127-579: The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. Crusading movement is about the ideology and institutions associated with crusading. Crusade or Crusades may also refer to: Crusades In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The Crusades were
254-531: A Genoese fleet captured Beirut . In the same month, Muhammad I Tapar , sultan of the Seljuk Empire, sent an army to recover Syria, but a Frankish defensive force arrived at Edessa, ending the short siege of the city. On 4 December, Baldwin captured Sidon , aided by a flotilla of Norwegian pilgrims led by Sigurd the Crusader . Next year, Tancred's extortion from Antioch's Muslim neighbours provoked
381-540: A Turkish ambush at the Battle of Civetot . Conflict with Urban II meant that King Philip I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV declined to participate. Aristocrats from France, western Germany, the Low Countries , Languedoc and Italy led independent contingents in loose, fluid arrangements based on bonds of lordship, family, ethnicity and language. The elder statesman Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse
508-1042: A Turkish ambush led by the Seljuk Kilij Arslan I at the Battle of Civetot in October 1096. In what has become known as the Princes' Crusade, members of the high nobility and their followers embarked in late-summer 1096 and arrived at Constantinople between November and April the following year. This was a large feudal host led by notable Western European princes: southern French forces under Raymond IV of Toulouse and Adhemar of Le Puy ; men from Upper and Lower Lorraine led by Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin of Boulogne ; Italo-Norman forces led by Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred ; as well as various contingents consisting of northern French and Flemish forces under Robert Curthose of Normandy, Stephen of Blois , Hugh of Vermandois , and Robert II of Flanders . In total and including non-combatants,
635-525: A charismatic priest called Peter the Hermit . Peter was the most successful of the preachers of Urban's message, and developed an almost hysterical enthusiasm among his followers, although he was probably not an "official" preacher sanctioned by Urban at Clermont. It is commonly believed that Peter's followers consisted entirely of a massive group of untrained and illiterate peasants who did not even know where Jerusalem was, but there were also many knights among
762-633: A combined force of French, Aragonese and Catalan knights in the Siege of Barbastro , taking the city that had been in Muslim hands since the year 711. This had the full support of Alexander II, and a truce was declared in Catalonia with indulgences granted to the participants. It was a holy war but differed from the First Crusade in that there was no pilgrimage, no vow, and no formal authorisation by
889-537: A common identity and shared history based on tribe or ethnicity so they frequently united and divided during the 11th and 12th centuries. Although small, all developed an aristocratic military technique and, in 1031, the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba in southern Spain created the opportunity for the territorial gains that later became known as the Reconquista . In 1063, William VIII of Aquitaine led
1016-827: A few years. In 1152, Raymond II of Tripoli became the first Frankish victim of the Assassins . Later that year, Nūr-ad-Din captured and burned Tortosa , briefly occupying the town before it was taken by the Knights Templar as a military headquarters. First Crusade In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) Period post-First Crusade Second Crusade Period post-Second Crusade Third Crusade Period post-Third Crusade Fourth Crusade Fifth Crusade Sixth Crusade and aftermath Seventh Crusade End of
1143-562: A hunting accident. On Christmas Day 1143, their son Baldwin III of Jerusalem was crowned co-ruler with his mother. That same year, having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch, John II Komnenos cut himself with a poisoned arrow while hunting wild boar. He died on 8 April 1143 and was succeeded as emperor by his son Manuel I Komnenos . Following John's death, the Byzantine army withdrew, leaving Zengi unopposed. Fulk's death later in
1270-447: A large enterprise was continent-wide. Estimates as to the size of the crusader armies have been given as 70,000 to 80,000 on the number who left Western Europe in the year after Clermont, and more joined in the three-year duration. Estimates for the number of knights range from 7,000 to 10,000; 35,000 to 50,000 foot soldiers; and including non-combatants a total of 60,000 to 100,000. But Urban's speech had been well-planned. He had discussed
1397-835: A larger force, led by the Seljuk Ridwan of Aleppo . He was then able to secure Antioch's borders and push back his Greek and Muslim enemies. Under Paschal's sponsorship, Bohemond launched a version of a crusade in 1107 against the Byzantines, crossing the Adriatic and besieging Durrës . The siege failed; Alexius hit his supply lines, forcing his surrender. The terms laid out in the Treaty of Devol were never enacted because Bohemond remained in Apulia and died in 1111, leaving Tancred as notional regent for his son Bohemond II . In 1007,
SECTION 10
#17327796097611524-404: A legation to Patriarch Michael I Cerularius of Constantinople, which ended in mutual excommunication and an East–West Schism . Early Christians were used to the employment of violence for communal purposes. A Christian theology of war inevitably evolved from the point when Roman citizenship and Christianity became linked. Citizens were required to fight against the empire's enemies. Dating from
1651-797: A local level, the preaching of the First Crusade ignited the Rhineland massacres perpetrated against Jews. At the end of 1095 and the beginning of 1096, months before the departure of the official crusade in August, there were attacks on Jewish communities in France and Germany. In May 1096, Emicho of Flonheim (sometimes incorrectly known as Emicho of Leiningen) attacked the Jews at Speyer and Worms . Other unofficial crusaders from Swabia, led by Hartmann of Dillingen, along with French, English, Lotharingian and Flemish volunteers, led by Drogo of Nesle and William
1778-461: A matter of debate among contemporary historians. At the time of the First Crusade , iter , "journey", and peregrinatio , "pilgrimage" were used for the campaign. Crusader terminology remained largely indistinguishable from that of Christian pilgrimage during the 12th century. A specific term for a crusader in the form of crucesignatus —"one signed by the cross"—emerged in
1905-505: A pilgrimage, and even so, many died and many more turned back. The pilgrims that survived these extremely dangerous journeys, “returned to the West weary and impoverished, with a dreadful tale to tell.” News of these deadly attacks on pilgrims as well as the persecution of the native Eastern Christians caused anger in Europe. News of these persecutions reached European Christians in the West in
