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Summary of the crusades the middle ages
Warfare during the middle ages
World history 02.03 the crusades
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Pope Urban made his proposition to them all. Pope Urban’s proposition was, that if they started a Crusade, then they could free the Holy Land, and to do that they needed to fight the Muslims and not each other. If they did this, then Pope Urban promised them that when they succeeded in doing so, then there were new lands in Palestine that would be easily accessible for them to conquer, as well as promised Spiritual Rewards. The Knight’s Crusade split itself into four main armies, consisting mostly of people from French backgrounds, and their families, for they believed they would succeed and gain new land quickly. Although the four armies took different routes, they all had the same first destination – Constantinople. Each Army was led by a …show more content…
Within the Crusaders army, a Lance was found and this was thought a sign of good luck from God, as the Lance was a Holy Relic to the Christians, and the trapped Christians saw this as a sign of hope and surprise-attacked the Turks surrounding their land and managed to drive them away. With the Turks gone, the road to Jerusalem was clear and the Christians were able to get there without the constant fear of attackers. Five months after ridding themselves of the Turks, the Crusaders began to head towards Jerusalem. Though all the leaders of the Crusade armies claimed to have wanted to accompany on this journey to reclaim the Holy Lands for the Church, but some were more interested in the prospect of new lands to be founded and conquered. The Crusader Kingdoms were given to the Leader of the Army who conquered that land. The County of Edessa was given to Baldwin of Boulogne after manipulating and consequently murdering Thoros the ruler of Edessa at that point of time. The Principality of Antioch fell in the hands of Bohemund after he captured it for himself and disregarding his Oath of Allegiance with the Byzantine Emperor, …show more content…
The Crusaders attacked the people of Jerusalem so mercilessly that they “waded in blood up to their ankles” (Page 10, paragraph 1, line 1). So many were slaughtered that day, a combination of Jews and Muslims, children and adults. The slaughter and rampage went on for three days before the looting, burning, and death began to cease. More than 70,000 corpses from that day were found by the end of the battle. Godfrey of Bouillon not only became Monarch of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. A fourth Crusade Kingdom was captured and conquered soon after the conquer of Jerusalem, the County of Tripolis, and by the time the mid-12th Century came around, the Christian Knights of the Crusade had conquered approximately 800km long and 160km wide slab of land from under the rule of the Turkish
(Lecture 9 notes) Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II vowed to lead a Crusade in 1215, however, due to domestic political reasons postponed his departure. Under pressure from Pope Gregory IX, Frederick and his army finally sailed from Italy, but returned to port within a few days because Frederick had fallen ill. ( A&A 72-74) The pope, angered at this delay excommunicated the emperor. In 1228 Fredrick tried to seize the Holy Land, the unconventional Crusade was led by diplomatic negotiations with the Egyptian sultan. From these negotiations a peace treaty was produced. A couple years later Louis IX, Saint Louis of France, decided that his obligations as a son of the Church outweighed those of his throne, and he left his kingdom for a six-year adventure. Since the base of Muslim power had shifted to Egypt, Louis did not even march on the Holy Land. His plan continued by plotting an attack on Cairo in the spring, which turned into a catastrophe. This was because the Crusaders did not guard their flanks and allowed the enemy to retain control over the water reservoirs, in which the enemy was able to flood the Crusaders out and trap the whole army. Louis was forced to surrender in April
Foss explains, “What Urban needed was an enterprise, clearly virtuous in serving the ends of Christiandome… in these moments of reflection, the popes mind turned towards Jerusalem.” Urban II reflects back on the first taking of the Holy City after the defeat of the Byzantine Empire in 1071, and begins to question what his people know about the Turkish race and really the ideology of Islamic thought. Foss goes on to examine the ignorance of westerners and needed to be “reminded [by the pope] of the infamous heathens, their cruelty and hatred of Christians,” hoping this would justify the first Holy Crusade. However, Foss identifies the creativity of the Pope’s language to persuade the knights and army of the people to embark on the Holy Crusade based on the Muslims cruel actions turned onto their fellow Christians. Claiming the Muslims “Killed captives by torture…poor captives were whipped…and others were bound to the post and used as a target for arrows.” Foss examines the Popes words as an effective effort of persuasion in creating an army of crusaders to help clean “…Holy places, which are now treated with ignominy and polluted with Filthiness” and any sacrifice in Jerusalem is a “promise of a spiritual reward… and death for
Saladin’s forces took Jerusalem from Christian control which resulted in a call for another crusade. Three kings, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, King Phillip II of France, and King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) led this crusade but accomplished little.
