Chapter 14The High Middle Ages

Section 1

The Crusades

Causes of the Crusades

• During the late 1000’s the Seljuq Turks, Muslims from Central Asia, gained control of Palestine

• The Turks went on to attack Asia Minor• When they threatened to take Constantinople, the

Byzantine Empire called on Pope Urban II• Eager to take back the Holy Land {Pope Urban called

on Europeans to join in a Crusade against the Seljuq Turks}

• The Crusades were a series of military expeditions to regain the Holy Land

• The 10,000 people who took up the cause sewed crosses on their clothes and were called Crusaders

Crusaders

The First Crusade

• The 1st Crusade lasted from 1096 to 1099• French and Italian soldiers marched to Constantinople• They passed through Constantinople and continued

on through Palestine to the city of Antioch• They then marched down the coast toward the holy

city of Jerusalem.• Fleet ships from Italy brought supplies to the

crusaders and after a series of vicious battles the crusaders captured Jerusalem slaughtering its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants

The 1st Crusade

The Second Crusade

• The capture of Jerusalem brought most of the Holy Land under European Control.

• They set up 4 small states and introduced the feudal system and trade increased

• The Christians and the Muslims lived along side each other and grew to respect one another

• But by 1146 the Turks united their forces and started taking back the captured cities

• In 1147 the 2nd Crusade began when King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany sent armies to recapture the cities.

• The Turks held and the crusaders returned to Europe in disgrace

The 2nd Crudsade

The Third Crusade• In 1187 Muslim leader Saladin took control of

Jerusalem • Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, King

Phillip III of France and King Richard I of England led separate armies to take Jerusalem

• Barbarossa drowned on the way to the Holy Land and his army turned back

• Phillip III took his army back to take over English lands in France

• Richard remained in the Holy Land but could not take Jerusalem.

• Instead he settled for a truce with Saladin. They gained some towns along the coast and Christians were allowed in the Holy City freely

The 3rd Crusade

The Fourth Crusade

• Pope Innocent III gathered a group of French knights to embark on the 4th Crusade

• In 1202 they left on ships provided by Venice• On the way the Venetians convinced the crusader to attack the

city of Zadar, a trade rival to Venice. Because Zadar was a Christian city, Innocent III excommunicated the crusaders who attacked it

• In 1204 the crusaders attacked and looted Constantinople, stealing many things that were holy to the Byzantine Christians

• {At the end of the 4th Crusade Europe was in control of Constantinople}

• After about 60 years of European control, the Byzantines eventually regained control. Until 1453 when the Turks took it again

Other Crusades

• In 1212 the Children’s Crusade took place. • Young people from all over Europe decided to march

to the Holy Land • They lacked training and supplies and by the time they

reached the Mediterranean coast the army was little more than a mob. The pope sent them home

• For many years, crusaders tried to take the Holy Land. The Crusades continued until 1291 when the Muslims captured the city of Acre.

• With the city’s fall the Crusades ended

Results of the Crusades

• The goal of the Crusades was to take Holy Land from the Turks. All but the First Crusade failed to do so, but the Crusades did bring about many changes in Europe

• The Crossbow became a popular weapon during the Crusades because it did not require much skill to use and could penetrate chain mail and armor

• They also learned how to use catapults and how to undermine walls

• From Muslims they may have learned about gun powder

New Weapons

Political Changes• To raise money for the Crusades, some lords

sold their lands. Without land they had no power in the feudal system

• Many nobles died fighting. With fewer lords the kings grew in power

• {All of these changes helped to bring an end to feudalism}

• The Crusades also made the church more powerful

• As organizers of the Crusades, the popes took on more importance

Changes in Ideas and Trade

• Between 1096 and 1291 thousands of crusaders traveled through the Holy Land exchanging ideas with crusaders from other parts of Europe as well as the Muslims and Byzantines

• {The Crusades also helped make Italy into a major trading power}

• When the Italians would take the crusaders to the Holy Land they would come back with ships full of good from Asia such as apricots, lemons, melons, rice and sugar

Review• Pope Urban called on Europeans to join in

a Crusade against who?

• At the end of the 4th Crusade who was in control of Constantinople?

• What helped make Italy into a major trading power?

The End?