The Crusades

Religious orHoly Wars…..

…..that broughtthree different

societies/culturesaround the

Mediterranean Seainto contact

with one another…..

Western Europe

Byzantine Empire

Muslim Empire

Western Europe

• Catholic(Christian)

• Feudalism• Manors• Isolated

– little trade• Limited intellectual

advancement

Byzantine Empire• Orthodox

(Christian)• Imperial

(emperors)• Agricultural, but

also great trade• Intellectually

advanced

Muslim World

• Muslim• Abbasid dynasty

eventually replacedby Seljuk Turks

• Agricultural, butalso great trade

• Intellectually advanced --late in Golden Age

…..contact that wouldchange the world

forever

Cause: OneThe three great monotheisticreligions (Judaism, Christianity,and Islam) that began in theMiddle East each placed greatreligious importance onJerusalem and the surroundingarea

• Jews (Hebrews, Israelites)

– “Promised Land”– Jewish temple

built, destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed a second time

– Forced into exile during Biblical times after rebellion against Roman rule (Diaspora)

• ChristiansRegain the “Holy Land”from Muslim control– Bethlehem: Christ born– Nazareth: Christ raised– Jerusalem: Christ killed– Contained the places

mentioned in the Gospels

• Muslims– Gained control of Palestine during

the late seventh century A.D.– Believed Muhammad had been

brought to Jerusalem from Mecca by winged horse, taken up to heaven to consult with God and the prophets, returned to earth and then to Mecca all in one night

– Built a mosque on the site of the destroyed Jewish temple

Cause: Two• The Muslims, now under the leadership

of the Seljuk Turks, kept attacking theByzantine Empire during the second half of the 11th century

• After the Muslims defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and took much of Asia Minor, both Byzantine and Western Christian concern about Muslim advances increased

• Byzantine emperors appealed to the West for help in defending Europe

• The last appeal came from Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in late 1094/early 1095

• Pope Urban II would answer this request with a call for a crusade – a holy war – to defend the Byzantine Empire by capturing the “Holy Land”

On November 27, 1095,the pope, speaking tothousands deliveredwhat Michael Hart,author of The 100, calls

“…perhaps the single most effective speech in history…”

Statue of Pope Urban II in Clermont, France

“…your brethren in the East are inurgent need of your help and youMust hasten to give them theaid…most of you have heard , theTurks and the Arabs have attackedthem…

…They have occupied more andmore of the lands of thoseChristians, and have overcome themin seven battles. They have killedand captured many, and havedestroyed the churches anddevastated the empire.

If you permit them to continuethus… with impunity [withoutpunishment or penalty], the faithfulof God will be much more widelyattacked…

…O what a disgrace, if such adespised and base [low] race, whichworships demons, should conquer apeople which has the faith of anomnipotent [all-powerful] God…”

• Western Europe lived under feudalism – a system in which nobles controlled grants of land (from their king)

Cause: Three

Nobles followed the practice of

PRIMOGENITUREonly the eldest son inherited both hisfather’s title of nobility and his land;younger sons either went into the clergyor tried to find another way to gain land;the opportunity to fight in the Middle Eastoffered such an opportunity

• Knights, the lowest group of nobility, were the warriors

• During times of decentralized power (no ruler to stop them) they often fought each other in small, local wars

• Kings, wishing to control their emerging nations, and popes sought to limit such fighting

• Sending knights to fight the “pagan” or “heathen” Muslims was an opportunity to reduce the violence in Europe

First Crusade: 1096-1099

• 50,000-60,000 Christian knights participate

• Captured territory to set up four small Christian kingdoms in the Middle East

• Captured Jerusalem in 1099• Massacred inhabitants; one crusader:

“Men rode in blood up to their knees…”

Second Crusade: 1145-1149

• After Muslims retook Edessa, another Crusade was organized

• French knights under Louis VII and German knights under HRE Conrad III reached Jerusalem in 1147

• Failed to accomplish any major successes

Saladin

• Seljuk, Turkish leader, led the Muslims to recapture Jerusalem in 1187

• forbade his soldiers to– to kill Christians– steal from the

defeated crusaders

Third Crusade: 1189-1192 • Known as Kings’ Crusade: Philip II of

France, Richard I of England and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I

• Frederick I drowned on the journey, Philip II left after an argument, but Richard I still won victories to get within sight of Jerusalem

• Failed to capture Jerusalem but gained a truce of protection for Christian pilgrims

Fourth Crusade: 1201-1204

• Venetian merchants, rival of Byzantine traders, persuaded Crusaders to attack and sack Constantinople

• Western rulers controlled Byzantine Empire from 1204-1261

• When Byzantine Emperors regained control it was in weakened condition

A few years after the FourthCrusade, an “unofficial”crusade, known as theChildren’s Crusade, tookPlace.

Later Crusades

Later Crusades (V through VIII)either were carried out againstother targets or failed torecapture the Holy Land

When the Crusades ended in1291, the Muslims controlledJerusalem and the rest of theHoly Land

Results of the Crusades• illustrated (show) the great power

of the Catholic Church…..• …..but eventually would lessen the

power of the pope and the church–Crusades failed…loss of prestige–new ideas which challenged

church thinking–rise of nation-states and

powerful kings

Results of the Crusades• Growing and greater contact

between the Middle East (Muslim World) and Western Europe–trade

• new goods• desire for new trade routes

–cultural diffusion…..new ideas

“…The crusaders took home…things that are now part of westernlife, among them apricots, scallionsand sugar, which replaced honey asEurope’s sweetener. Sugar’s nameis from the Arabic sukkar…”Crusade wars of 900 years ago still resonate through the MiddleEast, The Buffalo News, Sunday, June 9, 1996

Results of the Crusades• brought about changes in society

–reduced the number of knights…–…reduced the level of local

warfare (both strengthened kings)

–gave some women the opportunity to show they could manage feudal estates or businesses

Results of the Crusades

• Weakened the Byzantine Empire(seizure of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade)

Results of the Crusades

• Worsening relationship between Christian Europe and Muslim lands–intolerance and prejudice–bitterness and distrust

• legacy that would last until today

“…In the Arab Middle East, [memories of the Crusades] remain very much alive, a symbol of European encroachment that still evokes [brings forth] suspicions and comparisons to present events…”

Crusade wars of 900 years ago still resonate through the MiddleEast, The Buffalo News, Sunday, June 9, 1996

“. . . For many in the contemporary Arabworld, the Crusades are viewed ashaving begun nearly a millennium ofconflict with what would become theWest. The Crusades are seen asrepresenting the constant threat ofWestern encroachment [trespassing].

But many scholars say that is a morerecent and inaccurate view of theCrusades. . . .” — Mike Shuster, reporter, NPR

Regents, August, 2008

The Crusades were theconnecting bridge

betweenfeudal Europe

of the Middle Agesand the beginning of its

transition to modern times.Read Chapter 14, Section 1

pp. 382-385 about the Crusades