The Third Crusade

The Second Crusade

In between the first and second crusades the Muslims began taking back some of the lands they had lost. They conquered the kingdom of Edessa. After the loss of Edessa, the Europeans decided to take up a third crusade to regain the lands lost. A large number of soldiers once again decided to take up the cross. Two kings, Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France, took the lead.

The Second Crusaders began to fight with the resident crusaders almost as soon as they arrived in Jerusalem. The Crusaders who had stayed in Jerusalem were blamed for the fall of Edessa. This angered the Templar and Hospitaller leaders.

Another issue was that the local crusaders wanted to take an army north to Aleppo. Aleppo was the capital city of the enemy leader Nur-ad-Din. Unfortunately, both Conrad and Louis wanted to march on Damascus because it was a closer target. The Muslim leader who ruled Damascus happened to be an ally of the local crusaders and an enemy of Nur-ad-Din. Conrad and Louis decided to attack Damascus anyway and it was a disaster. The siege lasted less than a week. The people of Damascus were so angry at their leader that they replaced him with their enemy, Nur-ad-Din. Not only had the Crusaders NOT succeeded in taking over Damascus, they also lost access to all of the surrounding lands, and made no progress in gaining back Edessa. Conrad III immediately left for home and Louis followed soon after.

Unfortunately for the crusaders, Nur-ad-Din’s defeat of the Second Crusaders and his bloodless capture of Damascus only made him more ambitious. He now had the confidence to expand his realm further. Instead of immediately going after the crusaders he instead decided to attack the Egyptians. This was important to the crusaders for two reasons. The first reason was that they were now surrounded on three sides by Nur-ad-Din. This meant they could be reinforced by the Mediterranean Sea, but could no longer contact any Muslim allies. Second, the conquest of Egypt led to the rise of the greatest Muslim leader to face them, Saladin.

The Third Crusade

The loss of Jerusalem had stunned Europe, with a new Crusade immediately called for by Pope Gregory VIII. It attracted three kings: Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany; Philip II Augustus of France; and Henry II of England (who was replaced by his son, Richard the Lionheart at his death in 1189). Frederick Barbarossa traveled by land to the Holy Land. While crossing the River Goksu in Asia Minor the 67-year-old king drowned. His army was already weakened by disease, fatigue and apathy. Very few of them kept going.

Philip and Richard traveled with their armies by ship and arrived safely. Richard had even stopped by the Christian Cyprus to attack it along way. Unfortunately, Richard and Philip started to argue over military leadership. Together, they were able to capture Acre in 1191. Soon after the battle, Philip went back to France.

Richard the Lionheart stayed a year longer, but did not do much. Trying to provoke Saladin into battle, Richard actually executed more than 3,000 prisoners taken in Acre. He did not make any exceptions and even killed the women and children. After that he marched down the coast towards Jerusalem. He captured many unprotected towns and villages along the way.

Saladin finally gave Richard the fight he was looking for. At the Battle of Arsuf on September 11, 1191, Richard was victorious. Even though Richard won he was never able to get enough men together to capture the ultimate prize…Jerusalem. The closest he came to Jerusalem was by agreeing to a truce with Saladin. The truce allowed his soldiers to visit the city unarmed, and only a few at a time. The Third Crusade had also failed.

The Fourth Crusade

By now the Crusader areas had been reduced to Antioch, Tripoli, and Acre. The Crusaders who lived there added to their numbers by including those from the Third Crusade who decided not to go home. But they were not strong enough to regain any lost lands or to face Saladin in battle. The new Pope, Innocent II, tried to help by calling for another crusade. A large force of soldiers (almost 11,000 men) went to Venice, Italy in 1201. They met in Venice because they would be using the merchant ships of Venice to sail to the Holy Land for this crusade. The Venetians were wealthy merchants who controlled the Mediterranean region. This new army might have made an impact, but they never made it to the Holy Land.

