RESULTS: Frederick, by treaty with the sultan, secures a truce for
ten years and the restoration of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem
to the Christians; Jerusalem is finally lost in 1244.
Sixth Crusade--1248-1254.
CAUSE: Louis IX. of France starts on a crusade via Egypt.
LEADERS: (1) =Louis IX.=, later =St. Louis=.
CHIEF ACTIONS: (1) =Damietta=; (2) Expedition to Cairo.
RESULT: Louis is captured in battle and released on payment of heavy
ransom and evacuation of Damietta.
Last, Seventh Crusade--1270-1291.
CAUSES: Louis IX. goes against Mohammedans of Tunis, Prince Edward
of England to Syria.
LEADER: (1) =Louis IX.=, =Prince Edward=.
CHIEF EVENTS: Death of Louis by the plague; (2) Acre, last Christian
stronghold in Syria, falls (1291).
RESULTS: The results of the crusades were development of commerce,
introduction of new customs, products and manufactures, increase in
freedom of lower classes, especially townsmen, and the power of the
crown.
=WAR OF THE EMPIRE=--1158-1183.
(1) =Empire= vs. (2) Italian Communes.
CAUSE: Frederick Barbarossa’s attempt to restore imperial rights
over the cities of northern Italy.
LEADERS: (1) =Frederick I. Barbarossa=; (2) Pope Alexander III.
CHIEF ACTIONS: (1) =Milan= (1162); (2) Legnano (1176).
RESULTS: By treaty of Constance (1183) the cities of Lombardy are
recognized as practically self-governing republics, the barest
overlordship remaining to the emperor.
=WARS OF THE BARONS IN ENGLAND=--1215-1265.
(1) =Barons= vs. (2) Kings John and Henry III.
CAUSES: Misgovernment of John and Henry III.
LEADERS: (1) =Stephen Langton=, =Simon de Montfort=;
(2) King John, Prince Edward, later Edward I.
CHIEF EVENTS: (1) =Signing of Magna Charta=, =Lewes=, =Simon de
Montfort’s Parliament=; (2) Evesham.
RESULTS: The beginning of constitutional monarchy--henceforth the
king is below the law, not above it.
=HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR=--1337-1453.
(1) =English= vs. (2) French.
CAUSES: The conflict of interests of the French and English kings in
Guienne, Flanders and Scotland. Edward III. advances claim by
descent to the throne of France.
LEADERS: (1) =Edward III.=, =Edward the Black Prince=, =Prince Henry
V., Duke of Bedford=; (2) Du Guesclin, Charles V., Joan of Arc.
CHIEF ACTIONS: (1) =Crécy=, =Calais=, =Poitiers=, =Peace of
Bretigny=, =Agincourt=, =Treaty of Troyes=; (2) Orleans (1429),
Castillon (1453).
RESULTS: England loses all her land in France except Calais. During
the earlier stage of this war about one-third of the population of
western Europe perished from the Black Death.
=AUSTRO-SWISS WAR=--1315-1388.
(1) =House of Hapsburg= vs. (2) Swiss Confederation.
CAUSES: Hapsburgs assert feudal rights over the peasants of the
Swiss cantons.
LEADERS: (1) =Leopold III. of Austria=; (2) Arnold von Winkelried.
CHIEF ACTIONS: (2) Morgarten, Sempach, Näfels.
RESULT: Independence of Swiss secured.
=HUSSITE WAR=--1419-1436.
(1) =Bohemian Followers of John Huss= vs. (2) Catholic Europe.
CAUSES: Execution of John Huss, the Bohemian religious reformer, by
the council of Constance.
LEADERS: (1) =Ziska=, =Procopius the Great=; (2) Emperor Sigismund,
Cardinal Cesarini, Frederick of Brandenburg.
CHIEF EVENTS: Revolt of Prague. Four crusades repulsed.
RESULTS: After the overthrow of the radical Hussites (Taborites) by
the conservative Hussites (Calixtines) in the battle of Lipan a
Catholic reaction set in which culminated in 1462 with the
revocation of the compacts made by the Council of Basel with the
Hussites.
=WARS OF THE ROSES=--1455-1485.
(1) =Yorkists= (=White Rose=); vs (2) Lancastrians (Red Rose).
CAUSES: Misgovernment under Henry VI. encourages Richard, duke of
York, representing the second line of descent from Edward III., to
claim the throne against Henry VII. (third line).
LEADERS: (1) =Richard, duke of York=, =Edward IV.=, =Richard III.=;
(2) Duke of Somerset, Queen Margaret, Earl of Warwick
(“King-maker”), first a Yorkish and then a Lancastrian, Henry VII.
CHIEF ACTIONS: (1) =St. Albans=, =Northampton=, =Mortimer’s Cross=,
=Towton=, =Barnet=, =Tewkesbury=; (2) Wakefield, Bosworth Field.
RESULTS: Henry Tudor (Lancastrian in the female line) secures throne
as Henry VII. By his marriage with Elizabeth of York he unites the
warring factions and establishes an almost despotic rule in England.
=WARS FOR CONTROL OF ITALY=--1494-1529.
(1) =French= vs. (2) Spanish.
CAUSES: Conflicting claims to the throne of Naples and to the duchy
of Milan.
LEADERS: (1) =Charles VIII.=, =Louis XII.=, =Bayard=, =Francis I.=;
(2) Ferdinand of Aragon, Charles V., duke of Bourbon, Fürstenburg.
CHIEF ACTIONS: Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. (1494), League
Cambray (1508), Holy League (1511).
(1) =Marignano=; (2) Pavia.
RESULTS: All the leading powers of western Europe were drawn into
this struggle. By the peace of Cambraes (1529), France renounced her
claims to Italy. One effect of these wars was to tie the hands of
Charles V. so as to prevent his putting down Lutheranism in Germany.
=SCHMALKALDIC WAR=--1546-1547.
(1) =Charles V.= (2) League of Schmalkalden.
CAUSES: Charles V. attempts to crush Protestantism in Germany.
LEADERS: (1) =Emperor Charles V.=, =Duke Maurice of Saxony=; (2)
John Frederic, Elector of Saxony, Philip, Landgrave of Hesse.