The Crusades

Islam

• A Muslim is a follower of Islam.

• Islam was founded in 622 CE by Muhammad the Prophet. He lived from about 570 to 632 CE).

Prelude to the Crusades

• Islam spread from its origin in today’s Saudi Arabia.

• By 1095CE Muslim territory included the land where Jesus lived.

• Christian warriors believed they should control this area.

• They considered this to be holy land.

The Crusades• The crusades were a series of

eight wars initiated by the Christians to win back their holy lands ( Jerusalem and other sites) from the Muslims.

• Around this time the kingdoms of Europe had one thing in common – Christianity.

• Muslims and Arabs had controlled the Holy Land since the 7th century, but tolerated Christian pilgrims.

The 1st Crusade (1096-1099)

• Pope Urban II called for a “war of the cross”, or Crusade, to take back the holy lands.

• He persuaded 34,000 knights and peasants to join in the expedition.

• The war offered knights a chance for glory and wealth.

• Urban suggested that the knights fight Muslims instead of continuing to fight one another.

• It was a success. In 1099 the crusaders captured the holy land.

• It was then recaptured by the Muslims.

The Second Crusade (1147-1149)• Led by the king of France and the Holy

Roman Emperor, this Crusade was a disaster.

• They utterly failed in their mission.

The 3rd Crusade (1187-1192)

• Three kings led by Richard I of England mounted to recapture Jerusalem which was under the control of Saladin, the Islamic forces greatest general.

• A truce was called in 1192, allowing Christian pilgrims to visit Jerusalem.

The 4th Crusade (1202)

The 4th Crusade

• Led by Venetian merchants (who owned the ships that the crusaders traveled on) crusaders sacked Christian Constantinople, a commercial rival of theirs.

• The crusaders sacked the city and killed untold of its citizens.

• The attack permanently weakened the Eastern Roman Empire.

• This Crusade was viewed as an embarrassment to the church.

Results of the Crusades

• The Crusaders were unable in the long run to reclaim their holy lands, but the wars had other lasting effects:

• Western Europeans left their homes to fight in distant wars. The stories of returning Crusaders opened the eyes of people at home to the broader world.

• Exotic goods like spices and clothes that Crusaders were exposed to created new desires, and encouraged long distance trade.

• The Crusades helped reintroduce books of philosophy, etc. from Classical Greece and Rome, which had been preserved and translated by the Muslims.

• This helped lead to a revival of Classical learning in the Renaissance.

• The need to transfer large sums of money for troops and supplies led to the development of banking and accounting techniques.

• Islamic science, medicine, and architecture were transferred to the west.

• For example, European castles became massive stone structures rather than smaller wooden ones.