Key Terms – The Crusades

Pope Urban II Alexius I Council of Clermont Holy Land First Crusade Crusader States The Third Crusade Saladin

Call for Crusades

Around 1071, the Turks gained control of a majority of the Asia Minor.

These Turks began to make attempts to capture Constantinople and also managed to conquer Jerusalem.

The Byzantine Emperor at the time, Alexius I, sought help from Western Christians to recapture the Holy Land and protect Constantinople.

Council of Clermont

Pope Urban II would listen to the calls for help coming from the Byzantines and elected to call a council to decide whether to organize forces to assist the Byzantines.

Council of Clermont → meeting in which the First Crusade was called in 1095.

Motives for the Crusades

There were many motives behind the crusades on the parts of both the pope and the knights or crusaders that fought.

Papal motives included:

Cement papal supremacy Heal the schism between Eastern and Western Christianity Focus fighting away from within Christianity

Knights motives included:

Need for new adventures. New land to settle New sources of wealth Solve massive boredom

The First Crusade (1096)

The First Crusade → fought by Christian Crusaders to gain control of the Holy Land.

Holy Land → territories on the Eastern Mediterranean that include Israel and Jordan today.

The Crusaders, after three years of fighting were able to gain control of Jerusalem in 1099 and establish what is known as the Crusader States → settlements in the Holy Land

The Third Crusade (1187)

The Turks would constantly make attempts to recapture Jerusalem and would finally succeed under Saladin.

Saladin → Sultan of the Turks who sieged and captured Jerusalem in 1187.

The Muslims practiced tolerance and did not want to emulate Christian behavior, hence they allowed the Christians safe passage out of Jerusalem and the ability to make pilgrimages.

Summary of the Crusades

There were four major Crusades in which the Crusaders attempted to regain or control the Holy Land.

All failed since they were able to only earn pilgrimages into the Holy Land.

There were other Crusades that were launched by the popes as a means of trying to gain more power such as the Children's Crusade and also a crusade to take Constantinople in 1204.

Results of the Crusades

The Crusades had many long lasting effects on the European World.

Some of these were:

It introduced the West to the many goods and riches of the East and would set up trading networks as a result.

These new trading networks established new trading posts in Venice and Genoa.

Hatred between Muslims and Christians grew. Christians pillaged and destroyed Muslim cities while

Muslims did not mimic this behavior. The pope acquired large amounts of power with his ability to

call crusades, whether they were worthwhile or not. Weakened the Byzantine Empire greatly, setting up its fall in

1453.