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A Brief Overview of the Crusades
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Many of the Crusaders are represented with their feet on a dog,
to show that they followed the standard of the Lord as faithfully as a dog follows the footsteps of his master.
PAGE CONTENTS:
The Crusades
Crusade Basics
Dark Legacy - The Origins of the First Crusade
The Crusades
by Denis Mueller
Christianity began in Palestine and by the 4th century, the entire Roman
Empire was Christian. Its borders included the "Holy Lands" and most of what we call today the Middle East. The Jewish population
was driven out after the anti-Roman revolts in 66-70 A.D. and the Christians controlled the area.
In the 7th century, the region came under the influence of the religion
Islam. When Muhammad, who was the founder of Islam died in 632 A.D., Abu Bakr carried on his message. Only a century after
Muhammad's death, the word of Allah spread across the Middle East, to North Africa and into Spain.
The Turks aggressively stretched their Empire. In 1071, they destroyed
the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert. Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for help. Pope Urban saw this as an opportunity
to assert the supremacy of Papal power over the Byzantine Empire, so he urged the knights of Europe to cease killing each
other and join in a "Holy War" to free the sacred land from the Turkish infidels.
The Christian armies descended on Jerusalem on July 13, 1099. The attack
came from several directions and what followed was whole-scale slaughter. The Christians killed everyone they met, regardless
of age, sex or religion. The killing went on through the night until the Arabs, and the remaining Jews, were kicked out of
Jerusalem. The streets were filled with blood and the Arabs now viewed the Europeans as ferocious barbarians.
The Arab's knowledge spread across the areas they had conquered.
Europe was, at the time, in the midst of the dark ages but the Arab nations excelled in mathematics, medicine and medical
science. However, by the 11th century, the Turks, a nomadic tribe from central Asia, had replaced the Arabs as rulers of the
Middle East. The Turks had converted to Islam but they destroyed the social structure of the area and while the Arabs had
been tolerant of Christian interests, the Turks were not.
The Moslems never forgot the sacking of Jerusalem. The city was a sacred
place for them for it was here where Mohammad was said to ascend to heaven. The victorious Crusaders established four colonies
along the Eastern Mediterranean and when one of the colonies was captured, the Christians set out to reclaim it.
The Moslem general Saladin, who was a Kurd, defeated the Christians and
recaptured Jerusalem in 1187. This caused the Christians to launch another crusade, which included King Richard "the Lion-Hearted"
of England. However, they were defeated as well.
The two sides finally agreed to a truce but the returning soldiers of the
Crusades spoke of fantastic things they had seen. They had been introduced to spices, that made their food taste better, silks
that were much nicer than the clothing they had. Europe would never be the same. The Crusades also encouraged the Europeans
to leave their homes and to seek out the rest of the world. The explorers came out of the Crusades and the Renaissance was
influenced by it as well. The "Dark Ages" were finally ending.
Sources: Paul Crawford The History of Western Civilization, Boise State
University
Crusade Basics
by Melissa Snell
Definition of a "Crusade":
The medieval "Crusade" was a holy war. For a conflict to be
officially considered a Crusade, it had to be sanctioned by the pope and conducted against groups seen as enemies of Christendom.
Initially, only those expeditions to the Holy Land (Jerusalem
and associated territory) were considered Crusades. More recently, historians have also recognized campaigns against heretics,
pagans and Muslims in Europe as Crusades.
How the Crusades Began:
For centuries, Jerusalem had been governed by Muslims, but they tolerated
Christian pilgrims because they helped the economy. Then, in the 1070s, Turks (who were also Muslim) conquered these holy
lands and mistreated Christians before realizing how useful their good will (and money) could be. The Turks also threatened
the Byzantine Empire.
When the Crusades Began and Ended:
Emperor Alexius asked the pope for assistance, and Urban II, seeing
a way to harness the violent energy of Christian knights, made a speech calling for them to take back Jerusalem. Thousands
responded, resulting in the First Crusade.
