Beginning of 11 th century

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

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

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

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

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

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 didn’t 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

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

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

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

INITIAL TROUBLES • First lord to reach Constantinople was Hugh of Vermandois • Led part of Duke of Normandy’s 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

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

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

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

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”

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ANTI-CLIMAX • Richard, Philip, and remnants of Frederick’s 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beginning of 11 th century