continuing to fight one another.
Later Crusades
The first Crusaders crossed into Anatolia in 1097 and reached Jerusalem
by the summer of 1099. The fighting was fierce, but the unsuspecting
Muslims were no match for the bloodthirsty Crusaders, who killed not only
fighting men, but also women and children. The victorious Crusaders
established four colonies along the eastern Mediterranean including one in
Jerusalem.
A second Crusade was launched when the Muslims recaptured one of the
Christian colonies. This time the Muslims were prepared and defeated the Crusaders.
Saladin and the Muslim Recapture of Jerusalem
The Christians had recaptured the Holy Lands by the end of the second Crusade, but a Muslim general
named Saladin launched a jihad, or Islamic holy war, that managed to recapture Jerusalem. Saladin was neither
an Arab nor a Turk. He was Kurdish. The Kurds live between the Turks and Arabs in the mountainous lands of
northern Iraq and eastern Turkey.
Saladin recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, prompting the Christians to launch a Third Crusade led by King
Richard “the Lion-Hearted” of England. The Christians won some
battles in the Third Crusade, but Saladin was able to hold Jerusalem for the
Muslims. The two warriors agreed to a
truce that allowed the Muslims control of
the Holy Lands, but Christians were
free to visit their shrines.
The Muslims had recaptured
all of the Holy Lands by 1291, but the Crusades were a turning point for
Western Europe. The returning soldiers told fascinating tales of far
away lands; people became interested in other cultures for the first time.
The next two centuries would lead to exciting advances in technology
and the arts we now know as the Renaissance.
The Crusades led to an increase in trade in Europe.
 The Crusaders traveled to new lands and learned of new and
interesting cultures.
 The Crusaders discovered spices that allowed food to last longer and taste better.
 Europeans wanted the fine cloths manufactured in the Middle East.
Name___________________________ Pd. _______
Answer in complete sentences
Use your study sheet to find the correct answers.
THE TURKS AND THE FIRST CRUSADE
1. This “sea” separates Turkey and Turkmenistan.
2. Why was Alexius I upset with the Seljuks?
3. Who was the head of the Christian church in AD1095?
4. Pope Urban used Alexius’s call as an excuse to retake the Holy Lands. Why do you think
few people knew that Anatolia and the Holy Lands were hundreds of miles apart?
5. Where is Jerusalem?
6. What does “Crusade” mean?
7. What was the goal of the Crusaders?
LATER CRUSADES
1. How much time passed between Pope Urban’s call and the Crusaders’ arrival in Jerusalem?
2. Why did it take the Crusaders as long as it did to reach Jerusalem?
3. What did the Crusaders do after their initial victories in the Crusades?
4. Why was the second Crusade launched?
Fill in the Blanks
Use your study sheet to find the correct answers.
SALADIN AND THE MUSLIM RECAPTURE OF JERUSALEM
Saladin was a K____________ military leader who launched a j________, or holy
w____ to r________________ the J________________ after the s__________ Crusade.
Saladin recaptured Jerusalem ______ years after Pope U________ called the first
Crusade. The C_________________ responded by launching a t________ Crusade led
by K______ Richard the “L______-Hearted” of E____________. Saladin was able to hold
J________________ for the M____________ despite some v________________ by the
Christians. S____________ and Richard eventually agreed to a t________ that allowed
the C__________________ to v________ their s____________.
The Christians ultimately l______ the Crusades, but the bloody w______
contributed to the advancement of Western E__________. The returning
s______________ told fascinating tales of far away lands. This led to a flowering of
western civilization we know today as “the R_____________________.”
Answer in complete sentences
Use your study sheet to find the correct answers.
SALADIN AND THE MUSLIM RECAPTURE OF JERUSALEM
1. What is a jihad?
2. Where do the Kurds live?
3. Why do you think England’s King Richard I was known as “the Lion Hearted?”
4. Why was AD1291 a turning point in the Crusades?