., .
\the popes to supremacy, Increasing bitterness
_______ --I~ IIi.!
__ ._.-----
Europe's Crusades (c. 1100-1300)
Origin of the Crusades
The crusades were Europe's version of
"holy wars" during the Middle Ages. Named
for the Latin crux, for "cross," these wars were
fought against Islam in the name of Christi-
anity. The Bible records the words of Christ to
the one who thought to defend Him in Geth-
semane: "Put up again thy sword into his place:
for all they that take the sword shall perish
with the sword" (Matt. 26:52). But the Bible
had been so abused that many considered cru-
sades a proper way to spread the gospel. The
stated objective was to drive the Muslims [rorn
the Holy Land, where Christ had lived, and cap-
ture the city of Jerusalem [or Christendom.
European pilgrims. For centuries people
had traveled from Europe, in groups as large
as 7,000, to worship in the Holy Land. These
pilgrimages continued even after the Arab
Muslims' conquest of the Holy Land in the 7th
century.
Turkish conquerors. In the 11th century,
however, Seljuk [se¡·jook/] Turks from central
Asia took much of the Middle East from the
Arabs. The fierce Turks accepted Islam and
became extremely fanatical. Stories of vicious
persecution of European pilgrims to the Holy
Land soon reached Europe. With a victory
at the Battle of Manzikert [man/za-kért] in
1071, the Seljuk Turks conquered Asia Minor
from the Eastern Roman Empire. Christen-
dom lost control of another major land area,
and more professing Christians Iived under
Muslim government. The Eastern Roman
emperor began to plead with western Europe
for help. In 1095, Pope Urban 11 responded
enthusiastically by proclaiming the beginning
of crusades for western European, Roman
control of the Holy Land.
Popes and crusades. Popes hoped to
increase their power and prestige with success-
ful crusades. The church in Constantinople,
to which many eastern Christians looked for
leadership, had never accepted the claims of
104 Ch. 10 Islam and the Crusades
between.the churches in Rome and Constan-
tinople had climaxed in 1054 when the one
Catholic church officially split into western and
eastern parts, just as the Roman Empire hado
This schism [SIZ1 om] has lasted to the present
day as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Ortho-
dox churches. But the popes continued to
dream of universal dominion. They perceived
the crusades as an opportunity to establish
their control over the Eastern church and to
enhance their leadership in Europe.
Pope Urban 11eagerly preached the need
to wrest the Holy Land away from the Turk-
ish Muslims and to free eastern brethren from
anti-Christian rulers. With gory detail, he
recounted tales of Turkish torture and murder.
The church even presented crusading as a way
of ensuring one's salvation. Multitudes roared,
"God wills it! God wills it!" Throughout west-
ern Europe, men put cloth crosses on their
garments and prepared to battle Muslims.
The First Crusade
The Peasants' Crusade. Emotions were
so high that before the official First Crusade
had even begun, a group of 15,000 to 20,000
people, mostly simple farmers, embarkedon
the Peasants' Crusade. Militarily disciplined
Turks destroyed this unruly mob of Europe-
ans, leaving bones to bleach in the sun as a
warning to future crusaders.
First Crusade: This old picture shows the four knights who led the
First Crusade: Godfrey, Raymond, Bohemund, and Tancred.
 The official First Crusade. The official
First Crusade (1096-1099), with great European
nobles at the forefront, went forward neverthe-
less. Byearly 1097, 50,000 or more crusaders
had converged on Constantinople from land
and sea. The assembled force recaptured Asia
Minor for the Eastern emperor Alexius Com-
nenus [a-Iéksé-os kóm-ne/nos] by the end of
the year. After conquering other areas in the
Middle East, the crusaders took Jerusalem on
July 15, 1099.
The First Crusade conquered a strip of land
along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean
about 500 miles long and averaging 40 miles
wide. This European foothold in the Middle East
was divided into four little kingdoms ruled by the
crusader knights. But the Muslims soon reor-
ganized and began to reconquer this territory.
More Crusades
The Second Crusade. The Second Cru-
sade (1147-1149) accomplished nothing. The
French and German armies were defeated
before they even reached the Holy Land, and an
assault on the Muslim stronghold of Damascus
(a city that was actually friendly to the crusader
kingdoms) failed miserably.
Fall of Jerusalem. The Muslims grew
stronger and more unified under their leader
Saladin [sál/a-dín], the renowned sultan of Egypt.
Jerusalem fell in 1187, and the Muslims again
