THE CRUSADES
1095 A.D.
•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:
Beginning of the Crusades
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
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 hairraising behavior of unnecessary brutalityThousand of Muslim men, women and
children were slaughtered.
•Who are the Knights Templar? (If we have
time)
•Banking
•Holy Relics
•Friday the 13th
“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.”
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.
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.
•Saladin forbade 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.
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 alAqsa during
the Night
Journey.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
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.
The End of the Crusades
•Many Crusaders had fallen victim to their own greed, costing
them their lands, and more importantly, their lives
War does not determine who is right
only who is left.
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
HISTORY OF
RELIGION
Imperial History of the Middle East
In 90 Seconds!