2032-616: A power struggle. This gave the Crusaders a crucial opportunity to consolidate without any pan-Islamic counter-attack. Urban II died on 29 July 1099, fourteen days after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, but before news of the event had reached Rome. He was succeeded by Pope Paschal II who continued the policies of his predecessors in regard to the Holy Land. Godfrey died in 1100. Dagobert of Pisa , Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Tancred looked to Bohemond to come south, but he
2159-461: A ransom for his and Raymond's freedom. John II Komnenos , emperor since 1118, reasserted Byzantine claims to Cilicia and Antioch , compelling Raymond of Poitiers to give homage. In April 1138, the Byzantines and Franks jointly besieged Aleppo and, with no success, began the Siege of Shaizar , abandoning it a month later. On 13 November 1143, while the royal couple were in Acre, Fulk was killed in
2286-621: A series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period . The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with
2413-648: A small number of mercenaries he could direct. Alexios had restored the Empire's finances and authority but still faced numerous foreign enemies. Later that year at the Council of Clermont , Urban raised the issue again and preached a crusade. Almost immediately, the French priest Peter the Hermit gathered thousands of mostly poor in the People's Crusade . Traveling through Germany, German bands massacred Jewish communities in
2540-472: Is clear that the response to the speech was much greater than even the Pope, let alone Alexios, expected. On his tour of France, Urban tried to forbid certain people (including women, monks, and the sick) from joining the crusade, but found this nearly impossible. In the end, most who took up the call were not knights, but peasants who were not wealthy and had little in the way of fighting skills, in an outpouring of
2667-523: Is worse still and yet more distressing, clerics and monks and woe of unprecedented woes, even bishops are defiled with the sin of sodomy and it is now trumpeted abroad that one bishop has succumbed to this abominable sin. The emperor warned that if Constantinople fell to the Turks, not only would thousands more Christians be tortured, raped and murdered, but “the most holy relics of the Saviour,” gathered over
SECTION 20
#17327796097612794-595: The Reconquista and Northern Crusades are also sometimes associated with this Crusade. The aftermath of the Crusade saw the Muslim world united around Saladin , leading to the fall of Jerusalem . Eugene III , recently elected pope, issued the bull Quantum praedecessores in December 1145 calling for a new crusade, one that would be more organized and centrally controlled than the First. The armies would be led by
2921-506: The Battle of the Meander . Louis was not as lucky at the Battle of Mount Cadmus on 6 January 1148 when the army of Mesud inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders. Shortly thereafter, they sailed for Antioch, almost totally destroyed by battle and sickness. The Crusader army arrived at Antioch on 19 March 1148 with the intent on moving to retake Edessa, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar had other ideas. The Council of Acre
3048-697: The County of Edessa ; the Principality of Antioch ; the Kingdom of Jerusalem ; and the County of Tripoli . A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. After this, no further large military campaigns were organised. Other church-sanctioned campaigns include crusades against Christians not obeying papal rulings and heretics , those against the Ottoman Empire , and ones for political reasons. The struggle against
3175-610: The Crusade of Varna . Popular crusades , including the Children's Crusade of 1212, were generated by the masses and were unsanctioned by the Church. The term "crusade" first referred to military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to the Holy Land . The conflicts to which the term is applied have been extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported and sometimes directed by
3302-495: The Fatimids who were Shi'ite . The Seljuks were nomadic, Turkic speaking and occasionally shamanistic, very different from their sedentary, Arabic speaking subjects. This difference and the governance of territory based on political preference, and competition between independent princes rather than geography, weakened existing power structures. In 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes attempted confrontation to suppress
3429-603: The First Crusade , which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 , dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont . He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there
3556-468: The Genoese to Jaffa tilted the balance. Two large siege engines were constructed and the one commanded by Godfrey breached the walls on 15 July. For two days the crusaders massacred the inhabitants and pillaged the city. Historians now believe the accounts of the numbers killed have been exaggerated, but this narrative of massacre did much to cement the crusaders' reputation for barbarism. Godfrey secured
3683-600: The Levant , there were no further substantive attempts to recover the Holy Land. Christian and Muslim states had been in conflict since the latter's founding in the 7th century. During the century following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632, Muslim forces captured Jerusalem and the Levant , North Africa , and most of the Iberian Peninsula , all of which had previously been under Christian rule. By
3810-913: The Moors in the Iberian Peninsula–the Reconquista – ended in 1492 with the Fall of Granada . From 1147, the Northern Crusades were fought against pagan tribes in Northern Europe. Crusades against Christians began with the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century and continued through the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century. Crusades against the Ottomans began in the late 14th century and include
3937-527: The Peace and Truce of God movements restricted conflict between Christians from the 10th century; the influence is apparent in Urban II's speeches. Other historians assert that the effectiveness was limited and it had died out by the time of the crusades. Pope Alexander II developed a system of recruitment via oaths for military resourcing that his successor Pope Gregory VII extended across Europe. In
Crusade (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-507: The Rhineland massacres during wide-ranging anti-Jewish activities. Jews were perceived to be as much an enemy as Muslims. They were held responsible for the Crucifixion , and were more immediately visible. People wondered why they should travel thousands of miles to fight non-believers when there were many closer to home. Quickly after leaving Byzantine-controlled territory on their journey to Nicaea , these crusaders were annihilated in
