Preston Reddick

April 13, 2015

9:00 am 10:15 am
The Crusades 1095-1272 a.d.

The Crusades are considered by some historians as a smudge on the pages of history.
These series of religious wars were an attempt to recapture the holy land, Jerusalem, from
Muslim control. The Crusades were notoriously barbaric, ferocious, and extremely brutal. There
are several eye witness testimonies that attest to the savagery of the Crusades, even accounts of
cannibalism. The entire campaign consisted of Christians slaughtering Muslims and Jews, while
Muslims slaughtered Christians and Jews. Whatever your faith there was really no one who was
safe in this showdown between two of the three monotheistic faiths, with the Jewish people
caught in the middle (Lockard, 322).
The first Crusade began in 1095 after a cry for help from the Emperor of the Byzantine
Empire to assist him in pushing back the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia, modern day Turkey. That
same year Pope Urban II called on all Christian leaders to rally troops to carry out a religious war
against the Muslims and recapture the holy city of Jerusalem. The Pope granted an indulgence to
all who participated in the Crusade, guaranteeing a ticket to heaven regardless of sins committed.
Rich and poor answered the call in great numbers and marched to the capital of Byzantium,
Constantinople, to gain the support and backing of the Emperor Alexius I. The Crusader army
then crossed into Seljuk territory and began the march to Jerusalem. On the march to Jerusalem,
Crusader armies often looted and pillaged cities, while massacring of Muslims, Jews, and even
other Christians. 12,000 Jews were killed in Germany in 1096 as part of these vicious acts
(Lockard, 322).
The Crusaders began their siege of the city of Jerusalem in June of 1099 and on July 15
of that same year the crusaders broke the Muslim defenses and stormed the city, slaughtering
thousands of the cities occupants. Five Crusader states were set up along the Mediterranean
coast, castles and outposts were built, and the Crusader occupation of the Holy Land began.

An Egyptian army attempted to recapture the holy land a short time after it was taken by
the Franks; however, the attempt was unsuccessful (history.com Staff).
The first crusade is considered the most successful for the Christian armies; they
lasted from 1095 to 1099. The second crusade was deemed necessary by Pope Eugene III after
the capture of Edessa, one of the Crusader states. This would mean more troops would be
needed to reinforce the holy land. England, France, and Germany were the three major nations
that committed the most troops to the cause along with a few other smaller countries. However,
this crusade was different in the sense that the objective was not to capture Jerusalem, it was to
recapture Edessa from the Seljuk Turks. This would re-open the pass for pilgrims to travel freely
to the holy land. The problem with the attempt to reinforce Jerusalem was that during the first
crusade the majority of Crusader Knights had been killed or had since retired, this would cause
the reinforcements to be largely composed of un-professional soldiers made up of paupers and
peasants. The army would first lay siege to the city of Damascus in modern day Syria. What
made the second crusade unique was that French and German forces were both being led by the
King of each respective country, King Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. Upon
reaching the city, the two leaders were confronted with a larger and a far more organized foe than
either had expected. The Turkish army was led by Nur al-Din, who defeated the Kings and
thwarted their attempt to recapture Edessa, affectively ending the second crusade
(HistoryLearningSite.co.uk.).
The third crusade is most notable for the major involvement of two famous historical
characters, Richard the Lion Heart of England and Saladin. The third crusade began in 1189 in
response to the sacking of Jerusalem by the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Saladin in 1187. It lasted
until 1194. Richard I of England and the King of France Philip Augustus had been at odds

before the crusade broke out; however, they decided to ally with one another to dislodge the
Muslim stranglehold on the city of Jerusalem. This act inspired all major nations of Europe to
commit forces to the third crusade. The union of powerful European monarchs may have
seemed intimidating, but many problems persisted with this endeavor. Richard I of England was
a selfish man who pursued glory for himself. German forces fell apart after Fredrick I
(Barbarossa) who was nearly 70 drowned and died, only 1,000 of the 30,000 troops that Fredrick
had raised actually reached the holy land. Philip Augustus of France abandoned the crusade after
becoming fed up with Richard I, thus leaving Richard to fight the third crusade alone (Sybel, 1).
The third attempt to control the holy land mainly featured one hero on the Christian side,
Richard the Lion Heart. Richard was famous for facing down the enemy with far inferior
numbers and riding head on into combat and cloving in the heads of Turkish soldiers. This
bravery earned him his nick name The Lion-hearted King. Remarkably enough, Richards
forces fought Saladin to a standstill, and forced an armistice which would last for three years. It
maintained that the coast from Antioch to Joppa would remain in possession of the Crusaders,
while Saladin permitted unarmed Christian pilgrims access to Jerusalem to pray at all Christians
holy sites. The armistice took place on August 30, 1192, and was not opposed by either side due
to the fatigue that both armies endured. Saladin desired a cessation of conflict due to his ailing
health and Richard was simply running out of troops. The armistice brought an end to the third
crusade and opened up trade and free travel to and from the holy land (Sybel, 2, 9).
In total, there were five more attempts to recapture Jerusalem; however, the fourth and
fifth were the last to be organized by the church and by major European nations. The fourth
crusade had failed to recapture Jerusalem and only succeeded in sacking Constantinople, which
was a Christian city. This angered Pope Innocent II, thus calling for an end to the fourth crusade.

The fifth crusade did not fare much better than the fourth. The Christians planned to sail to
Egypt and take Jerusalem from the south, this failed when the crusader army was trapped by the
flooding Nile River and was forced to retreat. Soon after the retreat was ordered the Egyptian
army attacked and slaughtered a vast majority of the Christian army. The Sultan Al-Adil,
immediately demanded that the Christians forfeit all land captured by their forces
(HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.).
The final crusade would take place in 1270 and all major attempts to recapture Jerusalem
would end by 1294. The people of Europe had become weary of failed attempts to capture
Jerusalem and longed for these religious wars to end. The fall of Acre, the last crusader state in
Palestine, affectively ended the crusades for good and no other major attempt to regain control of
the holy land would ever take place (HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.).

Sources cited
Lockard, Craig A. "14/ The Crusades and Intellectual Life." Societies, Networks, and Transitions.
N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
The Second Crusade. Historylearningsite.co.uk. 2014.web.
Sybel, Henry V. "The Third Crusade." Third Crusade (n.d.): 1-9. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
<http://history-world.org/Crusade,%20The%20Third.htm.