Beginning of 11th century

1
Beginning of 11th century Moslems held 2/3s of
Spain, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia,
Sicily, all of North Africa, Palestine, Asia
Minor, and Syria
Religious enthusiasm and political and economic
ambition moved Western Europeans to attack these
lands Nobles saw unlimited opportunities to
acquire spiritual and secular rewards Rising
Italian cities were anxious to eliminate Moslem
naval raids and be able to peacefully conduct
trade in Western Mediterranean Papacy wanted to
spread Christian faith and turn the turbulent
tendencies of nobles into worthy channels
2
SPAIN AND ITALY

• Crusades began within Europe with the gradual
  reconquest of Spain from the Moslems and the
  takeover of Moslem-controlled Sicily and southern
  Italy
• Northern half of Spain was in Christain hands
• Divided into petty kingdoms
• Southern Italy and Sicily attacked by Norman
  adventurers
• Supported by pope, they took control of both
• De Hauteville family becomes royal family of
  region and vassals of the pope

3
TROUBLE IN THE EAST

• Seljuk Turks take over Baghdad, Syria, Palestine
  from Arabs and most of Asia Minor from Byzantine
  Empire
• Byzantine emperor forced to appeal to West for
  help
• But relations between East and West were not
  good because of schism between eastern and
  western churches in 1054
• But there was still strong feeling in West that
  Byzantines were fellow Christians
• Pope Urban II therefore responded positively to
  Emperor Alexius Comneus pleas

4
URBAN II AT CLERMONT

• Urban II was not interested in providing a
  contingent of troops to help Byzantines recover
  lost territory in Asia Minor
• He wanted to attack Turks in Syria and Palestine
  and reclaim Holy Land for Christianity
• Called for holy Crusade at Clermont
• Urged nobles to stop fighting each other and
  instead fight together to recover the Holy Land
• Claimed that all who died in this endeavor would
  go to heaven
• Toured Europe after Clermont preaching his message

5
CRUSADER LEADERS

• Urban appointed a bishop, Adhemar of Le Puy, as
  nominal commander-in-chief of Crusader army
• Below him came a cluster of great lords, each in
  charge of his own army
• Robert, Duke of Normandy (and brother of king of
  England)
• Count Baldwin of Flanders and his brother,
  Godfrey de Bouillon
• Raymond de Saint Gilles, count of Toulouse
• Bohemond (youngest son of Norman king of Sicily)

Bohemond
6
PETER THE HERMIT

• Itinerant preachers signed up anyone who wanted
  to go on a Crusade
• Penniless knights, brave peasants, and crazy
  adventurers
• First two bands to leave were led by Peter the
  Hermit, a wandering preacher, and a bankrupt
  French knight
• Both supported themselves through gifts and
  plundering
• King of Hungary gave them supplies so they didnt
  cause any trouble there
• People of Bulgaria would not give them anything
  so they started to plunder the region
• Finally reached Constantinople in bad shape
• Emperor immediately sent them into Asia Minor
  where they were massacred

7
A BAD TRADITION

• Three other bands never even made it to
  Constantinople
• All destroyed by the King of Hungary when they
  began to plunder his territory
• Started unfortunate tradition
• Engaged in wholesale massacre of Jews before they
  left Europe
• Motivated by religious fervor and greed
• Every Crusade from this point onwards would start
  with slaughter of Jews

8
PEASANT CRUSADE SUMMARY

• Peasant Crusade was disorganized and a complete
  mess
• Even if the entire force had somehow made it to
  the Middle East, it would have easily been
  exterminated by the Turks
• But it was also a remarkable manifestation of
  faith
• Thousands of sincere men confidently faced the
  terrors of a long voyage to an unknown land and a
  fierce enemy
• They literally believed that God had sent them on
  this mission and that he would take care of them
  and give them victory

9
FIRST CRUSADE BEGINS

• Real Crusader army left in late summer 1096
• Byzantine emperor had expected a body of
  mercenary knights
• Instead he got a big army led by strong-willed
  and powerful lords whose primary purpose was to
  reconquer the Holy Land, not to specifically help
  him
• Agreed to supply them with food and
  transportation once they reached Constantinople
• In exchange, nobles would swear oath of
  allegiance to him
• Trouble between Crusaders and Byzantines was
  inevitable

10
INITIAL TROUBLES

• First lord to reach Constantinople was Hugh of
  Vermandois
• Led part of Duke of Normandys forces
• Took oath of allegiance to emperor
• Rumor spread that emperor had thrown Vermandois
  in prison
• Godfrey de Bouillon begins to ravage Greece in
  response
• Emperor temporarily calmed him down but then he
  destroyed suburb of Constantinople
• De Bouillon finally took oath of allegiance and
  crossed over to Asia Minor
• From this point on, emperor made sure to meet
  Crusaders with supplies as far from
  Constantinople as possible

