Documenting History ^ THE CrusadesChristians at War r Christine Hatt Boston Public Library Boston MA 02116 DOCUMENTING HISTORY "V £ The t (l Crusades ...
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Documenting History
^ THE Crusades War Christians at
r
Christine Hatt
Boston Public Library Boston MA 02116
DOCUMENTING HISTORY "V
£ The
t (l
Crusades Christians at War
CHRISTINE HATT
FRANKLIN WATTS A
Division of Scholastic Inc.
NEW YORK TORONTO LONDON AUCKLAND SYDNEY MEXICO CITY NEW DELHI HONG KONG DANBURY, CONNECTICUT
5
First
published by Evans Brothers Limited,
Design -
2000
Neil
Sayer
- Kath Davies
2A Portman Mansions
Editorial
Chi Item Street
London
Maps - Tim Smith Consultant - Professor Malcolm Barber
W1MILE
Production - Jenny Mulvanny
©
Title
Evans Brothers Limited 2000
page
from a First American edition 2001 by A Division of Scholastic Inc. 90 Sherman Turnpike
Danbury, CT
Franklin
1
picture:
Damietta, Egypt,
Watts
An
by Matthew Paris
illustration
3th-century manuscript, showing a battle at
1218
06816
ISBN 0-531-14610-3
(Lib.
Bdg)
Catalog details are available from the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Printed
All
in
Spain by
rights reserved.
GRAFO No
part of this publication
may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
Evans Brothers Limited.
Acknowledgments College, Oxford/Bridgeman Art
page 52 British Library page page 54 (top) Corpus Christi Library (bottom) e.t. archive page 55
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,
The Vatican/Bridgeman
For permission to reproduce copyright pictorial material, the author
Ducale, Venice/Bridgeman Art Library
acknowledge the following: cover (top left) Bridgeman Art Library (top right) the art archive (bottom right) Trip/C Rennie (bottom left) Bridgeman Art Library title page Corpus Christi College, Oxford/Bridgeman Art Library page 7 British Library page 8 e.t. archive page 9 AKG London/Erich
53
and publishers
gratefully
Lessing page
10
York page 11
e.t.
Louvre, Paris/Bridgeman Art Library,
archive
Picture Library (right) 1
(left) e.t.
Library/Bridgeman Library
AKG
page 22
(bottom)
page 26
28
Art Library
British
e.t.
left) e.t.
archive
page 21
1
4
British Library
page 19
British
Library/Bridgeman
18
page page (top
British
Library/Bridgeman
Art Library
page 24
Art
(top)
page 25 Robert Harding Picture Library page 27 Ancient Art and Architecture page
archive
British Library
page 29 Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris/Bridgeman page 30 Robert Harding Picture Library page 32 (top
Trip/C Rennie
Art Library
right) British
Library/Bridgeman
page 56
Library/Bridgeman
Art Library
(top right) e.t.archive (bottom
Art Library
AKG page 57 Mary page 59 With thanks
left)
Evans Picture Library page 58 e.t.archive The Order of St John, London
to
E Simanor/Robert Harding
Aleppo, Syria/Bridgeman Art Library page
archive (bottom
t.
(left)
AKG/Erich Lessing page
archive (right)Ancient Art and Architecture Collection
16 AKG page 17 right)
page 12
London/New
British
Art Library
(bottom) Chateau de
For permission to reproduce copyright material for the documents, the
author and publisher gratefully acknowledge the following:
page 13 The Innocent's Abroad, Mark Twain, Oxford University Press 1996 page 17, 21, 35, 37 (bottom), 39, 43 (top), 49 (bottom), 51, 53 Chronicles of the Crusades, Eye-witness accounts of the wars between Christianity and Islam, Quadrillion Publishing, 1996 page f 9 and page 31 (bottom) A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem 1095-1 127 translated by Frances Rita Ryan and edited by Harold S Fink, University of Tennessee Press, 1 969 page 23, 27 (bottom), 35, 37 (top), 41 (top), 45 (top and bottom), 47 (top), 49 (top), 55 Arab Historians of the Crusades - Selected and translated from the
France/Lauros-Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library page 33 With thanks to The Order of St Johns, London page 34 (top right) Mary Evans Picture Library (bottom left) Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris/Bridgeman Art Library page 35 Robert Harding Picture Library
Arabic Sources. Edited/translated by
page 36 Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris page 38 (top left) Bibliotheque Municipale de Lyon/Bridgeman Art Library (bottom right) AKG page 40 Chris Barton page 41 Robert Harding Picture Library/Odyssey/Chicago page 42 Mary Evans Picture Library page 43 Fred Friberg/Robert hording Picture Library page 44 (top right) e.t. archive (bottom left) British Library/Bridgeman Art Library page 45 British Library page 46 AKG page 47 The Governing Body of Christ Church, Oxford page 48 (top right) AKG (bottom) e.t.archive page 49 Michael Venner/Rcbert Harding Picture Library page 50 (top) AKG (bottom) Robert Harding Picture Library page 51 Palazzo
and Sons
Versailles,
1969 Routledge & Kegan of the Franks
Paul
Ltd.
and other Pilgrims
to
E. J. Costello.
Ltd
page 31
(top),
(top)
©
The Deeds
Jerusalem (Gesta Francorum
aliorum Hierosolimitanorum) edited by Rosalind
in
Copyright
page 25 and 27 Hill,
et
Thomas Nelson
An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior
the Period of the Crusades, (Memoirs of
Usamah
ibn Munqidh),
Columbia Press 1 929 page 39 (top) De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem (The Journey of Louis VII to the East), Odo of Deuil, Edited with an English Translation by Virginia Gingerick Berry, Columbia Press 1 948 page 33 The Order of St John, London page 43 (bottom) Reproduced from Crusades by Alan Ereira and Terry Jones with permission of BBC Worldwide Limited Fegg Features Ltd and Alan Ereira 1 994
translated by Philip K.
Hitti
©
1
8
\d
1
Contents 1 Introduction
6
Looking at Documents 6
Origins
8
The Christian World 8 The Islamic World 10 Jerusalem 12 Medieval Europe 14 The Seljuk Turks 16
The First Crusade
1
The Call to Crusade 1 8 The People's Crusade 20 The Official Crusade 22 The Capture of Jerusalem 24 Tactics and Weapons 26
The Crusader States 28 Outremer 28 Life in Outremer 30 The Military Orders 32
The Muslims Fight Back 34 A Divided World
34 The Fall of Edessa 36 The Second Crusade 38 Syria United 40
The Third and Fourth Crusades 42 The Rise of Saladin 42 The Recapture of Jerusalem 44 The Third Crusade 46 The March to Jerusalem 48 The Fourth Crusade 50
The Later Crusades
52
The Cathar and Baltic Crusades 52 The Fifth and Sixth Crusades 54 The Last Crusades 56 Conclusion 58
Glossary 60 Index
62
.
—
.
'
vt+t-vt-v Introduction
(l\ (l^ tir tir
Looking at Documents In a.d.1
095, Pope Urban for fighters to go
Holy Land to free control.
it
to the
from Muslim
The response was
realized that
Urban had launched
and bloody struggle between Christians and Muslims would
that
of
in
the
eight crusades that
hope
in disillusion in
in
1095 and ended
1270.
It
also
in
the Middle East
in
these conflicts
in this
book, too.
the reasons for rheir destruction.
—
distance or
life,
itself?
documents, from the works
of
and Muslim chroniclers
to the rules of religious orders. To
make
the
documents easier to in modern
read, they are printed
You
will
also find
original
documents.
of the
Difficult
or
a
the Holy Land
in
Above
all,
Christian
who
wrote
and Muslim
views of an event were often very
The answers
different.
and
to these
similar questions will help
you decide how
reliable
each
document is likely to be. But no single document can give a complete picture, and people
old-fashioned words and
involved
phrases are explained
understand
in labels.
full
when they were weary? Where were they written from end,
them?
Christian
taking part were'
enthusiasm, or toward the
The Crusades uses a wide range
photographs of some
and
of
northern
their
they written
the early days of the crusades,
in
Spain, and
in
When were
when those
Europe. You can find out about
type.
looks at the states set up by
crusaders
against pagans
of
meaning 'cross/ the Christianity. This book
examines the
began
origins.
To bring these stories to
of these years are
known as crusades, from symbol
heretical Christians such as the
last for centuries.
The wars Latin crux,
documents, think about
against Muslims
bitter
look at these
launched crusades against Cathars of southern France,
overwhelming. No one then
a
When you
During this era, Popes also
il
appealed
a situation
in
many
looking back
may
not
as well as those
it
years
later.
Some
writers recorded their first-hand experiences of the crusades in diaries. After the Second Crusade, French monk Odo of Deuil turned his notes about the expedition into a book (see page 39). This excerpt describes how Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux first preached the crusade to the waiting crowds.
On
these pages are excerpts trom
documents used
show
in this
the variety of
included,
and explain how and why the
documents were "•mi
book. They
documents
written.
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Bernard, speaking as inspired by God. J.n.1,-,
"".""•nrf-n ,„,„ •!'"»» imlini-cipluaaforar
since there was no place within the town which could accommodate such a large crowd, a wooden platform was erected outside in a field [Bernard] mounted the platform accompanied by the king, who was wearing the cross; and when poured forth the dew of the divine word with loud outcry people on every side "began to demand crosses. And when he had the parcel of crosses which had been prepared beforehand, he was forced to tear .
.
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his own garments into crosses abroad. .
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and
to
sow them
Bernard had to throw them into the
crowd
hand them
like
seed rather than
out.
;
t+C-YC+C+ti
INTRODUCTION
Many other people who wrote histories of the crusades
The Muslim Calendar The dates
book are given according the Christian calendar, whose years are counted from the (approximate) birth of
were
not personally involved in the events they described. Instead, they collected information from a variety of sources, such as eyewitnesses and books, to produce their own accounts. The Syrian Muslim Kamal ad-Din, for example, wrote this powerful description of the "Field of Blood'' battle about 100 years after it took place in 1119 (see
Christ.
in this
However,
it is
important to
know
that
Muslims use a different dating system. The Muslim calendar began in the year 622 of the Christian era. on the day Muhammad fled from his enemies in Mecca (see page 1 1 It is based on the cycles of the moon, and each of its years contains 354 days instead of the 365 ).
days of the Christian system.
page 35).
A
battle plan
showing troop positions from ...
God gave victory
one
to the Muslims.
of Saladin's
-
manuals (see
The Franks who fled to their camp were slaughtered. The Turks fought superbly. Arrows flew thick as locusts, and the Franks, with missiles raining down on infantry and cavalry alike, ... fled. .
page 45).
.
~^t
Several of the documents in this book are concerned not with great events and personalities but with daily life. Here, Muslim writer Usama ibn
explains how some crusaders who settled in the Middle East adopted Islamic
Munqidh beliefs
and customs
(see
page 31).
one
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I* don't A eat
oi^e
o1
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se
^
laave^^eslvev* Islam forbids the eating of pork
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tif
Chapter 1
Cl"V Cl"V
d^f
Origins The Christian World 500 miles
I
Christian world
Holy
Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
Crete
Mediterranean
The Christian World
In a.d.
330, Constantine, the
emperor,
Rome and
left
The
city
new
ruler.
It
its
heart
Christian
Sea a.d.
1050
Roman
up a second imperial
was renamed Constantinople after became the center of a magnificent
east.
civilization,
first
About
Cyprus
Greek colony of Byzantium, to the
capital in the
At
set
in
Rhodes
combining Greek and
was
Roman
its
cultures.
the Christian faith, based on the
teachings of Jesus Christ (see box).
While Constantinople went from strength to strength, the
Roman Empire
in
the
West declined as
Asian and Germanic tribes poured across
its
410 the invaders sacked Rome, and in 476 the last Roman emperor was removed. Despite these political changes, the Roman Catholic borders.
In
Church, centered
in
Rome, maintained
its
position.
This illustration from an 11th-century edition of the Christian
Gospels shows the mother, Helena.
Roman emperor
Constantine
(left)
and
his
1
1+ 1+ t-V tt
of the church, the
authority over
Christians
Christians.
all
Christ and Christianity
Pope, claimed
many
However,
Constantinople as their religious leader.
1054, -the
In
split
between the western (Roman
and eastern (Greek Orthodox) branches the church was made official. By that time, Catholic)
of
known as
Constantinople controlled a huge area
the Byzantine Empire. Despite losses to the Arabs in
the 7th century (see pages 10-11), the empire
stretched from southern
Mesopotamia
home many
to
in
about
Italy in
532
beautiful buildings, including the
to
537
for the
itself
was
a million people and contained
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), which
Church of
was
interpretation of Christian teaching. In their
journeys, the Catholic crusaders met not only
the west to
the east. Constantinople
half
was a Jew who lived in Palestine from about 4 B.C. to a.d. 30. The New Testament of the Bible records that Jesus (shown in a Byzantine mosaic below) emphasized God's love for humanity and the need for people to love God and one another. By the 1 1th century, there were many Christian groups, each with its own
Jesus Christ
the east regarded the Patriarch of
in
ORIGINS
built
from
Greek Orthodox Christians, but also Jacobites. Armenians. Maronites. and others. Despite Christ's example of non-violence, these groups often fought
among
themselves.
Byzantine emperor Justinian.
Western Europe recovered slowly from centuries of the Roman named Charlemagne established a new political unit, later known as the Western or Holy Roman Empire, with its capital at Aachen in what is now Germany. He reunited much
of
decay following the collapse
Empire.
In
of Europe,
promoted
800, a ruler
encouraged a
Roman
revival of learning,
Catholic Christianity. Yet
1
and 1th-
century Western Europe could not compare with the splendor of Byzantium. However, important
changes were under way (see pages
1
4-1 5).
Chapters 5-7 of St. Matthew's Gospel in the New Testament tell
how Jesus
preached one day on a hillside. The themes
Sermon on the Mount are love, humility, of the
and self-sacrifice. This an excerpt from the sermon:
is
.j ""Love your *"* heard I tell you-. You have enenry^ your te hate neighbor and ur and Fat her enemies vour y y the evil and you on that o rlse s^n y ou, to£ and the causes
^J^Tut^ pW»
heaven. He
fflW*^ f
and sends ram the good, unrighteous.
If
^ eg*
I™-
will you reward
verses 43-48)
as
their Father.
what
tax not even the your you greet only
a
h*^?^ Jesus taught his followers to see God
^
rlgllteous
,
-rfecv
"
(Mat
The Islamic World «;c3i&m
was first preached by the Muhammad, who lived in Arabia from a.d. 570 to 632 (see box). Its followers are called Muslims. Islam spread across much of the Arabian
The
religion of Islam
,,
(jr±
Prophet
**i-
Peninsula, then north and west, taking over
Byzantine
and North
territories in Palestine, Syria,
and India. In a.d. 711, Muslims invaded Spain and soon controlled all but
Africa,
and east
into Persia
the north of that country.
Following Muhammad's death, the Islamic world was governed by a caliph, who had both religious and political powers. The first caliph was Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law. One group of Muslims, the Sunnis,
acknowledged
his right to the role, but
a second group, the Shi'ites, believed that AH, the Prophet's son-in-law, should rule. Sunni and Shi'ite
Muslims remained divided, developing
different
views on Islamic doctrine and practice.