The First Crusade was called in 1096 by Pope Urban II. The reasons for the First Crusade was to help obtain Jerusalem known as the holy land. During this time period the Muslims were occupying Jerusalem. First Crusade contained peasants and knights’ whose ethnicities consist of Franks, Latin’s, and Celts which were all from the western part of Europe. To get peasants and knights to join Pope Urban II objectives in return of a spiritual reward called “remission of all their sins” which was to be redeemed of any sins the individual has committed. When sins are redeemed Crusaders believed that they will escape the torment of hell. When lords and knights joined the crusade they were known as military elites. Crusaders were known as soldiers of Christ.
Jerusalem was the main and last goal for the crusaders, the city was protected only by an army of a thousand soldiers, so the city fell raver quickly. On the 7th of July 1099 the knights reached the city, but on the 15th they already captured it. The whole Jewish diaspora was killed as well, they all gathered in the big synagogue, where crusaders burned them with the church itself. Nearly 10 thousand Muslims were killed in the Dome of Rock. The murders were sometimes stopped with prayers, than the crusaders continued their "holy" slaughter.
The emphasis of the Catholic religion during the Crusades resulted in the spreading of Christianity across many regions in Europe, and also resulted in an increase in trade. The Crusades were fought in order to take back the land of Jerusalem from the Muslims, and also to protect the Catholic Church. The Crusades began when Pope Urban II stated that “...an accursed race utterly alienated from God … has invaded the lands of the Christians and depopulated them by the sword, plundering, and fire. Tear that land from the wicked race and subject it to yourselves,” in which he blames the Muslims for the loss of their holy land. Then, sea routes towards Jerusalem were closed due to Muslim conquests. This changed Christopher Columbus’ original plan, which was to reach Jerusalem by sailing west. In order to continue his voyage, he sailed to the Americas, which were seen as a new opportunity to make up for the loss of the holy land during the Crusades. Also, the religious Order of Christ, which was set up in 1319 by King Denis of Portugal in order to continue the war agai...
Beginning not too long after the failure of the Second Crusade, the Third Crusade (also known as the Kings' Crusade) spanned from 1189 to 1192. It's purpose was to reclaim the Holy Land from Saladin, and was largely successful, and the European leaders managed to capture the cities Acre and Jaffa, as well undo the majority of Saladin's previous conquests. However, it was unable to capture Jerusalem, the key motivation to the Crusades. The key figures in this Crusade were Richard I of England (also known as Richard the Lionhearted), King Philip II of France, and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
Firstly the People's Crusades in 1096 was a failure due to lack of discipline amongst the crusaders this resulted in giving Kerbogha an impression that the later crusading army in 1096 would be as disorganised and therefore as easily beaten. Hence, Kerbogha’s response to the main crusaders was more delayed and lacked a united army, which increased the success of the First Crusade. For example in March 1098, after Baldwin's success in Edessa, instead of continuing on to Antioch to stop the siege by the crusaders, Kerbogha attempted to recapture Edessa first. This showed that the crusaders weren't a big enough threat to make stopping their siege of Antioch a priority. Another factor responsible for the success of the First Crusade was the desires of wealth by the Princes. Due to many of the princes looking to establish their own power, this became a common aim between them which ultimately led to the success of the crusade as wealth became the motivation behind them working together. For example, the siege of Antioch was a success due to the competition between Bohemond and Raymond for its possession meant they needed a united front for the siege to succeed in the first place. Indulgence was also responsible for the success of the First Crusade, as in 1095; Pope Urban II developed the first form of indulgence. In this form of indulgence it meant that the crusaders had to succeed in crusading and reach Jerusalem in order for them to gain access to heaven by having their sins cleared. For example six months after the capture of Antioch, Raymond and Bohemond was still fighting for possession of the city. However, the majority of the army had joined the crusade because of the indulgence idea wanted to get to Jerusalem and were tired of waiting. The fighting between the two princes was a huge stand still in the progress of the
In the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, Europeans embarked to recover the holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslims. These expeditions, Crusades, were a form of war in defense of Christianity that was justified by the papacy. Popes and church officials would promise spiritual benefits and indulgences to those who would fight. With the start of the First Crusade in 1096, thousands of Western Christians of all classes joined the cause and chose to fight against the infidels in order to regain the holy city of Jerusalem. Between 1096 and 1291, when the last of the Crusader states were overtaken, there were numerous expeditions and hundreds of thousands soldiers and civilians were killed. Upon reviewing the two sources, we can see that there are many views in regards to the crusades and their success.
