1. 1st Crusade A.D. 1096 – 1099 Mrs. Vignocchi
7th Grade World History Honors
Cobalt Institute of Math and Science

2. 1st Crusade A.D – 1099
An army of Muslim Tucks attacked and defeated the Byzantine Empire. A.D. 1071, the Muslim army seized control of most of the Byzantine lands in Asia Minor. The Byzantine Emperor asked the pope to help him defend his Christian empire against the Muslim invaders. In 1095, Pope Urban II, called a great assembly in Clermont, France. He asked the European lords to launch a crusade, a holy war, against the Muslim Turks, to recapture Jerusalem, and free the Holy Land where Jesus had lived from the Muslims. The lords had knights, trained warriors, to fight in the Crusade. Crusade comes from the Latin word, crux, the French word croix, cross in English. The sign or badge for the Crusader was the Cross of Christ. The Crusades are often called, “The Holy Wars of the Middle Ages.”
The Crusaders commanders, highly skilled and experienced generals, had over 700,000 men, 100,000 knights in the army. They were Robert, Duke of Normandy, Stephen, Count of Blois, Robert, Count of Flanders, and Geoffrey, Duke of Lorraine. In 1098, the First Crusade, after a 7 – month siege, captured Antioch in Syria. Entering Palestine, in 1099, the reached Jerusalem. The first attack failed. When two siege machines were built, they stormed the city, “kill whomever they wished” (Fulcher, monk, 1099). Four states were created: Kindom of Jerusalem in Palestine, county of Edessa, the principality of Antioch both in Asia Minor, and county of Tripoli, Lebanon today. These states depended on Genoa, Pisa, and Venice in Italy for supplies. Muslims surrounded the 4 states.
Geoffrey, Duke of Lorraine, was elected ruler of Jerusalem. He was called “Defender of the Holy Sepulcher.” The land became part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Orders of the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitalers helped in the defense.
What 3 objectives did the Crusaders have?
1. ________________________________
2._________________________________
3._________________________________