The caliphate passed family,
who
ruled from
to the
Sunni
Damascus.
In
Umayyad 750, they
were overthrown by the mighty Abbasid dynasty, which governed from Baghdad. Shi'ite
Africa. 1
In
909, a
dynasty, the Fatimids, emerged
in
rival
North
They conquered Egypt, founded Cairo about
000, and governed a second Islamic empire
from that
city.
The Islamic World About
a.d.
1050
This illustrated
page from a 1
6th-century
Qur'an
shows
the Archangel Gabriel
appearing to the Prophet
Muhammad.
Extent of Islam by the death of
Muhammad, AD 632
Extent of Islam by about 1050 "1
Fatimid caliphate
I
I
Abbasid caliphate
1
tif
Cl"V Cl"V Cl"V"
The
cities of the
(l\
Arab scholars translated and discussed the works
Islamic world, with their
mosques, bazaars, and palaces, rivaled Constantinople. Baghdad, tor example, was a center of religion, trade, and culture. Its university, the
House
Wisdom, was founded
of
in
ORIGINS
Greek scientists and philosophers. They
of ancient
made
brilliant
discoveries
in
mathematics,
medicine, and astronomy.
Jews and
830. There,
these great
Christians lived alongside Muslims
whose holy God and whose religions of the book,"
truth. For this
in
Islam classed them as "people
cities.
writings
had come from
therefore contained
some
reason, they were treated with
had
tolerance, but they
to
pay a special
tax, the
from which Muslims were exempt.
jizyo,
Muhammad and The Prophet
Islam
Muhammad was born Saudi Arabia. In
in present-day
in
a. d.
Mecca
610. he
had the first of many visions in which the Archangel Gabriel gave him messages from God. Muhammad began to preach a new religion. Islam, based on these revelations. Islam taught people to worship one God. Allah, to pray regularly, and to act justly. It also taught that Muhammad was the last of many prophets sent by God, among whom was Jesus, known to Muslims as Isa. Many people in Mecca opposed Muhammad's teachings, and he fled north to
Medina
in
finally defeated the The
brilliant
Arab doctor and scholar Ibn Sina (known
West as Avicenna)
lived
from
980
to
in
the
died in
is known as the Muhammad's armies
622. This event
Hcjira (flight). In 630.
Medina
in
Meccans. The Prophet
632.
1037. Students flocked
to hear his teaching.
Muhammad's revelations are written in the Muslim holy
book, the Qur'an ("Reading "). It teaches that jihad (fighting) may be necessary.
good for you for you. God
when
the world ends, everyone will be
judged by God.
'Apostle' here
means Muhammad.
* thing although ££££*** 0V
kn
(Qur'an 8:316)
J
s
°£
*** though
y
••• Fight against such nftk S Scriptures were gi n as L, nor the Last Daf h
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wL
kaow not
it
£
...
the V°taWh0m nelth er
God
^ lt
* ^ ost^ellZ and do ^f?' y P not - " MbUte ^ COS £$» f?
Like Christianity, Islam teaches that
,
Ws
^=
embrace the true Faith
f° rbW
at
ls
+ 1+ t-t t-t 1+ (l\ (l\ t+ e+ t-t
Jerusalem The
city of
Jerusalem,
present-day Israel
in
sacred to three religions. To Jewish people capital of the
King David
temple years
in
built
later.
first 1
is
the
united Jewish kingdom, set up by
000
b.c
It
was
also the site of the
by David's son, Solomon, about
By the time
of the crusades, this
had long been destroyed. But a wall from a temple, destroyed
Today Muslims pray facing Mecca, where the
is
it
in a.d.
days
is
later
the Prophet
Journey. There he
ascended
its
walls.
is
Jesus's tomb, over which Byzantine Christians in
In
saw
built
the 4th century.
led to
his Night
the earlier prophets, then
was granted a made Jerusalem even
to
Muslims.
the early 7th century, Jerusalem
was under
Byzantine control, and disaster threatened the
634, Omar, a former adviser
Christians. In
Jerusalem's holy places, including
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
According to Muslim
heaven, where he
into
more sacred
there,
life
of Olives, to the east of the city,
visit
city.
Muhammad was
Jerusalem by the Archangel Gabriel during
believed to be the site of his ascension into heaven. Pilgrims
they regarded as a holy
temple
holy because Jesus
of his earthly
born (see pages 10-11).
they faced Jerusalem, which
vision of God. This event
his crucifixion took place just outside
The Mount
624
until
belief,
70, remains a place
For Christians, Jerusalem
and
However,
fifty
of pilgrimage.
Christ spent the last
Muhammad was
Prophet
Muhammad, became Islamic empire.
more than a bringing
in
In
year,
the second caliph of the
638,
Omar
after besieging the city for
claimed Jerusalem,
four hundred years of
The magnificent mosque known as the built
late
on the
site of
to
Solomon's Temple
in
Muslim
Dome
rule.
of the
Rock was
Jerusalem during the
7th century.
Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre today. Inside, the
main area churches
of the
built
church
is
circular,
and many Western
during the crusading era followed this design.
:
t+t-tt+t+t+
ORIGINS Palestine pilgrims'
Omar and
Under
Abbasid successors, the non-Muslims of Jerusalem were allowed to practice their
own
religions in peace.
Fatimids took over the
grew more
city,
However,
in
DIARY OF A JOURNEY
969, the rule
(996-1021), serious persecution of both Christians and Jews began. In 1004, he ordered the destruction of
many
churches, and
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
down. The
later restored,
itself
and property
rights
NASIR-I-KHUSRAU. IN IO47 A-D.
1009, the
in
was burned
of Christians
TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN AND ANNOTATED BV
were
and the Byzantines were allowed
GUY LE STRANGE.
to
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Once
rebuild the
again, pilgrims poured into the threat
THROUGH
SYRIA AND PALESTINE.
and the atmosphere
Under Caliph al-Hakim's
hostile.
%txt Society
his
was
not far
away
city.
(see pages
But a 1
new
6-17).
LONDON 24.
HANOVER SQUARE, 1896.
The Persian traveler-poet
Khusrau out in 1046
Nasir-i set
on a pilgrimage to Mecca. In his Diary of a
The pilgrimage to
Journey through Syria Wa-Us of
and Palestine,
V
] se t
on * t here
one
of
every Muslim's
th
five
published in English in 1896, he describes Jerusalem.
main
duties.
Muslims
try to
go there
at
least
once
in
their litetime.
many t»>i st re e 'Containing a large
Mecca, the
hajj, is
ts
T
° are tinJt Usand baza*'s buu tan u
number
A building where Jews worship
** s tone.
of people."
and teach their religion.
Christians make pilgrimages to Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. American
author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, described his visit there in The Innocents Abroad (1869):
The areas
main
ot the
religion.
world
in
which
Christianity
is
the
we
stand before the most sacred Christendom the grave of Jesus. ... Stooping low, we enter the vault the Sepulchre itself. It is only about six feet by seven, and the stone couch on which the dead Savior lay extends from end to end of the apartment and occupies half its width. It is covered with a marble slab which has been much worn by the lips of pilgrims... ...
locality in
—
—
V t+ t+ 1+ 1+ t-v e+ t+ 1+ t+
Medieval Europe Medieval Europe suffered a
them. From about
sfeady sfream of invasions, from
many
Gofhs
in
and 5th
the 4th
knights. At
centuries, to Vikings from the 8th. in
the early Middle
need
based
Ages was
largely
first,
knights were
who
horseback. By the
because only
1
of this
period were headed by a
money
war. The lords
in
in
time of
turn granted
land to the fighters
who
buy
served
and
New
increased
land that belonged to lords,
political
was
working
their
own
plots
their lord's lands. Their
all,
and years
were an unceasing round
of
tending crops and animals, and their
homes were
usually small,
improving
farming methods brought
1
Oth century, the
Catholic Church
peasants, held small plots of
It
1th century,
larger, healthier populations.
Roman
task to grow food for
1
was
better harvests
From the
knights, or the church.
provision of soldiers
to
slightly.
horses and armor.
their
and the
them abruptly and
1th century,
equipped armies. So they
return for their loyalty
often ending
and
part of their lives,
their situation
could not afford large, well-
in
huts. Disease
painfully. In the
Working people, the
monarch or emperor. These rulers were not all-powerful and
one-roomed hunger were
fought on
nobles and
rich
princes had the
for defense.
granted estates to local lords
900,
they formed an upper class,
on the
Most European states
a.d.
men were
simply soldiers
The society that developed
therefore
of these
in
religious
power.
Its
and
attitude
toward violence, which Jesus
had opposed, also changed.
Many church
leaders began to
preach that fighting acceptable
in
was
a just cause,
such as the protection
of the
weak or the punishment of the wicked.
papacy
Finally,
of
during the
Gregory
VII
(1073-85), the church decided that
it
was
right to fight in
defense of Christianity. As a result,
knights gained a
image as courageous
new
"soldiers
of Christ.*
Praying monks, nuns, and priests, fighting knights,
and working peasants
tormed the three main groups in
medieval Europe.
of society
<
'
Cl"V ORIGINS
d"t (l\ tif tir
The 12th-century philosopher John of Salisbury, who became Bishop of Chartres in France, described the role of the knight.
What
new monastic
orders,
all
is
founded in
France, encouraged spiritual revival within the
Roman
Catholic
Church during the early set up their first
Middle Ages. The Cluniacs
monastery
at Cluny (below) in 910. the strict Carthusians at Chartreuse in 1084, and the
Cistercians at Citeaux in 1098.
the function of orderly knighthood? To protect the church, to fight against treachery, to reverence the priesthood, to fend off injustice from the poor, to make peace . . .
Religious Revival Three
made
Many
people
pilgrimages to the Holy Land.
in your own province, to shed
blood for your brethren, and if needs must, to
A
lay
down your
life
...
king performs the accolade, the ceremonial touch
shoulder by which a
man was made
on the
a knight.
Noble families had their sons trained for knighthood from the age of seven. Knighting involved a touch on the shoulder with fist or sword, when the words "Be thou a knight" were spoken. It might be part of a
ceremony when the knight's sword was blessed. This German blessing dates from the mid- 10th century, and prayers, was also used in England n Lo rd to our Thee. beseecn of ^y Hearken, we and France. It shows the serv-t bless religious
^ ^^ ^
church's approval of violence in "just" causes.
Sd
deign to
tbis
Tby
sssss=5Ss=sstw=*Deign to"
1
means
*be
good enough
to."
+ c+ tt e+ tt tt t+ t-v t+ t-v
The Seljuk Turks In
the mid-1 1th century, a
*n&l
new
and aggressive Sunni Muslim power, the Seljuk Turks, began a series of conquests. In
055,
1
they took Baghdad trom the
Abbasids, and
1071 drove the
in
Fatimids from Jerusalem. Their
goal
was
the magnificent city
of Constantinople.
On August
19, 1071
Seljuks
,
and Byzantines clashed
in
great battle at Manzikert
in
a _] Byzantine Empire
present-day Turkey. At the head of the Seljuk
army was Sultan
Alp-Arslan, while
Romanus
IV
^r* Seljuk advances
Emperor
Diogenes
_| Seljuk Empire
led the
1000 km
Byzantine troops. The Byzantine
army was badly equipped but about 100,000
vast, containing fighters.
Most
in a. d.
1095
of these soldiers
were mercenaries, great
The Byzantine and Seljuk Empires
commitment
Byzantine cause.
who
felt
no
to the
When
the
Following their victory at the
Twenty years
the Seljuk
later,
Battle of Manzikert, the Turks
empire stretched from northern
advanced deep
India in the east to within a
into
Seljuk sultan launched his attack,
territory.
the Byzantines were
succeeded by
catastrophically defeated.
mighty Malik Shah,
Byzantine
Sultan Alp-Arslan
was
his son, the in
1072.
miles of Constantinople west.
In
Constantinople
by brutal
civil
After the
few
the
itself,
was
defeat at Manzikert
in
in
followed
war.
death of Malik Shah
1092, a struggle
for
power
led
to the division of the Seljuk
and Some, such as the Sultanate of Rum, covered huge empire
into sultanates
emirates.
areas. Others, including the
Emirates of
Damascus and
Aleppo, were large and powerful cities
with surrounding land.
own
Each had
its
ruthlessly
pursued
own
An
ruler
his
objectives.
early
(1400s)
Constantinople.
map
of
who
t+ttttt+t+
ORIGINS The massive citadel that
still
stands outside the
town
ot
Syria
was
Aleppo
the early 1
3th century.
The Assassins
Emperor Romanus fought bravely at \§ErM Manzikert, but was wounded and captured. Vp-S-J This account is taken from Histories by the
Malik Shah was a follower of the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1090. a Shi'ite
Byzantine writer Nicephorus Bryennius, the husband of Anna Comnena (see pages 20-21). Bryennius's grandfather fought in
sect was set up to oppose him and Sunnism as a whole. Its founder was a Persian. Hasan as-Sabah.
the battle.
who resented the
'O^
A VQ Otl
Seljuk
conquest of his country. In
aU z
his stronghold high in the
Syrian mountains, he
taught not only his version of Islam but also the techniques of
murder. Hasan's terrorists became known as hashishi, because political
they were believed to take the drug hashish before their
murderous missions.
In the West, they were
known by another form this
word
—
assassins.
in
built in
of
+t+t+d+
t"V tlf dif d"t
Chapter 2
The First Crusade The Call to Crusade 081 a new ruler came to power in Byzantium Emperor Alexius Comnenus. During his In
1
,
—
reign, the
Byzantine Empire
steadily shrank as Malik
forced his 1
way
Shah
west. By the
090s, Byzantine fortunes were
improving while the divided Turks
were
in
decline. Nevertheless,
Constantinople in
was
still
where Byzantine
rulers
previously recruited soldiers,
aimed
Seljuk threat, but
to
end the
first
he needed
a substantial army. However,
had
many
was now under
Seljuk
So in 1095, Alexius sent ambassadors to Pope Urban control.
II
for help.
The emperor hoped
for
the assistance of highly trained
mercenaries to drive back the Turks. But the
Pope had a
grander enterprise
danger. Alexius
Anatolia (present-day Turkey),
In
in
mind.
November 1095, Urban
presided over a ten-day meeting of clergy in Clermont, France.
Pope Urban
A
II
public meeting
was
called for
November 27, at which an important announcement would be made. So many people came that the
chosen venue, Clermont
Cathedral, had to be abandoned. Instead, Urban's fateful
was made
in
a
field
speech
outside the
city walls. In his
speech, the Pope told of
Alexius's appeal
and explained
the need to repel the Turks.
Above
all,
he emphasized
Christians' sacred duty to free the
Holy Land, and particularly
Jerusalem, from Seljuk control.
Urban portrayed the Turks as bloodthirsty infidels, local Christians
pilgrims alike. that
and
who
He also promised
anyone who died
Pope Urban
II
killed
visiting
fighting to
preaching to clergy at
Clermont Cathedral
in
1095.