4191-582: The Seljuks' sporadic raiding , leading to his defeat at the battle of Manzikert . Historians once considered this a pivotal event but now Manzikert is regarded as only one further step in the expansion of the Great Seljuk Empire . The evolution of a Christian theology of war developed from the link of Roman citizenship to Christianity, according to which citizens were required to fight the empire's enemies. This doctrine of holy war dated from
4318-531: The Slavs or Western Christians. Normans in Italy; Pechenegs , Serbs and Cumans to the north; and Seljuk Turks in the east all competed with the Empire, and to meet these challenges the emperors recruited mercenaries, even on occasion from their enemies. The Islamic world also experienced great success since its foundation in the 7th century, with major changes to come. The first waves of Turkic migration into
4445-658: The atabeg of Mosul . Egypt and much of Palestine were controlled by the Fatimids. The Fatimids, under the nominal rule of caliph al-Musta'li but actually controlled by vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah , lost Jerusalem to the Seljuks in 1073 but succeeded in recapturing the city in 1098 from the Artuqids , a smaller Turkish tribe associated with the Seljuks, just before the arrival of the crusaders. According to historian Jonathan Riley-Smith and Rodney Stark , Muslim authorities in
4572-506: The 11th century, Christian conflict with Muslims on the southern peripheries of Christendom was sponsored by the Church, including the siege of Barbastro and the Norman conquest of Sicily . In 1074, Gregory VII planned a display of military power to reinforce the principle of papal sovereignty. His vision of a holy war supporting Byzantium against the Seljuks was the first crusade prototype, but lacked support. The First Crusade
4699-509: The 11th century, Christians were gradually reversing Islamic control of Iberia through the Reconquista , but their ties to the Holy Land had deteriorated. Muslim authorities in the Levant often enforced harsh rules against any overt expressions of the Christian faith. The First Crusade was the response of the Christian world to the expansion of Islam, through the Fatimids and Seljuks, into
4826-426: The 11th century, the population of Europe had increased greatly as technological and agricultural innovations allowed trade to flourish. The Catholic Church had become a dominant influence on Western civilization. Society was organized by manorialism and feudalism , political structures whereby knights and other nobles owed military service to their overlords in return for the right to rent from lands and manors. In
4953-431: The 4th-century theologian Saint Augustine . He maintained that aggressive war was sinful, but acknowledged a " just war " could be rationalised if it was proclaimed by a legitimate authority, was defensive or for the recovery of lands, and without an excessive degree of violence. Violent acts were commonly used for dispute resolution in Western Europe, and the papacy attempted to mitigate this. Historians have thought that
5080-683: The Archbishop of Cologne, did their best to protect the Jews. A decade before, the Bishop of Speyer had taken the step of providing the Jews of that city with a walled ghetto to protect them from Christian violence and given their chief rabbis the control of judicial matters in the quarter. Nevertheless, some also took money in return for their protection. The attacks may have originated in the belief that Jews and Muslims were equally enemies of Christ, and enemies were to be fought or converted to Christianity. The four main crusader armies left Europe around
5207-563: The Byzantine Empire was a historic centre of wealth, culture and military power. Under Basil II , the territorial recovery of the empire reached its furthest extent in 1025. The Empire's frontiers stretched east to Iran, Bulgaria and much of southern Italy were under control, and piracy in the Mediterranean Sea had been suppressed. Relations with the Empire's Islamic neighbours were no more quarrelsome than relations with
Crusade (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-519: The Carpenter , as well as many locals, joined Emicho in the destruction of the Jewish community of Mainz at the end of May. In Mainz, one Jewish woman killed her children rather than let the crusaders kill them. Chief rabbi Kalonymus Ben Meshullam committed suicide in anticipation of being killed. Emicho's company then went on to Cologne, and others continued on to Trier, Metz, and other cities. Peter
5461-521: The Crusader states in the Levant By the end of the 11th century, the period of Islamic Arab territorial expansion had been over for centuries. The Holy Land's remoteness from focus of Islamic power struggles enabled relative peace and prosperity in Syria and Palestine. Muslim-Western European contact was only more than minimal in the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula . The Byzantine Empire and
5588-714: The Crusader states in the Levant The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades , initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages . The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule . While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from
5715-401: The Crusaders retreated before the arrival of a relief army led by Nūr-ad-Din. Morale fell, hostility to the Byzantines grew and distrust developed between the newly arrived Crusaders and those that had made the region their home after the earlier crusades. The French and German forces felt betrayed by the other, lingering for a generation due to the defeat, to the ruin of the Christian kingdoms in
5842-497: The Eastern churches in their time of need. Alexios and Urban had previously been in close contact in 1089 and after, and had discussed openly the prospect of the reunion of the Christian churches. There were signs of considerable cooperation between Rome and Constantinople in the years immediately before the crusade. In July 1095, Urban turned to his homeland of France to recruit men for the expedition. His travels there culminated in
5969-402: The Fatimids had recaptured Jerusalem. The Franks offered to partition conquered territory in return for the city. Refusal of the offer made it imperative that the crusade reach Jerusalem before the Fatimids made it defensible. The first attack on the city, launched on 7 June 1099, failed, and the siege of Jerusalem became a stalemate, before the arrival of craftsmen and supplies transported by
6096-591: The Frankish army was defeated by the Seljuk rulers of Mosul and Mardin at the battle of Harran . Baldwin II and his cousin, Joscelin of Courtenay , were captured. Bohemond and Tancred retreated to Edessa where Tancred assumed command. Bohemond returned to Italy, taking with him much of Antioch's wealth and manpower. Tancred revitalised the beleaguered principality with victory at the battle of Artah on 20 April 1105 over