The Venetian leader, a blind Doge named Enrico Dandolo, used the army for his own gains. He used them to attack a Catholic Hungarian city called Zara. Zara threatened the trading monopoly of Venice. Zara was a city under the protection of the pope. Yes, the same pope that called for the crusaders to gather and fight the Turks. These crusaders were used to destroy a Catholic (Christian) city. Pope Innocent II was so angry that he excommunicated the crusaders.

Dandolo then took the crusaders to Constantinople. He laid siege to the city for almost 1 year. Finally, he sacked the city and took control. From 1204 to 1261, the Latin Empire of Constantinople took the place of the Byzantine Empire. The Fourth Crusade was quite obviously unsuccessful as well.

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Questions

Why was the crusade called?

Who called the crusade?

Who led the crusade?

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List any events/people/places that were important for your crusade:

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The Fifth Crusade

In 1216 AD, Pope Honorius III succeeded in getting some more Europeans to agree to try again to conquer Jerusalem from the Ayyubids. This time, the Pope would be in charge instead of European kings. Friedrich II of the Holy Roman Empire wanted to come along, but the Pope said no, this crusade was for the Pope, not for kings. The Crusade went south to Egypt, following the original plan of the Fourth Crusade. In 1218, the Crusaders made an alliance with the Seljuk sultan Kay Kaus I, and attacked the port of Damietta in Egypt. There was a long siege, in which many people on both sides died of disease. In 1219, the Crusaders did finally manage to capture Damietta, but then they immediately began to fight among themselves over who would be in charge there.

The siege of Damietta

In 1221, the Crusaders marched towards Cairo, to try to take over more of Egypt, but the Ayyubids just used the Nile River to flood all the roads, trapping the Crusaders. The Crusaders had to make peace in order to get out. They gave Damietta back to the Ayyubids and went home. The fifth Crusade ended in failure.

The Sixth Crusade

Soon after the failure of the Fifth Crusade, Friedrich II, the Holy Roman Emperor, decided he would try his luck on Crusade, since he hadn't been allowed to go on the last one.

Friedrich marched on Acre, in Syria. But not everyone supported him. The political problems between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines (two feuding noble families) that had troubled Friedrich at home continued to be a problem in Syria.

Then Friedrich got an offer from al-Kamil, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. Al-Kamil wanted to put his brother in power in Syria. He would hand over Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem to Friedrich in exchange for help from Friedrich's army. Friedrich agreed, and crowned himself King of Jerusalem in 1229 AD.

But only a few months later Friedrich had to go home to Germany because of problems there. He was losing control over the feuding noble families. He left Jerusalem without an army to protect it. The truce held for a while, as the Ayyubids got weaker and weaker. But in 1244, the Mamluks, who were rising into power in West Asia, took Jerusalem.

The Seventh Crusade

The Seventh Crusade was not started by any Pope, but by King Louis IX of France, who became known later as Saint Louis because of his great devotion to God. After the Mamluks took Jerusalem in 1244 AD, Louis announced his Crusade (in 1245). Louis raised money from church tithes and then sailed to Cyprus in 1248 (when he was 34 years old).

From Cyprus, Louis attacked and took the port of Damietta in Egypt, which had caused so much trouble in the Fifth Crusade. The Ayyubids were very weak now and could not stop him. Using Damietta as a base, Louis then attacked Cairo, but the Mamluks arrived and defeated him. Louis was taken prisoner, and to get him back the French had to pay a lot of gold and give Damietta back.

The Fortress of Acre

Louis and his army left for Acre (AH-ker) in Syria. In Acre, he tried to negotiate with the Mongols to get their help against the Mamluks, but the Mongols weren't interested. By 1254, Louis (now forty years old) had run out of money. Also, his mother, Blanche of Castile, died. She had been ruling France while Louis was away, and with her dead Louis had to go home and take charge.

The Eighth Crusade

After Louis IX of France had gotten France organized, following the death of his mother, Blanche, he wanted to try another Crusade. The Seventh Crusade, which Louis led, had ended in failure in 1254 AD, so in 1270, when he was 56 years old, Louis tried again. But he started by going to Tunis, to get a base in North Africa. Unfortunately the plague struck his camp, and Louis himself died of it. That was the end of the eighth and last Crusade.

