The 5th to 9th Crusades

Vicente TorresMrs. Eckman Wissler

British Literature 20160920

What were the Crusades led by the Western Christians?

The Christian Crusades were a series of campaigns led by several Western European leaders to attack the Middle East ,known as the Holy Land to Jews and Christians, and free it from Muslim rule. The Crusades started when knights answered Pope Urban II’s plea to attack the Muslims. The Crusades took place from 1096 to 1291.

Summary of the Earlier Crusades 1st Crusade - 1096-99 Four armies of Crusaders were formed from troops of different Western European regions and marched toward the Byzantine Empire to assist them in defeating the Muslims. The Christians and Turkish allies attacked several cities claiming them and setting them up as part of the Christian states. The Crusade ended with the fall of Jerusalem.

2nd- 1147-48 St. Bernard, KIng Louis VII, and King Conrad march to take back another city taken by the Muslims in 1144, In 1147 a crusader fleet takes shelter in Portugal and is persuaded to help the King by taking back Lisbon. Lisbon became part of the Christian Kingdom. While the christians waged their 2nd Crusade, Sultan Saladin of Egypt crushes the army and the Kingdom itself of Jerusalem.

3rd- Led by German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, French King Philip Augustus and English King Richard the Lionheart to recapture Jerusalem. Lionheart campaigned till 1192 when he and Saladin made peace allowing Saladin to rule and Christian Pilgrims to enter the Holy City.

4th - 1203-1204 Pope Innocent III calls for a crusade to liberate Jerusalem,

The Children’s Crusade- 1212 This actually refers to two separate peasant movements. One was led by a German shepherd who led about 7,000 peasants of all ages, and the other by a twelve year old peasant boy namave a letter from Jesus to King Philip Augustus of France. Thousands followed him to St. Denis, where he supposedly worked miracles.

The 5th Crusade The years from 1209 to 1219 (or 1229, depending on sources) saw the mounting of the Albigensian Crusade. This was a campaign against a sect of Cathar heretics in southern France. Simon de Montfort led the crusade for the Pope. This attempt was not very successful; the inquisition that was put in place ca 1233 was more effective.

5th continuedCrusade that came close to achieving it's objective, but failed due to the intransigence of Cardinal Pelagius, the papal legate. Frederick II of Germany promised to lead the crusade, but in the event did not take part, and when the crusaders first arrived in the Holy Land, they came under the command of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem. Jerusalem itself was at this point under Egyptian control, and the crusader plan was to attack Egypt in order to force the hand over of key areas of Palestine. Early in 1218, the crusade finally moved, landing at Damietta, to find themselves facing Malik al-Kamil, the son of the sultan, and a future sultan himself, with perhaps 70,000 men, twice the number of crusaders. However, the crusaders were able to invest Damiette, which held out for a year and a half, only falling in November 1219. Meanwhile, Cardinal Pelagius had arrived, and in the absence of Frederick insisted on taking command of the crusade. The crusaders had been reinforced, and now numbered 46,000 men. By now it was clear that the Egyptians were prepared to negotiate, but in 1221 Pelagius decided to march on Cairo, through the inundation of the Nile, and the heat of summer. The crusaders finally came to a halt in July 1221 near Mansura, their path blocked by the Ashmoun Canal. At this point, the crusaders had a chance to gain their objective - the Egyptians offered to surrendered Jerusalem, and other Christian sites in Palestine, in return for the return of Damietta. Much to the dismay of John of Brienne, Pelagius demanded more land, and while negotiations dragged on and then failed, the Egyptians moved against the crusaders supply line to Damietta, while an attempt to cross the Ashmoun canal failed. Having had the chance to gain Jerusalem, the crusaders were now forced to accept Egyptian terms, surrendering Damietta in return for a few relics, of little value to the Muslim Egyptians, and safe passage back to the coast.

The Sixth Crusade The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, failed to lead the Fifth Crusade. He felt guilty for the crushing defeat the Christian armies suffered against the Egyptian sultan, so he decided to launch a new crusade paid entirely with the Holy Roman Empire funds to recover Jerusalem.The pope, who feared Frederick's growing power, excommunicated the emperor for failing his vow to launch a crusade - this wasn't true, but rather an excuse by the pope to somehow diminish Frederick's growing popularity. It worked as Frederick's support slowly declined due to his excommunication. Nevertheless, without the pope's blessing Frederick recruited an enormous army and sailed to Syria in 1228, arriving at Acre.

The 6th Crusade Cont.

Frederick sailed to the island of Cyprus to gain a strong base before attacking Egypt. However a dispute with John of Ibelin further reduced Frederick's popularity and forced him to leave earlier than expected. Despite this drawback, Frederick sailed to the Holy Land shortly thereafter. His army was much smaller than the one of the Fifth Crusade and he realized that engaging the powerful Ayyubid Empire in battle would be a tactical mistake. Instead, he marched toward the sultan of Egypt, Al-Kamil, pretending to have a larger army with the hope of gaining Jerusalem through diplomacy. It worked, the sultan who was busy with a rebellion in Syria, ceded Jerusalem, Nazareth and other smaller towns in exchange for a ten-year truce.