6223-519: The Frankish position by defeating an Egyptian force at the Battle of Ascalon on 12 August. Most of the crusaders considered their pilgrimage complete and returned to Europe. When it came to the future governance of the city it was Godfrey who took leadership and the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri , Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. The presence of troops from Lorraine ended the possibility that Jerusalem would be an ecclesiastical domain and
6350-439: The Franks. The dismal failures of this Crusade then set the stage for the fall of Jerusalem, leading to the Third Crusade. In the first major encounter after the Second Crusade, Nūr-ad-Din's forces then destroyed the Crusader army at the Battle of Inab on 29 June 1149. Raymond of Poitiers , as prince of Antioch, came to the aid of the besieged city. Raymond was killed and his head was presented to Nūr-ad-Din, who forwarded it to
6477-436: The Hermit also may have been involved in violence against the Jews, and an army led by a priest named Folkmar attacked Jews further east in Bohemia. Coloman of Hungary had to deal with the problems that the armies of the First Crusade caused during their march across his country towards the Holy Land in 1096. He crushed two crusader hordes that had been pillaging the kingdom. Emicho's army eventually continued into Hungary but
SECTION 50
#17327796097616604-451: The Holy Land and Byzantium. In Western Europe, Jerusalem was increasingly seen as worthy of penitential pilgrimages . While the Seljuk hold on Jerusalem was weak (the group later lost the city to the Fatimids), returning pilgrims reported difficulties and the oppression of Christians. The Byzantine need for military support coincided with an increase in the willingness of the western European warrior class to accept papal military command. By
6731-401: The Holy Land often enforced harsh rules "against any open expressions of the Christian faith": In 1026 Richard of Saint-Vanne was stoned to death after he was seen saying Mass. Muslim officials also ignored the constant robberies and massacres of Christian pilgrims, such as an incident in 1064 in which Muslims ambushed four German bishops and a party of several thousand pilgrims as they entered
6858-437: The Holy Land while the pagan Wends were a more immediate problem. The resulting Wendish Crusade of 1147 was partially successful but failed to convert the pagans to Christianity. The disastrous performance of this campaign in the Holy Land damaged the standing of the papacy, soured relations between the Christians of the kingdom and the West for many years, and encouraged the Muslims of Syria to even greater efforts to defeat
6985-494: The Holy Land, slaughtering two-thirds of them The persecution of Christians became even worse after the Seljuk Turks invasion. Villages occupied by Turks along the route to Jerusalem began exacting tolls on Christian pilgrims. In principle, the Seljuks allowed pilgrims access to Jerusalem, but they often imposed huge tariffs and condoned local attacks. Many pilgrims were kidnapped and sold into slavery while others were tortured. Soon only large, well-armed groups would dare to attempt
7112-428: The Holy Land. In the spring of 1147, Eugene III authorised the expansion of his mission into the Iberian Peninsula, equating these campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the Second Crusade. The successful Siege of Lisbon , from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was followed by the six-month siege of Tortosa , ending on 30 December 1148 with a defeat for the Moors. In the north, some Germans were reluctant to fight in
7239-549: The Hungarians and may have captured Belgrade. At Niš , the Byzantine governor tried to supply them, but Peter had little control over his followers and Byzantine troops were needed to quell their attacks. Peter arrived at Constantinople in August, where his army joined with the one led by Walter, which had already arrived, as well as separate bands of crusaders from France, Germany, and Italy. Another army of Bohemians and Saxons did not make it past Hungary before splitting up. Peter's and Walter's unruly mob began to pillage outside
7366-504: The Islamic world disregarded the world beyond, so that, when the First Crusade arrived, it came as a surprise. Malik-Shah was succeeded in the Anatolian Sultanate of Rûm by Kilij Arslan , and in Syria by his brother Tutush I who started a civil war against Berkyaruq to become sultan himself. When Tutush was killed in 1095, his sons Ridwan and Duqaq inherited Aleppo and Damascus , respectively, further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other, as well as Kerbogha ,
7493-415: The Islamic world were long standing centres of wealth, culture and military power. The Arab-Islamic world tended to view Western Europe as a backwater that presented little organised threat. By 1025, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II had extended territorial recovery to its furthest extent. The frontiers stretched east to Iran. Bulgaria and much of southern Italy were under control, and piracy was suppressed in
7620-407: The Latin Church with varying objectives, mostly religious, sometimes political. These differed from previous Christian religious wars in that they were considered a penitential exercise, and so earned participants remittance from penalties for all confessed sins. What constituted a crusade has been understood in diverse ways, particularly regarding the early Crusades, and the precise definition remains
7747-444: The Mediterranean Sea. The empire's relationships with its Islamic neighbours were no more quarrelsome than its relationships with the Slavs or the Western Christians. The Normans in Italy; to the north Pechenegs , Serbs and Cumans ; and Seljuk Turks in the east all competed with the Empire and the emperors recruited mercenaries—even on occasions from their enemies—to meet this challenge. The political situation in Western Asia
SECTION 60
#17327796097617874-412: The Middle East enmeshed Arab and Turkic history from the 9th century. The status quo in Western Asia was challenged by later waves of Turkish migration, particularly the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 10th century. These were a minor ruling clan from Transoxania. They converted to Islam and migrated to Iran to seek their fortune. In the following two decades they conquered Iran, Iraq and
8001-416: The Middle East. The Seljuk hold on the city was weak and returning pilgrims reported difficulties and the oppression of Christians. Byzantine desire for military aid converged with increasing willingness of the western nobility to accept papal military direction. In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military aid from Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza . He was probably expecting
