The First, Second, and Third Crusades

THE POST-ROMAN WEST and THE CRUSADING MOVEMENT HIST 1301 | History The First, Second, and Third Crusades For ease of reference and to differentiate between distinct developments within the crusading movement, historians have assigned numbers to the numerous crusades. Still, there was never any organisation to the Crusades, and getting people from one end of Europe to the other was a problem they all had to deal with. For instance, Peter the Hermit's adherents reached Constantinople first during the First Crusade. Alexios, the Byzantine emperor, took them to Anatolia, the Asian portion of modern-day Turkey, without waiting for other groups to arrive. Very few of this army survived to return to Constantinople after it was decimated by the Turks. Subsequent crusaders realised that preventing Peter's destiny at Constantinople required gathering intelligence. Even though the majority of the First Crusade's members were not the most senior nobles of Western civilization, the majority of it was led by strong aristocrats whose forces were more well-prepared and organised than Peter's. The majority of them first consented when Alexios offered them assistance in exchange for the restoration of Muslim-held Byzantine territories. The crusaders entered Anatolia and, with little assistance from the Byzantines, laid a deadly siege before seizing possession of the port of Antioch, the historic centre of Christianity in the Holy Land. They believed that Alexios was unworthy of the city and their loyalty after their victory. Thus, the connections between the crusaders and the Byzantine Empire were strained when the city was granted to a Norman crusader who had no intention of handing it to Alexios. In the summer of 1099, Jerusalem was ultimately reached by the First Crusade. The crusaders combined military warfare with pilgrimage by fasting and circumambulating the city's walls as penitents before to their assault. After capturing the city, the crusaders murdered the Jewish and Muslim residents in a move that startled both Christians and Muslims. Following their conquest of other significant towns in the region, the crusading army formed the four Crusader States: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Tripoli. The French also referred to these Crusader States as Outremer, which means "overseas," and they claimed Jerusalem as their capital. This was the only Crusade that succeeded in reaching its goal out of all of them. Even though the First Crusade was surprisingly successful, Outremer had some serious issues right from the start. By breaking their commitment to return to the Byzantine Empire's strategically significant towns like Antioch and Middle Eastern regions, the crusaders had alienated the empire. Due to their desire to own property, European aristocracy and knights frequently engaged in combat with one another even in the face of a shared foe. Even if a small number of warriors managed to reach Outremer, the elite was still in dire need of men to protect their newly acquired lands. At first, the Muslims' political and military response was tempered by internal strife and uncertainty about the character and objectives of the crusaders. But the Muslims rapidly adjusted, particularly the Seljuks who kept many of the recently arrived knights from ever making it to Outremer. Imad al-Din Zengi, a Turkic aristocrat, started to promote the idea of a holy warrior fighting the crusaders. He took control of the northernmost Crusader State, Edessa, while spending the most of his career cunningly plotting against other Muslim kings. Though he was acclaimed for his defence of Islam, he was killed before he could carry out his war against the crusaders. But the pope decided to declare the Second Crusade since the fall of Edessa presented a grave danger to the Crusader States that were still in existence. The Second Crusade began in 1147 and lasted until 1149. Bernard of Clairvaux and other preachers of this new generation encouraged believers to "take up the cross." Among the new crusading organisations, the Knights Templar were monastic orders of monks whose mission was to defend Christian pilgrims and battle for Outremer. Bernard also penned the precepts for these orders. Strong leaders, such as King Conrad III of Germany and King Louis VII of France, spearheaded this crusade. Few warriors of the Second Crusade made it to the Holy Land after their forces were routed in many engagements in Anatolia. Very little was done by the kings, and many pointed the finger at the Byzantine emperor, who had come to fear the forces of Europe. After being humiliated, Bernard of Clairvaux apologised to the pope and said that the crusaders' faults were to blame for their failure. The catastrophe appeared to be as comprehensive as the First Crusade's miraculous appearance. Outremer's condition only got worse following this defeat. Even the crusaders appreciated Imad al-Din Zengi's successors, who worked hard to bring the Muslim rulers together in jihad. Among his successors, Salah al-Din—known as Saladin in the Christian world—was the most well-known. He was regarded as kind, impartial, and, to use Christian terminology, chivalrous. From Syria, he extended his rule into Egypt, where he established the Ayyubid dynasty from the remnants of the Shia Fatimid Caliphate. In addition, he decided to follow his Islamic calling and fight the crusaders in jihad. At the Battle of the Horns of Hattin (in modern-day Israel), in 1187, he routed the crusaders after years of assembling allies and undermining Outremer's military might. Saladin captured Jerusalem in a few of months. The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was the response from the Christians. The ambition to recover Jerusalem and the concern that Outremer was going to be erased from the map drove this crusade. The call was heeded by great princes and kings of England, the Holy Roman Empire, and France. They soon got into arguments with the Outremer nobility and each other when they landed at the final Christian outposts in the Middle East. Thus, the Christians were able to take control of the island of Cyprus and the Holy Land's seashore, but they were unable to go farther interior. In the end, Saladin and Richard I of England—also referred to in popular culture as Richard the Lionhearted—negotiated a contract that gave the Muslims dominion over Jerusalem but let Christian pilgrims to travel there at will. In Europe, Saladin and Richard were both hailed as heroes of their own faiths and as epitome of chivalric chivalry. However, this was among the crusaders' final victories in the Holy Land.