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Ch. 14 The High Midddle Ages

Sec. 1: The Crusades

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Causes of the Crusades

• During the late 1000s, the Seljuq Turks, a Muslim people from central Asia, gained control of Palestine

• Christian pilgrims from Palestine, their “Holy Land”, reported being persecuted

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• The Turks attacked Asia Minor & threatened Constantinople

• The Byzantine emperor called on Pope Urban II for help

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• Urban called together European feudal lords

• He asked them to join together to win back the Holy Land

• Thus began the Crusades, a series of military expeditions by Christians to seize Palestine from the Muslims

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• Some 10,000 Europeans took up the cause

• They sewed crosses on their clothes & were called crusaders

• Some crusaders went to save their souls; others, for adventure & wealth

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The First Crusade (1096 to 1099)

• In the First Crusade, French & Italian lords led armies from Europe to Palestine

• After vicious battles, the crusaders captured Jerusalem & slaughtered its Muslim & Jewish residents

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• The crusaders brought much of Palestine under European control introducing European customs & institutions such as feudalism, subdividing the land into fiefs w/ lords & vassals

• Italian ships set up trade w/ Europe• Christians & Muslims who lived

together gained more respect for each other

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The Second Crusade(1147 to 1149)• After about a century, the Turks

began winning back their land• In 1147 the Second Crusade began,

led by Louis VII of France & Conrad III of Germany

• Their combined forces failed to recapture Damascus & they returned to Europe in disgrace

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The Third Crusade (1189 to 1192)

• In ll87 the Muslim leader Saladin gained control of Jerusalem

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• Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire, King Philip II of France, & King Richard I of England led the Third Crusade

• Barbarossa drowned, & his army turned back

• Philip & Richard quarreled, & Philip took his army home

• Richard could not capture Jerusalem; he settled for a truce allowing Christians to enter Jerusalem

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The Fourth Crusade (1202 to 1204)• For the Fourth Crusade, Pope Innocent III

sent French knights on ships provided by the city-state of Venice

• Along the way, they attacked Zadar, a trade rival of Venice

• Then they looted Constantinople & stole many items that were holy to Byzantine Christians

• The Venetians gained control of Byzantine trade

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Other Crusades• In 1212 in the short-lived Children’s

Crusade, young people from across Europe marched on the Holy Land

• They lacked training, equipment, & supplies, plus they became a hungry, disorganized mob

• The pope sent some home & others were tricked onto ships that sold them into slavery (thousands were lost)

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Results of the Crusades• The Crusades continued until 1291,

when the Muslims captured the last Christian stronghold in Palestine

• All the Crusades except the first failed in seizing Palestine from the Turks

• Still, they had important effects on Europe

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• First, the Crusades changed Europe by introducing new methods & weapons of war, such as the deadly crossbow & use of the catapult

• Second, many lords died or lost lands fighting the Crusades & since there were fewer lords, the kings grew stronger

• The Christian church also became more powerful, & the popes took on more importance

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• Third, the crusaders returned w/ new ideas to enrich European culture, & trade increased between Europe & S.W. Asia