8128-500: The Muslim world mistook the crusaders for the latest in a long line of Byzantine mercenaries, not religiously motivated warriors intent on conquest and settlement. The Muslim world was divided between the Sunnis of Syria and Iraq and the Shi'ite Fatimids of Egypt. The Turks had found unity unachievable since the death of Sultan Malik-Shah in 1092, with rival rulers in Damascus and Aleppo . In addition, in Baghdad, Seljuk sultan Barkiyaruq and Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir were engaged in
8255-536: The Near East. The Seljuks and their followers were Sunni Muslims, which led to conflict in Palestine and Syria with the Shi'ite Fatimid Caliphate . The Seljuks were nomads, Turkish-speaking, and occasionally shamanistic, unlike their sedentary, Arabic-speaking subjects. This was a difference that weakened power structures when combined with the Seljuks' habitual governance of territory based on political preferment and competition between independent princes rather than geography. Romanos IV Diogenes attempted to suppress
8382-431: The Seljuk army in 1115 against an alliance of the Franks, Toghtekin, his son-in-law Ilghazi and the Muslims of Aleppo. Bursuq feigned retreat and the coalition disbanded. Only the forces of Roger and Baldwin of Edessa remained, but, heavily outnumbered, they were victorious on 14 September at the first battle of Tell Danith . In April 1118, Baldwin I died of illness while raiding in Egypt. His cousin, Baldwin of Edessa,
8509-421: The Seljuks' sporadic raiding, but was defeated at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the only time in history that a Byzantine emperor became the prisoner of a Muslim commander. The battle was a stinging setback that presaged notable Seljuk gains, and contributed to the call for the First Crusade. Key cities such as Nicaea and Antioch were lost in 1081 and 1086 respectively, cities that were especially famous in
8636-414: The West due to their historical significance and would later also be targets of reconquest by the crusader armies. From 1092, the status quo in the Middle East disintegrated following the death of the effective ruler of the Seljuk Empire, Nizam al-Mulk . This was closely followed by the deaths of the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah and the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah . Wracked by confusion and division,
8763-507: The West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont , during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem . This call
8890-526: The appointed time in August 1096. They took different routes to Constantinople , some through Eastern Europe and the Balkans, some crossing the Adriatic Sea. Coloman of Hungary allowed Godfrey and his troops to cross Hungary only after his brother, Baldwin, was offered as a hostage to guarantee his troops' good conduct. They gathered outside the Roman-era Walls of Constantinople between November 1096 and April 1097. Hugh of Vermandois arrived first, followed by Godfrey, Raymond, and Bohemond. Recruitment for such
9017-452: The assistance of the crusaders after the deserting Stephen of Blois told them the cause was lost. Alexius retreated from Philomelium , where he received Stephen's report, to Constantinople. The Greeks were never truly forgiven for this perceived betrayal and Stephen was branded a coward. Losing numbers through desertion and starvation in the besieged city, the crusaders attempted to negotiate surrender but were rejected. Bohemond recognised that
9144-689: The caliph al-Muqtafi in Baghdad. In 1150, Nūr-ad-Din defeated Joscelin II of Edessa for a final time, resulting in Joscelin being publicly blinded, dying in prison in Aleppo in 1159. Later that year, at the Battle of Aintab , he tried but failed to prevent Baldwin III's evacuation of the residents of Turbessel . The unconquered portions of the County of Edessa would nevertheless fall to the Zengids within
9271-422: The centuries, would be lost. “Therefore in the name of God... we implore you to bring this city all the faithful soldiers of Christ... in your coming you will find your reward in heaven, and if you do not come, God will condemn you.” The major ecclesiastical impetuses behind the First Crusade were the Council of Piacenza and subsequent Council of Clermont , both held in 1095 by Pope Urban II , and resulted in
9398-503: The church. Shortly before the First Crusade, Urban II had encouraged the Iberian Christians to take Tarragona , using much of the same symbolism and rhetoric that was later used to preach the crusade to the people of Europe. The Italo-Normans were successful in seizing much of Southern Italy and Sicily from the Byzantines and North African Arabs in the decades before the First Crusade. This brought them into conflict with
9525-584: The citadel. After a brief counter-siege, Nūr-ad-Din took the city. The men were massacred, with the women and children enslaved, and the walls razed. The fall of Edessa caused great consternation in Jerusalem and Western Europe, tempering the enthusiastic success of the First Crusade. Calls for a new crusade – the Second Crusade – were immediate, and was the first to be led by European kings. Concurrent campaigns as part of
9652-466: The city in search of supplies and food, prompting Alexios to hurriedly ferry the gathering across the Bosporus one week later. After crossing into Asia Minor, the crusaders split up and began to pillage the countryside, wandering into Seljuk territory around Nicaea. The far more-experienced Turks massacred most of this group. Some Italian and German crusaders were defeated at the Siege of Xerigordon at
9779-560: The city, killing all those who were unable to flee. All the Frankish prisoners were executed, but the native Christians were allowed to live. The Crusaders were dealt their first major defeat. Zengi was assassinated by a slave on 14 September 1146 and was succeeded in the Zengid dynasty by his son Nūr-ad-Din . The Franks recaptured the city during the Second Siege of Edessa of 1146 by stealth but could not take or even properly besiege
9906-439: The claims of Raymond. Godfrey was left with a mere 300 knights and 2,000 infantry. Tancred also remained with the ambition to gain a princedom of his own. The Islamic world seems to have barely registered the crusade; certainly, there is limited written evidence before 1130. This may be in part due to a reluctance to relate Muslim failure, but it is more likely to be the result of cultural misunderstanding. Al-Afdal Shahanshah and
10033-442: The crimes being committed against Christians in the east; and about a new kind of war, an armed pilgrimage, and of rewards in heaven, where remission of sins was offered to any who might die in the undertaking. They do not all specifically mention Jerusalem as the ultimate goal. However, it has been argued that Urban's subsequent preaching reveals that he expected the expedition to reach Jerusalem all along. According to one version of
10160-590: The crusade at Piacenza, but the only record of which is by Bernold of St. Blasien in his Chronicon . The five versions of the speech differ widely from one another regarding particulars, but all versions except that in the Gesta Francorum agree that Urban talked about the violence of European society and the necessity of maintaining the Peace of God; about helping the Greeks, who had asked for assistance; about