The 6th Crusade Cont.

Frederick entered Jerusalem on 17 March 1229 and accomplished what four previous crusades failed to do: recover the Holy Land. Even though he was excommunicated, he accomplished more than the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth crusades combined. Many in Europe viewed him as godly inspired and the pope lifted the excommunication shortly.The Sixth Crusade had many historical accomplishments. The most important being that the Papacy's power decline was now evident. Frederick also set the pace for the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth crusades as these were led by single kingdoms rather than an union of several ones, such as all the first crusades. Jerusalem fell to the Turks only fifteen years later when the Turks successfully conquered it in 1244. However, the Christians had by then assimilated much of the Middle Eastern culture greatly influencing medieval life.

The 7th Crusade

Disastrous French crusade, led by Louis IX, a reaction to the loss of Jerusalem (1244) to the Moslems for the final time. The crusade was aimed at Egypt, the main Muslim power in the area. Louse sailed in 1248, wintered on Cyprus, before moving against Damietta at the mouth of the Nile, which they occupied with ease at the start of June, causing a panic amongst the Egyptian army. However, Louis then decided to wait until the autumn to avoid the heat of summer, and the inundation of the Nile, but this delay was of more advantage to Sultan Malik-al-Salih, who before his death late in the year was able to restore the effectiveness of his army. The Crusaders slowly marched towards Cairo, but were stopped near Mansura, on the Ashmoun Canal, at the same point where the Fifth Crusade had come to a halt. The Egyptians had some 70,000 men, while the crusade had only started with 60,000. For two months the two armies faced each other across the canal, Louis attempting to build a causeway, while the Egyptians simply dug away the far bank, widening the canal. The deadlock was broken by the battle of Mansura (8 February 1250). Using a ford four miles up the canal, Louis managed to get his cavalry across the river. The Egyptians were completely surprised, but the commander of the advance guard, Louis's brother Robert of Artois, disobeyed his orders, which were simply to hold the canal bank opposite the causeway until the main body of the army could cross over. Instead, he charged into the town of Mansura, and was killed along with most of his cavalry. Louis now found himself faced with the entire enemy army, and only the eventual arrival of the infantry across a makeshift bridge prevented his death or capture. The crusaders now had a bridgehead across the canal, but were too weakened to hold it, and Louis was forced to order a retreat back to Damietta. Through March 1250 his army retreated under pressure, until the Egyptians were ready to attack. Finally, at the battle of Fariskur (6 April 1250), the Egyptians broke the French infantry, now representing the vast majority of the crusaders. Louis was captured, and only released in May after agreeing to pay a 800,000 gold livre ransom. While the few remaining crusaders returned to France, Louis sailed to Acre where he engaged in four years of fruitless diplomacy, before finally abandoning the crusade and returning to France.

The 8th Crusade

Louis IX of France decided to launch another Crusade after the fall of Jaffa and Antioch to the Mamluks in 1268. However, instead of going to the Holy Land he decided to land in Tunis because of the rumors that Caliph of Tunis, Muhammad I al-Mustansir will convert to Christianity if the Crusaders would provide him military assistance against the rebels.

The Crusaders landed in Tunis in July of 1270 but they were immediately surrounded by Tunisian forces. Louis died on August 25, 1270, probably from dysentery. His brother Charles of Anjou who arrived one day earlier immediately concluded a peace treaty and returned to France.

The 9th Crusade The Ninth Crusade was launched by future Edward I of England who was on the way to the Eighth Crusade when Louis XI of France died. Edward landed in Sicily where he overwintered and sealed to Acre in spring of 1271 with hope to gather an army. However, the barons did not support him as he assumed, while Venice and Genoa eager to pursue profitable export of weapons, armor and slaves opposed his plans.

One year after his arrival to Acre, Edward was forced to negotiate with the Mamluk Sultan Baybars I who ordered his assassination. The assassination attempt failed but Edward hurried back to England after receiving news of King Henry III being seriously ill and never returned to the Holy Land.

The Crusades to the Holy Land against the Muslims ended with the Ninth Crusade. In 1291, fell the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land (Acre), while the attempts to organize a Crusade against the Ottoman Turks in the 14th century failed because of conflicts between the European powers and decline of chivalry and knighthood.

Works Cited

http://www.history.com/topics/crusades

https://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/crusades_timeline.htm (picture)

http://historylists.org/events/9-crusades-into-the-holy-land.html

http://www.medievality.com/sixth-crusade.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/subject_crusade.html

http://www.medievaltimes.info/crusades/ninth-crusade-1271-1272/

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