3
d"t d"t (l\ (l\
(l"V
Taking the Cross Crusaders made a public vow in front
Holy Land would have their sins forgiven
free the
and win a place Urban spoke
in
heaven.
freely of the religious
why
reasons
mention another of
his
own
objectives.
By
organizing an expedition to the Holy Land, then
hoped
taking over this sacred territory, he all
attached them to the tunics,
to bring
Christians, Orthodox as well as Catholic, under
surcoats. that they
picture below).
his control.
Even before Urban had finished speaking,
became
clear that he
emotions
of a
were going to war '"in God's cause." They were presented with a cross, as a symbol of the Christian faith. These crosses were often made of red fabric. Knights priest stating that they
people should take up arms against the Turks. He did not
THE FIRST CRUSADE
wore over
Some
branded crosses
it
known their
as
armor
(see
people, however,
directly
onto their skin.
had unleashed powerful
among
his listeners. The crowds cheered and many immediately promised to the East. The crusading movement was
their support,
head
for
under way.
Five accounts of Pope Urban's
speech in Clermont have survived. None is an exact record, but they all agree on his themes. This excerpt
comes from
the Latin Historia Hierosolymitana by Fulcher of Chartres. Fulcher was chaplain to Baldwin, one of the leaders of the First Crusade (see pages 22-23). In 1916 an English translation, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem 1095-1127, was published. This extract comes
from
it:
"Begged."
you must hasten to carry aid to your brethren dwelling in the East, who need your help, for which they have often 2.
...
e nt re
ted.
... have seized more and more of the lands of the Christians, ... have killed or captured many people, have destroyed churches, and have devastated the kingdom of God. If you allow them to continue much longer they will conquer God's faithful people much more extensively. you 4. Wherefore with earnest prayer I, not I, but God urge men of all ranks whatsoever, as heralds of Christ to
3.
For the Turks
.
"Urgently requests."
.
.
knights as well as foot-soldiers, rich and poor, to hasten to exterminate this vile race from our lands and to aid the Christian inhabitants in time.
,
1
t+ (l-\ (l\ t-V (t\ t+ d+ 1+ 1+ The People's Crusade V
""
Route
Byzantine
of the People's Crusade
Empire
Antioch
Jerusalem
/
The People's Crusade From
late
1
095, penniless monks began
to tour
France and Germany. Their powerful preaching
Peter
in
had no idea how
to control his so-called
People's Crusade. They created havoc on their
support of the crusade produced a religious frenzy
journey through Central Europe,
among thousands
of peasants.
thousand people
peasants' situation
was
recent drought
By
grow
food.
If
in
to
a shortage of
they fought
Holy Land, they were guaranteed entrance
heaven.
What was
soon
into the
return,
common
good. Hordes of people knights,
Jesus would and rewarding the
belief that
punishing the
evil
— men,
including
women, even children—joined
some
Peter
on
his
Constantinople.
The crusaders reached the later
across the Bosphorus Turkish territory.
In
into Asia,
to the Holy Land.
1
and surged
into
September, one group of
Xerigordon. The Turks then cut supply, forcing
them
Islam escaped with their
at Civetot.
Few
off
the water
to surrender or die.
of
who
lives. In
camp
way
on August
crusaders captured the Turkish castle of
people
their
city
they were transported
remaining crusaders were
on
terribly at their
hands (see box). Eventually, Emperor Alexius had send troops to escort these crusaders to
travels. In April left
of Semlin,
Belgrade.
city of
they surrendered, only those
1096, a crowd of about 20,000 Cologne in Germany for Constantinople,
four
town
to
1096. Five days
there to lose?
The most influential of the wandering monks was a Frenchman known as Peter the Hermit, whose preaching set people's hearts on fire. Peter tapped
killing
the Hungarian
Jewish communities also suffered
they stayed where they were, If
in
then sacking the Byzantine
and famine. Population increases
peasants faced poverty and hunger. for the
1095, the
especially bad, following
(see pages 14-15) had resulted land to
late
When
converted to October, the
ambushed near
them
their
survived. The
People's Crusade had been crushed.
rt+t+(L+(L'Vt+
THE FIRST CRUSADE
The Fate of the Jews Many crusaders had borrowed money from Jews to finance their expeditions to the East.
They
felt bitter
to people
at
being in debt
whom they regarded
as Christ's enemies. This
bitterness probably triggered
on Jews northern France and German cities such as Mainz and Worms. their merciless attacks in
They
and were Jews
forgot that Jesus
of his followers
many
themselves.
In this
14th-century
Hermit encourages
illustration, Peter the
women and men
of the
People's Crusade.
Anna Comnena, daughter of Alexius, %
^
to kill her brother
tried
John so that her Peter the Hermit.
husband could inherit her father's throne. She was sent away to a convent,
Turks.
where she wrote The Alexiad. Written in Greek, it is a flattering, fascinating
account of her reign. This
is
father'*
how
Anna
told the story of Peter the Hermit.
Western Christians.
This is how a historian of the First Crusade, Abbot Guibert of Nogent, described Peter the Hermit:
shoulders. There* own coun had left their
ies
...
... whatever he did or said seemed almost godlike, to such a degree that hairs were pulled from his He used to wear the simplest mule as relics with woolen tunic, a hooded cape over it, both down to his ankles, and over that, without sleeves, a cloak, and he went barefoot. He lived on wine and fish, bread rarely or never ... .
.
.
\
The Official Crusade By August 1096,
^2?=^
main
five
I
armies were massing Europe.
Hugh
of
Vermandois,
brofher of King Philip
France,
army
in
commanded
I
of
the
to set out for the
first
Holy
Land. Godfrey of Bouillon and his brothers Baldwin
and Eustace followed.
Bohemond and his nephew Tancred then led Normans from Italy, followed by the largest army, under Raymond of Toulouse. Bringing up the rear were Normans out a force of
from France,
led
by Robert of Normandy,
Robert of Flanders and Stephen of Blois.
When
the crusading armies arrived
them swear an oath
in
made
Constantinople, Emperor Alexius
of allegiance to
ensure that they fought for the good of
Byzantium and not
They promised
for their
to return
Byzantine lands they
and
own
won
from the Turks,
accept his rule over any
to
conquests.
Many
gain.
any former
new
lords tried to avoid
making
The siege is
The Official Crusade
of Antioch.
probably Bishop
The
man second
Adhemar
from the
left
of Le Puy, the Pope's
representative on the First Crusade.
400 miles Byzantine Empire
Constantinople
•«|
^^TT
Battle of
^t Dorylaeum.
Edessa
Hugh
of
Vermandois
ANATOLIA
CILICIA Antioch
i
Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin and Eustace .
Bohemond and Tancred
Raymond
of
Toulouse
Robert of Flanders, Robert of Normandy,
and Stephen •
of Blois
Combined armies
Tripoli
Acre<
Mediterranean Sea
Jerusalem
,
rt+ Hr (tt tt tt commitment, as they hoped
this
for
themselves
gave
in
Knights had to make arrangements for the care of their land before going on crusade.
in.
Seljuk troops at the Battle of
1097.
After
crusaders defeated
Dorylaeum on July
Cilicia.
Baldwin then set out
Armenian town. He offered
for
its ruler,
Thoros agreed, and
a revolt a month
became Count
knights even sold their estates to raise funds.
There were human costs, too. Many men were greatly distressed to leave their wives and children, whom they might never see again. Before he departed. Stephen of Blois donated a wood to a French abbey. "... so that God ... might ... lead me on the journey out of my homeland and bring me back healthy and safe, and watch over my wife Adela and our children."
Thoros, help
was
made during
killed
March 1098, Baldwin Edessa, and Edessa became the
later.
of
of
Edessa, the richest
against the Turks on condition that Thoros his heir.
They also had to buy horses, armor, and weapons and food and provide wages for the servants who accompanied them. Some
1
an arduous march across Anatolia, they
were welcomed by the Armenian Christians
first
Counting the Cost
carve out states
to
the Middle East. Eventually, they
After crossing into Asia, the
him
THE FIRST CRUSADE
So
in
Crusader State (see pages 28-29).
Meanwhile, since October 1097, other crusaders
had been laying siege
June 1098, an
Bohemond and his troops into the city. Muslim and many Christian inhabitants were
Armenian Every
to Antioch. In
let
slaughtered. Then a Muslim
army
led
by Kerbogha,
According to
Emir of Mosul, appeared and besieged the crusaders
in turn.
have
The crusaders, starving and
them
to defeat
its
Kerbogha.
capture,
Crusader
the city since he had organized
State.
Armor
tf*-
that protects the
chest and back.
/
(
jvfter
However,
and Antioch became the second
Ibn Al-Athir wrote a complete A history of the Muslim world u££=2 ca ^ e d Kamil at-Tawarikh nor n in (The i ne rerjeci niswryj. Born in Perfect History). of 1 160, he had no direct experience xperience oi the First Crusade. He gave detailed, though not entirely accurate,
crusaders should
returned Antioch to Alexius.
Bohemond claimed
weak, seemed doomed. But apparent miracles and visions re-inspired
their oath, the
e
accounts of the crusades from a
Muslim point of view. Here he explains how Antioch was betrayed to the crusaders.
river
GQ1N
de
opened^,
*
eIfi
**
^ore
def
tfia»
T^V
^
^ "m
^ «£« S°
o\*
a^°
davm,
* *#* sa<* *&** *e
e
They
s^^TaS **» ^
^*«reAntioch stands on the River Orontes.
ttoeir
-
\ The other crusaders
d+ Cl+ dt Cl+ (l+ Cl+ (l+
some
After taking Antioch,
crusaders, including
Hugh
Vermandois and
army,
returned
his
home. The
rest
ot
turned
south toward the greatest prize,
Jerusalem. This involved a long journey through Turkish-held
now
territory into Palestine,
ruled
by the Egyptian Fatimids.
The
way
tirst
major
occurred
battle
in late
Maarat an-Numan
two-week siege massacre of its
in
1
on the
098,
Syria.
led to
a
at
A
terrible
inhabitants, after
which the crusaders burned the city.
The march south continued
Raymond Raymond went
under the leadership of
A
of Toulouse. With
on the approach
romantic,, early 20th-century illustration to
showing the knights
of the First
Crusade
Jerusalem.
Tancred and Robert of
Normandy. Robert and Godfrey
about a month
Many
of Flanders
of Bouillon followed later.
detours meant that the
remaining 310-mi (500-km) journey to Jerusalem took six
months.
Finally,
on June
7,
1099, the crusading armies, about 20,000 strong, set up
camp
outside Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was protected by
massive walls and defended by a strong, though small, army.
The crusaders had water,
little
and no wood
food, no
to build
siege towers. However, assured
by a holy hermit, they
of victory
attacked on June 13. Their efforts
were useless. Four days
later, six
wood
ships carrying food and
arrived at Jaffa. Siege
towers were hurriedly
wheeled The assault on Jerusalem and troops
in
July 1099.
its
Egyptian rulers by Godfrey of Bouillon's
On
July
built
and
into position at night. 1
3, a
new
attack
mounted, and two days
was
later the
•
t+ d+ 1+ 1+
(l\ city
was
crusader hands.
in
Terrible
THE FIRST CRUSADE
scenes
followed as the Christians massacred thousands of
men, women, and children Neither
Jew
nor Muslim
a savage frenzy.
in
was
left alive.
Emperor Alexius, already angered by the crusaders' failure to return conquered
was
horrified at their barbarity.
did not
pause
to reflect
wrangling over task 1
fell
to
who
on
territories,
The Christian lords
their actions.
They were
should govern Jerusalem. The
Godfrey of Bouillon.
When
100, his brother Baldwin took the
and Jerusalem became the
he died
title
Crusader
third
in
of King, State.
The Taflrs The Tafurs (from the Arabic
for "poor")
were
Flemish disciples of Peter the Hermit. Like
him. they tagged along with the official armies following the collapse of the People's Crusade. Penniless, but
full
of religious fervor,
they urged the lords onward to Jerusalem. Merciless in their attacks on the Turks, they
may have joined
other crusaders in
cannibalism.
The sword and spurs (spikes attached
Crusade leader Godfrey
Raymond of Aguilers was chaplain
to
to riding boots) of
of Bouillon.
Raymond of Toulouse and
witnessed the capture of Jerusalem. In his book Historia Francorum (History of the Franks), he described the appalling events that took place immediately afterwards. Until
the writer
makes
th^m
shot enemies; others others the towers, fell from the into casting them
^em '°*f nd ^ands
^
Aarn^
anS
A type
of
»£££££ P^ °*
were to necessary to
porchway.
^
^en S
r^Sl ^your
clty It
hod.es over the matters small
Bu ^ese were and horses. compared to f^^eiigious
was
of
^^^
s
.1 Solomon men
crusaders.
of
it
^ ^ ^
Actions or
words
offensive to God.
suffered so long
from
he the
Now clear
approves
of their actions.
eir
& just an d portico of Indeed^ should reins place Knees andhridle of it had when splendid lodgement u elieve rs,
^
becomes
that he
services are
up
if
is criticizing
temple of
.*£
it
sounds as
.
^ I-^^hTtemP-nd g* *
powers ofhehe
this
statement,
^
V tt (l\ (l\ d+ 1+ t-t t+ t-v t-v
Tactics and Christian
and Muslim forces used
different battle tactics,
and
weapons,
dress.
On
Weapons
Crusaders wore a metal
bows and
arrows. They could
helmet, a padded jacket called
unleash a
hail of
an aketon, and a chain mail coat
toward the enemy or away. They
called a hauberk.
the battlefield, Christian
Armor provided
tried to split the
arrows
riding
crusaders'
knights relied on brute force.
some
They fought
arrows and swords, but the mail
be tackled individually. (See
weighed about 30
battle plan,
battalions,
in
and
weapon was
units called
main
their
men
their
weight of
their their
lances and rode
enemies
lances did not
in
kill,
If
they
enemy
did not simply ride
away. The Muslims,
who were
expert riders, often did.
kg).
page
1
(see
9) over the hauberk to
the heat away.
mares could
in battle,
twist
page 45.)
of
weapons
in
and
then race away.
variety
hand-to-hand
combat, including swords, javelins, lances,
fighters
wore
and
relied
on
skills to
clubs.
Some
leather armor,
others no armor at
mobility rather than strength. Their
so that soldiers could
Muslim soldiers used a
Muslim armies depended on if
battalions,
skin,
known as a surcoat
reflect
attacked with swords. The
the
(13.5
heavy metal
knights broiled under the Middle
tunic
a wall.
charge technique worked only
lb.
Muslim
Eastern sun. They wore a fabric
metal armor. Knights
in
lowered
toward
Inside this
the lance. Their
stallions could bear the
protection against
all.
their fighting
They
and
riding
stay alive.
turn
In
long-range fighting, soldiers used
Women
lay siege to a castle in this
13th-century
illustration.
t-V C-V
(ft THE FIRST CRUSADE
<•.+ <*.+
Siege Warfare Many battles were won and lost by sieges. These military operations, in which enemy castles and cities were surrounded and cut off from the outside world, had their
own
specialized equipment.
tall, narrow wooden structures mounted on wheels and moved close to enemy
Siege towers were
\
At the bottom, each tower housed a massive battering ram. Higher up. archers perched on the platforms that divided the tower into stories, raining arrows down on their opponents. Other useful siege items were scaling ladders and massive machines called mangonels, which hurled heavy stones, or even severed fortifications.
heads, over the walls.
