Crusades

as depicted in the ''Passages d'outremer*, ]]The **Crusades** were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were intended to conquer Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule. 
## Overview
### 11th century
Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century.

In 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor AlexiosI Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in western Europe there was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a variety of motivations, including religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by generally more organized armies, sometimes led by a king. 
### 12th century
All were granted papal indulgences. Initial successes established four Crusader states: The County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, Kingdom of Jerusalem and County of Tripoli. A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. After this, no further large military campaigns were organised.

Other church-sanctioned campaigns include crusades against Christians not obeying papal rulings, against the Ottoman Empire, and for political reasons. The struggle between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula was proclaimed a crusade in 1123, but eventually became better known as the *Reconquista'', and only ended in 1492 with the fall of the Emirate of Granada. From 1147, campaigns in Northern Europe against pagan tribes were considered crusades. In 1199, Pope Innocent III began the practice of proclaiming crusades against what the Latin Church considered heretic Christian communities. 

Crusades were called against the Cathars in Languedoc and against Bosnia; against the Waldensians in Savoy and the Hussites in Bohemia; and in response to the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Unsanctioned by the church, there were also several popular Crusades.
### The Holy Land
The crusades started as a fight for control over the Holy Land, also known as the Land of Israel. The Holy Land is very important for the three major monotheistic religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed visited the Holy Land and rose to Heaven from Jerusalem. Christians believe Jesus was born, crucified, and resurrected in the Holy Land.  The Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, and the Mount of Olives are all located there.  So are many other important religious sites.

During the Caliphate of Umar in the 7th century, Muslim forces had taken control of Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, and other important religious sites.  In the crusades, Christian armies tried to re-take control of the Holy Land.
### Events
There were many different crusades.  The biggest and most important happened between the 11th century and the 13th century.  During this time, there were 9 large crusades.  They are numbered 1 through 9.  

There were also many smaller crusades. These continued through the 16th century, until the Renaissance and Reformation. Some crusades were within Europe. For example, the Teutonic Knights fought in the Prussian Crusade against the Lithuanians and Old Prussians, and the Albigensian Crusade was in France. There were also crusades in Austria and Scandinavia. The word "crusade" is related to the word "cross", and means a Christian holy war.

## First Crusade 
In 1095 the ruler of the Byzantine Empire, Alexius I, called for help to defend his empire against the Seljuk Turks. Pope Urban II asked all Christians to join a war against the Turks. The Pope told Christians that fighting the war would repay God for their sins. He said that anyone who died on a crusade would go straight to heaven. 

The Christian soldiers who joined the crusade were called "crusaders". They marched to Jerusalem, attacking several cities on their way. In 1099 they won the battle for Jerusalem. 

As a result of the First Crusades, four crusader states were created. These were the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

## Second Crusade 
After about 50 years of peace, Bernard of Clairvaux called for a new crusade after the Turks attacked the town of Edessa. French and German armies marched to the Holy Land in 1147, but were defeated. However, on the way, the Crusaders helped the Portuguese capture Lisbon from Al-Andalus as part of the Reconquista.

## Third Crusade 
In 1187, after Saladin recaptured Jerusalem, Pope Gregory VIII called for a new crusade. Three of Europe's kings led this Third Crusade: Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. 

The Third Crusade was partially successful. The Crusaders took back control of Arsuf and Jaffa, two important cities in the Holy Land. However, they did not have enough soldiers to try to recapture Jerusalem. Instead, they made a truce with Saladin that let Christians travel safely through Jerusalem. The Crusaders then re-established the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Acre.

In 1190, Frederick drowned in Cilicia. In 1192, Richard left the Holy Land. On his way home, his ship was wrecked, leading him to Austria. There, he was captured and ransomed by his enemy, Duke Leopold.

## Fourth Crusade 
Pope Innocent III started the Fourth Crusade in 1202. His plan was to attack the Holy Land through Egypt. To do this, he needed a fleet of ships. The Venetians agreed to build ships and train sailors for the crusade. The Venetians then changed the goal of the crusade, and went to the Christian city of Constantinople, where they tried to place a Byzantine exile on the throne. After a series of misunderstandings and outbreaks of violence, the city was sacked in 1204.

### Albigensian Crusade 
The Albigensian Crusade was started in 1209 to eliminate the Cathars of southern Europe

### Children's Crusade 
The Children's Crusade is a crusade of 1212. An outburst of the old popular enthusiasm led a gathering of children in France and Germany. A boy, from either France or Germany, said that Jesus had visited him, and told him to peacefully convert Muslims to Christianity. Following this vision, many children formed bands, and marched to Italy. There, they were put onto ships which either capsized in a storm, or which went to Morocco. Most of the children either starved to death or were sold into slavery.

#### More recent research 
In the first movement, Nicholas, a shepherd from Germany, led a group across the Alps and into Italy in the early spring of 1212. About 7,000 arrived in Genoa in late August. However, their plans did not bear fruit when the waters failed to part as promised and the band broke up. Some left for home, others may have gone to Rome, while still others may have travelled down the Rhône to Marseille where they were probably sold into slavery. Few returned home and none reached the Holy Land.

The second movement was led by a "shepherd boy" However, the crusade got as far as Tunis, where Louis died a month later. The Crusades ended two centuries after they had begun, achieving mixed results. (the link is not yet started).

## References 
### Books and texts 
* Frederick Russell, "Children's Crusade", *Dictionary of the Middle Ages*, 1989, 
* Peter Raedts, "The Children's Crusade of 1212", *Journal of Medieval History*, 3 (1977), summary of the sources, issues and literature.
* *Chronica Regiae Coloniensis* , a (supposedly) contemporary source for the Children's crusade. From the Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
* The Children's Crusade: Fact or fable? , from The Straight Dope.

## Other websites 
* Crusade Siege  Siege of a Mohammedan fortification during the crusades
* Crusades Citizendium