10287-464: The crusade with Adhemar of Le Puy and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse , and instantly the expedition had the support of two of southern France's most important leaders. Adhemar himself was present at the council and was the first to "take the cross". During the rest of 1095 and into 1096, Urban spread the message throughout France, and urged his bishops and legates to preach in their own dioceses elsewhere in France, Germany, and Italy as well. However, it
10414-453: The crusade without a spiritual leader. Raymond failed to capture Arqa and in May led the remaining army south along the coast. Bohemond retained Antioch and remained, despite his pledge to return it to the Byzantines. Local rulers offered little resistance, opting for peace in return for provisions. The Frankish envoys returned accompanied by Fatimid representatives. This brought the information that
10541-465: The crusaders began the Siege of Antioch , capturing the city in June 1098. Jerusalem, then under the Fatimids , was reached in June 1099 and the Siege of Jerusalem resulted in the city being taken by assault from 7 June to 15 July 1099, during which its residents were ruthlessly massacred. A Fatimid counterattack was repulsed later that year at the Battle of Ascalon , ending the First Crusade. Afterwards,
10668-538: The crusaders proved to the Muslim world that the crusaders were not invincible, as they appeared to be during the First Crusade. Within months of the defeat, the Franks and Fatimid Egypt began fighting in three battles at Ramla, and one at Jaffa : Baldwin of Edessa , later king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II, and Patriarch Bernard of Valence ransomed Bohemond for 100,000 gold pieces. Baldwin and Bohemond then jointly campaigned to secure Edessa's southern front. On 7 May 1104,
10795-508: The early 12th century. This led to the French term croisade —the way of the cross. By the mid 13th century the cross became the major descriptor of the crusades with crux transmarina —"the cross overseas"—used for crusades in the eastern Mediterranean, and crux cismarina —"the cross this side of the sea"—for those in Europe. The use of croiserie , "crusade" in Middle English can be dated to c. 1300 , but
10922-539: The emperor's hand convinced the Germans to move quickly to Asia Minor. Without waiting for the French contingent, Conrad III engaged the Seljuks of Rûm under sultan Mesud I , son and successor of Kilij Arslan , the nemesis of the First Crusade. Mesud and his forces almost totally destroyed Conrad's contingent at the Second Battle of Dorylaeum on 25 October 1147. The French contingent departed in June 1147. In
11049-566: The emperor. Alexios persuaded many of the princes to pledge allegiance to him and that their first objective should be Nicaea, the capital of the Sultanate of Rum . Sultan Kilij Arslan left the city to resolve a territorial dispute, enabling its capture after the siege of Nicaea and a Byzantine naval assault in the high point of Latin and Greek co-operation. The first experience of Turkish tactics, using lightly armoured mounted archers, occurred when an advanced party led by Bohemond and Robert
11176-496: The end of September. Meanwhile, Walter and Peter's followers, who, although for the most part untrained in battle but led by about 50 knights, fought the Turks at the Battle of Civetot in October 1096. The Turkish archers destroyed the crusader army, and Walter was among the dead. Peter, who was absent in Constantinople at the time, later joined the second wave of crusaders, along with the few survivors of Civetot. At
11303-572: The feet of Bernard in order to take the cross. Conrad and his nephew Frederick Barbarossa also received the cross from the hand of Bernard. Conrad III and the German contingent planned to leave for the Holy Land at Easter, but did not depart until May 1147. When the German army began to cross Byzantine territory, emperor Manuel I had his troops posted to ensure against trouble. A brief Battle of Constantinople in September ensued, and their defeat at
11430-445: The few years after the Battle of Manzikert . A Frankish eyewitness says: "Far and wide they [Muslim Turks] ravaged cities and castles together with their settlements. Churches were razed down to the ground. Of the clergyman and monks whom they captured, some were slaughtered while others were with unspeakable wickedness given up, priests and all, to their dire dominion and nuns—alas for the sorrow of it!—were subjected to their lusts." It
11557-459: The field to oppose him, he captured several important Syrian towns. He defeated Fulk at the battle of Ba'rin of 1137, seizing Ba'rin Castle . In 1137, Zengi invaded Tripoli , killing the count Pons of Tripoli . Fulk intervened, but Zengi's troops captured Pons' successor Raymond II of Tripoli , and besieged Fulk in the border castle of Montferrand . Fulk surrendered the castle and paid Zengi
11684-472: The forces are estimated to have numbered as many as 100,000. The crusader forces gradually arrived in Anatolia. With Kilij Arslan absent, a Frankish attack and Byzantine naval assault during the Siege of Nicaea in June 1097 resulted in an initial crusader victory. In July, the crusaders won the Battle of Dorylaeum , fighting Turkish lightly armoured mounted archers. After a difficult march through Anatolia,
11811-431: The inconclusive battle of Shaizar between the Franks and an Abbasid army led by the governor of Mosul, Mawdud . Tancred died in 1112 and power passed to his nephew Roger of Salerno . In May 1113, Mawdud invaded Galilee with Toghtekin , atabeg of Damascus . On 28 June this force surprised Baldwin, chasing the Franks from the field at the battle of al-Sannabra . Mawdud was killed by Assassins . Bursuq ibn Bursuq led
11938-461: The majority of the crusaders returned home. Four Crusader states were established in the Holy Land: the Kingdom of Jerusalem , the County of Edessa , the Principality of Antioch , and the County of Tripoli . The Crusader presence remained in the region in some form until the loss of the last major Crusader stronghold in the Siege of Acre in 1291. After this loss of all Crusader territory in
12065-479: The meantime, Roger II of Sicily , an enemy of Conrad's, had invaded Byzantine territory. Manuel I needed all his army to counter this force, and, unlike the armies of the First Crusade, the Germans and French entered Asia with no Byzantine assistance. The French met the remnants of Conrad's army in northern Turkey, and Conrad joined Louis's force. They fended off a Seljuk attack at the Battle of Ephesus on 24 December 1147. A few days later, they were again victorious at