controlled most of the Holy Land. Only tiny rem-
nants of the crusader kingdoms were left.
The Third Crusade. In the Third Crusade
(1189-1192), the English king Richard the
Lion-Hearted joined his French and German
counterparts to lead what is remembered as
the "Crusade of Kings." The Third Crusade
accomplished so little that many people became
disillusioned with the whole idea of crusades.
The Fourth Crusade. Crusades became
more and more ridiculous. The Fourth Crusade
(1202-1204) never even reached the Holy Land
but instead attacked and robbed the city of Con-
stantinople!
The pitiful Children's Crusades. The Chil-
drens Crusades occurred in 1212 when several
thousand French and German children marched
toward the Mediterranean Sea, expecting God
to divide the waters so they could walk across
to the Holy Land. Many never made it beyond
the Alps; those who managed to reach the sea
faced an even greater obstacle. Seamen offered
to ferry the youngsters across the Mediterra-
nean, but once on board, these foolish, pitiful
children discovered that they had been tricked
by slave traders, who sold them as slaves to
North African Muslims.
The last crusades. Other crusades were
attempted after the Children's Crusades, but
they achieved nothing. By 1291, the Muslims
controlled the Holy Land once again. The
tragic crusades had lasted some 200 years,
from about 1100 to 1300.
Ottoman Turks end the Eastern Roman
Empire. In the late 13th century, a new Mus-
lim menace to Christendom arose. The Otto-
man [ót/a-rnan] Turks became the most pow-
erful force in the Muslim world of the Middle
East. In 1453, the Ottomans, led by aman
who called himself Moharnmed 11, captured
Constantinople. This event marked the end of
the Eastern Roman Empire. The crusades had
failed to permanently reclaim from Islam any
part of the Middle East, and now Christendom
lost even more territory. The Ottomans kept
Europe on the defensive for about two centuries
as they kept pushing into southeastern Europe.
Checked and balanced. Islam utterly
rejected Christ, and Christendom distorted His
gospel. Both combined religion, politics, con-
quest, and empire in a drive to rule the world.
If Islam had won all its holy wars, Christianity
might have disappeared altogether. If Chris-
tendom had succeeded with its crusades, dis-
torted Christianity might have been imposed
upon all mankind. Fortunately, each checked
and balanced the aspirations of the other.
Christendom largely confined Islam to the
Middle East and the farther reaches of Asia,
while Islam restricted Christendom mainly to
western Europe.
We now turn our attention to western
Europe to learn more about the way of life
that developed there during the Middle Ages,
after the fall of Rome.
10.2 Europes Crusades 105
<,
Section 10.2 Review
----.~.---------------------------------------------------------
1. What were Europe's "holy wars" called? 7. What is another name for the Third
What was the purpose of these "holy wars"? Crusade? Was this crusade successful?
2. What fierce tribe took much of the Middle 8. Why was the Fourth Crusade ridiculous?
East from the Arabs in the 11th century? 9. What event marked the end of the Eastern
What battle completed their conquest of Roman Empire? Give the date.
Asia Minor? 10. How did Islam and distorted Christianity
3. Who proclaimed the beginning of the crusades? "check and balance" each other?
4. When did the Roman church officially split?
Identify: pilgrimages, Peasants' Crusade,
5. In which crusade did Europeans reconquer Alexius Comnenus, Saladin, Richard
Asia Minor and capture Jerusalem? the Lion-Hearted, Children's Crusades,
6. What did the Second Crusade accomplish? Ottoman Turks, Mohammed II

Chapt~eview (
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PEOPLE Know the following individuals and EVENTS Give the signiiicance of the [ollowing
be able to explain their importance to svorld events.
history.
1. Battle of Tours .
1.Ishmael 2. Battle of Manzikert
2. Mohammed 3. Peasants' Crusade
3. Urban II 4. First Crusade
4. Alexius Comnenus 5. Second Crusade
5. Saladin 6. Third Crusade
6. Richard the Lion-Hearted 7. Fourth Crusade
7. Mohammed II 8. Children's Crusade

PLACE S Know the following places and their DATES TO REMEMBER

significance. ~
1. 732
1. Arabia
2. 1054
2. Mecca 3. 1071
TERMS Define the [ollowing terins.
CONCEPTS TO CONSIDER On a separate sheet /
1. Bedouins of paper; answer the [ollowing questions /
2. Black Stone using complete sentences.
3. Allah 1. What is the main difference between
4. Hegira Islam and Christianity?
5. jihad 2. How did Islam and distorted
6. Islam Christianity "check and balance"
7. Muslims each other?
8. Koran
9. caliphs
10. crusades

106 Ch. 10 Islam and the Crusades