THE CRUSADES

WHAT WERE THE CRUSADES?

THE CRUSADES WERE MILITARY EXPEDITIONS, ORGANISED BY THE POPE AND EUROPEAN KINGS, TO TAKE THE HOLY LAND FROM THE MUSLIMS

HOWEVER, THERE WERE ALSO ECONOMIC REASONS BECAUSE EUROPEAN KINGS WANTED TO CONTROL THE TRADE ROUTES OF THE ORIENT. SO CRUSADES WERE NOT ONLY A RELIGIOUS WAR, BUT ALSO AN ECONOMIC WAR

THERE WERE EIGHT OFFICIAL CRUSADES TO TAKE THE HOLY LAND FROM 1096 TO 1396.

REASONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN WARRIORS

To obey the Pope's call.

To be forgiven for past sins

To steal and kill. Kings encouraged violent knights to go on Crusade because it got them out of the country

To see the world, have an adventure and prove their bravery

To get land overseas. This was tempting for a younger son who would not inherit his father's lands

Serfs joined the Crusades because the Pope promised them their freedom if they went.

When the Byzantine emperor Alexius called for help to defend his empire against the Turks in 1095, Pope Urban II asked all Christians to join a war against the Turks.

The Pope told the Christians that fighting the war would repay God for their sins. Besides, if they died on a crusade they would go straight to heaven

Armies from France and Germany marched to Jerusalem, attacking several cities on their way. In 1099 they won the battle for Jerusalem and killed many Turks

As a result of the First Crusade, several small Christian kingdoms were created in Holy Land. One was named the Kingdom of Jerusalem

FIRST CRUSADE (1096-1099)

SECOND CRUSADE (1147-1149)

King Louis VII of France invaded the Holy Land with the help of German warriors and the Byzantine Empire. However, Christians were defeated at Damascus.

THIRD CRUSADE (1189-1191)

In 1187, the Muslim ruler Saladin had recaptured Jerusalem.Richard I of England, Phillip II of France and Frederick Barbarossa of Germany made a deal with the pope in order to retake the city.First, they captured the port of Acre. Then, they wanted to capture Jerusalem but they failed.

FOURTH CRUSADE (1202-1204)

The Pope wanted to unite western and eastern Christians under his authority. At the beginning, the Pope said that it was a new crusade to retake Jerusalem, but he wanted to unite western and eastern Christians under his authority. With the help of Venice and France, the Pope captured Constantinople in 1204. Christians fought Christians and Jerusalem remained as Muslim.The Crusader kingdom of Constantinople only survived 50 years. Then, Byzantines retake their capital.

THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE (1212)

It was not an official crusade.An army of young people set off on Crusade from Marseille, but they were kidnapped and sold as slaves

THE FIFTH, THE SIXTH AND THE SEVENTH CRUSADES (1217-1250)

All those crusades failed. Christians could retake Jerusalem for a short period of time during the Fifth Crusade, but after that the city was not Christian anymore

THE LAST CRUSADE (1396)

French and Hungarians, almost 150 years after the Seventh Crusade, wanted to conquer the city of Jerusalem again. However, they were massacred in battle of Nicopolis. Christians left all their possessions in the Holy Land

WHY DID THE CHRISTIANS FAIL IN THE CRUSADES?

1. Arguments between the European kings and the Pope because they had different interests

2. Arguments between Byzantines and the Western European kings

3. Sometimes the Muslim armies were stronger than the Christian ones

4. Christian settlements in the Holy Land were too far from their kingdoms in Western Europe

CONSEQUENCES OF THE CRUSADES1. Western Europeans learnt new military techniques (better castles and gunpowder) and many things about the Muslim science and culture.

2. They brought from the Holy Land new products such as sugar, silk, lemons, cotton...

3. The trade routes with the Far East were closed for the Western Europeans. As a result, they had to think about new routes and the Castilians could discover America in 1492

4. Without the support of the Crusaders, the Byzantine Empire declined and it fell in 1453