This
page comes from an Arabic copy
work on medicinal plants by
of a
'Crusader.'
early Greek
writer Dioscorides. At the time of the
crusades, Arab doctors were skilled
than
their
.proven-
.
much more
European counterparts
So wounded Muslim
soldiers often
received better care than Christians.
This
is
how Anna
Comnena
(see
page
21) described crusader armor in
The Alexiad:
arr °
Ibn Al-Athir (see page 23), described the siege of Acre, in
the Third Crusade, 1190. He illustrates some of the problems of siege warfare: Wooden
siege towers often caught
fire.
Muslim armies under siege pelted the towers with Greek
fire,
but Christian
armies did not then know
how
to
r
toe * against aS d
eW^
A small round A
unit of
measurement
the length of an
adult forearm.
the Franks built three lofty wooden towers, each one sixty cubits tall. They had five floors, each crowded with soldiers. [The towers] were covered with skins, vinegar, mud, and fireresisting substances. The Franks cleared a path for their advance and brought all three up under The fighting lasted for eight the walls of Acre The Muslims were now convinced days on end They had that the Franks would take the city exhausted every stratagem to no avail, and followed this by showering the towers with Greek ...
.
make
this
substance.
. .
.
.
.
.
'Greek
fire'
was
a highly flammable
mixture of sulfur, naphtha, and other
substances.
and
lit
It
was
placed
in
before being thrown.
clay pots
raised area.
fire,
but made no impression
...
.
.
tt+t+t+
Chapter 3
ClIt Cl"V
tir tir
The Crusader States OUTREMER By
1
1
00, the crusaders controlled three states
in
the Middle East: the
pages 22-23), and Kingdom of Jerusalem (see pages 24-25). Collectively, these were known as Outremer, French for "overseas." Confined to small areas of land and hugely outnumbered by hostile native populations, County ot Edessa, the
Principality of Antioch (see
the
Europeans
in
Outremer were vulnerable. The
States, particularly King Baldwin in
Jerusalem,
tried to
improve
I
rulers of the
(see page 25) and his successors
their situation.
many Muslim
Baldwin and his fellow princes conquered including Acre (1
Turks. In
104) and Sidon
(1
1
on inland areas by winning
their hold 1
Crusader
ports,
They also strengthened
10).
territory
from Egyptians and
109, they completed their conquest of the Muslim
emirates separating Antioch from Jerusalem. These
formed the fourth Crusader
State, the
County
new
territories
of Tripoli. To defend their
lands and keep a watchful eye on Muslim armies and caravans, the
EGYPT
crusaders also created a network of castles, such as Krak des
The Crusader States
Chevaliers (see map).
When
the crusaders
first
took control
in
Outremer, they often
mistreated their Muslim subjects. However, there were not
Europeans
to cultivate land
and organize
trade,
enough
so they established
The ruins
of the
mighty Crusader fortress
Krak des Chevaliers
still
stand today.
:
d+ 11
Fulcher of Chartres, Baldwin I's chaplain (see page 19), made this candid assessment of his master's weak position during his early years as king of Jerusalem.
their
former enemies. Nevertheless,
Muslims, Jews, and Byzantines
were
made
THE CRUSADER STATES
very aware of their
inferior status.
To bring order to Outremer, the crusaders introduced feudal
government.
In
Jerusalem,
for
Also
known as
Footsoldiers.
Jaffa.
example, the king granted land to lords in return for military
and the
service,
lords in turn
granted land to knights. State affairs
were discussed and
decided
in
the High Court,
attended by the king, lords, and the masters of the Military Orders
(see pages 32-33). Muslims ran local affairs
much as
they had
always done, except that
deserted
community leaders now had report to Christian lords and collect taxes
on
to
their behalf.
The crusaders promoted
Roman
An
Christianity. In
particular, they
power
Church
The Muslims.
Catholicism over other
forms of
the
*°r
in
wanted
of the
to
end
Greek Orthodox
the Holy Land.
So they
expelled the Patriarchs of
Jerusalem and Antioch and replaced
them with Roman
Catholic bishops.
III
Wind
...
Godfrey of Bouillon. Jerusalem's first crusader ruler, requested help from Pope Paschal II in 1099. Three armies set out but
were slaughtered by the Turks on Byzantine land. The other way to reach the Holy Land was by sea. More pilgrims and soldiers began to arrive by ship from the Italian ports of Genoa. Venice, and Pisa. These cities had already provided ships, supplies, and military assistance to the crusaders. Now their power was set to increase (see
pages 30-31).
k*i.;t.-'
4 T
m
Itt+d+t+t+t+d etd+H Outremer
Life in European admired
settlers in
many
and Turkish
Outremer
aspects of Arab Middle
civilization.
Eastern customs were far better suited to the climate
gradually, they adopted
Muslim
was
generation settlers
been born
in
second-
who had
European
styles.
men began
faces behind
women
in
and
to
hid their
drums.
Most
in
for shoulder-length hair.
adopted Eastern
standards of cleanliness, too, regularly visiting
steam baths
Some
Fulk of fell
from
They
lutes
and
people learned to
and West. The Italians won the
living in
with them. influence
area
in
which the conquerors
learned from the conquered.
Dates, watermelons, lemons,
oranges, olives, and sugarcane
were new
to the settlers.
crusaders learned to mix with mountain
snow
to
The fruits
make
sorbets. They flavored their food
with spices such as pepper,
cinnamon, and ginger, which were imported from
India
and
China and widely available
in
the Middle East.
Rich crusader settlers often lived in
grander mansions than
they might have possessed at
home. They covered the floors woven carpets and the
with
far
to
and
pay a tax
10 percent
of the goods'
value, but they profits
still
made
and became
not only
Europe
For as crusaders returned
home, they took
as
Food was another important
silk,
to the king of Jerusalem of
their
new
ideas
Soon the crusader
was
The waters felt in
areas of
removed from warfare as
food and fashion.
of the Mediterranean
life still
and using soap.
They had
very wealthy.
of these novelties
Europeans
right
commodities
including sugar, spices.
huge
the Middle East but
itself.
Trade as well as passenger transport between Outremer and Europe was organized through the Italian ports of Genoa. Venice, and Pisa. Antioch. Beirut, and Acre became important centers for commerce between East
to deal in
play chess.
affected
settlers
— King
on instruments such as
Muslim counterparts. Soldiers
The
for deer
also listened to music and played
veils, like their
their short military
to
hare. (This could be
exchanged crops
many pastimes Men
the Middle East.
his horse during a hunt.)
toed sandals, and sometimes turbans, while
There were enjoy
Jerusalem died when he
flowing robes, open-
light,
the sun.
dangerous
was
influenced by Middle Eastern
wear
fountains and greenery
went hunting with hawks
(chickens).
Crusader dress
They also
tables.
created Islamic-style gardens,
This
Outremer and were
known as pulani
silver
provided shelter from the heat of
some
lifestyles.
particularly true of
on carved
plates
Trading Profits
hangings.
silk
They ate from gold and
whose
and
conditions than their own, so
features of
walls with fine
lap the
1
today. Since part of Israel.
Sea
2th-centuiy walls of Acre 1
948, the
city
has been
.
rt+t+t+t+ti
THE CRUSADER STATES
I'sama ibn Munqidh was one of the emirs of Syria. He met many influential Syrians, Egyptians, and crusaders during a long, eventful life (1095-1 188). His autobiography, Kitab al-Itibar (Book of Instruction with Illustrations), tells how some crusaders followed Islamic dietary laws.
Vr
A crusader r
rv^e
Governor
01
vattoch.}
ftiend
orve^*M."A wtn corned w vistt "* V" „ said to «*
^
.
An ibn
original
page
of Arabic script
from
Usama
Munqidh's book.
tvaveE© y
-opifes serV6 *«* h ouseV into *&»
Islam forbids fhe eating of pork.
Fulcher of Chartres (see pages 19 and 29) described the ways in which many Europeans adapted to living in the Middle East.
Muslims. People from the
West
Been baptized as Christians.
we who were become Orientals... We have ...
3.
have
For
now
already forgotten the places of our birth;... 4. Some already possess homes or households "by inheritance. Some have taken ... Syrians or [as wives] who have Armenians or even obtained the grace of baptism languages in 5. People use ... d .
.
conversing back and forth. Words of different languages have become property known to each nationality, and mutual faith unites those who are ignorant of their descent. ...
Many
different.
—
V tir
The Military Orders Two
orders of soldier
monks
(see page
men
2), the
1
called
dedicated themselves to the
themselves Knights Templar. Like
struggle tor the Holy Land.
the Hospitallers, the Templars
Crusader
valued them,
rulers
took
permanent Christian armies
in
About
of St.
1
070, merchants from set up the Hospital
in Italy
John
in
Jerusalem
1113, the Pope
In
monks who
recognized the
Raymond du
Puy,
monks
duty
first
to
into a fighting
order, called Knights Hospitaller,
VSfilr-
Jerusalem, but
they soon took on a broader military role.
These
military orders attracted
donations from the pious,
many
in
countries that brought substantial
incomes. Their prestige ensured from the noble families of
recruits
Europe. Rich and independent
the order's second Master,
turned the
Their
to protect the pilgrim route
including estates
ran
the hospital as an independent religious order.
was
to care
for Christian pilgrims, especially
the sick.
of poverty, chastity,
from the coast
the Middle East.
Amalfi
vows
and obedience.
since they were the only
S!jP|l!!g!!p
they were answerable only to the
Pope
—
they
managed crusader
The painful death suffered by many Knighfs Templar century
shown
is
in
the early
1
4th
in this illustration
from
the period.
after the Hospital of St.
The second
founded knight
in
1
Hugh
1
1
of
9 by French Payens and
others. Their headquarters at the royal
As
this
site of
was
palace
in
castles, organized
John.
military order
was
money
were
Jerusalem.
Solomon
to
though
in
and
wage
war.
in
lent
still
for
kings
exist,
a different form (see
page 57). But arrested
armies
rulers,
The Hospitallers
eight
near the supposed
the Temple of
crusader
all
Philip IV of
France
the French Templars
1307, and the order was
A meeting Paris
in
1
of the Knights
Templar
in
147. The participants are
wearing the order's trademark white tunics
marked with
painting
is
red crosses. The
by French
artist
Granet (1775-1849).
Marius
.
ttttt+ett+ THE CRUSADER abolished
accused
ot
crimes against
were burned
its
Some
at the stake.
think that he resented their
Hospitaller made clear that there was no easy life ahead:
Others
guilty.
power and needed
to those
wishing to join the Knights
historians think that
genuinely believed they were
Philip
The address given
members were Christianity, and many
1312. At the time,
in
STATES
their
money.
... when you would desire to eat, will be necessary for you to fast,
The original document of the Chippenham land
it
and when you would wish to fast, you will have to eat. And when you would desire to sleep, it will be necessary for you to keep watch, and when you would like to watch, you will have to sleep. And you will be sent this side of the sea and beyond and you will have to go there. It will be necessary for you
grant (see below).
.
.
.
.
.
to endure other hardships in the Order, more than I can describe ... ...
The Teutonic Knights In 1190. during the Third Crusade (see pages
German merchants set up a hospital in Acre. In 1191. the monks there were recognized as a new religious order, and in 1198 they became a fighting order, the 46-47).
« »U*
-T!, -
h& rpfflf
:,
,
.
US* A»—**« *»
Teutonic Knights. These military monks,
were
all
members
of the
German
who
aristocracy,
fought for the Holy Land until Christians were expelled in 1291.
J
t«V
..» J|»n.
*«
'
>-;_ f.-a^Sf
taid
-i
V ,„
IABtSi
I
.,-*<*
Ly« l»J»3»a<>tma?U fEttS
••: KjcOi
lo'-frfr.
tV,m .««dL-
f .••
*km W..,.p..pn,'»jycTu1 do..cf..T!\!acelV;.i7CttV-*c A n.juT^n
l
..> ..»
v-.^r^ J Xin (S«fr
Vit3nr.4>««~ttAfB»l
W V'
(V-" r~..nl
a sis'*
ci«fc*--Wt»
fw^Sl 9|«BMc
in
mliV.**
*-
Nr^..
:
rr...
V
1 -
tf| 1
•'•
r».iT'.-!*-".f fr-^-:
™pnnnJ
U,..l d.a«.ef-> \ f.fc.tf ....
C..rra
fjffl fi
&~ «"* .^.f I
»«=>£«>
pip
d.aTil
IMiJUi fall |ti tl
KcVrmfi
il.fc*.
f^}T
pages 52-53). »•
w.,
>.
to
(Uffl,
sn„ c>..-v
„
;
;•
>vi.,
Vs.UL
Kslc
t^^ mil
5
Around 1280, a man granted land in
Chippenham, Cambridgeshire, to the Knights Hospitaller: People hoped that into
heaven
if
God would allow them away land and
they gave
property to the military orders.
8J1C6SW*
had
organized violent crusades against Prussians. Lithuanians, and other pagan peoples (see
.'Kl»t.-.„ 1
that time they
another power base in northern Europe, around the Baltic Sea. From there, they
tpmf& id tVq
>
f"
By
8
elds Of
^
iftirt'tt'V
chapter4
tirtirt'ttir
The Muslims Fight Back A Divided World i
The loss of Jerusalem (see
pages 24-25) was a devastating blow
to the
Muslims, but they
failed to fight
some
back
effectively for
years. The Turks
were not
only at odds with the Egyptians but also divided
among
themselves. Rival emirs fought
sons of Shah (see pages 16-17) engaged in a family struggle to endlessly, while the
Malik
succeed him. However, as the crusaders continued to extend their territories
Muslims
Minarets rise above the crowdea streets of
Damascus
in Syria.
(see pages 28-29), realized that they
must
Mohammed
asked Mawdud, the
unite or face further losses. In
Emir of Mosul, to lead a
1110, the Turkish Sultan
Muslim assault on the crusaders
joint
in
Edessa. Although they were not
able to capture the state,
Mawdud's
many
forces slaughtered
Christian civilians. Later
Muslim attacks on Aleppo and
Damascus
also had limited
success, but the tide had begun to turn. in
11
Mawdud's
career ended
13 when he was
an assassin (see page
killed 1
by
7), but
by then, another Muslim leader
was
emerging.
The new leader was
who had
llghazi, a
unorthodox general
gifted but
fought with
Mawdud
against the Christians.
1118,
In
the inhabitants of Aleppo asked
him to become ruler of their city, which many Turkish and crusader leaders had long battled to win.
