The Crusades – An Overview
A crusade was originally meant to be a war where all leaders and men fought under the banner of the church. The "call" for a crusade was made by the Pope, although some were fought for political reasons and not for religious ones.
The men who fought these wars under the church's banner would take a vow before the Pope or his priests and they would receive a cross to wear. Some called it "taking the cross". It also bestowed upon them a few "indulgences" or temporal privileges, such as not having to obey civil laws, as well as their lands, property and persons being safe from seizure. They only had to obey the laws of the church.
We have come to consider the wars meant to bring the holy places back under Christian rule as "The Crusades". The wars fought against the Moors by the Spanish were a continual crusade from the 11th to the 16th centuries.
The First Crusade (1095 - 1101 AD)
The Moslems were in control of the Holy City of Jerusalem and several other areas considered to be holy places by the Church. This was not acceptable to the Catholic Church, as they considered the Moslems to be infidels along with pagans, heretics. and the ex-communicated.
The Moslems also considered Jerusalem a Holy City, so they thought of the Crusades as Holy Wars or Jihads. When the Moslems first gained control of the holy places, Christians were still allowed to make pilgrimages to them. Then one Moslem leader decided that Christians should not be allowed, the Holy Sepulcre was destroyed and Christians making pilgrimages were severely persecuted. As time went on things got better. The Holy Sepulcre was rebuilt and a wall was placed around the Christian area. Many people made the pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcre – not just Princes and priests but even ordinary people.
But with new rulers came new rules. With increasing pleas from the former Christian rulers and the change in attitude of the people it was decided that Pope Urban II should call for a crusade. Each man who took the vow received a red cloth cross to wear on his shoulder. Four great armies as well as many small groups went forth, ill–equipped but ready to fight for God, and they would kill Jews, pillage and plunder along the way.
The Second Crusade (1145 - 1147 AD)
The second crusade was caused by a Moslem prince named Zengi, who decided to take the city of Edessa. The time was ripe for a takeover since the ruler lived elsewhere and rarely came to the city. Mercenaries were used to guard and protect the city but would sometimes have to wait as much as a year for wages, which may have lessened their enthusiasm for the job.
Most of the rulers of the neighboring Christian kingdoms were busy bickering with each other and cared little for what happened to Edessa. However, when word was spread of the merciless siege many people started arming themselves to go to the rescue. Before help could arrive, the city was taken and all of the people put to the sword. Zengi spared no one.
One prince who had promised aid delayed because of his hatred for the ruler of Edessa and rejoiced in its fall. Upon the death of Zengi, his son continued attacks against other Christian territories.
The huge vaulted muster hall at Karak Castle in Jordan. The 12th Century castle was the main bastion of the Crusaders’ state of Oultre Jordain after nearby Jerusalem fell to the Christians in 1099AD. Karak later fell into the hands of the Kurdish Muslim hero Saladin.
The Third Crusade (1188 – 1192 AD)
With the Christian territories growing in strength and spreading out, and the rise of Saladin, the situation again changed.
Saladin took control of Damascus and conquered all of Mesopotamia except Mosul. He then turned his attention toward the Kingdom of Jerusalem but a concord was reached, thereby saving Jerusalem.
Then, in spite of the concord, some Christian soldiers led by Renaud de Châtillon, decided to attack Moslem holy cities to keep Saladin's attention from Jerusalem.
Saladin went with his army to deal with these men and made a truce with Renaud de Châtillon. But Renaud de Châtillon broke the truce by taking a caravan which included Saladin’s sister.
Saladin's anger was fierce. After destroying Renaud de Châtillon and his forces, Saladin took Jerusalem.
The Fourth and Fifth Crusades (1202 – 1221 AD)
With the installation of Pope Innocent III, sources decided to remove the direction of the Crusades from papal hands.
Pope Innocent III called for a crusade to recapture the Holy lands and Jerusalem. However, while the Pope was trying to return the Greeks to the “fold” (without any success), Count Thibaud de Champagne and many French knights who took the vow at a tournament in Germany decided to attack Mohammedans in Egypt without papal knowledge or consent.
Upon the death of Count Thibaud de Champagne the knights elected a new leader, Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat, with similar ideas. A contract had been struck with the Venetians to transport the knights but knights did not have enough money. So, a deal was struck to take back the city Zara in Damietta for the Venetians and, after a short siege, the city was taken.
