The Crusades:Holy Wars

orBarbarous Blasphemy?

Theme: Mixed reasons for and mixed results of warfare

Decline of Byzantium

• In 1071, Muslim Seljuks won an important victory at Manzikert

• Byzantine factions then turned on each other in civil war, allowing the Seljuks almost free rein in Anatolia

• The Byzantine Emperor asked Pope Urban II to help him against the Muslims

Pope Urban II

• Urban responded to Byzantium’s request with a rousing speech in Clermont, France in 1095 in which he called upon Christians to “Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves…”

• Urban’s speech would help launch the first of several Crusades

Reasons for the Crusades

• The Pope hoped to unite the entire eastern Mediterranean and the divided Christian faith under the banner of the Latin Church

• Italian city-states, with their large navies, hoped for commercial gains and were therefore keen supporters of the Crusades

Reasons for the Crusades

• The Byzantine Empire was in severe decline and no longer could act as a buffer between the Muslim East and the Catholic West

• Christian pilgrims visiting the holy sites in Jerusalem began experiencing increased harassment and danger “A pilgrim camp near Jericho”

by David Roberts

A New Concept of War

• Augustine’s Just War Theory– Waged under the auspices

of the state

– Vindication of justice (defense of life and property)

– Restrained conduct with regard to the enemy, non-combatants, and prisoners

• The Crusades– At behest of the Pope, but

under operational control of the kings

– Defense of the faith

– No restraint in dealing with the infidel

• The change was justified based on the Biblical accounts of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua

Mobilization of the Crusades

• Pope Urban traveled to various cities for nine months preaching the Crusade and offering extraordinary inducements to include a plenary indulgence remitting all punishments due to sin for those who died on the Crusade

• Serfs were allowed to leave the land to which they were bound

• Citizens were exempted from taxes• Debtors were given a moratorium on interest• Prisoners were freed and death sentences were

commuted by a bold extension of Papal authority to life service in Palestine

Result

You can be a knight AND go on pilgrimage! AND recover the Holy Land, where Jesus lived! AND make it safe for other pilgrims! AND, moreover, be forgiven of sins!!

Plus, quite simply, "Dieux Le Volt!"

sense that “God wills it.”

Still, “the role of pious idealism in the decision to crusade does not mean that all (or any) crusaders were saints, or that they were very saintly in their daily conduct on the march. It also does not preclude the presence of other motives.”

The Crusaders

• The variety of motivations resulted in a varied assembly– Men tired of hopeless poverty

– Adventurers seeking action

– Merchants looking for new markets

– Lords whose enlisting serfs had left them “labor-less”

– Sincerely religious individuals wanting to rescue the land of Christ

Moreover, all of this probably would have meant little if, in fact, the first Crusaders had failed.

They take Jerusalem in July 1099. Bloodbath ensues and the “Crusader states” set up.

Now can believe God must have willed it because they succeeded. Movement takes on its own momentum, becoming better organized and financed.

The First Crusade

• The word “crusade”comes from the Spanish cruzadewhich means “marked with the cross”– Crusaders wore red

crosses on their chests to symbolize their purpose

The First Crusade

• Urban had appointed August 1096 as the time of departure, but many of the impatient peasants, who were among the first recruits, could not wait

• Led by such personalities as Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless, they set out in three groups and quickly devolved into disorder, hunger, and ill-discipline

• They were all but annihilated by a force of Turks at Nicea

“Alexius Comnenus, Emperor of the East, receives Peter the

Hermit at Constantinople, August 1096”

by Gillot Saint-Evre

The First Crusade• The more organized

Crusaders, under the divided leadership of various feudal leaders, moved by various routes to Constantinople

• There the Emperor Alexius gave them provisions and bribes in exchange for a pledge of fealty– Alexius was somewhat

afraid the Crusaders had designs on Constantinople as well as Jerusalem

Duke Godfrey of Bouillon was among the most brave, pious, competent, and fanatical of the

First Crusade leaders

The First Crusade

• The First Crusaders met an even more divided Muslim force and won victories at Nicea on June 19, 1097 and Antioch on June 3, 1098