The Children's Crusade is one of the more unusual events in Medieval England. The Children's Crusade took place after the Fourth Crusade. By the end of the Fourth Crusade (1202 to 1204), it was clear that the Christian crusaders had gained no long term success. In fact, the Fourth Crusade had been a disaster for the Christians as many crusaders had not even got to the Holy Land let alone fight for Jerusalem and many Christians had used the crusade as a means to plunder valuable goods from abroad. The Children's Crusade seemed to put some Christian belief back into crusading.

Two groups appeared in 1212 which seemed to indicate that the beliefs of the First Crusade were still alive.

In 1212, two groups - one from France, the other from Germany - set off on a crusade to the Holy Land. There was nothing unusual about this as many 'armies' had gathered before to fight the Muslims. The major difference about these two groups was that they were composed entirely of young children. These children became convinced that they would be protected by God and that because of this protection they would get to the Holy Land and take Jerusalem for the Christians.

Not a great deal is known about the Children's Crusade other than it was a disaster. The person who seemed to be in charge was a boy called Stephen of Cloyes. We know very little about him. We know that he was a shepherd and that in 1212 he was 12 years of age. With a peasant's background, he would not have been able to read or write and at his age he would have done very basic work around a farm.

In May 1212, it is said that he turned up at the court of King Philip of France and told him that he had a letter from Christ ordering him to organise a crusade. Not surprisingly, King Philip was not impressed by the 12 year old and told him to go away and come back when he was older!!

Regardless of this rejection, Stephen went around preaching to children about his letter from Jesus and his desire to go to the Holy Land to capture Jerusalem. He told his followers that crossing the Mediterranean or any other waterways was easy as the waters would part and they would walk across as they were protected by God. By June 1212, Stephen is said to have gathered 30,000 followers around him - all children.

As they marched south through France, they clearly had no idea of what to expect. Adults cheered them along the route. It was as if their innocence shone through and made their success a certainty.

The Roman Catholic Church was not so sure. The Children's Crusade was never officially a crusade as it was never blessed by the pope. However, this did not deter the children. The Church could not bless a 'crusade' that was doomed to failure but the Church also did not stop it. Why ? It is possible that the Church believed that the actions of the children might shame kings and emperors into getting a proper crusade going to capture Jerusalem.

The Children's Crusade was doomed to failure. Many of the children had never walked such distances before and for many the effort proved too much. The journey from Vendome to Marseilles caused many children to drop out. Some even died of exhaustion. The sea did not part as Stephen had said and they had to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat.

The children boarded seven boats in Marseilles and that was the last anything was heard of them.

However many years later a priest returned from traveling around northern Africa and he claimed to have met some of the surviving children (now adults). He claimed that two of the seven ships had sunk killing all on board and that pirates had captured the other five ships and the children were sold into slavery. White skinned children were considered to be a valuable prize in Algerian and Egyptian slave markets.

There is no proof that any of this is true as none of the children who left Marseilles ever returned. As a priest, it is unlikely that he would have knowingly told a lie as Catholic priests would have believed that God is omnipresent (everywhere) and omnipotent (all powerful). Therefore if he told a lie, God would know and he would have been condemned to Hell. However, he may have been told incorrect information and told this story in good faith not knowing if it was incorrect. As historians, we just do not know.

A German Children's Crusade also took place in 1212. This was lead by a boy called Nicholas and he had 20,000 followers. His dream was exactly the same as Stephen's - take Jerusalem for Christianity. This crusade also included religious men and unmarried women so it was not fully a Children's Crusade. Their journey south from Germany to Italy included a very dangerous crossing of the Alps and many died of the cold here. Those that survived pushed onto to Rome in Italy.

Here, they met the pope. He praised their bravery but told them that they were too young to take on such a venture. With this, they returned to Germany but a great many of them did not survive the journey back. A few stopped off at the Italian port of Pisa and boarded a ship for the Holy Land. No-one knows what happened to them.

Therefore both crusades can be seen as a disaster but they are also an indication of how important Jerusalem was to Christians.