Godfrey de Bouillon
11
FIRST MOVES

• Crusaders first attacked fortress of Nicea in
  Asia Minor
• Fell after a month and Crusaders gave it to
  emperor
• Then moved on to Palestine
• Most of Middle East was divided into small
  kingdoms
• Each in theory under Turkish sultan in Baghdad
  but in reality each acted as an independent state
• Divided and quarreling, they were in no position
  to put up effective resistance to the Crusaders

Alexius Commeneus
12
MOVING SOUTH STUPIDLY

• Crusaders split into two columns as they moved
  south
• One led by Duke Robert and one led by de Bouillon
  and Count of Toulouse
• Seldom in touch with each other from that point
  on
• By splitting their forces and failing to maintain
  communication, Crusaders dissipated their
  numerical strength and eliminated possibility of
  joint action

13
FACTS AND FIGURES

• Crusader army was not large
• 3000 knights and about 10,000 infantry
• Also burdened down by a large number of
  non-combatants
• Pilgrims, servants, and prostitutes
• Territory that this army moved through had been
  ravaged by earlier wars between Byzantines and
  Turks
• Crusader army therefore also suffered from lack
  of food

14
CAPTURE OF ANTIOCH

• Turks attacked northern column at Dorylaeum and
  would have won if southern column had not
  stumbled on the scene
• Crusaders then headed for Antioch
• Besieged city
• Turkish commander of one section of walls betrays
  city and Crusaders capture city
• Bohemond was first lord into the city and
  received it as his fief
• Took title of Prince of Antioch

15
JERUSALEM FALLS

• Crusaders then lay siege to Jerusalem for about a
  month
• Enter city on July 13
• Massacre as many as 10,000 civilians
• Godfrey de Bouillon elected king of Jerusalem
• Did hommage to archbiship of Pisa and received
  title of Defender of the Holy Sepulcher
• First Crusade is over

16
In the years that followed the Principality of
Antioch and the Kingdom of Jerusalem expanded
their territory at Turkish expense and took over
most of the Mediterranean coast
Count Raymond of Toulouse took over Tripoli and
established feudal country there
17
MIDDLE EASTERN FEUDALISM

• King of Jerusalem, prince of Antioch, and Count
  of Tripoli then granted fiefs to loyal followers
• Since there was no royal tradition in the region,
  king of Jerusalem was not more than a feudal lord
• Real power lay in the High Court
• Assembly of his chief vassals
• It elected king and had to approve all his
  actions
• Each large vassal had his own High Court within
  his fief
• Kingdom of Jerusalem was an almost perfect feudal
  state where the king enjoyed no powers except
  those given to him by feudal custom
• Rulers of other states did hommage to King of
  Jerusalem but were not subject to his High Court

18
MILITARY RESOURCES

• Could draw on the vassals who owed the king
  military service
• Also relied on service on two military orders
• Knights of the Temple (Templars)
• Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem
  (Hospitalers)

19
KNIGHTS OF THE TEMPLE

• During reign of King Balwin I of Jerusalem
  (1100-1118), a French knight, Hugh de Payen, and
  eight companions took oaths as monks and began
  serving as escorts for pilgrims going to
  Jerusalem
• Numbers grew quickly
• Given a house near the Temple of Solomon in
  recognition of their service
• Pope formally established them as a military
  religious order in 1128
• Making them a monastic order whose chief function
  was to fight Moslems

20
KNIGHTS OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN IN JERUSALEM

• Group of monks founded a hospital in Jerusalem to
  take care of sick or injured pilgrims
• While city was still in Turkish hands
• After Crusaders captured city, the organization
  grew in importance due to increased number of
  pilgrims
• Authorized by pope as a military order around 1140

21
MILITARY MAINSTAYS

• Both Templars and Hospitalers received huge
  tracts of land within Kingdom of Jerusalem
• Where they built fortresses with strong permanent
  garrisons
• Hospitalers could supply 500 knights and the
  Templars 300
• Not very dependent of local resources
• Acquired extensive property throughout Europe to
  support their activities
• Furnished a permanent military force maintained
  by endowments safe from the Turks
• Chief mainstays of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

22
FRONTIER POSTS

• Military forces of Kingdom of Jerusalem
  supplemented by temporary visiting Crusaders and
  armed pilgrims
• Visiting knights were often a pain in the ass
  because they stirred up trouble with Moslems
• While permanent Crusaders had learned to be
  more-or-less tolerant of Moslems and Middle
  Eastern ways
• Also relied on fleets from northern Italian
  cities
• Crusader kingdoms were really frontier posts that
  needed continuous aidfrom Europe,carried by north
  Italian ships, to survive

23
SECOND CRUSADE

• Moslem chief attacked and conquered city of
  Edessa in 1144
• Pope calls for new Crusade to recover this
  territory
• King Louis VII of France and Conrad II of Germany
  respond
• But most of the great lords of France and Germany
  did not because they were feuding with their
  rulers

