The Holy Wars

The Holy Wars

The year is 1096, and Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois and Bohemond of Taranto, lead the four armies of Europe to Byzantium. The People’s Crusade however, rushed ahead before the more trained knights, leading to Turks winning the first battle. All leaders, with the exception of Bohemond swore allegiance to the Byzantine. With this newfound power they stormed the city of Nicea. The next target was the city Atioch, which was promptly claimed by the armies. As the army reached Jerusalem, they massacred hundreds of the city’s inhabitants. The city was now a Crusader state.

About 45 years later the state of Edessa was seized by the Seljuk Empire. This was the cause of the Second Crusade 3 years after the city was captured, led by King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany. In October of 1147 the Turks were able to defeat Conrad’s army in Dorylaeum, Anatolia. The combined forces of Damascus and Mosul later also defeated the Crusaders, as they had previously attacked Damascus. The Crusader’s crippling loss effectively concluded the second Crusade.

The Crusaders constantly attempted to take control of Egypt, but in 1169, they successfully captured Cairo, forcing the Crusaders to retreat. Saladin, the leader of the Turks at that time, ran a campaign against the Crusaders in Jerusalem, and once again, the Turks destroyed their opposers in battle, reclaiming the city, Hattin, which the Crusaders had previously overtaken. 22 years later after the Crusaders’ pitiful loss, they finally put up far more of a fight against Saladin’s army in Arsuf, being able to leave the battlefield victorious. This allowed the crusaders to reclaim a good portion of land, advancing toward Jerusalem. The next year, in 1192, King Richard of England and Saladin of Byzantium signed a peace treaty, bringing the Third Crusade to a close.

In 1198 the Crusaders attempted to subdue the Byzantine, then led by Alexius III. This led to the start of the Fourth Crusade. Alexius wanted to surrender the Byzantine Church to Rome, but this resulted in his palace being stormed in 1204. The Crusaders then waged war on Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, leading to its fall, ending this short Crusade.

The final few Crusades took place over the course of 63 years. The Fifth Crusade started in 1216, in which the crusaders initiated a pincer attack from land as well as sea in Egypt. This attack, however, was not successful as the Crusaders were forced to retrieve. This Crusade ended in 1221. The Sixth Crusade began 8 years later, but Emperor Fredrick II was able to peacefully transfer Jerusalem to the control of the Crusaders, from the Muslims. A decade later, however, The Muslims reclaimed Jerusalem after their peace treaty expired. The Seventh Crusade took place in Egypt from 1248 to 1254, but the war resulted in yet another loss for the Crusaders.

In 1268, a new dynasty known as the Mamluks, decimated the city of Antioch. This sparked King Louis IX’s retaliation in the form of both the Eighth and Ninth Crusade, with the Ninth not accomplishing much. In the end, the Muslims were victorious.

These wars act as a turning point of sorts in history. They led to both the spread of Christianity, as well as the improvement of trade and transportation. Some scholars also believe that they allowed the Renaissance to take place, because of the increase in interest for learning and travel.

Sources:

History.com Editors. “Crusades.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 7 June 2010, https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/crusades.

Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, 2005.

World History by Era. Jeff Hay, Book Ed. Greenhaven Press, 2002.