Boniface, now in open revolt against Pope Innocent III, seemed to have had the idea of taking Constantinople long before he actually did it. He informed the Pope in 1202 of his intention to take the city. The Pope called in vain for the crusaders to go to the Holy Land and reclaim it but the Venetians and the crusader chieftains made a treaty.
The Venetians would provide troops and get half of the plunder of Constantinople. Many European churches were enriched by plunder. This ended the fourth crusade.
With Pope Innocent’s continuing failure to rally the crusaders to Palestine, he decided to make the best of things and ignore Constantinople. He continued to try to get the Greeks to rejoin the “fold”. He disbanded the fourth crusade and decided to call the fifth in the spring of 1213 AD.
The fifth crusade was called to take back Jerusalem by first conquering Egypt. Since Pope Innocent didn't want the "help" of Kings running the Crusade, he ordered prayers and processions to involve the general population, lesser nobles and knights in organizing the crusade.
Innocent died in 1216 and was succeeded by Pope Honorius III who continued to organize the crusading armies. The crusaders left for Acre in 1217 to fight the Ayyubids in Syria.
In Jerusalem, walls and fortifications were being torn down to prevent the Christians from using them for defense if they should reach the city and take it. Fearing a repeat of the bloodbath during the First Crusade the Muslims fled the city.
The Crusaders aligned with Kay Kaus I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum in Anatolia, who attacked the Ayyubids in Syria in an attempt to free the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts while they continued on to Egypt.
The seige of the Egyptian port city of Damietta began in June of 1218. The tower outside the city fell to the Crusaders within two months but as the seige of the city went on, disease took a large toll. Included among the dead were al–Adil (Sultan of Damietta) and Robert of Courcon (leader of the Crusaders). Al–Adil was succeeded by al–Kamil and Honorius III sent Pelagius of Albano to lead the crusade in 1219.
Peaceful resolutions were tried. al–Kamil attempted to make peace with the crusaders and was rejected by Pelagius. In August an attempted negotiation by Francis of Assisi (a subordinate of Pelagius at that time) failed. By November the port city had fallen and was occupied by the Crusaders.
In July of 1221 the Crusaders marched on Cairo to the south. The march proved to be disastrous. By this time the Ayyubids had defeated Kay Kaus I and joined forces with al–-Kamil. They flooded canals fed by the Nile, cutting off the Crusaders capability to advance or to be resupplied.
The Crusaders had only a 20–day supply of foods with them when they were cut off, and after a few days decided to retreat. In order to make their withdrawal as quick as possible they set fire to their existing supplies so that what was left behind would not be a benefit to the enemy. These fires were seen and alerted al–Kamil to the retreat. He surrounded the Crusaders and forced Pelagius to agree to peace.
The following September, al-Kamil marched on and retook Damietta. The crusaders left for home, failing to have accomplished anything of importance during their three years in Egypt.
The Children's Crusade (1212 AD)
1212 was an unusual year in Medieval history.
After the end of the Fourth Crusade it became apparent to many that the soldiers had just plundered goods from abroad rather than gain any long term success. Many Christians had never even reached the Holy Land.
Two apparently unconnected groups of children appeared in 1212 that seemed to put the ideals of the First Crusade back into crusading.
A group of 20,000 followers led by a boy named Nicholas left Germany in 1212 to take back Jerusalem for Christianity. Although made up mostly of children it was not fully a Children’s Crusade as it also contained some religious men and unmarried women. Their march through the Alps left many dead from the cold, but those that survived made it to Rome where they were met by the Pope. He told them they were far too young for such an adventure even though he admired their bravery, and urged them to return home. Most heeded the advice of the Pope and turned back to Germany but many did not survive the journey home. The few that elected not to return to Germany boarded a ship bound for the Holy Lands in the Italian port of Pisa. They were never seen again.
In May of 1212 a 12 year old uneducated shepherd called Stephen of Cloyes appeared at the court of King Philip of France. He said that he had a letter from Christ ordering him to organize a crusade. Not impressed, King Philip sent him away.
Stephen didn’t give up. He preached to other children, telling them about the letter from Jesus and that they must capture Jerusalem. He told them that they could walk across the Mediterranean as they were protected by God and that the waters would part before them. By June, Stephen had 30,000 followers – all children – and marched south through France.
