The Crusades

"God wills it!" Don’t Write This That was the battle cry of the thousands of Christians who joined crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims.  From 1096 to 1270 there were eight major crusades Only the First Crusade was successful from a Christian standpoint. In the long history of the Crusades, thousands of knights, soldiers, merchants, and peasants lost their lives on the march or in battle.

The Beginning The time is 1050 A.D. Seljuk Turks have invaded the Byzantine Empire The Byzantine empire is at the brink of total destruction . . .

Byzantine Emperor Alexius is in desperate need of help, so he calls out to his Christian Brothers in the West More specifically – The Pope Urban II

Urban II calls the Council of Clermont to drum up support for Alexius Pope Urban II agrees to help Alexius Urban II calls the Council of Clermont to drum up support for Alexius

 Famous picture of the Council of Clermont We will learn later that this is not what it looked like at all

Pope Urban II again

At the Council the Pope urged French and German Bishops to “Reclaim the Holy Land” “Holy Land” = Jerusalem

Reasons For The Crusades The Pope believed that the Crusades would increase his power in Europe

Christians believed that their sins would be forgiven if they participated in the Crusades

Nobles hoped to gain wealth and land by participating in the Crusades

Adventures saw the Crusades as a chance for travel and excitement

Serfs hoped to escape feudal oppression by fighting in the Crusades

The 1st Crusade The Crusade begins with in 1095 and ends in 1099 with the fall of Jerusalem. The crusaders establish the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other crusader states nearby.

Route of the first Crusade

Crusader States 

1st Crusade (2) Although these gains lasted for less than two hundred years, the First Crusade was a major turning point in the expansion of Western power.

1st Crusade The military success of the 1st Crusade also opened up trade routes that had been closed since the fall of the Western Roman Empire

Don’t Write After the Western Victory most Crusaders returned home According to William of Tyre, "barely three hundred knights and two thousand foot soldiers could be found" in the kingdom in 1100. From the very beginning, the Crusaders were little more than a colonial frontier exercising rule over the native Muslim, Greek and Syrian population, who were more populous in number.

The 2nd Crusade called in 1145 in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year. “The Crusade for Damascus”

2nd Crusade (2) Edessa was the first of the Crusader states to have been founded during the First Crusade (1095–1099), and was the first to fall.

2nd Crusade (3) The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, and was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings, namely Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany,

2nd Crusade (4) The armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe after crossing Byzantine territory into Turkey, both armies were constantly attacked by the Seljuk Turks.

2nd Crusade (5) Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem and, in 1148, participated in an ill-advised attack on Damascus.

2nd Crusade (6) The 2nd crusade was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims.

2nd Crusade (7) It would ultimately lead to the fall of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade at the end of the 12th century.

2nd Crusade (8) after the 2nd Crusade