Crusades
Crusades were military expeditions planned
and carried out by western European
Christians. The crusades started
around 1095. The purpose of these crusades was
to overtake and gain control
of the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Holy Land
was Jerusalem and the
Christians believed that gaining control of it was their
fate. The pope would
gather the people together and incite them. The origin of
the crusades was a
result of the expanding Turks in the middle east. These
Turkish forces
invaded Byzantium, a Christian empire. The crusaders were a
militia, sent out
to recover what they thought was theirs. The first crusades
were essentially
started by Pope Urban II. On November 27, 1095, he gathered his
followers
outside the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. He preached to these
people and
told them that action needed to be taken. In response, the people
cheered and
planned their attack. Urban II brought together all of the bishops
and urged
them to talk to their friends and fellow villagers and to encourage
them to
participate in the crusades. Small groups started to form and each
group
would be self- directing. All the groups planned their own ways to
the
Constantinople, where they would meet and regroup. They would attack
the Turkish
forces in Constantinople and hope to regain control of the city.
The large
Christian armies talked to Alexius I Comnenus, the Byzantium
emperor, and agreed
to return any of his old land that was recaptured. The
armies were skeptical of
this demand but agreed anyway. The first attack by
the crusaders was on
Anatolian, the Turkish capital. Meanwhile the
Byzantians were also trying to
recapture Anatolian, and later that year, the
city surrendered to the Byzantians
instead of the crusaders. The Byzantians
were using the crusaders as pawns to
achieve their own goals. The crusaders
again met and crushed the Turkish army.
The crusaders scored a great
victory and boosted the troops' moral. The
crusaders captured Antioch and
also held off relief forces sent to help the
Turks. The crusaders then
moved on to their main goal-Jerusalem. The city was
under Egyptian control
and was heavily guarded. The crusaders set up siege
machines and called for
reinforcements, finally forcing the Egyptians to
surrender. Everyone in the
city was massacred in the belief that the blood of
the former holders
purified it. The crusaders kept control of the city for the
next generation
or so and brought in people to inhabit the Holy Land. Slowly the
Muslim
forces started to rebuild and soon came back to take the Holy Land. After
the
defeat of the Egyptians in Jerusalem, the crusaders started to colonize.
The
Latin colonists set up four states: Tripoli, which was on the Syrian
coast,
Antioch, centered near the Orontes Valley, Edessa, a far east
state which held
most of the Christians, and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem,
the most powerful
and centered between the other three states. The crusaders'
strategy during the
first crusade was to isolate the Muslims and Egyptians,
and to cut off any
supplies or reinforcements from strengthening their
status. Once the original
generation of crusaders died, their children were
not as determined. They forgot
about the Muslims that had escaped, and
because of that, the Muslims had a new
leader and were regaining power. Under
their leader, Imad ad-Din, the Muslims
regrouped and planned their attack
against the colonies. After the passing of
Imad ad-Din, a new radical
leader emerged-Zangi. Zangi led his troops to a
victory against the crusaders
and their colonies by capturing the state of
Edessa. The Muslims
destroyed the Christians churches, buildings, and killed the
crusaders. Back
home, the Pope saw what was happening and declared a second
crusade to
recapture the territory that had been lost. King Louis VII, from
France,
set out to meet Conrad III army. The Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad III, set
out
from Germany and soon met up with Louis' men. With their armies, they
left
from their homeland to meet in Jerusalem. Conrad's army began their
voyage, only
to be ambushed. Afterwards, their supplies and cavalry were
drastically
depleted. The better half of the French army reached Jerusalem
and met up with
the small remains of the Germans and the old crusaders.
Together they ventured
to Damascus, but failed to take the city and were
badly defeated. The French
army and king had had enough and returned home.
The small remnants of the
Germans stayed with the colonies, along with
the old crusaders. Slowly but
surely, the states the crusaders had set up
were systematically being destroyed.
The failure of the second crusade
brought on the third crusade. The Muslims had
named a new leader, Nur ad-Din,
who regrouped the Muslims and motivated them to
take back what believed was
theirs. Their leader died a few years later, and was
succeeded by their
military leader, Saladin. In 1187, Saladintook his now
revived and
recuperated army to recapture Jerusalem. In July, he crushed the
crusaders
front line army in Galilee. Saladin then led his troops throughout the
area
of Jerusalem and finally took Jerusalem in early October. This led to
Pope
Gregory VIII starting a third crusade. The people in the west knew
that their
time had come to defeat the Muslims onceand for all. Included in
the ranks of
men going on the crusade were Fre*censored* I, the Roman
emperor; Philip II, the
French king; and Richard I, of England. These
forces were thought to be one of
the most powerful armies assembled during
the middle ages. Again, this crusade
suffered misfortune. On his journey to
Jerusalem, the Roman emperor died, and
his army accompanied the body back
home for burial. Even with the size of
Richard's and Frederick's
remaining armies, they were not able to recapture
Jerusalem. When the
armies left Jerusalem and its surrounding areas to return
home, they
accomplished none of their goals. Since none of the following
crusades were
successful or even important, not much is known about them. The
later
crusades also provided almost nothing for the Christians therefore much
time
and money was wasted on them.