Ashton Morse Ms.

C English 1102 February 14, 2012

The Crusade Back in the early eleventh century the city of Jerusalem was in the hands of the Christian population. Jerusalem is considered the holy land because it is the place that the Biblical Jesus died. It is visited by many from the Christian and Muslim faith because of its historical importance to both of their beliefs. In the eleventh century, the Turks launched an attack that resulted in a two hundred year religious war. The Crusades were a launch of attacks upon the holy land by the Christian faith from the eleventh through the thirteenth century. The first Crusade happened because of an attack launched on the city of Jerusalem. The Turks were just coming from their victory in the Byzantine Empire and they decided to launch an attack on the gates of Jerusalem. In taking over the city of Jerusalem, the Turks would kill Egyptian Muslims, and forcing all Christians and Jews out of the city leaving the city under complete Turkish control. This left the gates of Jerusalem less open to Christians. The knights in this day and age were evil and menacing. They lived the life of a thug by pillaging and attacking towns for money and would fight anyone in their way1. The churches would have to step in and use holy Saint Relics to make them swear not to harm anyone in the name of God. With this new war waging the Churches could take these knights and quench their lust for battle.( Crusade, eNotes -3-4) The church preached that any man, woman, or child who joined (what we refer to as the Crusade) the cause a free ride to heaven. Anyone who owed money would be free of their debt.

Any indentured servant who owed money to their master would be set free and his debt paid in full. This was a very different time where religion reflected human worth, and sinning was considered disastrous to eternal life. People did any and everything they could to ensure their place in serene Heaven. They began to rally under Peter the Hermit. He led over 10,000 unarmed men, women, and children to the gates of Jerusalem. The people were slaughtered by the Muslim army and Peter the Hermit escaped back to Europe had achieved nothing. This was called the Peoples Crusade because the people formed it and none of them were trained soldiers who had experience in combat none the less war. This was the beginning of the Crusades. (Crusades First Crusade, eNotes P5-7) The first Crusade would start not long after the Peoples Crusade. Instead of unarmed men, women, and children this one would be composed of armored knights, foot soldiers, and the new foot soldier, the archer. Led by Duke Godfrey, men from England, France, and Germany would march across Europe through the town of Constantinople. The man count would come close to 700,000 men in which 100,000 of those men were fully mailed armored knights. The first siege would be held at Antioch and would take 8 months for the crusaders to finally breach the Turkish capital walls and take control of the city. After this delay the surviving soldiers along with their leaders would march south to the gates of Jerusalem. They would launch a mass assault onto the gates but the first attempt would fail. After retreating and regaining their forces in proper order they launched a second assault this one though being successful. The crusaders would breach the walls and begin a seven day slaughter of the Muslims inside2. When crusaders would kill an infidel they were allowed to claim their victims houses for themselves. Their mission was complete; the city of Jerusalem belonged to the Christians. This would be the end of

the first crusade, but the second would follow not long after. (Crusades First Crusade, History First Crusade vid) The Christians first victory was a success because of their opponents lack of defense. The Muslims at the time were not a unified religion like the Christians were. The Christian were united by the Catholic church. However, the Muslims eventually gathered together in 1144 to capture the city of Edessa, a Christian outpost town. A Catholic preacher, Saint Burnard, felt that the Muslims would attack Jerusalem; he began to preach of a second crusade3. King Henry the VII of France would answer this call along with Conrad III of Germany who would need to be persuaded. Some of the most powerful men alive at this time in history, the king of France and the king of Germany would lead the second crusade. They and the standing army that St. Burnard had conjured up marched on to Edessa. The battle over Edessa would end badly for the Christians, but King Henry VII did not want to go back to France a failure. Therefor he took his defeated army and marched towards Damacus. The assault however failed, leaving King Henry VII and Conrad III to march back to Europe ashamed and defeated. (Crusade Second Crusade, History King Henry VII, Middle Ages Second Crusade) The City of Jerusalem after the second crusade still was in the hands of the Christians, but this would soon change. A new king was emerging on the Muslim side of the battle. The new king, Saladin, came into power and would change the Muslim force for the rest of the crusade. He would do what no other leader for the Muslim side had done; Saladin would combine the forces of the Muslims as one group. Once done Saladin gathered his new alliance force he marched onto the Latin city of Jerusalem. The Christians met him in battle but lost not only the city but their standing army and their king. Even the cross they carried into battle would become part of Saladins conquest; these events would lead to the third crusade. The Christians

wouldnt take long to strike back. King Philip Augustus of France, King Richard I of England, and King Barbarossa of Germany would gather their armies and march upon the city of Jerusalem. King Barbarossa sadly would die on the journey there from an accidentally drowning. Most of his men were so mournful that they no longer had the will to fight for the crusade and went home. Now Richard I was in charge of the army and would lead them to battle in the battle for Acre. Their men count reached close to 600,000 men and would one of the longest battles in Asia at this point in time. After a long battle the Christians would cause the city to surrender and take control. Richard I would attack the city of Jerusalem on many occasions but he never was able to take the city. He and Saladin finally made a treaty; the treaty stated that Christians could come into the city and worship the son of Christs grave and the Muslims would be able to own the cities on the coast from Jaffa to Tyre4. The soldiers tired and battered entered the city of Jerusalem with joy and happiness but Richard I never set foot into the city being that he could not conquer it. (Crusades Third Crusade) There are another 6 more crusades that would happen throughout the over the next century or so but nothing came of these crusades. No crusade past the third crusade ever involved more than one country or had the support from the people as the first, second, or third crusade. The Muslims would keep the city of Jerusalem and Saladin would stay in charge of Egypt before a young boy would come into power. He would hide for many years and soon return to power soon after. The crusades would be the end of the Dark ages and the age of architecture, math, and science would soon emerge. The world was beginning to change and the age of domination was over.

Works Cited The Crusades.n.d.web.February 8th,2012. < http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/thecrusades.htm> Brhier, Louis. "Crusades." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 14 Feb. 2012 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm>. "The Middle Ages | The Crusades." Western Reserve Public Media. Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc, 2008. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/middleages/crusades.htm>. Hayes, Dawn M. "Crusades (Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity) - ENotes.com." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Gale Cengage, 2005. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/crusades-reference/crusades>. "Middle Ages Video History.com." History.com History Made Every Day American & World History. A&E Television Networks, LLC, 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/videos>.

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My main character will most likely be a knight and the crusade will help him find god My knight will feel how wrong it was to kill so many innocent citizens for their homes 3 I feel that my knight may try to change St. Burnards mind and have him see that this is a uneccasary battle. 4 My story Is fiction so I will have my knight in his dying days help form this treaty.