Louis VII
Conrad II
24
WASTE OF TIME

• Conrad arrived first at Nicea in 1147
• Attacked by Turks 10 days later and had almost
  entire army destroyed
• Remnants went to Palestine by boat
• Louis arrived at Nicea and marched towards Asia
  Minor
• Attacked by Turks and lost baggage train, horses
  and camp followers
• Went to Antioch and sailed to Palestine
• King of Jerusalem convinced Louis and Conrad to
  attack Damascus
• Two rulers quarreled before attack and Conrad
  went home
• Louis gave up soon thereafter and returned home
  too
• Second Crusade accomplished nothing

25
THIRD CRUSADE

• Guy de Lusignan siezes throne of Kingdom of
  Jerusalem in 1186
• Many local nobles upset
• At same time, general named Saladin had taken
  over Egypt and Moslem portion of Syria and was
  making preparations to attack Kingdom of Jerusalem

Saladin
26
SALADIN VICTORIOUS

• Saladin captures city of Tiberias, near Sea of
  Galilee
• King Guy assembles army of 1200 knights and
  15,000 infantry at attacks Turks at Hattin
• Creamed by Saladin
• Most of the army killed or captured
• Including Guy, who was taken prisoner
• Saladin the took over entire kingdom of Jerusalem
• Including the city itself

27
FREDERICK BARBAROSSA

• Pope authorizes new Crusade to rescue Holy Land
  from Saladin
• Three most powerful rulers in Europe respond
• Henry II of England, Philip Augustus of France,
  and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
• Frederick left first, managed to beat off several
  Turkish attacks, and arrived in Asia Minor city
  of Icanium
• Local Moslem ruler offered him free passage to
  Antioch but Frederick fell off his horse and
  drown in a river shortly thereafter

28
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

• Henry II died but his successor, Richard the
  Lion-Hearted, continued his preparations and left
  for Holy Land with Philip Augustus in 1190
• Finally reach Middle East in spring of 1191
• Philip went directly to Holy Land
• Richard attacked island of Cyprus because king
  there had captured his fiancee
• Took over island and then sold it to Guy de
  Lusignan

Guy de Lusignan
29
ANTI-CLIMAX

• Richard, Philip, and remnants of Fredericks army
  lay siege to city of Acre in northern Palestine
• City surrendered
• Philip then went home
• Richard then marched to Jerusalem but changed
  mind about attacking it when he saw it was well
  defended
• Richard makes truce with Saladin
• Saladin promised free access to Christian
  pilgrims to the Holy Land and he returned several
  coastal towns to Christian lords
• Then Richard went home

Richard the Lion-Hearted
Philip Augustus
30
FOURTH CRUSADE

• Pope authorized new Crusade in 1204 and
  contracted with Venice to transport army to
  Middle East
• Venice subverts Crusaders for its own purpose and
  convinces them to attack Byzantine city of Zara
  on the coast of Greece
• Pope excommunicates army when he hears the news
• Later lifted the excommunication and allowed the
  army to go to the Holy Land

31
WHOOPS!

• Venice convinced Crusader leaders to help install
  its candidate as Byzantine emperor
• They did this but angered people of
  Constantinople in the process and they rebelled
  against their new ruler
• In revenge, Crusaders plundered the city for
  three days
• Looted churches, made prostitute bishop, stole
  everything they could, and killed and/or raped
  anyone who got in their way

32
SAD ENDING

• Crusaders made Count of Flanders new emperor
• Former Byzantine territory in southeastern Europe
  was divided into fiefs and given to Western
  European lords
• Venice took over many Greek islands and some
  ports on Greek coast
• Several Byzantine nobles set up small states in
  those regions not controlled by Crusaders or
  Venetians
• Nicea, Albania, and southern shore of Black Sea

33
EFFECTS

• The effects of the Crusades were actually slight
• Especially when the enormous cost in human and
  material resources is taken into consideration
• Crusades did facilitate the capture of naval
  control of the Mediterranean by fleets of the
  northern Italian cities
• Returning Crusaders did bring a knowledge of the
  Middle East and a taste for Middle Eastern
  products back to Europe
• But these developments would have occurred
  anyway, although it might have taken a little
  longer without the Crusades

34
MENTALITY I

• Crusades provide much evidence on the motives and
  attitudes of medieval people
• Most Crusaders were moved by genuine religious
  conviction and complete confidence that the
  Crusade was the path to salvation
• Many men mortgaged or even sold their land, left
  their wives and families, and faced all sorts of
  hardships and terrors to serve God and fight his
  enemies
• Many died in the process
• This type of sacrifice is evidence of the
  tremendous faith of these people

35
MENTALITY II

• The atrocities committed by the Crusaders
  illustrates the difficulty of fusing ideals of
  the Christian religion with the code of the
  warrior aristocracy
• Always had been a tension between what the Church
  preached and the nobles did
• Crusades were an attempt to channel militaristic
  energies of the nobility into service to the
  Church
• But two were incompatible
• Result would be movement within the Church to
  disassociate and even condemn the militaristic
  values of the noblity and stress peace,
  humanitarianism, and nonviolence
• Led by men like St. Francis of Asissi