They were cheered by adults along the route that felt that the innocence of the children would guarantee their success. However, the march was unlike anything undertaken by most of the children. It was further than most had ever walked and many dropped out, while others died from exhaustion. When they reached Marseilles, the sea did not part for them and the remaining children boarded seven boats to cross the Mediterranean to conquer Jerusalem. That was the last heard of them.
Many years later a priest returning from northern Africa claimed to have spoken with some of the children (by then adults). He said that two of the ships had sunk with all souls aboard and that the other five ships had been captured by pirates. He had been told that the children had been sold into slavery.
It is unlikely that a priest in that era would knowingly tell a lie (being certain that a lie would condemn him to Hell), but it is possible that he was misled. All that can be known for sure is that the seven ships left Marseilles with the children aboard – and that white skinned children would be valuable in Algerian and Egyptian slave markets.
Neither of these crusades were “official Crusades”, having never received the blessings of the Pope.
The Sixth Crusade (1228 – 1229 AD)
The crusades were beginning to lose their enthusiasm. Although we state an end to a crusade, fighting had been almost continuous since 1095 and the European princes no longer wanted to send away the military forces which they depended on. Europe became hostile to those preaching the crusades.
Frederick II, who was supposed to lead the great crusade, kept asking the Pope for delays. Finally, in 1225, he married the heiress of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Isabelle of Brienne, and declared himself King of Jerusalem – ignoring his father–in–law who already held the title.
In 1227, after Gregory IX became pope, he called Frederick to do his duty and set off for Palestine. Frederick II soon turned back however and Gregory IX, fed up, ex–communicated him.
In 1228, Frederick II again set sail, but not to fight. He made a treaty with Malik–el–Khalim, Sultan of Egypt. The Sultan was then at war with the Prince of Damascus. The treaty was signed at Jaffa and gave Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth back to “Christian” rule.
In 1229, Frederick II went to the church of the Holy Sepulcre and without religious ceremony crowned himself King of Jerusalem. After his return to Europe in 1230, he reconciled with Gregory IX. Gregory IX ratified the treaty of Jaffa and Frederick II sent knights and his marshal, Richard Filangieri, to take possession of the cities and make them do homage to the new king.
The barons of Palestine lead by Jean d'Ibelin, Lord of Beirut refused to allow the takeover of the Island of Cyprus. Meanwhile, Count Thibaud IV of Champagne was losing in Syria and the Duke of Burgundy along with Richard of Cornwall (the king's brother) who were to recover Ascalon, signed a truce with Egypt. This ended the sixth crusade, but this crusade showed that a crusade could be launched by an individual King – without the Pope.
The Seventh Crusade (1248 – 1254 AD)
Europe was being threatened by the Mongol hordes under Genghis Khan. In 1241, after taking Russia, Genghis Khan appeared on the borders of Bulgaria and promptly routed the Duke of Silesia and his army, then the horde moved on to annihilate the army of King Bela of Hungary and pushed on to the Adriatic. The Mongols destroyed the Mussulman Empire of Kharizm in central Asia. The fleeing army took Jerusalem on their way to Egypt to offer their services to the Sultan in 1244.
Pope Innocent IV, after hearing this news, tried to call another crusade but to no avail since no leader other than Louis IX of France would step forward. Pope Innocent IV's problems with Frederick II were another reason for the failure. So, after hearing that the Mongols were friendly towards Christians, Pope Innocent IV decided to try diplomacy.
He sent a Franciscan, Giovanni di Pianocarpini, and a Dominican, Nicolas Ascelin, to make a treaty with Genghis Khan. Neither made any headway in their attempts to have the Mongol sign the treaty to help them in their fight against the Mohammedans. When Louis IX landed on the Island of Cyprus in 1248, he received friendly envoys from Genghis Khan and in return sent him two Dominicans. Louis IX, thinking that the Mongols were now allies, decided to attack Egypt. They took Damietta and in six months moved on to Cairo. His brother and advance guard, Robert of Artois, started fighting in the streets of Mansurah and was destroyed. This cut off Louis and led to his capture. After the overthrow of the Empire by the Mamaluke militia, he was able to negotiate with the new ameers for his release and the release of the other prisoners, ending the seventh crusade.