In 1095, Pope Urban II called the first crusade. Happening between 1096 and 1099, the first crusade was both a military expedition and a mass movement of people with the simple goal of reclaiming the Holy Lands taken by the Muslims in their conquests of the Levant. The crusade ended with the capture of Jerusalem in July 1099. However, there has been much debate about whether the First Crusade can be considered an ‘armed pilgrimage’ or whether it has to be considered as a holy war. This view is complicated due to the ways in which the Crusade was presented and how the penitential nature of it changed throughout the course of the Crusade.
A main cause of the Crusades was the treatment of Christian pilgrims. They were robbed, beaten, and then sold. The main group of Turks, the Seljuk Turks, were threatening and growing in power. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexus I, began to become worried and sent out an urgent plea to Pope Urban II, in Rome. He requested for Christian knights to help him fight the Turks. Pope Urban II did agree to his appeal although Byzantine Emperors and Roman Popes were longtime rivals. He also did agree with Alexus I, in fearing that the Turks were expanding. Pope Urban encouraged French and German Bishops and Nobles to also take part in this. “ An accused race has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and had depopulated them by pillage and fire.” This is when Pope Urban II called for a crusade to free the Holy Land. Urban did agree to this having some of his own motives in mind. He was hoping his power would grow in ...
The year was 1095; Pope Urban II was caught in a war with Germany, and he had multiple conflicts in France as well as amongst his countrymen. In the midst of all this chaos, the Pope still wanted to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims who occupied the city. So he decided to start a pilgrimage to the holy land in order to regain it back. This pilgrimage was called The First Crusade. The Pope led a rally at Claremont, a town in France in 1095, to gain the support of the christian community. In his speech he said, “Arm for the rescue of Jerusalem under your captain Christ. Wear his cross as your badge. If you are killed your sins will be pardoned." He made men feel obligated to fight for this cause as if Christ himself was being defiled. These pilgrims were also given benefits such as exemption from taxes and their protection by the church. The trip to the Holy land proved to be difficult, for the Crusaders could not use the Mediterranean Sea because it was controlled by the Muslims. Instead they had to cross the land in scorching heat and also deep snow in order to reach their destination. They soon ran out of fresh water and had to resort to drinking blood and their own urine in order to survive. They suffered from heat stroke and dysentery caused by drinking the di...
The First Crusade was established in 1095 in a council of the Church in Clermont. Alexius I Commenus, emperor of Byzantium, wanted to control Asia Minor and Northern Syria after losing to the Turks. He needed more Western troops and looked towards Pope
Those that answered the call were peasants, beggars, the poor looking for riches, and the unknown looking for glory. What started out as a pilgrimage to help fellow Christians secure their borders and repel foreign invaders soon became the first of many Holy Wars for the Kingdom of God. During The First Crusade, peasants and knights alike fought for God and glory, travelling east towards Jerusalem. In 1099, Christian forces reached Jerusalem and prepared for recapture. The western crusaders attacked the city and gained control of it.
The crusades in the middle ages were a long-lasting series of vigorous wars between Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land, Jerusalem. The crusades lasted for almost two hundred years. They began in 1099 and approximately ended in 1291. (What were the motives, and causes of these gruesome wars?) is the first question one might ask. To properly answer this question, I am about to analyze the first four crusades that had began in 1099 and ended in 1212.