The First Crusade

The First Crusade

The First Crusade (1096 - 1099) played a very important part in Medieval England. The First Crusade was an attempt to re-capture Jerusalem. After the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims in 1076, any Christian who wanted to pay a pilgrimage to the city faced a very hard time. Muslim soldiers made life very difficult for the Christians and trying to get to Jerusalem was filled with danger for a Christian. This greatly angered all Christians.

One Christian - called Alexius I of Constantinople - feared that his country might also fall to the Muslims as it was very close to the territory captured by the Muslims. Constantinople is in modern day Turkey. Alexius called on the pope - Urban II - to give him help.

In 1095, Urban spoke to a great crowd at Clermont in France. He called for a war against the Muslims so that Jerusalem was regained for the Christian faith. In his speech he said:

Those who volunteered to go to fight the Muslims cut out red crosses and sewed them on their tunics. The French word "croix" means cross and the word changed to "croisades" or crusades. The fight against the Muslims became a Holy War.

Many people did volunteer to fight on the First Crusade.

There were true Christians who wanted to reclaim Jerusalem for their belief and get the Muslims out of the city. There were those who knew they had committed sin and that by going on the Crusade they might be forgiven by God. They had also been told by the pope that if they were killed, they would automatically go to heaven as they were fighting for God. There were those who thought that they might get rich by taking the wealth that they thought existed in Jerusalem. Any crusader could claim to be going on a pilgrimage for God - pilgrims did not have to pay tax and they were protected by the Church.

A Crusader knight

The First Crusade had a very difficult journey getting to the Middle East. They could not use the Mediterranean Sea as the Crusaders did not control the ports on the coast of the Middle East. Therefore, they had to cross land. They travelled from France through Italy, then Eastern Europe and then through what is now Turkey. They covered hundreds of miles, through scorching heat and also deep snow in the mountain passes. The Crusaders ran out of fresh water and according to a survivor of the First Crusade who wrote about his experiences after his return, some were reduced to drinking their own urine, drinking animal blood or water that had been in sewage. Food was bought from local people but at very expensive prices. Odo of Deuil claims that these men who were fighting for God were reduced to pillaging and plunder in order to get food.

Disease was common especially as men were weakened by the journey and drinking dirty water. Dysentery was common. Heat stroke also weakened many Crusaders. Disease and fatigue affected rich and poor alike.

By 1097, nearly 10,000 people had gathered at Constantinople ready for the journey to the Holy Land. There was no one person in charge of the First Crusade. Urban II had made Bishop Adbenar the leader but he preferred to let others do the work and make decisions. They were four separate proper Crusader armies in the First Crusade but also a large number of smaller armies. However, there was no proper command structure and with the problems of communications at that time, it is possible that a command structure with one person in charge was an impossibility.

The first target of the Crusaders was the important fortress city of Nicea. This city was taken by the Crusaders without too much trouble as the man in charge of it was away fighting!

The next target for the Crusaders was Antioch - a strongly protected Turkish city. It took a seven month siege before the city fell. The next target was Jerusalem.

The attack and capture of Jerusalem started in the summer of 1099. Jerusalem was well-defended with high walls around it. The first attacks on the city were not successful as the Crusaders were short of materials for building siege machines. Once logs had arrived, two siege machines were built.

A monk called Fulcher was on the First Crusade. He wrote about the attack on the Holy City and he can be treated as an eye-witness as to what took place.

Fulcher claimed that once the Crusaders had managed to get over the walls of Jerusalem, the Muslim defenders there ran away. Fulcher claimed that the Crusaders cut down anybody they could and that the streets of Jerusalem were ankle deep in blood. The rest of the Crusaders got into the city when the gates were opened. The slaughter continued and the Crusaders "killed whoever they wished". Those Muslims who had their lives spared, had to go round and collect the bodies before dumping them outside of the city because they stank so much. The Muslims claimed afterwards that 70,000 people were killed and that the Crusaders took whatever treasure they could from the Dome of the Rock.

The Crusader attack on Jerusalem - in the foreground is a siege castle

After the success of the Crusaders, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was created and its first king was Godfrey of Bouillon who was elected by other crusaders. He died in 1100 and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin of Boulogne.