• By June 7, 1099, after a three year campaign, 12,000 of the original 30,000 Crusaders reached Jerusalem

Siege of Antioch

The First Crusade

• On July 15 the Crusaders went over the city walls and unleashed unbridled carnage– Blood reportedly ran

knee-deep– 70,000 Muslims were

slaughtered– Jews were herded into

a synagogue and burned alive

The First Crusade

• Administrative rule of Jerusalem proved problematic

• Eventually the kingdom was parceled into practically independent fiefs and barons assumed all ownership of land, reducing the former owners to the condition of serfs

• The kingdom was further weakened by the ceding of several ports to the Italian city-states in exchange for naval support and seaborne supplies

• The native Christian population came to look back on the era of Muslim rule as a golden age Godfrey served as the

first ruler of Jerusalem

Knights

• The establishment of new orders of military monks partially offset these weaknesses

• The Knights of the Hospital of Saint John and the Knights Templar began by protecting and nursing pilgrims but gravitated to active attacks on Muslim strongholds

• Both orders would come to play prominent roles in the battles of the Crusades and earned great reputations as warriors

Seal of the Knights Templar

Muslim Counterattack

• Most of the Crusaders returned to Europe after freeing Jerusalem, creating a manpower shortage

• Muslim refugees retreated to Baghdad and demanded a force retake Jerusalem

• In 1144, Muslims under Zangiretook the Christian’s eastern-most outpost at al-Ruah and then Edessa

• Such developments would spur the Second Crusade

The Second Crusade

• St. Bernard appealed to Pope Eugenius II to call for another Crusade, but Eugenius begged Bernard to undertake the task himself

• Bernard persuaded King Louis VII of France and then Emperor Conrad III of Germany to accept the Crusade

• At Easter 1147 the Germans set out and the French followed at Pentecost

Conrad approaching Constantinople

The Second Crusade

• This time the Muslims were ready:– At Dorylaeum, the Germans were defeated so badly that barely

one in ten Christians survived– At Attalia, nearly every Frenchman was slaughtered

• Eventually the Crusaders joined forces and lay siege to Damascus but were soundly defeated

The Second Crusade

• News of the defeat of the Second Crusade shocked Europe– Christians wondered how God could allow them to be

so humiliated by the infidel

– Bernard explained that the defeat must be punishment for sins

– Enthusiasm for the Crusades waned rapidly

• While the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem continued to be torn by internal strife, its Muslim enemies were moving toward unity

Saladin• In 1175, Saladin brought Egypt

and Muslim Syria under one rule

• In 1185, he signed a four-year truce with the Latin kingdom but the Christians violated it by attacking a Muslim caravan and capturing Saladin’s sister

• He declared a holy war against the Christians and captured Jerusalem in 1187– His terms were much more

generous than those of the Crusaders in 1099

Saladin: one of the few Crusade personalities generally described

favorably by both Eastern and Western sources

The Third Crusade “All-Stars”

Richard I “the Lionheart” (England)

Philip Augustus II (France)

Frederick I “Barbarossa”(Holy Roman Empire)

The Third Crusade

• The Christians were able to retain Tyre, Antioch, and Tripoli and the Italian fleets still controlled the Mediterranean

• William, Archbishop of Tyre, returned to Europe to call for a Crusade

• Frederick Barbarossa of Germany set out with his army in 1189 but had little success

“March of the Crusaders” by George Inness

The Third Crusade

• Then Richard I the Lion Heart of England took up the cause and took Philip Augustus, the French king, with him to ensure the French didn’t encroach on English territory in his absence

• The Christians captured Acre and an ill Philip Augustus returned to France, leaving Richard in sole charge of the Third Crusade

• Still Richard would face divisions as the German troops returned to Germany and French troops repeatedly disobeyed orders

The Third Crusade

• Richard and Saladin embarked on a “unique campaign in which blows and battles alternated with compliments and courtesies” (Durant, 599)