Urban II made his speech calling for Crusade at the Council of Clermont
in November, 1095. This is seen as the start of the Crusades. However, the reconquista of Spain, an important precursor
to crusading activity, had been going on for centuries.
Traditionally, the fall of Acre in 1291 marks the end of the Crusades,
but some historians extend them to 1798, when Napoleon expelled the Knights Hospitaller from Malta.
Crusader Motivations:
There were as many different reasons for crusading as there were crusaders,
but the single most common reason was piety. To crusade was to go on pilgrimage, a holy journey of personal salvation. Whether
that also meant giving up virtually everything and willingly facing death for God, bending to peer or family pressure, indulging
blood lust without guilt, or seeking adventure or gold or personal glory depended entirely on who was doing the crusading.
Who Went on Crusade:
People from all walks of life, from peasants and laborers to kings and
queens, answered the call. Women were encouraged to give money and stay out of the way, but some went on crusade anyway. When
nobles crusaded, they often brought huge retinues, whose members may not necessarily have wanted to go along. At one time,
scholars theorized that younger sons more frequently went crusading in search of estates of their own; however, crusading
was an expensive business, and recent research indicates it was lords and elder sons who were more likely to crusade.
The Number of Crusades:
Historians have numbered eight expeditions to the Holy Land, though
some lump the 7th and 8th together for a total of seven crusades. However, there was a steady stream of armies from Europe
to the Holy Land, so it is nearly impossible to distinguish separate campaigns. In addition, some crusades have been named,
including the Albigensian Crusade, the Baltic (or Northern) Crusades, the Children's Crusade, the People's Crusade, and the
Reconquista.
Crusader Territory:
Upon the success of the First Crusade, the Europeans set up a king of
Jerusalem and established what is known as the Crusader States. Also called "outremer" (French for "across the
sea"), the Kingdom of Jerusalem controlled Antioch and Edessa, and it was divided into two territories since these places
were so far-flung.
When ambitious Venetian merchants convinced warriors of the Fourth Crusade
to capture Constantinople in 1204, the resulting government was referred to as the Latin Empire, to distinguish it from the
Greek, or Byzantine, empire they had claimed.
Crusading Orders:
Two important military orders were established in the early 12th century:
the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar. Both were monastic orders whose members took vows of chastity and poverty,
yet they were also militarily trained. Their primary purpose was to protect and aid pilgrims to the Holy Land. Both orders
did very well financially, particularly the Templars, who were notoriously arrested and disbanded by Philip IV of France in
1307. The Hospitallers outlasted the Crusades and continue, in a much-altered form, to this day. Other orders were established
later, including the Teutonic Knights.
Impact of the Crusades:
Some historians -- particularly Crusades scholars -- consider the Crusades
the single most important series of events in the Middle Ages. The significant changes in the structure of European society
that took place in the 12th and 13th centuries were long considered the direct result of Europe's participation in the Crusades.
This view no longer holds as strongly as it once did. Historians have recognized many other contributing factors in this complex
time.
Yet there is no doubt the Crusades contributed greatly to changes in
Europe. The effort of raising armies and providing supplies for Crusaders stimulated the economy; trade benefited, as well,
especially once the Crusader States were established. Interaction between the East and West affected European culture in areas
of art and architecture, literature and education. And Urban's vision of directing the energies of warring knights outward
succeeded in reducing war within Europe. Having a common foe and common objective, even for those who didn't participate in
the Crusade, fostered a view of Christendom as a united entity.
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Dark Legacy - The Origins of the First Crusade
How centuries of war began with one man's ambition
Guide's Note: This feature was originally
posted in October of 1997, and was updated in November of 2006.
