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By Joy J. Fine
The crusades were not one single event but a chain of events that lasted nearly two hundred years. They were a series of battles that were waged for religious reasons by the Christians of Europe to regain the lost city of Jerusalem. These battles were fought against a lot of different groups of people that included the Muslims, Greek orthodox Christians, the Mongols, Slavs, pagans, Jews and any enemies that Pope believed he had directly. Those who joined these battles were told that should they not survive, should they die fighting for this most noble cause, their sins would be forgiven and they would go directly to heaven.
The crusades were divided into nine different events. The first one took place from 1095 to 1099. During this period the Jews and the Muslims fought together against the radical Christians who had come to take Jerusalem form them. But the Christian forces were superior and once they entered the city they butchered all the remaining Muslim and Jewish civilians, destroying their places of worship. Then they made four crusader cities including the Kingdom of Jerusalem before gaining direct power over a few more places. Things stayed this way until 1144 when the Muslims regained control over Edessa.
It was this event that caused the Pope to call for the crusades to begin again. The second crusade began in 1147 and lasted two years. They were not as successful in Jerusalem as they had previously been and were unable to retake the city of Edessa while also losing in Damascus. They were far more successful in Northern Europe where they became allies of the Portuguese and took Lisbon back from the Muslims. Interestingly there was some opposition to the slaughtering of the Jews at that time, but it did not last.
In 1187 the third crusades, referred to sometimes as the King’s crusades, began and lasted for five years. It started when the Sultan of Egypt took back Jerusalem. He was a kind man and did not force the Muslims or the Christians form the city. He allowed them to practice their own religions. The crusades were on again as the Pope, Gregory the eighth, demanded they take up arms and fight for their rights to Jerusalem. This one was lead by some leaders who were very highly thought of by their people. This included Richard the Lionhearted, more commonly known as King Richard the first of England, Philip the second of France and Frederick the first who was the Holy Emperor of Rome. Frederick died halfway through the third crusade leaving the remaining battles to be fought by King Richard who was a brutal leader, massacring those in his way after promising them if they surrendered they would go unharmed. This battle needed without the retaking of Jerusalem.
Between 1202 and 1272 there were six more crusades called to try to retake and keep the city of Jerusalem. There was also supposed to be a children’s crusade called in between where thousands of children were armed and followed their leaders, some were French while others followed a German leader, but they never made it to Jerusalem dying instead by the thousands on the way there. This event is not confirmed to be true and some think the history has been retold wrong on what exactly happened with this children’s army.
The crusades that occurred from 1270 to 1272 are sometimes referred to as the eighth and ninth but others times are combined as one longer event. These were the first ones to be called by royalty instead of by the Pope. They too were not successful and by the end of them the Christians had lost, those who remained were slaughtered and the city of Jerusalem remained in the hands of the Muslims and the Jews. For the decades of fighting and the thousands who died during the crusades this holy war, was just one more time when religious freedom was threatened by those who believed they were right, that they were stronger, and that they were superior because of what they believed.
Related Articles:
The Crusades:
The Holy Wars that Lasted for Nearly Two Hundred Years
