The Crusades

The city of Jerusalem was the center of faith for three major world religions. For the Jews it was their homeland. It had been promised to them by God, through Abraham giving them the land of Israel. To the Muslims, Jerusalem was the location where the Prophet Muhammad had ascended into heaven. After Makkah, and Medinah, Jerusalem was Islam’s third most holy city. To the Christians, Jerusalem was both the location of Christ’s birth and the location of his death.

Jerusalem was conquered by Islam in the 600s CE and would remain in their control for many centuries to come. While living in Jerusalem, Muslim Turks crept closer and closer to Constantinople, until they were living only 100 miles from the great Eastern Orthodox city. The Emperor, Alexius, had enough of these Muslims. He wrote a letter to the Pope of the Holy Roman Empire, asking for his help. Alexius wanted him to send his best knights to help get rid of these Muslims. So in 1095,Pope Urban II called for volunteers to travel to Jerusalem and fight to take it back from the Muslims. He called their mission a crusade. The word “crusade” comes from the word Crux, which means “cross” in Latin. Those who volunteered for the crusade would be called crusaders, meaning that they took the cross of Jesus upon them.Pope Urban promised that they would receive eternal life if they died while fighting non-Christians. That’s right, “Kill Jews and Muslims, and you will get to heaven. Stop fighting amongst yourselves.” Poor Christians and sinners saw this as a way out of their boring lives, a way to see the world, a way to gain land and riches, and a way to get to heaven. As a result, these Christians killed thousands of non-Christians, including Jews and Muslims, as they traveled to Jerusalem. In some cases they slaughtered entire Jewish communities.

People were so enthusiastic that several groups set off for Jerusalem.While the nobles were planning their crusade, the peasants grew restless and organized their own crusade. Thousands of peasants from France and Germany set out for Constantinople. They believed that God would just knock down the walls of Jerusalem anyway as soon as they got there, so there was no need for fighting or weapons. Some of them didn't even take any money. Most of these groups found that traveling and fighting were harder than they had imagined, and most of them died on the way. One group decided it was too hard to get to Jerusalem to fight the Muslims, and instead stopped in Germany to fight the Jews. Thousands of Jews were robbed and killed by these Crusaders, just because they were not Christians.

Finally, in the fall of 1096, the Peasant’s Crusade left for Jerusalem. They went by different routes, some by land and some by sea, to Constantinople. By the time the Peasant’s Crusade reached Constantinople, they lost one third of their members. Here the Emperor Alexius was quite surprised to see them and not very happy.He expected trained soldiers/knights, not peasants. The emperor gave them supplies and sent them to Asia Minor to fight the Turks. The peasant army was almost completely wiped out by Turkish bowmen.

By 1097, the nobles finally set out on their crusade. Approximately, 30,000 crusaders arrived in Asia Minor and defeated the Turks. After two years of traveling in the desert, this “Nobles Crusade” reached Jerusalem in 1098. They laid siege upon the city, surrounding it for two months. Finally the city fell and the crusaders entered, killing almost all of the non-Christians who inhabited the city, including men, women and children. The Crusaders managed to take Jerusalem, as well as some other important cities along the Mediterranean coast. They settled down there as the kings of Jerusalem, in their own new country. They were surprised to see all the civilized things in the city of Jerusalem - mosques, and hot baths, and advanced medicine.So the First Crusade was a big success for the Europeans, and a setback for the Muslims.

Eight more crusades would follow, in an effort to keep control of the city in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire. Eventually the Muslims will regain control of Jerusalem. The fall of the Holy Land sent a wave of fury throughout Europe. Pope Gregory VIII declared a third crusade – The Crusade of Kings. Although they often fought each other and did not get along, the kings of Europe joined together to take revenge. Many European kings took part including Richard the Lion-heart from England, Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, and Philip II of France. Philip and Richard really disliked each other. While on crusade, Frederick Barbarossa drown. Now that only two were left, Philip left and went back to France. He attacked Richard’s homeland while Richard continued on to Jerusalem. All he achieved was the capture of the city of Acre, which was only conquered after a siege of two years and the death of about one million and twenty thousand crusaders. Epic battles between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin took place during this crusade.

Other crusades include the Children's Crusade that took place in 1212 CE. A French boylead several thousands of his young followers. The young crusaders expected the help from God in their journey to Jerusalem, however, most of the crusaders were sold to slave dealers by merchants. This crusade was a great embarrassment to the Church.

Another crusade, the Fourth Crusade (also known as the Sack of Constantinople) took place in 1204 CE and was a total failure. Instead of fighting the Muslims to get Jerusalem, they ended up fighting Constantinople. They sacked the city and did a great amount of looting in it.

The history of the crusades is filled with the mercilessness of the crusaders and the kind-heartedness of the Muslims. The Muslims were massacred everywhere the crusaders arrived, while the Christians (for the most part) were treated kindly by the Muslims.The crusaders achieved the main purpose of the crusades and kept Jerusalem for a while. Later all of the cities taken by the Christians were to be taken back by the Muslims. In short, the crusades acquired what they wanted for a short while, but then lost all of it to the Muslims and instead made one another an enemy.

The crusades had a lasting effect on the whole of Europe. Crusaders brought back knowledge; medical, surgical, books, etc. They wanted items that they found only in the Middle East, such as silks, soaps, and spices. This led to trade, travel, and tourism between Europe and the Middle East. In all, the Crusades helped lead Western Europe out of the Dark Ages, but to what expense??

/ The Crusades

Websites to Use

Kidipedia - The First Crusade
Kid’s Past – The Crusades
Mr. Donn – The Crusades
The Children’s Crusade
Horrible Histories