Now
it
was under
threat from a
Crusaders and Muslims
hand
in this
fight
hand
grim scene, while
horses die unnoticed.
their
to
.
t+t+t+t+ti Christian prince,
Roger
Jihad
of
On June 28, 1119, and his army surrounded
Antioch. llghazi
Roger's forces as they
A
slept.
disastrous defeat followed for the Christians. his
Roger and most of
men were
killed,
THE MUSLIMS FIGHT BACK 35
and the few
Muslim refugees from the carnage
in Jerusalem and from other conquered territories fled to Aleppo (below) and Damascus. There they encouraged Turkish rulers and Arab subjects alike
wage a holy war. or jihad (see page 11). against the Christians. From this time on jihad helped unite Muslims against their common enemy and inspired them to reclaim their lands. to
survivors were tortured. The terrible loss of
life
led the
crusaders to christen the
Ager Sanguinis,
battlefield
Latin
for 'Field of Blood."
on and was soon
llghazi failed to build
great victory
his
driven back by King Baldwin
II
of
Jerusalem. After llghazi's death, his
nephew Balak regained some
former Muslim
managed
territory
to imprison
himself. Balak never
chance
to
leader the
become
and even
Baldwin
had the
the great
Muslims needed.
In
124 he was killed during a siege, and the Christians were 1
again free to continue
their
conquests. But not for long.
The following two accounts describe the horrific "Field of
Blood. Walter, Roger of Antioch's chancellor, gives a Christian viewpoint. The Muslim account was written later by Kamal ad-Din,
Suddenly the flags and standards of the heathens appeared from the mountainsides among the olives... Prince Roger declared: "Soldiers of Christ, ... let us ...serve today as soldiers for God in a successful battle, whether we end up alive or .
.
.
dead." Prince Roger engaged in the struggle with steadfast mind. Although his men lay cut down and dead on all sides, he never retreated or looked back, but ... obeyed the command of God ... by fighting energetically against the force of the entire [Walter] military might . .
God gave
victory to the Muslims. The Franks camp were slaughtered. The Turks fought superbly. Arrows flew thick as locusts, and the Franks, with missiles raining down on infantry and cavalry alike, turned and fled. The cavalry was destroyed, the infantry cut to pieces, the followers and servants were all taken prisoner. Roger was killed but [only] twenty ...
who
fled to their
.
who produced two histories of Aleppo, the city
where he was born
in a.d.
1192.
Muslims were escaped.
15,000
lost
.
.
.
A few of the
men
fell
.
whereas only twenty Franks
leaders got away, but almost [Kamal ad-Din] in the battle ...
\ t+ 1+ t-V t+ 1+ (it t-V t+ tt
The Fall of Edessa Another
skillful
warrior,
came
Din Zengi,
Imad ed-
to the rescue
after Balak's death.
He
restored
Zengi had been unable to capture
led
Damascus
army. There
was no
realized that
he had been
Syria from
in
Muslim governor, Unur.
its
After his
shattered Muslim pride, dealing a
success against the crusaders he
mighty blow to the Christians by
decided to
capturing a Crusader State.
besieged the
Imad ed-Din Zengi was a
try
Muslims but
with a forceful personality.
Jerusalem
1
127, he became Emir of Mosul,
and a year
later
took over
Aleppo. Then he set out to
expand
his territory. Zengi's
motives were mixed. He had a deep-rooted wish to expel the
crusaders by waging holy war against them. But at the time, he
was hungry
power over as
large
same
for
an area
as possible. So he captured lands from Turks as well as Christians, tackling his
Turkish rivals
first.
By
1
1
35,
Zengi controlled a string of
towns
in Iraq
Zengi's
and
first
Syria.
major
strike
against the Christians took place
in
1
137,
when he
defeated the forces of King Fulk of Jerusalem. Then a
strange alliance
was made.
The marriage of Fulk of Anjou to Melisende of Jerusalem.
and
The
in
1
140
city's
inhabitants turned not to fellow
rough, straight-talking soldier In
again,
city.
1
1
to the
crusaders of
for support. In
June
40, Christian forces led by
King Fulk joined Muslim forces
by Unur to form a massive
outmaneuvred and
battle.
Zengi
retreated to
Aleppo with his troops.
r
successful. Joscelin,
In
1
Count
The Death of Zengi
was much more
144, he attacked an of the
THE MUSLIMS FIGHT BACK 37
<*
Following his great victory in Edessa. Zengi
ally of
became a hero. He continued his campaigns two more years, but was still unable to take Damascus. In 1 146. he set out on yet
Crusader State of Edessa.
Joscelin promptly went to his ally's aid, leaving
Edessa
largely
Edessa
for four
for
undefended. Zengi then besieged
strong, so the besieging soldiers tunnelled
another expedition to capture the city. On the way, he shouted at one of his slaves, who had
underneath them. On Christmas Eve, Zengi ordered
dared to drink from his master's cup. The
his
men
The
city
in.
to set
weeks. Edessa's
fire
to the
wooden
were
fortifications
had his revenge. During the night of September 14. he waited until Zengi fell asleep. Then he stabbed him to death in slave
tunnel supports.
walls above collapsed and soldiers rushed
The state had
fallen.
The Islamic world rejoiced
at this
new
events. But the Christian world recoiled
Something would have
to
his bed.
turn of
in
horror.
be done.
Ibn AI-Athir (see page 2 3 ) was a great j supporter of Zengi, and always j
emphasized isized his
virtues, as
in this account:
Michael the Syrian, a Christian Jacobite (died 1 199), recorded the of Edessa in his Chronicle. Zengi allowed only Roman Catholic Christians to be massacred at Edessa, st,s because he regarded them as e prie Muslims' particular
Fall
^
enemies. Soon after the events described here, he stepped in to prevent the slaughter of Greek Orthodox, Jacobite, and other Eastern Christians.
Roman
Catholic ministers
who were
less important than a priest.
Odessa
-was tr A(*&
^
,cred,
2§g=s» oqSist,a^
s
,
waS
%T ^o^n ^ ^ sons, ^ tfiett s
otto®
{org'
,und-
cut-
fttt
tfrera
#& and
ga^ered tier 3loic^s sword tlae to dieW
or Toe
,
1
tt tt QJl
(l\
Stunned by events appealed
to
in
Edessa, the crusaders
Pope Eugenius
then called on Louis
VII
III
for help.
1
Eugenius
of France to lead
an army
146, Bernard preached at Vezelay
his
eagerly. The
famous
preacher, Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot of the
Cistercian order (see
page
15).
crusade.
On March 31
France. After
Second Crusade was under way.
The German king, Conrad
to the Holy Land. Louis enlisted the help of a
in
sermon, hundreds of people took the cross
In
May
147
1
his
III,
also joined the
armies took the land
route to Constantinople, then crossed into Asia,
where they were attacked by a vast Seljuk army.
Ji^^y^yySB
Conrad was among the few crusaders The French reached Constantinople
to survive. in
early
met the remains of Conrad's army, and the combined forces made their way east. At Antioch, Raymond, its ruler, tried to persuade October. They
Louis to join an attack against Nur ed-Din (see
pages 40-41). The king refused, determined
to
press on to Jerusalem. Louis
and Conrad attended a grand meeting
Acre arranged by King Baldwin
They agreed with the
Damascus region. 1
1
—
When
III
in
of Jerusalem.
local princes to attack
the only friendly Muslim city
in
the crusaders rode into battle
48, they failed to take the
city.
the in
May
Defeated and
depressed, Louis and Conrad returned to Europe.
At the Council of Acre
(left,
top), the Christian kings
Baldwin, Conrad, and Louis agreed to besiege the Muslim city of
Damascus
Eleanor of Aqi itaine At Vezelay. Eleanor of Aquitaine took the cross along with her husband King Louis VII (right).
Mam
7
noblewomen
Some people praised them of distracting men
followed.
their piety, others accused
from serious crusading. Eleanor was accused of having an
Raymond, her
affair
uncle, while at Antioch.
with
She certainly
supported his plan to attack Nur ed-Din against her husband's wishes. Louis left for Jerusalem, forcing Eleanor to go with him. Eleanor and Louis had also failed to produce a male heir, and on their return to
France in 1152. they were divorced. In 1154. Eleanor married Henry II of England and became the mother of Richard
I
(see
pages 46-47).
(left,
bottom).
Kt
(l\ ti"
(l-\ (l-\ Odo
of Deuil
was Louis
^wwditnuAMwecniA uobntmr^ ff fWfi,f«
VH's chaplain during the Second Crusade. In his book, The Journey of Louis VII to the East, he describes the extraordinary events in Vezelay when Bernard of Clairvaux preached there in 1 146. A page from Odo's book, which was
written
in
THE MUSLIMS FIGHT BACK 39
Sl£?**'
r„ t0TO , „
ff
l
,ll-Bl
«f
n-Q »A( (W iiicrittf Ycmp cym,,
-**r
imc .jiiwrittti ffffipHW,,,
fj
^, fr
«l«»ff*,,i, T ff«irciprt{.M!ttf iru
fur
Latin
Bernard, speaking as inspired by God.
mpwaitmunn. Cxyl^J,. ... since there was no place within the town which could accommodate such a large crowd, a wooden platform was erected outside in a field ... [Bernard] mounted the platform accompanied by the king, who was wearing the cross; and
when heaven's rument poured
men tmtt mmtfano MTTT,
m„,
with loud outcry the dew of the divine word people on every side began to demand crosses. And when he had sowed ... the parcel of crosses which had been prepared beforehand, he was forced to tear his own garments into crosses and to
sow them
X^"* d ** rrftB fW*
forth
Bernard had to throw them into the crowd
like
hand them
seed rather than
out.
abroad...
In his history, William of Tyre, chancellor of
Jerusalem during the reign of Baldwin IV (1174-1185), describes the attack on Damascus. The crusaders began well, but for unknown reasons they left their strong position in the orchards and lost the battle.
m
^.-u rvf
the
^^CmVolsexnon assembled Jsotn May, 25
S* ^ .
t^erefore
n
f ^£T^
es a -
forces fo ,i as the combined
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...
S
Damascus
hy seizing most of
deal
{
protection
****%££&** there was no
ease...
'
i
to start
^°
the
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sa^u°^*fbeslto
they marched *e city was to y siege orchards which
with
was and foot-
the realm
I
-
I
t+ t-V t+ 1+ t-t tt tt t-t t+ Syria United V
After the
death of Zengi, his son, Nur ed-Din,
became the champion of Islam. Unlike Zengi, Nur ed-Din was a pious Muslim, but he was just as good as Zengi
in
a
begun
set out to finish the
work
of unifying Syria. In
June
his father 1
149,
had
his troops
almost wiped out the armies of Raymond of Antioch
and
killed
Raymond
himself (see page 38). Nur
ed-Din put Raymond's skull sent
it
to the Caliph of
Many
other cities
1
camped
54, he
was
Damascus.
outside the
food and unhappy
a silver casket and trophy.
before Nur ed-Din's 1
the greatest Syrian prize,
troops
in
Baghdad as a
fell
advancing armies. By
divided.
Nur ed-Din proved to be an inspired
recapture of Jerusalem. However, as Emir of Aleppo, first
weak and
fight.
Nur ed-Din was committed to jihad and the he
opened the gates to the army. Syria was again strong and united, while the Crusader States were
city.
with their
Its
own
up a
fair
system
of taxes
administration, with a governor
a judge baths,
each major
in
and
in
city.
Damascus even
mosques
He
set
in
each region and
built hospitals, public
a hippodrome for
(see box). Although an austere
personally spent
little
money, he
residence, the Golden Palace
in
built
a
man who
new
Damascus, where
he kept a magnificent court.
Nur ed-Din knew the value of propaganda. He
In April, his
citizens, short of
soon
He
ruler.
efficient
horse racing. He also constructed numerous
ready to tackle
ruler,
and an
The
city of
Damascus
today.
\
6
t+ 1\ e+ (l\ d-t employed people
to write
.
THE MUSLIMS FIGHT BACK 41
songs, poems, and
speeches describing what an excellent
and what a stout detender
ruler
he
of Islam. Couriers
was
had
time traveled by horse and camel documents between governors, but Nur ed-
for a long
carrying
Din introduced a new, quicker
messages efficient. in
—
means of relaying was just as
carrier pigeons. This
war as
it
was
in
everyday
life.
Under Nur ed-Din, Syria prospered. But there
were
still
battles to
battleground
was
be fought
for Islam,
and the new
Egypt.
Mosques, Madrasas, and Khanqas Nur ed-Din promoted Sunni
He built number of
Islam.
many mosques and increased the religious schools, known as madrasas, from
1
to 58. Religious institutions called khanqas
also flourished,
where followers
of Sufism. a
mystical branch of Islam, studied and
worshiped. The Sufis played a significant role in the jiliad against Christians. But they also preached the importance of waging jihad
against one's
own
sins.
A
This is how Ibn Al-Athir (see page 23) described Nur ed-Din.
1
3th-century Seljuk
madrasa
in
Turkey.
Among his virtues were austerity, piety, and a knowledge of theology. His food and clothing and all his personal expenditure came out of income from properties bought with his legal share of .
.
.
booty and money allocated for communal Muslim interests ... He had a good knowledge of Muslim On the law. but he was not a fanatic .
. . .
.
he had no equal; he carried two bows Among his and quivers into the fray with him. for all the cities and public works he built walls
battlefield
.
Abu Shama.
a
teacher born in
Damascus
fortresses of Syria.
.
.
.
in
r\Pl?S
tO
1203, compiled the anthology Kitab arRaudatain (The Book of the Two Gardens). Here he describes Nur ed-Din's use of carrier pigeons:
tW year
^itti
tt*l>
P^f^ey ^
to^eW
'se aa* **
once
^otf,
ai**°*
a
K-VG.+
t+t+t+CHr
Chapter 5
The Third and Fourth Crusades The Rise of Saladin In
1
had
162, Amalric
came
power
to
Jerusalem. He
in
Nur ed-Din's Syria,
to act against
to prevent the powertul
Muslim
ruler
to the north,
trom taking
over Fatimid Egypt, to the south. Otherwise,
surrounded by one united body of Muslims, his
kingdom would at invasion, in
A year
However, Amalric's
163,
was
a
an Egyptian
later,
Nur ed-Din
fall.
1
Shawar, asked
vizier,
overthrow the
to
Shi'ite rulers of
and replace them with a Sunni government
Shawar
himself.
Nur ed-Din as
attempt
first
failure.
Egypt led
by
Shawar would recognize
In return,
and give him land and
his overlord
money. Nur ed-Din agreed, and sent an army
led
by a gifted Kurdish general called Shirkuh. With Shirkuh went his young
nephew
Saladin.
Shirkuh defeated the Egyptians easily and 1
164, Shawar returned to Cairo
broke the promises he had
triumph.
in
Shirkuh
was
Shawar turned
The king intervened, and
forced out.
Encouraged by crusaders
made
their
success,
in
1
1
68
town
1
When
168.
of Bilbeis,
they arrived
in
the Egyptian
still
on
his side.
they massacred the city's inhabitants and
went on
was
in
Shawar was astonished. He had
thought that the crusaders were
When
the
a pact with the Byzantines to
conquer Egypt. The crusader army set out October
May
made and commanded
Shirkuh to leave. Shirkuh refused, so to Amalric for help.
in
He then
to besiege Cairo,
he realized his position
hopeless. So he shamelessly turned back to
Nur ed-Din and Shirkuh
This portrait of Saladin
Muslim
artist.
