Amongst the wars that have been fought in the history of mankind, The Second Crusade can be counted as one of the most disastrous. Completely contrary to the First Crusade, the Second Crusade was lead by two leaders with two un-cohesive agendas. This division of power and lack of military organization ultimately led to the massacre of thousands of Christian Crusaders and crushing losses along the way in the Crusaders' attempts to recapture the cities of Edessa and Damascus. The Second Crusade was the beginning of the fall of power of the Christian Crusaders for the first time in decades.
At the start of the Second Crusade, it had been four decades since the First Crusade had taken place and the stories from the first expedition had become legends. However, these legends soon began to unravel: Edessa, once a Christian held city from the First Crusade, fell to the Muslims under the forces of Zengi. After the fall of the city of Edessa, "the Christian aura of invincibility was shattered" and they were overcome with panic because this was the first time they recognized the invading Muslims as a threat (Madden 50). This fear was precisely what ignited the Second Crusade. Although Pope Eugenius III called upon the Second Crusade, it was technically considered Bernard of Clairvaux’s crusade. Bernard was a French abbot who was appointed to his position by the Pope in order to preach about the crusade. Bernard regarded the Second Crusade "as a means of redemption" and preached across Northern France and Germany in hopes of rallying civilians to stand by his side in the name of Christ (Madden 52).
Just as the Second Crusade began with two different figures, the mission continued to grow into an increasingly disjointed and divided project. ...
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... and lost everything as a result of one bad decision. The army quickly retreated and, at that point, the Second Crusade was officially over and "by any measure, it was a disaster" (Madden 58).
The Second Crusade was undeniably a failure due to division of leadership and troops, bad military commanding, and poor communication. Not only was this the beginning of the fall of the Christian Crusades, "the crusader states would have been fared better have the crusade never been launched" (Madden 59). The loss was tremendous, and although this crusade brought no progress for the Christians, it was none-the-less significant. The failure of the Second Crusade “was the strongest evidence yet that the Franks could lose, and lose big" and significantly strengthened the Muslim army (Madden 58). It was the beginning of the Muslims' rise to power and the Christians' fall from it.
(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
Now, in 1198, in order to raise the papacy rather than take the Holy Land, Pope Innocent III, called for another crusade. This crusade is mostly being led by French Knights and instead attempting to capture Jerusalem, they end up sacking the Christian city of Constantinople! After the fourth Crusade, the other crusades were disorganized efforts that accomplished little to
The First Crusade was a widely appealing armed pilgrimage, and mobilized a vast conquering force at a time when the Christian Church was moving towards centralization and greater political influence in Europe. The Church gained a wider audience more accepting of its leadership, benefitted economically, and developed its own militarily force. These outcomes, along with the Church’s documented ambition to expand and its reversal of prior teachings, support the idea that the First Crusade was a deliberate political maneuver, intended to to expand and consolidate the authority of the
It is amazing how much political and military supremacy the papacy position gained when the Crusades began. The First Crusade (1096-1099) was a military expedition initiated by Pope Urban the II to regain the Holy Lands in Jerusalem from the Muslim conquest. The Pope gave a speech requesting military action against Muslim takeover to the French people of Clermont. The speech eventually propagated to other nations for further recruitment. Urban’s political and military involvement helped regain the Holy Lands and save the Christian Crusaders souls. His famous speech changed the course of history in part because its dissemination was overly successful, and assembled over 40,000 Crusaders to do the will of God. Why was Pope Urban II so victorious in recruiting people for the First Crusade, and why was his influence so important?
The First Crusade ended with the same thing it started, and the same thing it was originally-with massacre and slaughter.
