Crusade

The Crusades were a series of several military campaigns that took place during the 11th through 13th centuries. They began as Christian endeavors to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims but developed into territorial wars.

Historical background

The initial conquest of Palestine by the forces of Islam did not interfere much with pilgrimage to Christian holy sites such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. However, in the year 1004 the Fatimid? caliph of Cairo, Hakim?, had the [Church of the Holy Sepulchre]? destroyed. His successor permitted the Byzantine Empire to rebuild, and pilgrimage continued.

The decisive loss of the Byzantine army to the Seljuk Turks at the [Battle of Manzikert]? in 1071 brought the beginning of Byzantine pleas for troops and support from the West.

Reputation and evaluation

In Western Europe the Crusades have traditionally been regarded as heroic enterprises. In the Islamic world, however, the Crusades are regarded to this day as cruel and savage onslaughts by Christendom on Islam, and so, for example, some of the rhetoric from Islamic fundamentalists use the term "crusade" in this emotive context to refer to Western moves against them.

There is an interesting symmetry between the terms "Crusade" and "Jihad". In the West the term "Crusade" has positive connotations (for example a politician might use rhetoric such as "a crusade against illegal drugs") while the term "Jihad" has negative connotations associated with fanatical holy war. In the Islamic world the term "Jihad" has positive connotations that include a much broader meaning of general personal and spiritual struggle while the term "Crusade" has the negative connotations described above. Thus to correctly translate nuances of meaning, the use of "Jihad" in Arabic should be translated to "Crusade" in English while use of the Arabic term for "Crusade" should be should be translated to "Jihad" in English.

In truth much of what the crusaders did was less than heroic. They committed atrocities not just against Muslims but also against Jews and Christians. For example the Fourth Crusade never made it to Palestine, but instead sacked Constantinople the capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire eventually recovered Constantinople, but its strength never fully recovered, and the Byzantine Empire finally fell to the Ottomans in 1453.

First Crusade

1095 - 1101? The First Crusade succeeded in capturing Jerusalem and establishing a Kingdom of Jerusalem.

-- Adhemar de Monteil -- Albert Of Aix -- Alexius I -- [Peter the Hermit]? -- Amalric I of Jerusalem --Amalric II of Jerusalem

Second Crusade

1145? - 1147 -- Alphonse I

Third Crusade

1188 - 1192?

-- Saladin -- Ambrose the poet

Fourth Crusade

1204 The Fourth Crusade, instead of attacking Muslims, conquered the Christian Byzantine Empire of Constantinople in 1204.

-- Alexius III -- Alexius V -- Pope Innocent III

Fifth Crusade

1217?

--Andrew II of Hungary

Sixth Crusade

1228? - 1229

Seventh Crusade

1249?-1252

Eighth Crusade

1270?

-- Alphonse of Toulouse -- Albertus Magnus

[Children's Crusade]?

1212?

Not really a crusade in the same sense as the others listed above, the Children's Crusade involved thousands of children ranging in age from six to maturity gathered together from all over France and Germany. Operating under the belief that their innocence and purity would allow this army of children to overcome the infidels, they headed for the Holy Land. Many died en route, and the rest were sold into slavery after sailing to Egypt. None reached Palestine.

General links:

Acre, Palestine -- Jaffa?

-- Alphonso VIII of Spain which crusade?

Crusading orders of knights

Knights Templar

[Knights of Malta]?

[Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem]?

Teutonic Knights or Teutonic Order