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CRUSADES - HYPOCRISY OF WESTERN NATIONS
Crusades were military expeditions undertaken by Western European
Christians beginning in 1095, usually at the request of the pope, to recover
Jerusalem and the other places of pilgrimage in Palestine (now under
occupation ,Israel ) known to Christians as the Holy Land from Muslim
control. Historians disagree as to when crusading came to an end and have
proposed dates that range between 1270 and 1798, when Napoleon I took
Malta from the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, a military
order established during the Crusades. The name crusade (from Latin,
"cross", the emblem of the Crusaders) was also applied, especially
in the 13th century, to wars against pagan peoples, Christian heretics,
and political foes of the papacy. By extension, the term is used to describe
any religious war or political or moral movement.
Background
 The
origin of the Crusades is rooted in the political upheaval that resulted
from the expansion of the seljuk turks in the Middle East in the mid-11th
century. The conquest of Syria and Palestine by the Muslim seljuks alarmed
Christians in the West. Other Turkish invaders also penetrated deep
into the Christian Byzantine Empire and subjected many Greek, Syrian,
and Armenian Christians to their rule. The Crusades were, in part, a
reaction to these events. They were also the result of ambitious popes
who sought to extend their political and religious power. Crusading
armies were, in a sense, the military arm of papal policy.
In an effort to understand why Crusaders went on Crusades, historians have
pointed to the dramatic growth of European population and commercial activity
between the 12th and 14th centuries. The Crusades are thus explained as providing
an area of expansion to accommodate part of this growing population, and as offering
an outlet for the ambitions of land-hungry knights and noblemen. The expeditions
are also seen as offering rich commercial opportunities (=plundering) to the merchants
of the growing cities of the West, particularly the Italian cities of Genoa, Pisa,
and Venice.
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The First Crusade
The Crusades began formally on Tuesday, November 27, 1095, in a field
just outside the walls of the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. On that
day Pope Urban II preached a sermon to crowds of laypeople and clergy
attending a church council at Clermont. In his sermon, the pope outlined
a plan for a Crusade and called on his listeners to join its ranks.
The response was positive and overwhelming. Pope Urban then commissioned
the bishops at the council to return to their homes and to enlist others
in the Crusade. He also outlined a basic strategy in which individual
groups of Crusaders would begin the journey in August 1096. Each group
would be self-financing and responsible to its own leader. The groups
would make their separate ways to the Byzantine capital, Constantinople,
where they would meet. From there, they would launch a counterattack
against the Seljuk conquerors of Anatolia together with the Byzantine
emperor and his army. Once that region was under Christian control,
the Crusaders would campaign against the Muslims in Syria and Palestine,
with Jerusalem as their ultimate goal.
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The Crusading Armies
In its broad outline the First Crusade conformed to the scheme envisioned by
the pope. Recruitment proceeded apace during the remainder of 1095 and the early
months of 1096. Five major armies of noblemen assembled in late summer, 1096,
to set out on the Crusade. The majority were from France, but significant numbers
also came from southern Italy and the regions of Lorraine, Burgundy, and Flanders.
The pope had not foreseen the popular enthusiasm that his Crusade would arouse
among ordinary townspeople and peasantry. Alongside the Crusade of the
nobility another one materialized among the common people. The largest
and most important group of popular Crusaders was recruited and led
by a preacher known as Peter the Hermit, a native of Amiens, France.
Although the participants in the popular Crusade were numerous, only
a tiny fraction of them ever succeeded in reaching the Middle East;
even fewer survived to see the Christian capture of Jerusalem in 1099.
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The Conquest of Anatolia
The armies of Crusading nobles arrived at Constantinople between November 1096
and May 1097. The Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus pressured the
Crusaders to return to him any former Byzantine territory that they
captured. The leaders resented these demands, and although most of them
ultimately complied, they became suspicious of the Byzantines.