The Shepherds’ Crusade (1251 & 1320 AD)
The Shepherds’ Crusade was actually two separate events. The first took place in 1251 during the Seventh Crusade, the second occurred in 1320.
Louis IX of France was beloved by French nobles and peasants alike. When news of his 1249 AD capture in Cairo reached France the following year it was considered unthinkable that such a man could be defeated by heathens and the people were greatly distressed.
A very old Hungarian monk living in France, known only as "the Master of Hungary", began a peasant movement in northern France. He said that he had been visited by the Virgin Mary and told to lead the shepherds of France to the Holy Land to rescue Louis. In May his 60,000 member “army” followed him to Paris where he met with the Kings’ mother who was acting as Regent. It was thought by some that the monk may have been one of the leaders of the earlier Children’s Crusade and the movement of his group was restricted within the city.
The group split up after leaving Paris. Some went to Rouen where they expelled the archbishop. They also threw priests into the Seine for good measure. They then went to Tours and attacked monasteries.
The secong group followed the Master to Orléans where they attacked the bishop and fought with students in the city. They then went to Amiens and Bourges and began attacking Jews. The Regent ordered them rounded up and excommunicated, but the Master’s group resisted and he was killed in the fighting.
In May of 1320, a teenage shepherd in Normandy, France claimed to have been visited by the Holy Spirit and told to fight the Moors in Spain. His group of mostly young men, women and children marched to Paris to ask Philip V to join their cause but he refused to speak with them.
The group marched towards Spain, attacking castles, nobles, priests, lepers and Jews along the way. Jews seemed to be an especially appealing target for them and Pope John XII ordered them stopped. When they finally reached the border of Spain, their attacks on Jews were known and Spain refused to allow them to enter. Spain finally let the group enter in July, but told Spanish nobles to make sure that Jews were kept safe.
The shepherds did attack some Jews, killing 300, and those responsible were arrested and executed. The crusade dispersed after that.
The Eighth Crusade (1270 AD)
The eighth called crusade was said to begin and end in 1270. It led to the final loss of the Christian colonies of the East.
Sultan Bibars began a war on all of the remaining Christian colonies. In 1260 he took Syria from the Mongols and in 1263, he destroyed a church in Nazareth. Then in 1265, he took Caesarea and Jaffa. Finally, in 1268 he took Antioch.
Europeans, by this time, were only interested in Crusades that served their own purposes and were therefore openly hostile to anyone calling a crusade in their area. Louis IX, also called St. Louis, dreamed of a crusade to take Constantinople. He had become one of the most powerful princes and made a treaty whereby he would inherit Constantinople. He had already been bequeathed the right to become King of Jerusalem. But this did not satisfy his dream. He still wanted his crusade to conquer Constantinople.
Louis and his three sons took the cross in Paris in 1267. He decided to land at Tunis where he was led by his brother, Charles of Anjou. Louis thought he could convert the Prince of Tunis to Christianity. Charles of Anjou had his own plans, but they were not supported by Louis. In fact Louis tried to block every move his brother made.
Charles tried to take advantage of the vacancy of the Holy See to attack Constantinople but was not able to, due to the negotiations of the Pope with Michael Palaeologus of Constantinople for religious reunion. Charles was ordered to Tunis by his brother after Louis received the Greek Ambassadors.
Prince Edward of England landed in Carthages in 1270 to fulfill his vow but plague broke out in the camp. He survived the plague but Louis IX did not. After his death, Charles made a treaty with the Mohammedans. Prince Edward was still determined to fulfill his vow and so started out for Saint–Jean de Acre. After a few skirmishes on Saracen territory he signed a treaty with Sultan Bibars.
Fighting and backstabbing went on for another 21 years. So it would be truthful to say that while there were 8 called crusades, there was in reality only one long crusade lasting almost two hundred years from 1095 to 1291. In 1291 all of the Christian towns surrendered and the Kingdom of Jerusalem was no more.
Two more crusades were called much later, one in the fourteenth century and one in the fifteenth century.
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References:
- Wikipedia on-line
- Britannica Encyclopedia On-line
- Encarta On-line
- newadvent.org
- medievalcrusades.com
- crusades.boisestate.edu
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