12192-577: The mobilization of Western Europe to go to the Holy Land. Emperor Alexios, who worried about the advances of the Seljuks into his territory, sent envoys to the Council of Piacenza in March 1095 to ask Urban for aid against the invading Turks. Urban responded favourably, perhaps hoping to heal the East-West Schism of forty years earlier, and to reunite the Church under papal primacy by helping
12319-431: The modern English "crusade" dates to the early 1700s. The Crusader states of Syria and Palestine were known as the " Outremer " from the French outre-mer , or "the land beyond the sea". Period post-First Crusade Second Crusade Period post-Second Crusade Third Crusade Period post-Third Crusade Fourth Crusade Fifth Crusade Sixth Crusade and aftermath Seventh Crusade End of
12446-456: The only option was open combat and launched a counterattack. Despite superior numbers, Kerbogha's army—which was divided into factions and surprised by the Crusaders' commitment—retreated and abandoned the siege. Raymond besieged Arqa in February 1099 and sent an embassy to al-Afdal Shahanshah , the vizier of Fatimid Egypt , seeking a treaty. The Pope's representative Adhemar died, leaving
12573-405: The papacy attempted to mitigate it. Pope Alexander II developed recruitment systems via oaths for military resourcing that Gregory VII further extended across Europe. These were deployed by the Church in the Christian conflicts with Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula and for the Norman conquest of Sicily . Gregory VII went further in 1074, planning a display of military power to reinforce
12700-497: The papacy leading to a campaign against them by Pope Leo IX who they defeated at the Battle of Civitate . Nevertheless, when they invaded Muslim Sicily in 1059, they did so under the papal banner Invexillum sancti Petrior , or banner of St. Peter. Robert Guiscard captured the Byzantine city of Bari in 1071 and campaigned along the Eastern Adriatic coast around Dyrrachium in 1081 and 1085. Since its founding,
12827-514: The peasants, including Walter Sans Avoir , who was lieutenant to Peter and led a separate army. Lacking military discipline, Peter's fledgling army quickly found itself in trouble despite the fact they were still in Christian territory. The army led by Walter plundered the Belgrade and Zemun areas, and arrived in Constantinople with little resistance. Meanwhile, the army led by Peter, which marched separately from Walter's army, also fought with
12954-502: The people of Tell Bashir ransomed Joscelin and he negotiated Baldwin's release from Jawali Saqawa , atabeg of Mosul, in return for money, hostages and military support. Tancred and Baldwin, supported by their respective Muslim allies, entered violent conflict over the return of Edessa leaving 2,000 Franks dead before Bernard of Valence, patriarch of both Antioch and Edessa, adjudicated in Baldwin's favour. On 13 May 1110, Baldwin II and
13081-570: The period from 1050 until 1080, the Gregorian Reform movement developed increasingly more assertive policies, eager to increase its power and influence. This prompted conflict with eastern Christians rooted in the doctrine of papal supremacy . The Eastern church viewed the pope as only one of the five patriarchs of the Church, alongside the patriarchates of Alexandria , Antioch , Constantinople and Jerusalem . In 1054 differences in custom, creed and practice spurred Pope Leo IX to send
13208-514: The principle of papal sovereignty in a holy war supporting Byzantium against the Seljuks, but was unable to build support for this. Theologian Anselm of Lucca took the decisive step towards an authentic crusader ideology, stating that fighting for legitimate purposes could result in the remission of sins. On the Iberian Peninsula, there was no significant Christian polity. The Christian realms of León , Navarre and Catalonia lacked
13335-476: The resources to fully invest the city; the residents lacked the means to repel the invaders. Then Bohemond persuaded a guard in the city to open a gate. The crusaders entered, massacring the Muslim inhabitants and many Christians amongst the Greek Orthodox, Syrian and Armenian communities. A force to recapture the city was raised by Kerbogha , the effective ruler of Mosul . The Byzantines did not march to
13462-470: The same time, the advent of Imad ad-Din Zengi saw the Crusaders threatened by a Muslim ruler who would introduce jihad to the conflict, joining the powerful Syrian emirates in a combined effort against the Franks. He became atabeg of Mosul in September 1127 and used this to expand his control to Aleppo in June 1128. In 1135, Zengi moved against Antioch and, when the Crusaders failed to put an army into
13589-610: The secular and ecclesiastical leaders of the Outremer gathered at the Council of Nablus . The council laid a foundation of a law code for the kingdom of Jerusalem that replaced common law. The council also heard the first direct appeals for support made to the Papacy and Republic of Venice . They responded with the Venetian Crusade , sending a large fleet that supported the capture of Tyre in 1124. In April 1123, Baldwin II
13716-558: The speech, the enthusiastic crowd responded with cries of Deus lo volt !–– God wills it. The great French nobles and their trained armies of knights were not the first to undertake the journey towards Jerusalem. Urban had planned the departure of the first crusade for 15 August 1096, the Feast of the Assumption , but months before this, a number of unexpected armies of peasants and petty nobles set off for Jerusalem on their own, led by
13843-542: The strongest kings of Europe and a route that would be pre-planned. The pope called on Bernard of Clairvaux to preach the Second Crusade, granting the same indulgences which had accorded to the First Crusaders. Among those answering the call were two European kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany . Louis, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine , and many princes and lords prostrated themselves at
13970-544: The ten-day Council of Clermont, where on 27 November he gave an impassioned sermon to a large audience of French nobles and clergy. There are five versions of the speech recorded by people who may have been at the council ( Baldric of Dol , Guibert of Nogent , Robert the Monk , and Fulcher of Chartres ) or who went on crusade (Fulcher and the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum ), as well as other versions found in
14097-497: The town of Banias during the Crusade of 1129 . Defeat at Damascus and Marj al-Saffar ended the campaign and Frankish influence on Damascus for years. The Levantine Franks sought alliances with the Latin West through the marriage of heiresses to wealthy martial aristocrats. Constance of Antioch was married to Raymond of Poitiers , son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine . Baldwin II's eldest daughter Melisende of Jerusalem
14224-406: The works of later historians (such as William of Malmesbury and William of Tyre ). All of these versions were written after Jerusalem had been captured, and it is difficult to know what was actually said versus what was recreated in the aftermath of the successful crusade. The only contemporary records are a few letters written by Urban in 1095. It is also thought that Urban also may have preached