In May 1097, the Crusaders attacked their first major target, the Anatolian
Turkish capital at Nicaea (now under occupation, Iznik, Turkey). In June
the city surrendered to the Byzantines, rather than the Crusaders. This confirmed
the latter's suspicions that Alexius intended to use the Crusaders as pawns in
order to achieve his own goals.
Shortly after the fall of Nicaea, the Crusaders encountered the principal
Seljuk field army of Anatolia at Dorylaeum (now under occupation, Eskisehir,
Turkey). On July 1, 1097, the Crusaders won a major victory there and nearly annihilated
the Turkish force. As a result the Crusaders met little resistance during the
rest of their campaign in Asia Minor. The next major target was the city of Antioch
in northern Syria (now under occupation Antakya, Turkey). The Crusaders
besieged the city on October 21, 1097, but it did not fall until June 3, 1098.
No sooner had the Crusaders taken Antioch than they were attacked by a fresh Turkish
army from Mosul (now in Iraq), which arrived just too late to relieve Antioch's
Turkish defenders. The Crusaders repulsed the relief force on June 28.
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The Capture of Jerusalem
Resting at Antioch for the remainder of the summer and early fall, the Crusaders
set out on the final leg of their journey in late November 1098. They avoided
attacks on cities and fortified positions in order to conserve their forces. In
May 1099 they reached the northern borders of Palestine and on the evening of
June 7 camped within sight of Jerusalem's walls.
The city was then under Egyptian control; its defenders were numerous and well
prepared for a siege. The Crusaders attacked, with the aid of reinforcements from
Genoa and newly constructed siege machines, taking Jerusalem by storm on July
15; they then massacred virtually every inhabitant. In the Crusaders' view, the
city was purified in the blood of the defeated infidels.
A week later the army elected one of its leaders, Godfrey
of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine, as ruler of the city. Under his leadership
the army then fought its last campaign, defeating an Egyptian army at Ascalon
(now under occupation Ashqelon, Israel) on August 12. Soon afterwards most
of the Crusaders returned to Europe, leaving Godfrey and a small remnant of the
original force to organize a government and to establish Latin (Western European)
control over the conquered territories.
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The Apogee of Latin Power in the East
In the aftermath of the First Crusade, Latin colonists in the Levant
established four states. The largest and most powerful of these was
the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. To the north of that kingdom lay the
tiny county of Tripoli on the Syrian coast. Beyond Tripoli was the principality
of Antioch, centred in the Orontes Valley. Farthest east was the county
of Edessa (now under occupation Urfa, Turkey), largely populated
by Armenian Christians.
The victories of the First Crusade were largely due to the isolation and relative
weakness of the Muslim powers. The generation after the First Crusade, however,
saw the beginning of Muslim reunification in the Middle East under the leadership
of Imad ad-Din Zangi, ruler of Mosul and Halab ( now in northern Syria).
Under Zangi, the Muslim forces won their first major victory against the Crusaders
by taking the city of Edessa in 1144 and then systematically dismantling the Crusader
state in that region.
The papacy's response to these events was to proclaim the Second Crusade
late in 1145. The new expedition attracted numerous recruits, among
them the king of France, Louis VII, and
the Holy Roman emperor, Conrad III. Conrad's
German army set out for Jerusalem from Nuremberg, Germany, in May 1147.
The French forces followed about a month later. Near Dorylaeum in Anatolia
the Germans were routed by a Turkish ambush, and, demoralized and frightened,
most soldiers and pilgrims turned back. The French army lasted longer
on the road, but fared little better, and only part of the original
force reached Jerusalem in 1148. In consultation with King Baldwin III
of Jerusalem and his nobles, the Crusaders decided to attack Damascus
in July. The expedition failed to take the city, however, and shortly
after the collapse of this attack the French king and the remnants of
his army returned home.
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Saladin and the Third Crusade
The failure of the Second Crusade left the Muslim powers free to regroup. Zangi
had died in 1146, but his successor, Nur ad-Din, expanded his realm
into a major power in the Middle East. In 1169 his forces, under the
command of Saladin, took control of Egypt.