The Byzantine Empire was in trouble. For decades the Turks, fierce nomadic warriors recently converted to Islam, had been conquering
outer areas of the empire and subjecting these lands to their own rule. Recently, they'd captured the holy city of Jerusalem,
and, before they understood how Christian pilgrims to the city could help their economy, they mistreated Christians and Arabs
alike. Furthermore, they established their capital a mere 100 miles from Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium. If Byzantine
civilization was to survive, the Turks must be stopped.
Emperor Alexius Comnenus knew he did not have the means to stop these
invaders on his own.
Because Byzantium had been a center of Christian freedom and learning,
he felt confident in asking the Pope for assistance. In 1095 AD he sent a letter to Pope Urban II, asking him to send armed
forces to Eastern Rome to help drive out the Turks. The forces Alexius more than likely had in mind were mercenaries, paid
professional soldiers whose skill and experience would be more efficient in defending Byzantine lands than that of peasant
armies. The emperor did not realize that Urban had an altogether different agenda.
The Papacy in Europe had acquired considerable power over the
preceding decades. Churches and priests that had been under the authority of various secular lords had been brought together
under the influence of Pope Gregory VII. Now the Church was a controlling force in Europe in religious matters and even some
secular ones, and it was Pope Urban II who succeeded Gregory (after the brief pontificate of Victor III) and continued his
work. Although it is impossible to say exactly what Urban had in mind when he received the emperor's letter, his subsequent
actions were most revealing.
At the Council of Clermont in November of 1095, Urban made a speech that
literally changed the course of history. In it, he stated that the Turks had not only invaded Christian lands but had visited
unspeakable atrocities on Christians (of which, according to Robert the Monk's account, he spoke in great detail). This was
a great exaggeration, but it was just the beginning.
Urban went on to admonish those assembled for heinous sins against their
brother Christians. He spoke of how Christian knights battled other Christian knights, wounding, maiming and killing each
other and thus imperiling their immortal souls. If they were to continue to call themselves knights, they should stop killing
each other and rush to the Holy Land.
Urban promised complete remission of sins for anyone killed in the Holy
Land or even anyone who died on the way to the Holy Land in this righteous crusade.
One might argue that those who have studied the teachings of Jesus Christ
would be shocked at the suggestion of killing anyone in Christ's name. But it is important to remember that the only people
who were generally able to study scripture were priests and members of cloistered religious orders. Few knights and fewer
peasants could read at all, and those who could rarely if ever had access to a copy of the gospel. A man's priest was his
connection to God; the Pope was sure to know God's wishes better than anyone. Who were they to argue with such an important
man of religion?
Furthermore, the theory of a "Just War" had been under serious consideration
ever since Christianity had become the favored religion of the Roman Empire. St. Augustine of Hippo, the most
influential Christian thinker of Late Antiquity, had discussed the matter in his City of God (Book XIX). Pacifisim,
a guiding principle of Christianity, was very well and good in the personal life of the individual; but when it came to sovereign
nations and defense of the weak, someone had to take up the sword.
In addition, Urban had been correct when he'd decried the violence going
on in Europe at that time. Knights killed each other nearly every day, usually in practice tournaments but occasionally in
deadly battle. The knight, it could prudently be said, lived to fight. And now the Pope himself offered all knights a chance
to pursue the sport they loved most in the name of Christ.
Urban's speech set in action a deadly chain of events that would continue
for several hundred years, the repercussions of which are still felt today. Not only was the First Crusade followed
by seven other formally numbered crusades (or six, depending on what source you consult) and many other forays, but the entire
relationship between Europe and the eastern lands was irreparably altered. Crusaders did not limit their violence to Turks,
nor did they readily distinguish among any groups not obviously Christian. Constantinople itself, at that time still a Christian
city, was attacked by members of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, thanks to ambitious Venetian merchants.
Was Urban attempting to establish a Christian empire in the east? If
so, it is doubtful he could have envisioned the extremes to which the Crusaders would go or the historical impact his ambitions
eventually had. He never even saw the final results of the First Crusade; by the time news of the capture of Jerusalem reached
the west, Pope Urban II was dead.
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