• The two executed enemy prisoners they held• Richard proposed his sister marry Saladin’s brother• They signed peace treaties then rejected them• Richard conferred knighthood on the son of a Muslim

ambassador• Richard got sick and Saladin sent him his own

physician and some fruit• Saladin saw Richard un-mounted in battle and sent

him a horse

The Third Crusade

• In the end Richard and Saladin signed a peace for three years beginning Sept 2, 1192– Richard would keep the coastal

cities he had captured from Acre to Jaffa

– Muslims and Christians could pass freely into and from each other’s territory

– Pilgrims would be protected in Jerusalem

– But… Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands

The Third Crusade

• Richard had possessed superior brilliance, courage, and knowledge of the military art, but Saladin’s moderation, patience, and justice had carried the day

• The relative unity and fidelity of the Muslims had once again triumphed over the Christians’ divisions and disloyalties

The Fourth Crusade

• Acre was free but Jerusalem was still in Muslim hands• Europe was in turmoil with problems such as renewed

fighting between France and England, but the death of Saladin and the breakup of his empire renewed hope for another Crusade

• In exchange for its financial support, Venice exacted a promise that the Crusaders would capture the important port of Zara and turn it over to her– Zara belonged to Hungary and was stiff competition

to Venice’s maritime trade– Pope Innocent III denounced the scheme but to no

avail– The Fourth Crusade would be marked by avarice

The Fourth Crusade

• Part of the avarice was the temptation to capture Constantinople which had derived much profit from the Crusades

• Seizing Constantinople would not only provide financial benefit, it would also restore it to the Western Church

• In 1204 the Crusaders captured and looted Constantinople

The Fourth Crusade

• The Byzantine Empire was divided into feudal dominions, each ruled by a Latin noble

• Most Crusaders returned home, perhaps thinking that by securing Constantinople they now had a stronger base against the Muslims

• Only a handful continued to Palestine and had no effect there

• The Byzantine Empire never recovered and the Latin capture of Constantinople served to prepare it for capture by the Turks two centuries later

Collapse of the Crusades

• The scandal of the Fourth Crusade and the failure of the Third quenched the greater fire for Crusades but several half-hearted efforts would continue until 1291

• In 1291, the Muslims seized Acre

• Tyre, Sidon, Haifa, and Beirut fell soon afterward

Among the ineffective latter crusades was the “Children’s

Crusade” of 1212 in which thousands of children ended up

drowning or being sold into slavery

Crusades and the Principles of War

• Maneuver• Mass• Surprise• Security• Objective• Economy of Force• Offensive• Unity of Command• Simplicity

• Maneuver– Very limited. Heavy reliance on sieges.

• Mass– The Germans and French advanced separately on the Second

Crusade and were each defeated at Dorylaeum and Attalia, respectively

• Surprise– The Second Crusade advanced along the same route as the

First Crusade and the Muslims were ready for them

• Objective– The Crusades meant different things to different people and the

various objectives often worked at cross-purposes such as the economic motivations of the Italian city-states

The Crusades and the Principles of War

The Crusades and the Principles of War

• Economy of force– ????

• Offensive– The Christians relative military, economic, and

political power allowed them to take the offensive, but extended distances made the offensive difficult to sustain

• Unity of command– The Crusaders seldom achieved this, such as in the

Third Crusade when French troops refused to obey Richard’s orders

• Simplicity– Motley crew of Crusaders required simple tactics

Results of the Crusades

• Failures– Jerusalem was in Muslim hands– Christian pilgrims became fewer and more fearful

than ever– The Muslim powers, once tolerant of religious

diversity, had been made intolerant by attack– The effort of the popes to bring peace and unity to

Europe had been thwarted by nationalistic ambitions, avarice, and internal dissension

– The influence of the Catholic Church and the position of the pope declined and the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church widened

Results of the Crusades

• Failures– Muslim civilization had been victorious over Christian

civilization– Indigenous eastern Christians were caught in the

middle between Crusaders and Muslims, and many who were outraged by the excesses of the Crusaders or who wanted to avoid persecution by Muslim leaders who saw them as collaborators with the Crusaders converted to Islam

• In fact, the Crusades ironically proved instrumental in making the eastern Mediterranean predominantly Muslim