14351-595: The works of the 4th-century theologian Augustine of Hippo , a doctrine of holy war developed. Augustine wrote that aggressive war was sinful, but war could be justified if proclaimed by a legitimate authority such as a king or bishop, it was defensive or for the recovery of lands, and it did not involve excessive violence. The breakdown of the Carolingian Empire in Western Europe created a warrior caste who now had little to do but fight amongst themselves. Violent acts were commonly used for dispute resolution, and
14478-413: The year left Joscelin II of Edessa with no powerful allies to help defend Edessa. Zengi came north to begin the first siege of Edessa , arriving on 28 November 1144. The city had been warned of his arrival and was prepared for a siege, but there was little they could do. Zengi realised there was no defending force and surrounded the city. The walls collapsed on 24 December 1144. Zengi's troops rushed into
14605-428: Was also defeated by Coloman, at which point, Emicho's followers dispersed. Some eventually joined the main armies, although Emicho himself went home. Many of the attackers seem to have wanted to force the Jews to convert, although they were also interested in acquiring money from them. Physical violence against Jews was never part of the church hierarchy's official policy for crusading, and the Christian bishops, especially
14732-530: Was ambushed and captured by Belek Ghazi while campaigning north of Edessa, along with Joscelin I, Count of Edessa . He was released in August 1024 in return for 80,000 gold pieces and the city of Azaz . In 1129, the Council of Troyes approved the rule of the Knights Templar for Hugues de Payens . He returned to the East with a major force including Fulk V of Anjou . This allowed the Franks to capture
14859-547: Was ambushed at the battle of Dorylaeum . The Normans resisted for hours before the arrival of the main army caused a Turkish withdrawal. The army marched for three months to the former Byzantine city Antioch , that had been in Muslim control since 1084. Starvation, thirst and disease reduced numbers, combined with Baldwin's decision to leave with 100 knights and their followers to carve out his own territory in Edessa . The siege of Antioch lasted eight months. The crusaders lacked
14986-418: Was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a variety of motivations. These included religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by generally more organised armies, sometimes led by a king. All were granted papal indulgences . Initial successes established four Crusader states :
15113-517: Was an unexpected event for contemporary chroniclers, but historical analysis demonstrates it had its roots in earlier developments with both clerics and laity recognising Jerusalem's role in Christianity as worthy of penitential pilgrimage . In 1071, Jerusalem was captured by the Turkish warlord Atsiz , who seized most of Syria and Palestine as part of the expansion of the Seljuks throughout
15240-537: Was captured by the Danishmends . The Lorrainers foiled the attempt to seize power and enabled Godfrey's brother, Baldwin I , to take the crown. Paschal II promoted the large-scale Crusade of 1101 in support of the remaining Franks. This new crusade was a similar size to the First Crusade and joined in Byzantium by Raymond of Saint-Gilles . Command was fragmented and the force split in three: The defeat of
15367-671: Was changed by later waves of Turkic migration , in particular the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 10th century. Previously a minor ruling clan from Transoxania , they had recently converted to Islam and migrated into Iran. In two decades following their arrival they conquered Iran, Iraq and the Near East. The Seljuks and their followers were from the Sunni tradition. This brought them into conflict in Palestine and Syria with
15494-598: Was foremost, rivaled by the relatively poor but martial Italo-Norman Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred . Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin also joined with forces from Lorraine , Lotharingia , and Germany . These five princes were pivotal to the campaign, which was augmented by a northern French army led by Robert Curthose , Count Stephen II of Blois , and Count Robert II of Flanders . The total number may have reached as many as 100,000 people including non-combatants. They traveled eastward by land to Constantinople where they were cautiously welcomed by
15621-501: Was held on 24 June 1148, changing the objective of the Second Crusade to Damascus, a former ally of the kingdom that had shifted its allegiance to that of the Zengids. The Crusaders fought the Battle of Bosra with the Damascenes in the summer of 1147, with no clear winner. Bad luck and poor tactics of the Crusaders led to the disastrous five-day siege of Damascus from 24 to 28 July 1148. The barons of Jerusalem withdrew support and
15748-555: Was in this climate that the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos wrote a letter to Robert II of Flanders saying: The holy places are desecrated and destroyed in countless ways. Noble matrons and their daughters, robbed of everything, are violated one after another, like animals. Some [of their attackers] shamelessly place virgins in front of their own mothers and force them to sing wicked and obscene songs until they have finished having their ways with them... men of every age and description, boys, youths, old men, nobles, peasants and what
15875-497: Was married to Fulk of Anjou in 1129. When Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131, Fulk and Melisende were consecrated joint rulers of Jerusalem. Despite conflict caused by the new king appointing his own supporters and the Jerusalemite nobles attempting to curb his rule, the couple were reconciled and Melisende exercised significant influence. When Fulk died in 1143, she became joint ruler with their son, Baldwin III of Jerusalem . At
16002-525: Was met with an enthusiastic popular response across all social classes in western Europe. Mobs of predominantly poor Christians numbering in the thousands, led by Peter the Hermit , a French priest, were the first to respond. What has become known as the People's Crusade passed through Germany and indulged in wide-ranging anti-Jewish activities, including the Rhineland massacres . On leaving Byzantine-controlled territory in Anatolia , they were annihilated in
16129-451: Was unanimously elected his successor. In June 1119, Ilghazi, now emir of Aleppo , attacked Antioch with more than 10,000 men. Roger of Salerno 's army of 700 knights, 3,000 foot soldiers and a corps of Turcopoles was defeated at the battle of Ager Sanguinis , or "field of blood". Roger was among the many killed. Baldwin II's counter-attack forced the offensive's end, after an inconclusive second battle of Tell Danith . In January 1120
#760239