It
is
the
was most
painted during his lifetime by a realistic picture existing of this
great leader.
for help.
army that included 8,000 cavalry, hurriedly set out for Egypt. Outnumbered and also outmaneuvered, the
When
crusaders retreated. Shirkuh pushed onward and on
his place
January 8,
Nur ed-Din died
Shirkuh, Saladin, and an
1
1
69, entered Cairo. Ten days
later,
Shawar was assassinated by Saladin and a group f colleagues, and Shirkuh became the new vizier.
he died
and
in
March, of overeating, Saladin took
later in
Saladin returned to
former master's
became 1
1
Sultan of Egypt.
74, his son
was
Damascus and took
role there, too.
When
only ten, so
over his
^ \
THE THIRD & FOURTH CRUSADES 43
The Kurds Shirkuh, Saladin. and
many
other soldiers in the armies
Nur ed-Din were Kurds. Most Kurds were poor farmers and shepherds in of
northern
Iraq,
western Iran,
and eastern Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Before the Seljuks invaded, they
had established small Muslim states, ruled by princes. They lost much their territory to the
of
Turks
and accepted them as
rulers.
Zengi (see pages 36-37) was the
Turk Kurds
actively to
first
recruit
for his armies,
a practice continued by
Nur Flocks of sheep and their shepherds
still
roam
the ancient lands of the Kurds today.
In the 13 th century, an canon of a London church wrote a
anonymous
book about King
Salads
Richard I (see pages 4647) called Itinerarium regis Ricardi. It included a highly critical account of Saladin's early
ed-Din.
„v»*w,
ws great **"£%* W* **£ and
^ aS
^ *?£&> W ** e
%£ tetftff*
* Sp attern of con fee ** p«ed *£ nS not ^°t ^s narae
Soever,
^
;
^e oi t
n
,
^o
life.
The anglicized form of *Yusuf (see below).
According to Saladin's
own
account, he was reluctant to leave Syria for Egypt:
.
.
.
My uncle
Shirkuh turned to
me and
said:
"Tusuf, pack your things, we're going." When I heard this order, I felt as if my heart had been pierced "by a dagger, and I answered, "In God's name, even were I granted the entire kingdom of Egypt, I would not go." In the end I did go with my uncle. He conquered Egypt, then died. God then placed in my hands power that I had
never expected...
1 t+ tt tt t+ 1+ t+ t+ dir t-H
The Recapture of Jerusalem Saladin
was committed
and the recapture
of
to jihad
Jerusalem
from the Christians, but he also
had Turkish opponents
in cities
such as Aleppo and Mosul. They believed that Saladin
was
too
lowly to rule over them, and that
Nur ed-Din's young son, as-Salih,
was
the rightful
heir.
Saladin fought Christians and Turks alike.
1183 he
In
conquered Aleppo, uniting Syria
and Egypt under
his control
and
trapping the Crusader States inside his territories.
The
Christians had other problems, too. In
1185, King Baldwin
IV of
Jerusalem died of leprosy. His Baldwin
heir,
V,
died a year
later,
Saladin leads his troops into Jerusalem to reclaim
it
tor the
Muslims.
plunging Jerusalem into dispute
Guy of was crowned, but he
over the succession.
of Hattin.
Lusignan
area
was no match
inevitable conflict.
knight
who had
arrived
A
in
famous people
Italian in
book about
world history.
around
their
the to the lit
fires
camp. During the
night of July 3-4,
1187, the
Muslim forces surrounded the
the
battle
Saladin and provoked the
knights and foot soldiers of
1
ruler's hatred. At the
end
186, Reynold broke a truce
began
at
dawn, and the
Jerusalem were out.
but wiped
all
Those who survived,
by attacking a Muslim caravan
including King Guy, were
on the way from Cairo
taken prisoner.
1
to
The Kingdom
187, Saladin
of
Jerusalem
had ever commanded, around
was now at Saladin's He moved across the
60,000 men, and
conquering
greatest
army he
set out to
confront the Christians. 5th-century image ot Saladin
in
add
to
weak, water-starved army. The
Damascus. In assembled the
1
and
Holy Land during the Second
of
comes from an
dry,
Crusade, he had long taunted
Muslim
This
The only well
Christians' thirst, Saladin
for Saladin.
Reynold of Chatillon brought
on the
was
Finally,
The great clash took place searing heat beneath a twin peaks
known as
hill
in
with
the Horns
its
cities
on October
entered Jerusalem
mercy. land,
one by one.
2,
1187, he
itself.
Almost
ninety years of Christian rule
the city had
come
to
an end.
in
t+ 1+ 1+ tir (^
THE THIRD & FOURTH CRUSADES 45
The True Cross The Bishop
of
Acre had carried a precious
m.u^Kj^
'•U.
Christian relic into the Battle of Hattin. This
was believed to be a piece of the True Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. During the fighting, the bishop was killed and the holy relic fell into Muslim hands. The Christians saw this as an omen of disaster and sank into
~~ r»ii-ii"
—
'
tS'SP"
•
i
^
-
omh>
•m>
4
3-
-
great despair.
?/
rw
fjnp
4
3
\\
ranrm
.T—n-rr,
Imad ad-Din was Sa ladin's chancellor and secretary. He wrote a history of his master's recapture of Jerusalem, and here he describes the scene after the Battle of Hattin. few
>
of
^
3 only U covered disclosed
neraie s _-was _Q
aU^f^e piamcorpses,
B vedere sa":,oners rS
^* w
t,ne
— ^ ^oW ,
and ax-
est
Tas*se'prison ;one^*-s Trme
dust <^bU
.
-^>s££ ^
8
scattered
o
Here Ibn Al-Athir (see page 23) of the efforts of Muslims to cleanse their holy shrines once they had recaptured Jerusalem. tells
Arabic,
-vntib-
meaning *God
is
great.'
name
of a
mosque.
val^
A
e
positions from
s d aUey
^r^ IT
,
battle plan
showing troop
one of
Saladin's manuals.
&*#*JZL
pS
... At the top of the cupola of the Dome of the Rock there was a great gilded cross. When the Muslims entered the city on the Friday, some of them chmbed to the top of the cupola to take down the cross... a great cry went up from the city and from outside the walls, the Muslims crying in their joy, the Franks groaning in consternation and grief. So loud and piercing was the cry that the earth shook. Saladin ordered that the shrines should he restored to their original state. The Templars had built their living-quarters against al-Aqsa, with This was all restored to storerooms and latrines its former state. The Sultan ordered that the Dome of the Rock should he cleansed of all pollution, .
.
.
. .
and The
-nb- TTb.e
L
this
was
done...
.
tt t+ 1+ Cl+ Cl+
Mediterranean
Sea
The Third Crusade When
the
news
Pope Gregory
of Jerusalem's
fall
reached
he appealed
for
a
VIII,
third
across Anatolia
crusade
to restore the city to the Christians. Three rulers
were
to
head the avenging armies:
of France, Richard
Lionheart),
I
of
Philip
and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
of
189. Richard and
190, aiming
meet
Philip set out
Messina
in
Sicily before
continuing to the Holy Land.
1
Richard's fleet Sicily late.
Germany. However, Frederick drowned on the way
1
from France
Augustus
England (Richard the
in
Winter
to
at
in
was delayed, so he arrived in was coming and the weather
was
too bad to travel east by sea, so the crusaders
had
to wait
on the
March 1191, caught
in
collect his
island until spring. Finally,
make
shipwrecked mother and
Berengaria,
was
Philip set sail. Richard's fleet
a storm, and he had to
in
in
a detour to
his wife-to-be,
Cyprus. While there, he conquered
the island.
The kings' destination
in
the Holy Land
was
the
important trading port of Acre (see page 30), where a siege had been the city were
its
Christians led by
had
freed)
progress for two years. Inside
Muslim
Guy
When
forces,
rulers.
Outside were
of Lusignan
and Conrad
were Saladin's attacks.
in
who
new
including a catapult called "God's
in
1
191, he
siege engines,
Own
Richard arrived with twenty-five
Sling.*
war
galleys
June, he provided the leadership that the
Christians needed to take the King Philip and his troops at Acre during the Third Crusade.
Saladin
Beyond them
launched frequent
Philip arrived in April
helped the Christians to build
When
(whom
of Montferrat.
city.
On
July
1
1
,
Acre
surrendered. Saladin had suffered a serious defeat.
\
.
tir
tt (l\ (l\ (l\
THE THIRD & FOURTH CRUSADES 47
Women at War
Imad ad-Din
page 45) describes how women took part in the Third Crusade. He clearly did not approve, but thought their conduct would help
Richard did not welcome women on crusade. He tolerated those who tagged along to do the
washing or pick the fleas from his soldiers' skin and hair, but he did not want them as fighters. However, he had failed to consider female courage and determination. Several writers record the active part that
played in the Third Crusade as
.
the Muslims to win.
women
shown
(see
Armor
that protects the chest
and back.
below.
Among the Franks there were indeed women who rode into battle with cuir b and helmets, dressed in men's clothes; who rode into the thick of the fray and acted like brave men although they were but tender women, maintaining that all this was an act of piety, thinking to gain heavenly rewards by it, and making it their way of life. Praise be .
.
.
him who led them into such error and out of the paths of wisdom! On the day of battle more than one woman rode out with them like a knight and showed [masculine] endurance in spite of the weakness [of her sex] clothed only in a coat of mail they were not recognized as women until they had been stripped of their arms to
;
.
The History of the Holy War by
Ambroise explains how King Richard conducted the siege of Acre from his sickbed. He,
was
suffering from a fever called arnaldia. Its unpleasant effects include hair and like Philip,
nail loss.
WmVll
many of o^s)dUwith
^~a hp shot S lvt hy^°
the enemy the arbalest
w
Wled i the tower, them set wood and
removed.
.
of large
crossbow.
der
^
Engineers.
A
frequent of part ower. a the to at t
Suf^rpteees
A type
Ws
^
^ & wWf °°Z Bichard offered stone for each
Wows
.
A
giant catapult
usea
tor
rocks.
throwing
2
It t-V tt t-V
King Philip went
fell,
home, but Richard had set his heart on recapturing Jerusalem. Richard
left
City in
August
armies
down
Acre for the Holy 1
191, leading his
the coast toward
but stopped
City,
1
mi (20 km) from his
He had
goal.
misgivings about holding the it
was
in
once
city,
Christian
was
Jaffa. His ships sailed alongside
hands. He
carrying supplies and baggage.
worried about his
On September
ships while the
7, Saladin
launched a full-scale attack outside the town of Arsuf, but
was
When
forced to retreat.
Richard's troops finally
reached
Jaffa, they took the city easily.
was
Richard
who knew
a
conquest of
Jerusalem, a strongly city far inland,
task.
He
Saladin,
was
tried to
who
a
determined to negotiate a solution.
1192, Richard's
In
worries deepened
he heard that
difficult
John was
refused to meet
him, but sent his brother,
al-Adil.
The two men could not agree,
seemed inevitable. In December 191, Richard led his army toward the Holy
and
to Jaffa,
fortified
negotiate with
army
inland.
Reluctantly, he turned
back
man
realistic
that the
was occupied
also
over
trying to take
England. He also
in
knew
when
his brother
that Philip
was
threatening his lands in
France.
battle
This
1
2th-century illustration
1
shows
(top) the capture of
Richard
I
on
his
way home
across
Europe and (bottom) kneeling
How an
artist
(below,
left)
imagined Richard
and Saladin
in
I
combat.
front of his final captor,
Henry
VI.
in
Emperor
1
a
'
+ tit-Vt-!rt+ June, Richard
In
Jerusalem
made one
last
encourage Saladin
to
to
THE THIRD & FOURTH CRUSADES 49 Baha ad-Din, one of Saladin's
march on compromise.
officials,
Meanwhile, Saladin seized Jaffa. Richard hurriedly returned to recapture
it.
Both
and weary
ill
Richard and Saladin signed a three-year
truce
September
in
1
Five
On
way back
his
192.
months
home.
for
In
later,
book is called Sultanly Anecdotes and Josephly Virtues (Joseph was Saladin's first name, see pages 4243). The author flatters his master, In English, this
of
conflict,
October, Richard sailed
was
Saladin
dead.
across Europe, Richard
captured by Leopold of Austria,
whom
was
but is honest. He supports the view, shared by many crusaders, that Saladin was an honorable man.
he had
offended at Acre by throwing his standard into a
moat. Leopold sold him on to Emperor Henry Richard a vast
was
finally
released
ransom had been
wrote his biography.
VI.
February 194 after He then devoted
in
1
paid.
himself to winning back the English lands that Philip
had seized during
was he
his
absence.
In
1
199, Richard
injured in France during a siege,
died of his
and on
April
6
f*n
wound.
C£L**° appear h
•
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G °d
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ape
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5?
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fl
—
hm4 H)P r£ v
Saladin's
tomb
in
Damascus,
Syria,
.
so
?"I
where he died
in
1
^' a ^diet
free..
193.
This excerpt from the \ Itinerarium Regis Ricardi
\
\££3y
(see pages 42-43)
Richard I's great t'illlll-.l ^"^» sorrow at his fai^e to W«7 r%i-
I"! I
»_
recapture Jerusalem. It describes his emotions
shows
stars,
_ mey
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s
tt tt t+ tt tt ti tt t+ Q.\ The Fourth Crusade
1
V
After Richard's failure to reclaim
Jerusalem, the crusading faded.
In
1
pope, Innocent
and decided right for
spirit
198 an ambitious new III,
took
office,
that the time
was
another crusade.
Innocent recruited a preacher called Fulk of Neuilly.
easy rich
It
proved
to attract the poor, but the
were harder
However,
in 1
1
to persuade.
99 Theobald,
Champagne, and
Count
of
Count
of Blois,
Louis,
agreed to lead the
Fourth Crusade. They were joined
by Count Baldwin of Flanders. 1
201
;
Theobald died and
In
was
replaced by Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat.
The leaders decided
to travel by
sea from Venice.
The Venetians agreed
A
1
3th-century fresco showing Pope Innocent
The date
to build
the fleet
for
completion of
was June 1202. By
ships to transport 4,500 knights
then, about
and about 30,000 other
crusaders than expected had
for
85,000
also offered
own
silver
50
soldiers
marks. They
arrived
galleys of their
in return for half
were
the
a
crusaders' conquests.
in
20,000 fewer
Venice. As the ships
to be paid for
sum
of silver
by collecting
from each
participant, the leaders faced a
The Doge of Venice The people
of Venice elected
their ruler,
known
as the doge,
from the Latin dux, "leader." At the time of the Fourth Crusade,
was Enrico Dandolo. He detested the the Doge of Venice
Byzantines because they had given trading rights to Venice's
and Genoa. So he an attack on Constantinople and to take his rivals.
Pisa
was glad
to join
share of its treasures.
The four horses that adorn Cathedral
in
St.
Mark's
Venice were stolen from
Constantinople during the sack of the
city.
huge
debt. But the Venetians
were
prepared to bargain. In return for
allowing the
crusaders to postpone payment, they asked for help
in
recapturing
Zara, a port they had lost to King
Emeric of Hungary. The crusaders agreed, even though Emeric
was
\
.
