Lecture 19: The Crusades

1. Lecture 19: The Crusades

2. -- “Crusade” (“cross”) was the name given to more than a dozen campaigns by Christians of Western Europe against Muslims in the Holy Lands between 1096 and 1291 -- Crusades were possible because of the creation of new kingdoms and empires in Europe which produced a large class of armed warriors (knights) who squabbled amongst each other -- 1009 the Fatimid Caliph sacked a hospice in Jerusalem and destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -- Unsuccessful in enforcing the Peace and Truce of God, the Church encouraged the knights to defend Christians in the Holy Lands -- 1074 Byzantine Emperor Michael VII asks Pope Gregory VII for help against the invading Seljuk Turks -- 1091 Sicily “reconquered” by Norman leader Roger Guiscard

3. -- First crusade requested by Pope Urban II in 1096, who asked French to help the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I fight Seljuk Turks after they badly beat him at Battle of Manzikert in 1071 -- Seljuk Turks were nomads from Central Asia who converted to Islam and acted as mercenaries for ruling Arab dynasty under Abbasid caliphate, whom they then conquered -- Byzantine Empire had also declined because Normans conquered formerly Byzantine areas in Sicily and southern Italy -- Byzantines had asked for only financial aid from but Pope Urban sees this as an opportunity to mend the rift between the Eastern and Western Churches (1054); recruits French knights at Clermont in southern France in 1095 to join crusade -- Crusaders were offered immediate remission of their sins whether or not they died in battle

4. -- First crusades lead by religious fanatics, Peter the Hermit who lead “crusade of the poor,” then “Walter the Penniless” -- Crusading mobs plundered and looted their way through Europe, killing Jews along the way -- First professional crusade lead by son of Robert Guiscard; 10,000 knights and soldiers reach Constantinople in 1097 and defeat Seljuks; then Jerusalem in 1099 where they massacred all the inhabitants – men, women and children -- Four independent crusader states were established at Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli and Jerusalem -- Feudal crusader states were surrounded by hostile Muslim states, but were supplied by Italian cities, including Genoa, Pisa and Venice, who became rich through this trade

5. -- 1144 Edessa is recaptured by Turks; St. Bernard of Clairvaux appeals to businessmen to enter into a new crusade “for profit” if not to “rescue Christians” -- Second crusade unsuccessful because goals of the campaign unclear and knights fought with each other, rather than Turks -- Third Crusade (1169): Sunni Muslims of Syria invade Egypt, lead by famous warrior Saladin, who then invades Jerusalem and destroys Christian forces at Battle of Hattin in 1187, but does not massacre population -- Germans, French and English then levy taxes to raise revenue to recover Holy Land; Frederick Barbarossa drowns in Anatolia, Richard the Lionhearted negotiates a settlement which allows Christians free access to Jerusalem -- Crusades after 1204 were mainly about the pursuit of wealth

6. -- In 1307 King Philip IV of France accuses Knights Templar of impieties and after Inquisition, loots Templar treasuries in order to continue his war against English -- Crusades allowed the Church to consolidate its power against other Christian sects; kings to consolidate power over nobles -- Crusades unleashed a wave of anti-semitism and violence against Eastern Christians and smaller sects -- Because of crusades, Western powers expanded trade with the East, and both goods and ideas exchanged -- Need to raise, transport and supply large armies also created trade within Western Europe -- Once introduced to goods from the East, Westerners wanted the spices, ivory, jade, diamonds, glass, gunpowder, and produce