EncycloZine

The Middle Ages - The Crusades Buy this Poster at AllPosters.com

The Crusades were a series of military expeditions spanning some 200 years. Their aim was the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control, and the protection of pilgrim routes. A total of eight separate Crusades represent only the peaks of military activity during what was an almost continuous campaign.

This period coincided with a religious revival, and ecclesiastical restructuring in the West. This was reflected in the monastery of Cluny in France, founded by Duke William the Pius of Aquitaine in 910. From it arose the Benedictine order, whose rigorous monastic rule was symptomatic of a radical change in religious thinking. It also came under the sole authority of the pope rather than a temporal, feudal lord. A further manifestation of the religious revival was a large increase in the number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land, a practice which was greatly upset by the capture of Jerusalem (1072) by the Seljuq (Seljuk) Turks.

The original impetus behind the Crusades was the rise to power of the Seljuq Turks in the Middle East during the 11th-c. They progressed from acting as mercenaries for the decadent Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad to overthrowing the caliphate and assuming control of the area (1055). Their territorial ambitions extended W towards the Byzantine Empire, the capital of which was Constantinople. A base was established there (1071) by the Seljuq leader, Alp Arslan, who had defeated the Byzantine army under Romanus IV Diogenes (?--1072). In 1092, with Nicaea under Turkish control and Muslims perilously close to Jerusalem, the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, having earlier employed Seljuq mercenaries to defend his lands against Norman raids led by Robert Guiscard (1015--85), appealed to the West for help in removing them.

In response to Alexius's appeal, Pope Urban II proclaimed a Crusade at the Council of Clermont (18 Nov 1095), and promised total absolution to all participants. He exhorted Western leaders to put aside their differences and unite in a common cause and a common Christianity, and go to the aid of the Eastern Christians. Urban's call did not fall only on the ears of the knights; Crusaders volunteered from all strata of mediaeval society. The first expedition (known as the People's Crusade) was by an army of some 20 000 peasants who, having been aroused by the rhetoric of preachers such as Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless (nd), were hastily shipped into Asia by an unwelcoming Alexius, and were annihilated by the Turks on their arrival at Nicaea.

The main force, known as the First Crusade (1096--99), was the mission of several separate armies, each with their own leader. Chief amongst these were Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse (1041?--1105), and leader of the largest force; Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine; Bohemond I of Taranto, the son of Guiscard; Robert of Flanders (1030?--93); Hugh of Vermandois and Baldwin of Boulogne (1058?--1118), brothers of the French king Philip I; and Stephen of Blois (of England). The French bishop of le Puy, Adhémar (?--1098) was appointed papal legate and nominal leader of the Crusade, but was wounded and temporarily captured. Robert of Curthose, Duke of Normandy and eldest son of William I, the Conqueror, also participated. Indeed, his absence from home lost him the succession.

As with the peasants who had preceded them, the Crusaders who amassed in Asia in 1097 found themselves unwelcome. Alexius did not know how to handle so large a combined force in his land, and had really wanted Western mercenaries to help him recover his empire. He had little concern for the Holy Land. For their part, many of the participating barons were equally intent on securing land for themselves, and this was not lost on Alexius. However, despite lack of support from the Byzantine people and appalling privations in the heat, the Crusaders took Antioch (3 Jun 1098), after which Adhémar died from disease. Eventually, too, Jerusalem fell (Jul 1099). The entire Muslim population of the Holy City was slaughtered.

Godfrey of Bouillon was elected as ruler of Jerusalem, despite promises to Alexius that recaptured lands would be returned to him, and took the title "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre'. He established a kingdom comprising four crusader states: Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem.

Elite, semi-monastic orders of knighthood began to form during the 12th-c, and were to play an important role in the creation and defence of Christian strongholds throughout the crusading period. The Knights Templar were first established c.1120 to safeguard pilgrim routes. Later, adopting Benedictine rule under the patronage of St Bernard of Clairvaux, they achieved papal recognition at the Council of Troyes (1128). The Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem originated from a charitable organization formed to care for sick pilgrims to the Holy Land. Under their first grand master, Raymond du Puy (nd), the order took on its predominantly military role.