Among some of the largest conflicts in the world stand the Crusades; a brutal conflict that lasted over 200 years and was debatably one of the largest armed religious conflicts in the history of humankind. Since this is so clearly an event of importance, historians have searched vigorously for the true answer as to why the crusades began. Ultimately, because of accusatory views on both the sides of the Christians and of the Muslims, the two groups grew in such hatred of each other that they began to act in deep discrimination of each other. Moreover, Christian motives seemed to be driven mostly by the capture of Jerusalem, the dark ages of Europe and the common-folks desperation for land, wealth, and a spot in heaven. What seems to be continually
The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks. The documents and supporting arguments now highlight that the Pope not only sought to recruit soldiers to help but also to challenge those who had harmed the Christians community and annihilate the Muslims. He put forth the idea that failure to recapture this lands would anger God and that by participating, God would redeem them of their previous sins.in a time of deep devoutness, it is clear this would have been a huge enticement for men to engage in the battle. Whether his motives were clear or not to his people, Pope Urban’s speeches claiming that “Deus vult!” (God wills it) encouraged many Christians to participate and take the cross.
Thomas Madden’s Crusades is an exposition of the crusades, which occurred during the Middle Ages. The Crusades were a series of military conflicts of a religious character. They remain a very important movement in human history, and are hard to understand, as they include several themes and they lasted for a long time (about two hundred years, and the author covers a period of about eight centuries in his chronological work). Religion is, of course, the most recurrent theme we think about the Crusades, but is it the only factor to explain them? How does Madden, considered as one of the most foremost historian of the Crusades, expose them in his book? Is his work effective to understand this period of History? Madden has the ambition to relate the Crusades from the Middle Ages to today events, such as the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. For him, it is a recall of what happened in the past, and what can still happen today: making wars for religion. Madden wants to intrigue readers with this concise book so they go further to discover more about the Crusades.
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 major turning point in Medieval history were the Crusades. The Crusades were a series of wars fought between the Christian Europeans and the Muslim Turks, which occurred between the years of 1096 to 1272. In this Holy War the Christians goal was to obtain the Holy Land from the Turks, in which they did not succeed. Although the Christians did not meet their goal, many positives did come out of their attempt. Due to the reason that they did not meet their goal, yet numerous positives came out of their effort, many refer to this as a successful failure.
In 1095, the conflict between the Christians and the Muslims started a crusade (a military campaign in defense of Christianity) for the battle of Jerusalem. This crusade involved people of other religions besides Christianity such as the Jews but they did not play a major role during this time. The Crusades lasted almost two decades and consisted of eight different crusades. With all of the events and actions that took during the Crusades, it led too many effects throughout years. There were short term effects and long term effects from the crusades that effected people of all different cultures. Two places which have had many effects from the Crusades are Europe and Islam. The Crusades has had short term and long term effects on power, economic and classical knowledge throughout Europe and Islam.
Contrary to many commonly held notions about the first crusade, in his book, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading, Jonathan Riley-Smith sets out to explain how the idea of crusading thought evolved in the first crusade. In his book, Riley-Smith sets out five main arguments to show how these ideas of crusading evolved. Firstly, he argues that Pope Urban’s original message was conventional, secondly that a more positive reaction was drawn from the laity (due to the ideas surrounding Jerusalem), thirdly, that the original message of crusading had changed because of the horrible experiences of the first crusaders, fourth, that due to these experiences the crusaders developed their own concept of what a crusade was, and lastly, that these ideas were refined by (religious) writers and turned into an acceptable form of theology. Riley-Smith makes excellent points about the crusade; however, before one can delve directly into his argument, one must first understand the background surrounding the rise of the first crusade.
Although the crusades were seen as failures during their time, the crusades had a huge impact on the world. This impact can be seen through the many social, political, economic, and religious changes that developed during the crusades. Some of these changes still last to this day.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” To understand the causes of the crusades, we must have a solid understanding of the Islamic world and Europe backgrounds – respectively. By the tenth century, the Islamic empire under Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad was divided. The Fatimid, Shiite dynasty established a Shiite Caliphate in Egypt, and Cairo was its capital. They had tried to unite the Islamic world under its caliphate and they had become enemies to the Sunni caliphate in Baghdad. As a result, the Islamic world was divided.
Latham, Andrew A. "Theorizing the Crusades: Identity, Institutions, and Religious War in Medieval Latin Christendom." International Studies Quarterly 55, no. 1 (March 2011): 234. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 14, 2012).