.
tt (l-\ t+
THE THIRD & FOURTH CRUSADES
a Christian. The Pope forbade this,
but the crusaders ignored
him.
In
1202, they conquered
the port, but did not seize
enough booty
to
repay
their debt.
Then another scheme was suggested.
1201, the
In
Byzantine emperor Isaac Angelus
had been deposed. His son, promised the crusaders
Alexius,
money
it
enemies
they would attack his in
Constantinople.
He
also promised that Byzantium
would accept the authority
of
Rome. The Pope again objected, but the crusaders went ahead.
1203, Alexius was made
In
emperor and debts.
and
failed to
repay his
Then he was murdered,
his
successor would not pay
either. In
1
204, the crusaders
sacked Constantinople,
and
killing
looting for three days.
The
and Byzantium was divided between crusaders and Venetians. The emperor went
into exile,
Fourth Crusade against Muslims
A painting
had instead destroyed a
Italian artist Tintoretto.
of the
sack
of Constantinople,
by the famous 16th-century
Christian empire.
Geoffrey de Villehardouin was a French noble who accompanied the Fourth Crusade. He
wrote an account called The Conquest of Constantinople. Here he describes the sack of Constantinople in 1204. later
Ermine and miniver are both types of
fur.
... The rest of the army ... gained much booty; ... It included, gold and silver, table-services, and precious stones, satin, and silk, mantles of squirrel fur, ermine and miniver, and every choicest thing to be found on this earth. Geoffrey de Villehardouin here declares that, to his
knowledge, so
much booty had
never been gained
in any city since the creation of the world. Everyone took quarters where he pleased, and there was no lack of fine dwellings in that city They all rejoiced and gave thanks to our Lord for the honor and the victory he had granted them, so that those who had been poor now lived in wealth and luxury. Thus they celebrated Palm Sunday and the Easter Day following, with hearts full of joy for the benefits our Lord and Savior had .
bestowed on them
.
.
.
51
Vd-Vt-Vtt
t-vttt-vt-vc
Chapter 6
The Later Crusades The Cathar and Baltic Crusades Pope Innocent
III
also organized
Carcassonne, people deserted
crusades against Christians
the Catholic Church. The Bishop
did not agree with
of Albi
Catholic
who Roman teachings. Chiet among
these were the Cathars, also
1
known as Albigensians because one
of their strongholds
town
of Albi in
was
Languedoc
the
in
Cathars believed that two
a good, evil,
war
the world,
in
spiritual force
material force.
All
and an matter,
including the
human
therefore
The Catholic
evil.
Church regarded
208, the Pope's legate
(representative)
body,
as
this
heretical,
because
God was
all-powerful.
it
was
denied that
Around the centers
in
Languedoc
was murdered, and
Innocent
declared a crusade against the heretics.
southern France.
forces were at
once preached to an empty cathedral. Then, in
He offered forgiveness anyone who
of sins to
participated.
Crusaders throw the inhabitants out ot
Crusading armies reached
Languedoc
in
1
209, and
Cathars were massacred, but not suppressed.
Gregory
IX set
In
1233, Pope
up a series
inquiries, or inquisitions,
of
and
Catharism, Toulouse, and
Dominican
friars to
run
confessions or burned to death for the
good
By
of their souls.
the mid- 14th century there were
commissioned mostly of
the French city ot Carcassonne.
it.
Some
few Cathars
left.
Pope Innocent also
Cathars were tortured to obtain
organized the Baltic Crusade,
The Albigensian Heresy
199.
established
in
support the
Roman
1
It
aimed
to
Catholic
100 miles
Church 200 km
in
(modern
Livonia
and
Estonia, Lithuania,
and
to
pagan enemies. military order of
known
Latvia)
conquer and convert
its
1202, a
In
German
knights
as the Brethren of the
Sword was
set
up
to fight for
the Christian cause. Successful at
first,
the order
major landowner
became in
a
the region.
But after a serious defeat by the Lithuanian Area
SPAIN
of the Albigensian heresy
army
was absorbed
in
1237,
into the
Teutonic Knights (see
pages 32-33).
it
Order of
r
(l-\
t+ 1+ t-t t+ Crusades
in Spain
Muslims took over much of Spain in the early 8th
century (see page
1 1
In
).
1212. Pope Innocent III launched a crusade against them. Preachers roused support in northern France. Italy, and Germany, and eventually a vast army, led
by three Spanish kings, went
On July
to war.
17. 1212.
they scored a crucial victory at Las
Navas de Tolosa.
north of the Guadalquivir River. This
Muslims
In his pro-crusade Histoire Albigeoise, Peter des Vaux describes how the people of I \£23 Minerve, a village north of Carcassonne, were burned by Simon de Montfort (below) and his armies.
uie vnthe house where
"
for the
in Spain.
man
rnt holic
Xh^d toother. ^Cs^na -me«> toconvert Intwished
^-f^ S t"
ged e nl s truth, he recognize the ^ving faith. But cast to thTcatholic out of the lad them dragged
them
suo cess, he
^
were one flre
^ed and **«%£ thro^he^^ thrown WaS out men wi *^at hara into
lli
was the
beginning of the end
THE LATER CRUSADES
was not
^ all
It
to inate in their
i
oecause that they
it.
^Themselves threw
in
The most
-
strict
and devoted Cathars.
> -~*J
Simon de
Montfort, the ruthless leader ot the
the Cathars,
was
himself
killed
Crusade against
with extreme brutality.
•
The "Children's Crusade" supposedly took place in 1212, when crowds of young people from France and Germany took ships for the east. This excerpt from Alberic of Trois Fontaine's Chronicon suggests a different story. Some historians think the crusade was a legend that grew out of the fact that in the 1 3 th century many homeless families wandered around Europe.
T In
,212
children from
areas CerenttLeas
thousand
of
many
.about thirty
journeyed to *e^ *^snip for Saracen
take Marseilles to
v^J^ ^^^dtCwhte
lands. But
so
them
venture that
damaged tne w
only a very
at ^t^ome some perished P home crowd came
sea and Of those
some
others were^old who did manag^ r
P^^/^oss would cros
that they
crusaders
when they
^^ m
ocent the sea as
c
^
^
+
The Fifth and Sixth Crusades In
July 1216,
died.
Pope Innocent
III
The new pope, Honorius
carried
on Innocent's work
III,
of
organizing another crusade to regain Jerusalem.
The Acre
Crusade
Fitth
1217.
late in
Its
arrived
in
armies
were undisciplined and no one gave them
direction.
Some
crusaders went home.
In 1218, more men arrived, and a plan was drawn up to attack Damietta
on the River
aim was
Nile in Egypt.
to destroy the
the Muslims there, their ability to
The
power
of
weakening
defend Jerusalem.
This
1
3th-century manuscript illustration
Damietta, Egypt,
in
shows
the battle that took place at
1218.
The crusaders sailed in
May 1218. When
for
Egypt
they arrived,
they besieged a tower protecting the river channel leading to
Damietta, took to the city
down
for
itself.
and continued
it,
Then they
settled
another siege.
Conditions inside and outside the city were grim
disease
killed
— hunger and
many. The Muslim
ruler, al-Kamil,- offered to
compromise, even
Kingdom
the
to give
back
of Jerusalem, but
the crusade leader, Cardinal Pelagius,
wanted
total victory.
1219, the crusaders finally overran Damietta. However, In
when down the
victory turned into defeat
Pelagius led his armies Nile
toward Cairo.
Saint Francis of Assisi
1219,
in
the
hope
In
1221, they
went
to
Egypt
in
of arranging a truce
between Crusaders and Muslims. Al-Kamil listened to him patiently, but
then simply sent him away.
<
tt+t+t+t-Vtir
THE LATER CRUSADES
found themselves surrounded by
Muslim troops and unable retreat.
Some
to
of al-Kamil's troops
attacked, others
opened the
gates that held back the flood
waters of the
The
river.
Fifth
Crusade was drowned. Christian failures
in
the Middle
man
East did not deter one
embarking on a This
man was
the Western
emperor, Frederick
was
from
sixth crusade.
Frederick
II.
and unconventional,
brilliant
a challenge to the authority of
popes. He infuriated Pope
Gregory
IX
much by
so
delaying
his departure, leaving, then
returning to
Italy,
excommunicated.
that he In
was
spite of this,
1229, Frederick succeeded where others had failed— he won in
back Jerusalem. This victory was not achieved by fighting,
however, but by negotiation with Sultan al-Kamil.
The deal, designed
to last for
ten years, pleased no one. Militant Christians
were angry
because they wanted win, not
come
to fight
agreements. The Muslims that al-Kamil
and
to peaceful felt
had completely
betrayed them. But future events
would soon make the whole arrangement meaningless.
This is how Ibn Al-Athir (see page 23) described the disastrous defeat of the crusaders on the banks of the River Nile:
Emperor Frederick
II.
The Franks were confident of their own strength and had brought with them provisions for only .a few days, thinking that ... Egypt would fall into their hands, ... a detachment of Muslims crossed the river and opened the flood-gates. The river flooded most of the area and left the Franks with only one way out, along a narrow causeway. AlKamil threw a bridge over the Nile at Ashmun, and his troops crossed it and held the road along which the Franks would have to pass to reach Damietta. There was no escape. ... .
.
.
t t-t t \ (l\ q.\ e+ t-t t+ 1+ t-v
The Last Crusades In
the early 13th century, the
Mongols to
by
of Central Asia, led
Genghis Khan, began
their rise
power. As they stormed west,
they drove other peoples ahead of them.
Among
these were the
who
Khorezmian Turks,
in
1
244
captured Jerusalem. Europe, the saintly king of
In
France, Louis
IX,
was
planning
another, seventh, crusade.
He
intended to gain Jerusalem by seizing Egypt
army
of
first.
Louis
reached Damietta
1249.
in
They quickly took the pressed on
city
triumph.
in
they met the Muslims at
and an
about 3,000 knights
and
In
1250
in battle
Mansourah. Victory turned
to
defeat, then disaster as Louis
was
taken prisoner by the
Mameluks, the
fierce fighting
men who formed
the
backbone
of the Egyptian armies.
Louis
250
was
set free later
in
payment of a ransom and the return of 1
after
The siege
of Damietta
by French king Louis
IX
and
his troops in
1249.
Damietta to the Muslims. He then
made
his
way
to the Holy
Baybars,
Holy Land. Louis attempted to
to
persuade the Mongols to
help him
in his
in
conquered In
the
eroded the Christians'
city after city.
until
Mameluks, who had seized in
Battle of
Egypt, clashed. At the
Ayn
Jalut, the Asian
armies were stopped dead their tracks. In
suffered a
Mameluks skills.
practice their
Horns.
Now
Mameluks,
in
1261, they
second defeat it
was
led
by
in
The Mameluks gradually
1256, they
1260, the Mongols and
power
on the Eighth Crusade, Tunisia.
Mongols acted alone. Beginning
the
hold back the flood, but he died
struggle against
the Muslims. However, the
ee
who demolished
Land, where he stayed for four years. During that time, he tried
at
the
their sultan,
they were
left
territory
clinging to
the coast from Tyre
down
to
Jaffa. Finally a new Mameluk sultan, Qala'un, expelled them
even from
there. Tripoli
1289. Qala'un died
and
in
fell in
1291,
his son, Al-Ashraf Kamil,
took Acre. Sidon and Beirut also fell in
1291.
Holy Land
It
was
was lost.
all
over.
The
<
rt+t+tirt-Yti
THE LATER CRUSADES
The Knights Hospitaller The order
Templar
of the Knights
did not continue for long after
the loss of the Holy Land (see
pages 32-3
3).
but the
Hospitallers built a
new
themselves elsewhere.
moved
to Cyprus,
already
owned
role for
they
First
where they
land. Then,
306 and 1 309. they won the island of Rhodes from between
1
the Greeks (right).
From
this
base, they fought sea battles
against Muslims from Egypt
and
They also set up a hospital and pilgrim hostels
Turkey.
1522. Turks drove the Hospitallers out of Rhodes, and in 15 30 they moved to Malta, where they remained until the French emperor. Napoleon, there. In
forced
them
to leave in
1
798.
The French nobleman Jean
tYAeV
™ Saracen
de Joinville
could
^^^ ***£^& v
accompanied Louis IX on the Seventh Crusade. He greatly admired the king, and knew him as a friend as well as a ruler. In Jean's book,
The Life of Saint Louis (Louis was made a saint after his death),
he explains how King Louis made arrangements for his release from capture
^oXiey
Z
^
ld a
it,
made
in
Byzantium.
.
atld
^e^
^ ^ ^^ ^ S?£V ^ «^^^S^^ or
Bo
'
*%
ed
**
,o
P^ndred *****
^ould first
^*
sultan
er advise^oWis ^rTot^°^ ce ransom- * def^VtiU To© ^d *La, s^ e t6 a^ered d con3 \ ^ad ** £ ** e Stress of T^
in Egypt. Coins
\ .fVe
set ru
1
t+ tt C-V t+ 1+ d+ 1+ (l\ Conclusion \ t-v
More crusades followed the loss all were
of the Holy Land, but
unsuccessful.
When
new
a
Muslim power, the Ottoman Turks, surged
century,
still
west
the
in
1
5th
more crusades
to stop them. In
tried
1453, the Turks
seized Constantinople and
destroyed the Byzantine Empire.
The crusade that Pope Pius called
in
response
of support, ideal
went
II
failed for lack
and the crusading into decline.
During the Middle Ages, Christian scholars struggled to justify the violence of the
crusades, relying on the
war" idea set out by in
the 5th century. Augustine said
wage war
that Christians should
only First,
be
"just
Augustine
St.
if
were met.
three conditions
the cause of the
just, for
example,
war had
to
Christian
if
lands were threatened. Second, the cause had to be proclaimed
by someone with authority to do so. Third, the
war had
be
to
fought with "right intention," not out of greed or revenge.
The scholars argued that
Muslim occupation Land
was
of the
Holy
a just cause, that the
Pope had the
right to
proclaim
The Siege
of Constantinople,
1
453.
war, and that the expulsion of
was a right Many believed
Muhammad
the Muslims intention.
crusades were not only holy, fought
on behalf
that
warrior.
just but
of Christ.
Others questioned whether Christians ever to
had the
right
kill.
For Muslims, there
was
less
contradiction between belief
and
himself had been a
Some
Islamic scholars
taught that while Muslims lived
House of Submission (Dor el-Islam), non-Muslims lived in the House of War (Dor el-Harb) and could be attacked for the good of Islam. in
the
During the crusades,
action. Islam permitted the use of
thousands
violence (see pages 10-11) and
fought for their
of ordinary people faith, sacrificing
homes,
land,
and
lives.
However,
on both sides, pure motives were often mixed with intolerance and greed,
and
there
was
appalling
savagery. The crusades achieved little.