The capture of Jerusalem did not end the Crusades as the Crusaders wanted to get rid of the Muslims from the whole region and not just Jerusalem. This desire ultimately led to the Second Crusade in 1147 as the threat from the Muslims grew over the following years.

MLA Citation/Reference

"The First Crusade".HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.2014. Web.

The Second Crusade

The Second Crusade took place between 1147 and 1149 and was instigated by Pope Eugene (Eugenius) III in a bid to defeat the Muslims who were still threatening to retake control of the Holy Lands.
A second crusade was seen as necessary due to the capture of the County of Edessa in 1144, which meant more military reinforcements were needed.
Large armies drawn from across three major nations - England, France and Germany - and a host of smaller nations, gathered in preparation and a Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, encouraged Conrad III of Germany to go on crusade alongside Louis VII. The pair arrived in Constantinople in 1147, together leading their respective armies - the first time that kings had done so.
The plan was to cross to Anatolia in order to destroy the Turkish armies that had been seen the year prior, while the ultimate aim of the crusade was to recover the County of Edessa, secure the pilgrim pass and provide reinforcements to Jerusalem. The latter was at risk because the vast majority of knights had died since the First Crusade, which took place between 1095 and 1099.
They attacked the Muslim city of Damascus first, which had been allied to the Christians until that point. However, upon the arrival of Nur al-Din and his armies, both Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany were defeated by the Turks and abandoned their siege, ending the Second Crusade. The armies did have a small measure of success in that they acquired Lisbon in Portugal and numerous other small settlements.

One of the major reasons behind the failure of the Second Crusade was the lack of communication between the two kings. Conrad launched an initial attack on the Seljuk Turks capital, Iconium, while the French attacked another target in Anatolia. This splitting up gave the Turks a chance to march at speed from one location to the next without being outnumbered by the crusade and overwhelmed.
Conrad was instantly defeated by the Turks and almost died as a result. The French, while lasting longer, were also defeated and their army nearly entirely destroyed.

Europe suffered greatly in terms of its economy and lack of recruits as a result of the failure of the Second Crusade, which was seen as marking the first sign of the fall of the Crusaders States in the Middle East. The Egyptians were now ruled by Saladin, who managed to successfully unite Syria and Egypt over their common enemy, the Christians, therefore completely surrounding the Crusaders.
Following the failure of the Second Crusade, Jerusalem was also left without adequate protection, something which ultimately led to the demand for the Third Crusade.

MLA Citation/Reference

"The Second Crusade".HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.2014. Web

The Third Crusade

The Third Crusade is dominated by the leadership offered by the two main leaders involved - Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.As with most major leaders of the Medieval Times, we know very little about both Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. What information we do have comes from either enemies or supporters of both- so a balanced view is difficult to gain.

What did they look like? Again, we only have pictures that were done years after their deaths by people who could never have met them!

So what do we think we know about them?

Richard:

"He was tall in stature, of shapely build, with hair between red and yellow. His limbs were straight and flexible; his arms somewhat long; he had long legs." This was written at the time of the Third Crusade

"Richard was not a good king. He cared only for his soldiers. But he was brave, and loved a brave man." This was written in 1965 by L Du Garde Peach

"A very powerful man, of great courage and spirit. He fought great battles and showed a burning passion for war. The king was indeed a man of wisdom, experience, courage and energy...... excitable, brave and clever." This was written by Baha' ad-Din Ibn Shaddad, a Muslim writer, during the Third Crusade. He lived in the court of Saladin.

Richard drawn in 1965

"Richard of England, a red-haired giant, generous, incredibly brave, hot-tempered and tactless, won a great reputation in the capture of Acre, but quarrelled with his allies who left him and went home." This was written in 1962 by R Unstead

Saladin:

"Saladin made a disgraceful income out of the prostitutes of Damascus. none of them could carry on their filthy trade without first buying a licence from him. He (Saladin) spent the money on entertainers. That king of the brothels, who fought in taverns, and spent his time gambling. He (Saladin) conquered countries by either trickery or force. But the greedy tyrant concentrated all his efforts on an attempt to seize the Holy Land, Palestine." This was written by an Englishman who lived in London and worked for the Church.

This was drawn by an Egyptian artist but we do not know if he ever met Saladin.