When, in 1144, Edessa fell to the Muslim ruler, Zangi (1084--1146), St Bernard urged King Louis VII of France (who was accompanied by his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine) and King Conrad III of Germany to undertake a further Crusade. This Second Crusade (1147--8), proclaimed by Pope Eugenius III (pontiff 1145--53), failed completely because of rivalry and uncomfortable alliances between its leaders. Through bad planning and tactics, despite an impressive collection of European leaders gathered together in Jerusalem for the task (among them, Queen Melisend (nd), Baldwin III, Conrad, Louis, and Eleanor) the Crusader force failed to liberate Damascus (1148). In their botched attempt they destroyed the military reputation of the Crusaders. The struggle continued after this failure: the Muslim leader Nureddin (1118--74), and his successor and beneficiary, Saladin, united Syria and Egypt under a single dynasty, creating formidable opposition to the Crusaders. Saladin defeated King Guy of Jerusalem (Guy of Lusignan) and a Crusader army at Hattin, near Tiberius (1187), before retaking Jerusalem (2 Oct 1187) and almost every Christian stronghold on the Syrian coast.

Internecine rivalries among the Crusaders continued into the Third Crusade (1189--92), proclaimed by Pope Gregory VIII (pontiff 1187), in which French and German kings, Philip II Augustus and Frederick I Barbarossa, were later joined by King Richard I (the Lionheart) of England.

Richard (son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II) was a very talented soldier, and captured Cyprus en route for Acre while rescuing his fiancée, Berengaria of Navarre (nd), and sister, Joan (nd), from Prince Isaac Comnenus. They had been shipwrecked off Cyprus and found themselves Isaac's prisoners. He succeeded in regaining Acre (Jul 1191), Caesarea, and Jaffa. After defeating Saladin at Arsuf (Sep 1191), Richard almost reached Jerusalem but, forced to return to England to attend to problems caused by his brother John's regency before he could capture it, he concluded a three-year pact with Saladin, which retained for the Crusaders a narrow coastal strip and permitted pilgrim access to Jerusalem.

With the further persuasion of St Bernard, the Fourth Crusade (1202--4) was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III. However, this time, at the instigation of the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, and contrary to Innocent"s wishes, it was directed initially against Zara in Dalmatia and later against Constantinople. The aim was to restore Isaac II Angelus (?--1204) in place of his usurping brother, Alexius III Angelus (?--1211), but the Venetians had long-held, highly acrimonious relations with Greece over Byzantine trade, so their motives were mixed. Following a campaign which saw the capture of Zara, Trieste, the Albanian coast, and the Ionian Is, Isaac was restored to the throne of Constantinople in 1203 alongside his son, Alexius IV Angelus (?--1204). However, Isaac was imprisoned and Alexius killed during a popular Greek revolt (1204), whereupon Dandolo besieged Constantinople. It fell a month later, to be sacked and pillaged. Despite Innocent's urging that the Crusaders proceed to the Holy Land, most did not. Innocent was furious and shocked at the pillaging of the city, but had lost control of the situation. Dandolo established the Latin Empire (1204--61) under Baldwin I of Flanders, in which lands were dispersed to the Crusaders and to the Latin Patriarch. The presence in Constantinople of Western Christians, represented by the Roman Catholics (Latins), just aggravated long-standing tensions between them and the Greek Orthodox Church. The newly established Latin Empire heralded the final rift between Latin and Greek Churches and the fall of the Byzantine Empire.

A minor, but tragic, Crusade took place in 1212 when French and German parish priests exhorted peasant children to form a Crusade. Of some 20 000 children who set out, led by a German boy, Nicholas, none reached the Holy Land; the majority perished on the journey or fell prey to white slavers in the Mediterranean. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is probably based on this event.