When Nur ad-Din died five years later, Saladin succeeded him as ruler
of a Muslim state that stretched from the Libyan Desert to the Tigris
Valley and surrounded the remaining Crusader states on three fronts.
After a series of crises in the 1180s, Saladin finally invaded the kingdom
of Jerusalem with a massive force in May 1187. On July 4 he decisively
defeated the Latin army at Hattin in Galilee. Although King Guy of Jerusalem,
with some of his nobles, surrendered and survived, all the Knights Templar
and Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem were beheaded on or
near the battlefield. In the aftermath of this victory, Saladin swept
through most of the Crusader strongholds in the kingdom of Jerusalem,
including Jerusalem which surrendered to him on October 2. At this point
the only major city still in Crusader hands was Tyre
in Lebanon.
On October 29, 1187, Pope Gregory VIII proclaimed the Third Crusade.
Western enthusiasm for the plan was widespread, and three major European
monarchs enlisted in its ranks: the Holy Roman emperor, Frederick I;
the French king, Philip II; and the English king, Richard I. The kings
and their numerous followers constituted the largest Crusading force
that had taken the field since 1095, but the outcome of all this effort
was meager. Frederick died in Anatolia while on his way to the Holy
Land, and most of his army returned to Germany immediately following
his death. Although both Philip and Richard reached Palestine with their
armies intact, they were unable to recapture Jerusalem or much of the
former territory of the Latin Kingdom. They succeeded, however, in wresting
from Saladin control of a chain of cities, including Arcre (now under
occupation in Israel), along the Mediterranean coast. By October
1192, when Richard finally left Palestine, the Latin Kingdom had been
reconstituted. Smaller than the original kingdom and considerably weaker
militarily and economically, the second kingdom lasted precariously
for another century.
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The Later Crusades
Subsequent Crusades did not achieve anything like the military success
of the Third Crusade. The fourth one, which lasted from 1202 to 1204,
was plagued by financial difficulties. In an effort to alleviate these,
the leaders agreed to a plan to attack Constantinople in concert with
the Venetians and a pretender to the Byzantine throne. The Crusaders
succeeded in taking Constantinople, which they then plundered shamelessly.
The Latin Empire of Constantinople, created by this Crusade, survived
until 1261 when Constantinople was retaken by the Byzantine emperor
Michael VIII Palaeologus;
it had contributed nothing to the defence of the Holy Land.
In 1208, Pope Innocent III proclaimed a Crusade against the Albigenses,
a religious sect in southern France. The ensuing Crusade was the first
to be fought in Western Europe. It lasted from 1209 to 1229, causing
much bloodshed and failing to bring the Albigenses under their control.
The first offensive of the Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) was the capture
of the Egyptian seaport of Damietta in 1219. The ensuing strategy called
for an attack on Egypt, the capture of Cairo, and then a campaign to
secure control of the Sinai Peninsula. Implementation of this strategy,
however, fell short of the goal. The attack on Cairo was abandoned when
the promised reinforcements of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II failed
to materialize. In August 1221 the Crusaders were forced to surrender
Damietta to the Egyptians, and in September the Christian army dispersed.
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Frederick II
The Crusade of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II differed in approach from earlier
Crusades. Frederick had vowed to lead a Crusade in 1215 and renewed
his pledge in 1220, but for domestic political reasons kept postponing
his departure. Under threat of excommunication from Pope Gregory IX,
Frederick and his army finally sailed from Italy in August 1227, but
returned to port within a few days when Frederick fell ill. The pope,
exasperated by yet another delay, promptly excommunicated the emperor.
On regaining his health, Frederick embarked for the Holy Land in June
1228, as an unrecognized Crusader, without the protection of the Church.
Frederick arrived in Acre to find that most of his army had drifted
away. He, however, had no intention of fighting if Jerusalem could be
regained through diplomatic negotiations with the Egyptian sultan Al-Kamil.
