The Later Crusades and the Limits of Mongol Rule

PAX MONGOLICA : THE STEPPE EMPIRE OF THE MONGOLS HIST 1301 | History The Later Crusades and the Limits of Mongol Rule Muslims were far more effective fighting Christians in their homeland, even if they lost territory to them in Iberia in the early thirteenth century. Muslims rejected Christian attempts to regain control of the Holy Land (modern-day Israel), despite endless disputes about who should manage the Levant for Islam. In the meanwhile, the Fourth Crusade—a conflict between Catholic and Orthodox Christians—killed thousands of people and severely devastated Byzantium. By the middle of the 20th century, Muslims were well-positioned to drive out Christians from the Levant and advance towards the collapsing Byzantine Empire, having already repelled numerous other crusades. The only cities the Crusaders controlled in the interior of the Holy Land after the Third Crusade were Tyre, Acre, and a few other strongholds. Soon after becoming pope in 1198, Pope Innocent III called for the Fourth Crusade in an attempt to win back the Holy Land for western Christendom and use that triumph to persuade the eastern churches to recognise papal authority. As in the previous two (failed) crusades, the strategy was to invade the Muslims via Egypt in order to take Jerusalem. But the Fourth Crusade never reached Egypt, let alone the sacred regions of the eastern Mediterranean. Due to the high cost of supplies and transportation, the crusaders owed Venetian merchants, who demanded that they repay the loan by retaking Zadar, which is now in Croatia and was known as "Zara" to the Venetians, for Venice. Pope Innocent thought the plan was absurd. Not only was Zadar a Catholic city, but it also served as a diversion from the reoccupation of the Holy Land. Still, the crusaders consented, and in 1202 they captured the city. The crusaders were given the chance to establish the son of a recently overthrown Byzantine emperor on the throne in Constantinople, so increasing their income and recruiting Byzantine warriors for the crusade, while they were spending the winter in Zadar. The Byzantines' offer also included the Orthodox churches' subjection to Catholicism, which was a long-term objective of the Western Crusaders, maybe to allay Innocent's reservations. The crusaders were commanded by Pope Innocent to continue their journey to the Holy Land, but they turned down their offer and travelled to Constantinople at the Byzantines' invitation. In the summer of 1203, the crusaders succeeded in installing their youthful patron, Alexius IV, on the throne of Byzantium, after much bumbling and misunderstanding on both sides. But as it happened, Alexius could only obtain half of the money that had been promised, and his attempts to raise the remaining sum incited a coup that ultimately resulted in his murder. The crusaders' costs were rising while they awaited payment from the Byzantines, and reaching Egypt appeared more and more unachievable. It would not be simple to defeat Salah al-Din's successors. Many of the crusaders had not seen their homes in over three years, as the Byzantine army had already left before them. However, clergy members among them noted that bringing Salah al-Din, a usurper, to justice was a holy cause that might accomplish their oaths to fight for causes that are in line with Christian values and God's will, as well as one that would ensure their admission into paradise. But the Fourth Crusade's goal was to reinstate a rightful ruler in the Byzantine Empire, which it swiftly achieved in the spring of 1204. The Fourth Crusade had a completely different goal than its predecessors, which had centred on driving Muslim monarchs from areas that had previously been inhabited by Christians. The most successful Crusade took place towards the end of the eleventh century and resulted in the creation of four autonomous Christian-ruled nations in the Levant and the restoration of Christian dominance over portions of Syria and Palestine. In the latter part of the twelfth century, there were two further crusades after Muslims recaptured much of the region. Neither succeeded in reclaiming Jerusalem or other important Christian locations as Christian territory. The objective of the Fourth Crusade was originally to finish the mission, but it was later changed to address the alleged moral wrongs of Byzantium's most recent internal intrigues. After destroying Constantinople, the crusaders named a new Byzantine emperor and one of their own priests as the Patriarch of Orthodox Christianity, giving the pope complete control over the Byzantine church. A portion of Byzantium's riches was taken with them when the majority of them returned to their own homes after a year. As anticipated, despite the fact that not a single drop of Muslim blood had been spilled or an inch of Islamic land had been added to Christendom, Pope Innocent saw the imposition of Catholicism on Eastern Christianity as adequate for carrying out a crusader's pledge.