The Fifth Crusade (1217--21) was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. It was led by John of Brienne (c.1148--1237), King of Jerusalem; Andrew II of Hungary (1175--1235), and Leopold, Duke of Austria (nd). Its aim was to take Egypt but, after three indecisive expeditions into Palestine, the pope replaced John with his legate, Cardinal Pelagius. After a protracted siege (May 1218--Nov 1219), the Nile Delta port of Damietta fell to the Crusaders, following which Pelagius rejected Saladin's offer to exchange the town for Jerusalem. After several further unsuccessful campaigns, including an attack on Cairo (1221), the Crusaders were eventually forced to relinquish Damietta (Aug 1221) in return for a safe withdrawal.

A Sixth Crusade (1228--9), led by Emperor Frederick II of Germany, secured Christian access to the Holy Land through diplomatic negotiation, although Frederick had been excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX (pontiff 1227--41) for his tardy departure. Yolande (Isabella - daughter of John of Brienne), his wife and heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, died in 1228, and Frederick crowned himself King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (1229). With lack of Western support because of his excommunication, Frederick finally lost Jerusalem (1224) to the Khorezmian Turks, refugees from the Mongols and allies of Egypt. The Latin army was defeated near Gaza.

After the final fall of Jerusalem in 1244, the Seventh Crusade (1248--54) was declared by Pope Innocent IV (pontiff 1243--54). It was led by King Louis IX, who left France in the hands of his redoubtable mother, Blanche of Castille. This Crusade was again directed against Egypt. Initial success in recapturing Damietta (1249) was reversed by an indecisive and costly engagement at Mansurah (1250) en route for Cairo. During a belated retreat before the reorganized Muslim forces under the new Sultan of Egypt, Turan-Shah (nd), Louis and many of his attendant nobles were captured. Louis had been forced to attempt to take the town in order to release part of his forces trapped there after an impetuous attack by his brother, Robert of Artois (nd). After the courageous bargaining of his wife, Margaret (1221--95) - who had just given birth to John Tristan - payment of a large ransom, and the surrender of Damietta, Louis was released. Before returning to France, he spent a further four years atoning for his failure by refortifying the Christian defences at Acre, Joppa, Caesarea, and Sidon, and negotiating for the release of prisoners. He also tried unsuccessfully to regain Jerusalem by alliance with the Mongols and the Mameluk Turks, who were descendants of the former slave bodyguards to the Egyptian Sultans.

In 1258, the Mongols occupied Mesopotamia and captured Baghdad, but they in turn were defeated by the Mameluk Turks. The new Mameluk Sultan of Egypt, Baybars (1223--77), conducted a ruthless and merciless campaign against the Latin states, first taking Arsuf, Caesarea, and Haifa (1265), then Antioch and Joppa (1268). Faced with the Latin states now reduced to a few scattered coastal outposts, Louis felt morally obliged to attempt a further Crusade. On this Eighth Crusade (1270--2), he was again joined by his brother, Charles of Anjou (1226--85), King of Naples and Sicily, and later by Prince Edward of England (later King Edward I). The Crusade was aimed initially at North Africa, and Tunisia was attacked (1270). However, the Crusaders suffered disastrously from disease, which killed both King Louis and his son, John Tristan. Charles arrived by sea with the Sicilian navy and negotiated a treaty for the safe evacuation of the surviving troops. Meanwhile, Prince Edward, who had arrived too late to assist Louis, negotiated an 11-year truce with the Mameluks in Palestine. The remaining Crusader strongholds along the coast were finally destroyed following the capture of Tripoli in 1289 and the fall of Acre in 1291.

Europe, though shocked by this loss, was not as shockable as it had been. It had been a predictable defeat. Moreover there were other distractions: France, which had provided the bulwark of the Crusader forces, was embarking on the Hundred Years' War with England; and Europe was entering a lengthy economic recession, exacerbated by population losses through plague. The orders of knights were accordingly less able to maintain standing armies, and the Crusades became a thing of the past.