By the
late
13th century,
the Christians had lost the Holy
Land. By the mid- 1 5th century, they had lost Byzantium, too,
and the Turks were heading west.
still
\
.
d+ (l\ t+ (l\ (l\
THE LATER CRUSADES The Legacy of the Crusades The meeting
of East and West during the crusades had lasting effects, including
the religiously motivated violence that
still
scars the
Middle East. But some
important ideals of the still exist. The documents below highlight two of them.
crusader era
Nurses walk past the
The
St.
John Ophthalmic Hospital
British
Jerusalem.
in
Order of St. John, descended from the Knights
Hospitaller, today teaches
runs the Ophthalmic (Eye) aid. It also
Hospital in Jerusalem. Excerpts from the statutes of the Hospital of St. John, 1177 to 1187(1), and the 1888 royal charter (2) show that the order's
St.
syrups
^
e aC
{or trie
Order
Tor
^ece ssary
-s^ssu °{
.triors
cuori of distil
e^ensiou o^.
a er nauonaW f^e 0rd
Pro Fide,
e
custon
Aief
p rvnciP
the Service of Mankind.' The other is
,
a to
w omen, trie
^^ m
^ #osp^ oljj^'-* *&**«*
Holy fciiu are ^ scewe in rece^~ s ^lao
tlae
the centuries.
motto of the Order
first
House
humanitarian aims have changed little over
Tor
and provides
John
?ro
ie
the
Faith.'
Article 1 *
The United Nations was
established in 1945. Its charter attempted to define the idea of the "just war" for the modern world. These excerpts are from the UN Charter: means
This all
of
invading
some
another state's land.
or
The Purposes of the United Nations are: 1 To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of .
acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace
.
.
Article 2 4. All
Members
relations
shall refrain in their international
from the threat or use of force against
the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. ...
1+ (Li (Li (Li (Li (Li
in
leader
and
its
citadel a thick-walled fortress
of a
founded
Christian church
in
the 3rd century a.d.
was
beliefs
an exarch
called
were similar
to
those of the Greek Orthodox
Church (see below). This church still
name
themselves and
churches that
their cities
away from
crossbow a type of bow held horizontally. Crossbows fire bolts
a.d.
ram
a huge
smash
way
a
walls and gates of
Bosphorus the
wooden
Roman
Church (see below)
in
1054. Also known as the
heretical holding beliefs that
doctrine a set of beliefs approved
Church or other
dynasty a family that rules a
cities.
1
7-mi (27-km)-
an Islamic
Constantinople stood on
Emir
its
territory
governed by
ruler called
comes from
an emir.
the Arabic amir,
the
Roman
expelled from
Catholic Church.
known as
where many events
Palestine,
related in the
Bible took place, including the
and death area
excommunicated used by the
Catholic
religious
Holy Land the part of the ancient
"commander."
western, European, shore.
Roman
organizations.
Middle East
Asian parts of Turkey.
do
official
many
generations.
emirate a
title first
not agree with the
teaching of the
by a religious authority.
through
separates the European and
is
Israel
Holy
of
now
Jesus
life
The
Christ.
divided between
and Jordan.
Roman Empire
see Western
successors of the Prophet
Muhammad, Muslim
but later adopted by
and elsewhere.
It
comes from
feudal government a type of
medieval government
rulers in Egypt, Turkey,
the
Arabic word khalifa, "successor."
each
level of society
caravan a group
of travelers
with their animals
and goods.
in
which
granted
land to the one below for military
and other
it
return
in
service.
Kings granted land to lords, lords to knights, knights to
Arab merchants with cargoes on etc.,
so that they were
painting
Cardinal a high-ranking priest
Goths a people
made
linked iron rings. Knights often
wore a mail coat (hauberk), leggings, gloves with leather
palms, and a neck guard. chronicler a person
who
on damp
a record (chronicle) of events.
who
person
rejects
The word means
"unfaithful."
came from
Scandinavia, then
Sea
in
a.d.
There
were two main groups, the eastern Ostrogoths and the
western Visigoths. They raided
a.d. In
sacked Rome.
Roman
held beliefs that the
heretical.
about the 2nd century
century
who
that originally
southern Europe from the 4th
keeps
their beliefs.
Catholic Church considered
plaster.
settled near the Black
of
of a particular religion
to describe a
sought out and punished people fresco a wall picture created by
chain mail armor
members
term used by
linked.
Eastern deserts during the time
Catholic Church.
infidel a critical
inquisition an organization that all
of the crusades.
Roman
Empire, below.
peasants
camels often crossed Middle
of the
broke
the western,
deposed removed from power.
long channel of water that
direct
the eastern
Eastern Orthodox Church or the
instead of arrows.
country or region for
caliph a
Catholic,
all
officially
Orthodox Church.
beam, often covered with iron at one end. Besieging armies used these to
given to
from attack.
exists.
battering
Greek Orthodox Church the
where armies defended
410, the Visigoths
Jacobite a church that
member of a was founded
Syrian in a.d.
451. jihad an Arabic word that means "struggling"
and
"fighting."
to physical struggle,
It
refers
such as
defending Islam from
its
enemies,
and mental struggle as people to
conquer
their
own
sins.
try
<
t(f\ (l\
t+ tt (l-\
GLOSSARY
lance a weapon consisting of a
mystical a religious experience of
long, thin pole with a pointed
God
head.
through prayer and other
mangonel
that
is
come
said to
law,
They follow a
activities.
naphtha a form
to hurl missiles.
of
crude
the
Bakr, the
Muhammad's father-inwas his rightful successor.
Prophet
spiritual
huge catapult used
a
Abu
believe that
directly
Sunna
set of Islamic laws,
which they
(rule),
oil
believe developed from
Maronite a
church founded century
a.d.
(petroleum).
member in
Maro,
about the 7th
whom
after
named, was a century Syrian monk.
the church
Muhammad's own
of a Syrian
religion other
Christianity, or Islam.
Mesopotamia an area
of south-
west Asia between the
Tigris River.
It
part of Iraq.
Middle Ages the time between the
fall
of the
Roman
the 5th century a.d.
and the
of Constantinople in is,
between the end
Empire
1
453,
was
headquarters of the United
the Patriarch of
minarets
five
Qur'an The Muslim holy book,
Vikings warriors and traders
containing the revelations received
from Denmark, Sweden, and
from the Archangel Gabriel by the
Norway who
Prophet
in
Qur'an
is
("chapters").
Roman
and China, collapsed
in
the early
traveled by sea to
and Russia from the 8th to the 1 1th centuries a.d. They raided of the places that they
reached, but they also set up
the
whose leader is Pope and whose headquarters
some
are
in
Rome.
It
split
from the Greek
peaceful settlements, for
example, vizier a
a.d.
1054.
Muslim
scaling ladder a
tall
Shi'ite
ladder used
Muslim a member
Shiah branch of Islam. believe that
Ali,
Muhammad's
Shi'ites
was
his
how an
800
it
such as the chief ruler.
to
1806.
It
was
called
from the Eastern, Byzantine,
of the
In
the 13th century,
became known as
Roman used
member
officials
empire that lasted from about
Empire.
Sunni branch of Islam. Sunnis
given to important
the Western Empire to distinguish
organization should be run.
Sunni Muslim a
title
minister of a sultan or other
a.d.
successor.
statute a rule about
York.
Western Empire a European
of the
the Prophet
son-in-law,
in
in
the mid-
of Russia
City.
countries such as Britain, France,
many
Catholic Church the
to climb (scale) high walls.
3th century. Their vast empire,
which covered much 5th century.
14 suras
times every day.
from the Holy Land
1
1
in
Christian church
rightful
1
Muhammad. The
Orthodox Church (see above)
Mongol a member of a Central Asian people whose tribes were united by Genghis Khan in a.d. 1206. The Mongols were driven
York
Nations are
of the
are called to prayer from
New
Constantinople.
ancient and the beginning of the
one or more balconies. Muslims
main aims
and cooperation among the countries of the world. The
that
minaret a mosque tower with
Its
are to promote peace, security,
in
modern world.
II.
1945
in
bishop of the Byzantine Church
divided into
fall
World War
after
the Greek
in
Orthodox Church. The most senior
or a just cause.
now forms
the most
of
title
important bishops
a
rather than for his country
and the Euphrates
actions.
than Judaism,
Patriarch the
River
teachings and
organization formed
mercenary a soldier hired by foreign army who fights for
money
follows a
United Nations an international
5th-
is
who
pagan a person
Empire,
now sometimes
to describe the
stages of
its
it
the Holy
history.
empire at
all
72 1
1
4
2
1 11 1
1
6
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
tc+t+t-t Index Abbasid dynasty 10, 13, 16
Dome
Acre 28, 30, 33, 38, 46,
dress
48, 49, 54, 56 Albigensians see Cathars
I
1
Edessa 23, 28, 34, 36-37,
40,44 Alexius
Rock
of the
30
38
Comnenus, Emperor
18,20,22,25 AN (son-in-law of the Prophet
Muhammad) 10 42
Amalric, King
10,41,42,44, 54, 56,57 Egyptians 28, 34, 42 Eighth Crusade 56 Eleanor of Aquitaine 38 Eugenius Pope 38 III,
38
Armenian Christians 23 armor 26 assassins 17,
Fatimid dynasty 10, 13, 16,
24,42
34
battle tactics
Order of
St.
II,
Frederick Barbarossa,
30,
38
John 59
8, 9, 18, 22, 42,
Greek Orthodox Church 9, 29 Gregory VII, Pope 14 Gregory
VIII,
Gregory
IX,
Guy
of
Pope 46 Pope 52, 55
46
Lusignan 44,
Hagia Sophia, Church of 9
10,42,44, 54
30
hairstyles
Hasan as-Sabah
Cathars 6, 52-3
Henry
Charlemagne, Emperor 9 Children's Crusade 53
Holy Land 6, 15, 18, 19,
12, 13
III,
King
1
38
5,
King
38
29, 32, 33, 38, 44, 46, Holy
58
Roman Empire/Emperor
Honorius
Pope 54 St John 32
III,
Hosnital of
38
Constantine, Emperor
House
of
Wisdom
11,35,40,41,44
John
of Salisbury
Joscelin,
1
15 Count of Edessa 37
war* 58,
18,20,22,38,51,58
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
Richard
King (Richard the
of
I,
40
Toulouse 22, 24
Lionheart) 38, 46, 48, 49,
49,50 24 Normandy 22, 24
Robert of
Kerbogha, Emir of Mosul 23
khanqas 4 Khorezmian Turks 56 knights 14, 19, 23,
Roman Catholic Church 14, 15,29,52 Roman Empire 8, 9 Romanus IV Diogenes, Emperor
8, 9,
1
26 57 57
28
Saladin 7, 42-43, 44, 45,
46, 48, 49,
Second Crusade 38-39, 44 Seljuk Turks 16, 17, 18,20, 22, 23, 28, 29, 34, 36,
Louis
VII,
Louis
IX,
King King
38 56
38, 43, Shi'ite
madrasas 4 Malik Shah 16, Mameluks 56
Muslims 10, 17, 42
27 Simon de Montfort 53 Sixth Crusade 55 Spain 6, 10, 53 siege warfare
17, 18,
34
Mawdud, Emir of Mosul 34 Mecca 7, 11, 12 medicine 27
Military
Sufism 41 Sunni Muslims 10, 16, 17,
41,42 Syria 10,
1
Orders 29, 32-3
Mongols 56 mosques 4
Muhammad
44
Seventh Crusade 56
17,24,36,40-
41,42,44,49 Tancred 22, 24
(Prophet) 7, 10,
11, 12 Muslim Calendar 7
Teutonic Knights 33, 52 Third
Crusade 33, 46-49
Umayyad 1
Urban
II,
family 10
Pope
6, 18, 19,
1
43,
44
Venice 29, 30, 50, 51
35
llghazi 34,
Imad ed-Din Zengi 36, 37,
Damascus
Innocent
10, 16, 34, 35,
of Antioch 38,
Nur ed-Din 38, 40, 41, 42.
Crusader States 6, 23, 25, 28-33, 37, 40, 44 36, 37, 38, 40, 42, 44,
Raymond Raymond
Robert of Flanders 22,
Emperor 9
Night Journey
1
8
Constantinople 8, 9, 11, 16,
49
jihad
Medina
see Western Empire 1
Cluniacs 15
Conrad
II,
56, 57,
1
of the Holy Sepulchre
Cistercians
2,
29
medieval Europe 14-15
Carthusians 15
Church
1
Kurds 43
51,58
Christianity 8, 9,
,
Knights Templar 32, 33,
25,29
32, 33
Quran 10
Godfrey of Bouillon 22, 24,
18,58
Cairo
1 1
11, 12, 13, 21,
Knights Hospitaller 32,
36
Genoa 29, 30, 50
Byzantine Empire 9, 10, 16,
Byzantium
Jesus Christ 8, 9,
Jews
Krak des Chevaliers
9
British
54 Emperor 55
Emperor 46
Bernard of Clairvaux 6, Bible
38, 40, 42, 44-45, 48-
Kamal ad-Din 35
Fulk, King
26-27
49 Philip IV, King
49, 50, 54, 55, 56
30
Francis of Assisi, Saint
38 44 Baldwin V, King 44 Baltic Crusade 52 King
49
21,25
Augustus, King 46, 48,
28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 36,
First
Frederick
King
Jaffa 24, 29, 48,
food
Baldwin 22, 23, 25, 28 Baldwin II, King 35 IV,
Peter the Hermit 20,
Justinian,
Fourth Crusade 50-51
III,
People's Crusade 20-21
Islam 10, 11, 17
'just
Baghdad 10, 11, 16 Balak 35, 36
Baldwin
Isaac Angelus, Emperor 51
Crusade 54-5 Crusade 18-27
Fifth
Avicenna see Ibn Sina
Baldwin
ttttirt
Jerusalem 12-13, 16, 24-5,
Egypt
Antioch 22, 23, 24, 28,
04376 547 6
Philip
17,34,35,36,
Aleppo 16,
3 9999
40,43 III,
Pope 50, 52,
Crusade 22-23 Ottoman Turks 58 Outremer 28-31 Official
53,54 inquisition
52
peasants
1
4,
20
weapons 26-27 Western Empire/Emperor 8,
9,55 women at war
26,
47
WITHDRAWN No logger ths property
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Documenting History This series takes a fresh look at history by using original
documents as the starting point for studying important events or periods in the past. The document excerpts are selected from a wide range of sources, such as diaries, journals, letters, legal documents, books, poems, and speeches. Each excerpt is set in context, with captions to explain difficult or unfamiliar words and phrases. All the books in this series are fully illustrated with maps, photographs, and contemporary pictures.
The Crusades During the Middle Ages, Western Christians set out on military expeditions to free the Holy Land from Muslim control. The most important of these crusades took place between 1095 and 1270, but the crusading ideal and the clash between Christianity and Islam continued long afterward. Even today, the legacy of these bitter religious wars is still felt. This book considers the main causes and
—
—
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It
in the Crusader States that briefly existed in
the Middle East.
It
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from lowly peasants to knights and kings. Finally, it briefly explores the medieval wars fought by Roman Catholics against non-Muslim enemies, such as the Cathars. Titles in this series:
The American Revolution The Crusades The Industrial Revolution Scientists and Their Discoveries World War I World War H
A Franklin Watts Library Edition
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