These negotiations produced a peace treaty by which the Egyptians restored
Jerusalem to the Crusaders and guaranteed a 10-year respite from hostilities.
Despite this achievement, Frederick was shunned as an excommunicate
by both the clergy and the lay leaders of the Latin states. At the same
time, the pope had proclaimed a Crusade against Frederick, raised an
army, and proceeded to attack the emperor's Italian possessions. Frederick
returned to the West to cope with this threat in May 1229.
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Louis IX
Nearly 20 years elapsed between Frederick's Crusade and the next large expedition
to the Middle East, which was organized and financed by King Louis IX
of France after the Muslims recaptured Jerusalem in 1244. Louis spent
four years making careful plans and preparations for his ambitious expedition.
At the end of August 1248, Louis and his army sailed to the island of
Cyprus, where they spent the winter in further preparations. Following
the same basic strategy as the Fifth Crusade, Louis and his followers
landed in Egypt on June 5, 1249, and the following day captured Damietta.
The next phase of their campaign, an attack on Cairo in the spring of
1250, proved to be a catastrophe. The Crusaders failed to guard their
flanks, and as a result the Egyptians retained control of the water
reservoirs along the Nile. By opening the sluice gates, they created
floods that trapped the whole Crusading army, and Louis was forced to
surrender in April 1250. After paying an enormous ransom and surrendering
Damietta, Louis sailed to Palestine, where he spent four years building
fortifications and strengthening the defences of the Latin Kingdom.
In the spring of 1254 he and his army returned to France.
King Louis also organized the last major Crusade, in 1270. This time the response
of the French nobility was unenthusiastic, and the expedition was directed against
the city of Tunis rather than Egypt. It ended abruptly when Louis died in Tunisia
during the summer of 1270.
Meanwhile, the remaining Latin outposts in Syria and Palestine were coming
under increasing pressure from Egyptian forces. One by one, the cities and castles
of the Crusader states fell to the vigorous armies of the Mamelukes.
The last major stronghold, the town of Acre, was
taken on May 18, 1291, and the Crusading settlers together with the military orders
of the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller took refuge on Cyprus. About 1306,
the Knights Hospitaller established themselves on Rhodes which they administered
as a virtually independent state and as the last Crusader outpost in the Mediterranean
until 1522 when it surrendered to the Turks. In 1570, Cyprus, by then under the
rule of Venice, was also taken by the Turks. Other Latin states established in
Greece as a result of the Fourth Crusade survived until the mid-15th century.
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Results of the Crusades
The expulsion of the Latins from the Holy Land did not end Crusading efforts,
but the response of European kings and nobles to repeated calls for further Crusades
was feeble, and later expeditions accomplished little. Two centuries of Crusades
left little mark on Syria and Palestine, save for numerous Crusader churches,
fortifications, and a chain of impressive castles, such as Marqab, on the Syrian
coast; Montreal, in Transjordan; Crac des Chevaliers, near Tripoli; and Monfort,
near Haifa, Israel.
The effects of the Crusades were mainly felt in Europe and in the Byzantine
Empire, not in the Middle East....
The Crusades had bolstered the commerce of the
Italian cities. The plan succeeded - the only nation rich in culture, science,
wealth, and art was destroyed - forever. Byzantines and Constantinoples, Byzantine
art, economy, byzantine culture was newer again the same. The World has changed
completely. After 1204 we can say - they took not only all the riches from Constantinoples.
They took the history with them. And they were called "Crusades"! And
even today - they shamelessly believe that bronze horses at Venice in front of
St. Marco church really belong to them. They really believe that all the icons,
golden jewellery and Imperial Crowns belong to them.
The experiments of the papacy and European monarchs in raising money to finance
the Crusades led to the development of systems of direct general taxation that
had long-term consequences for the fiscal structure of European governments. Although
the Latin states in the East were short-lived, the experience of the Crusaders
established mechanisms that later generations of Europeans used and improved on
when they colonized the territories discovered by the explorers of the 15th and
16th centuries.
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