Results of the Crusades

• Successes– Serfs had used the Crusades to leave their

lands and many found new opportunities

– The Turkish capture of Constantinople was delayed until 1453

– The Muslims, even though victorious, had themselves been weakened, and fell more easily when the Mongols attacked

– Trade and exploration were enhanced

Trade• Italian traders obviously

benefited from supplying the Crusades while they were going on, but they also saw an opportunity to expand their market by establishing direct trade with the Muslim world

• The lucrative trade provided great profit to the Italian city-states and ultimately provided the economic basis for the Italian Renaissance

Lorenzo de Medici was part of a family that ruled Florence and

served as bankers for the Crusades and patrons of the

Renaissance

Trade

• The most important trade item were spices– Other items included

cotton, linen, dates, coral, pearls, porcelain, silk, and metal goods

• Damascus was a key center for industry and commerce and a stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Mecca

Egyptian scarf or garment fragment ca 1395

Trade

• European Christians also became exposed to new ideas as they traveled throughout the Mediterranean basin– The works of Aristotle– Islamic science and astronomy– “Arabic” numerals which the Muslims had borrowed

from India– Techniques for paper production which the Moslems

had learned from China• While the Crusades may have largely failed as military

adventures, they helped encourage the reintegration of western Europe into the larger economy of the western hemisphere

Effects of Crusades

Fatal weakening of Byzantine Empire

Vast increase in cultural horizons for many Europeans.

Stimulated Mediterranean trade.

Need to transfer large sums of money for troops and supplies led to development of banking techniques.

Rise of heraldic emblems, coats of arms

Romantic and imaginative literature.

Effects of Crusades

Knowledge introduced to Europe Heavy stone masonry, construction of

castles and stone churches.

Siege technology, tunneling, sapping.

Muslim minarets adopted as church spires

Weakening of nobility, rise of merchant classes

Enrichment was primarily from East to West – Europe had little to give in return.

The Reconquista of Spain

• The Christians did have better success wresting Sicily and Spain from the Muslims in actions separate from the Crusades

• Sicily was regained relatively easily– Muslims had conquered it in

the 9th Century but in the 1090, after about 20 years of fighting, Norman warriors returned it to Christian hands

• Spain would be a bit more of a challenge

The Reconquista of Spain

• Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th

Century and ruled all but small Christian states such as Catalonia

• In the 1060s Christians began attacking outward from these toeholds

The Reconquista of Spain

• By 1150 Christians had recaptured Lisbon and controlled over half the peninsula

• These successes lured reinforcements from England and France and a new round of campaigning in the 13th

Century brought all but Granada into Christian hands• In 1492, Christian forces conquered Granada and the

Reconquista was complete

Immediate Impact of theReconquista

• After the successful Reconquista, the devoutly Christian rulers of Spain and Portugal were eager to dominate the Islamic states in North Africa and to convert non-Christians

• The desire to spread Christianity would be one of the motives for the European explorations

1492 was the year of both the completion of the Reconquista and

Columbus’ voyage to the New World

Relevance of the Crusades Today

• Just days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, President Bush declared, “This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.”

• Bush’s word choice caused significant controversy, especially in Europe and Arab countries

• Later White House spokesman Ari Fleischer explained, “I think to the degree that that word has any connotations that would upset any of our partners or anybody else in the world, the president would regret if anything like that was conveyed. But the purpose of his conveying it is in the traditional English sense of the word, it's a broad cause.”

• Why the fuss?

The Crusades: Summary

• Islam and Feudal Christianity collided in a series of four “Crusades” in the 12th and 13th centuries.

• The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II in 1095 in response to a call for help from the Byzantine emperor.

• Noblemen flocked to the Pope’s appeal, but of the four Crusades, only the first was successful in its goal of taking Jerusalem.

• The Third Crusade was famous for the three European kings who personally volunteered to go on it.

• Eventually the Crusades failed and the “Crusader States”were re-taken by Muslim forces.

• However, the impact of the Crusades lived on in poisoned relations between Christians and Muslims and increased trade and cultural exchange between East and West.