"Saladin did not spend a single gold or silver coin on anything except a jihad (holy war). Out of his desire to fight for God's cause he left behind his family, children, country, home and all the towns under his control. Saladin was well-mannered and entertaining. If anyone was sick, he would ask about their illness, his treatment, food and drink and whether there was any change in his condition. I never saw him insult anyone. he always stuck to his word and was loyal. No orphan ever came to him without Saladin offering to provide the same amount of care as his father had done. He treated old people kindly and generously."This was written by Baha' ad-Din Ibn Shaddad, a Muslim writer who lived in the court of Saladin.

"Saladin used the idea of a holy war to bring the Muslims together. His popularity with the poor people increased when he survived several assassination attacks. Friends and enemies saw Saladin as a man of honour. Even the Crusaders praised him. However, he was criticised for fighting against his fellow Muslims and for failing to capture Tyre. Nevertheless, Saladin continues to be admired today." This was written by Elizabeth Hallam in 1989.

"Richard (the Lionheart) fell ill with a fever and appealed to Saladin to send him pears and peaches. Saladin sent him fruit and snow from the mountains to cool his blood" The was written by Bailey and Wise in 1969

The Fourth Crusade

MLA Citation/Reference

"The Third Crusade".HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.2014. Web.

The Fourth Crusade

The Fourth Crusade took place between 1201 and 1204, eight years after the end of the Third Crusade. The driving force behind the Fourth Crusade was the newly elected Pope Innocent III, who decided to launch an attack against the united Egyptians, who had Jerusalem under their control. Pope Innocent III was set on recovering the holy city of Jerusalem, following the disastrous Third Crusade which lowered the chances of being able to reclaim the Holy Land through any diplomatic means.
However, the Fourth Crusade did not recover Jerusalem, it instead saw Constantinople conquered, a feat which was not even on the agenda when the Crusade first started.

The Pope ordered the Crusade in 1199, but was largely ignored by European monarchs, partly due to the failure of the previous Crusade and to the fact that England and France were at war with each other. Eventually, however, recruits responded to his sanction and decided to march first to Venice, a rising power in the trade across the Mediterranean. From there they would head to Cairo, led by Boniface, the Marquis of Monferrat, a descendent of early Crusaders.
As the soldiering pilgrims could not afford to pay Venice for its provision of boats to transport 4,000 knights, 9,000 squires and 20,000 foot soldiers, plus horses, to Cairo, the Crusaders agreed to help the Venetians to capture a Byzantine port, Zara, as payment. A 15,000-strong army of Crusaders and thousands of Venetians travelled to the port, easily capturing it.
Prince Alexius IV, the son of the imprisoned ruler of Byzantine, Isaac II Angelus, then begged the Crusaders to help him drive out the usurper Alexius III and put him on the Constantinople throne. He offered the Crusaders money, ships and extra men if they agreed to help him, and it was agreed. Boniface of Montferrat hoped he may be able to recover Thessalonica as a result of these sweeteners, and the Crusaders were all keen to lay their hands on the spoils that had been promised.
So it was that the Crusaders sailed to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, capturing the island of Corfu on the way. The Crusaders finally captured Constantinople in April 1204, after fighting off the city’s garrison of 30,000 men, weakened through lack of leadership and Civil War.
Following the successful capture of the city, thousands of valuable art works, statues and other treasures were either destroyed or stolen, something from which the Byzantine Empire never really recovered. While the named destination of the Fourth Crusade had always been Jerusalem, from the outset it seemed as though the real goal for the Crusaders was in fact the conquest of Egypt.
The Fourth Crusade angered Pope Innocent III as the Crusaders had attacked their own fellow Christians, paying no attention to the Pope's pleas to desist. The Crusaders were by now deeply unpopular and had yet to achieve their initial goal - that of regaining control of Jerusalem.
Following the capture of Constantinople, the vast majority of Crusaders returned home, many armed with the spoils of war. Over the next years a renaissance of thought occurred, harking back to the original Christian mission of the first Crusades. This ultimately led in 1217 to the 'Fifth Crusade'.

MLA Citation/Reference

"The Fourth Crusade".HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.2014. Web.

The Children's 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. 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.