THE OCCIDENT AGAINST THE ORIENT; THE CRUSADES, 1095-1291 A.D. [1]
169. CAUSES OF THE CRUSADES
PLACE OF THE CRUSADES IN HISTORY
The series of military expeditions, undertaken by the Christians of Europe
for the purpose of recovering the Holy Land from the Moslems, have
received the name of crusades. In their widest aspect the crusades may be
regarded as a renewal of the age-long contest between East and West, in
which the struggle of Greeks and Persians and of Romans and Carthaginians
formed the earlier episodes. The contest assumed a new character when
Europe had become Christian and Asia Mohammedan. It was not only two
contrasting types of civilization but also two rival world religions which
in the eighth century faced each other under the walls of Constantinople
and on the battlefield of Tours. Now, during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, they were to meet again.
NUMBER OF THE CRUSADES
Seven or eight chief crusades are usually enumerated. To number them,
however, obscures the fact that for nearly two hundred years Europe and
Asia were engaged in almost constant warfare. Throughout this period there
was a continuous movement of crusaders to and from the Moslem possessions
in Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt.
PILGRIMAGES TO THE HOLY LAND
The crusades were first and foremost a spiritual enterprise. They sprang
from the pilgrimages which Christians had long been accustomed to make to
the scenes of Christ's life on earth. Men considered it a wonderful
privilege to see the cave in which He was born, to kiss the spot where He
died, and to kneel in prayer at His tomb. The eleventh century saw an
increased zeal for pilgrimages, and from this time travelers to the Holy
Land were very numerous. For greater security they often joined themselves
in companies and marched under arms. It needed little to transform such
pilgrims into crusaders.
[Illustration: COMBAT BETWEEN CRUSADERS AND MOSLEMS
A picture in an eleventh-century window, formerly in the church of St.
Denis, near Paris.]
ABUSE OF PILGRIMS BY THE TURKS
The Arab conquest of the Holy Land had not interrupted the stream of
pilgrims, for the early caliphs were more tolerant of unbelievers than
Christian emperors of heretics. But after the coming of the Seljuk Turks
into the East, pilgrimages became more difficult and dangerous. The Turks
were a ruder people than the Arabs whom they displaced, and in their
fanatic zeal for Islam were not inclined to treat the Christians with
consideration. Many tales floated back to Europe of the outrages committed
on the pilgrims and on the sacred shrines venerated by all Christendom.
Such stories, which lost nothing in the telling, aroused a storm of
indignation throughout Europe and awakened the desire to rescue the Holy
Land from the grasp of the "infidel."
THE CRUSADES AND THE UPPER CLASSES
But the crusades were not simply an expression of the simple faith of the
Middle Ages. Something more than religious enthusiasm sent an unending
procession of crusaders along the highways of Europe and over the
trackless wastes of Asia Minor to Jerusalem. The crusades, in fact,
appealed strongly to the warlike instincts of the feudal nobles. They saw
in an expedition against the East an unequaled opportunity for acquiring
fame, riches, lands, and power. The Normans were especially stirred by the
prospect of adventure and plunder which the crusading movement opened up.
By the end of the eleventh century they had established themselves in
southern Italy and Sicily, from which they now looked across the
Mediterranean for further lands to conquer. [2] Norman knights formed a
very large element in several of the crusaders' armies.
THE LOWER CLASSES AND THE CRUSADES
The crusades also attracted the lower classes. So great was the misery of
the common people in medieval Europe that for them it seemed not a
hardship, but rather a relief, to leave their homes in order to better
themselves abroad. Famine and pestilence, poverty and oppression, drove
them to emigrate hopefully to the golden East.
PRIVILEGES OF CRUSADERS
The Church, in order to foster the crusades, promised both religious and
secular benefits to those who took part in them. A warrior of the Cross
was to enjoy forgiveness of all his past sins. If he died fighting for the
faith, he was assured of an immediate entrance to the joys of Paradise.
The Church also freed him from paying interest on his debts and threatened
with excommunication anyone who molested his wife, his children, or his
property.
170. FIRST CRUSADE, 1095-1099 A.D.
OCCASION OF THE FIRST CRUSADE
The signal for the First Crusade was given by the conquests of the Seljuk
Turks. [3] These barbarians, at first the mercenaries and then the masters
of the Abbasid caliphs, infused fresh energy into Islam. They began a new
era of Mohammedan expansion by winning almost the whole of Asia Minor from
the Roman Empire in the East. One of their leaders established himself at
Nicaea, the scene of the first Church Council, [4] and founded the
sultanate of Rum (Rome).
APPEAL OF EMPEROR TO POPE
The presence of the Turks so close to Constantinople was a standing menace
to all Europe. The able emperor, Alexius I, on succeeding to the throne
toward the close of the eleventh century, took steps to expel the
invaders. He could not draw on the hardy tribes of Asia Minor for the
soldiers he needed, but with reinforcements from the West he hoped to
recover the lost provinces of the empire. Accordingly, in 1095 A.D.,
Alexius sent an embassy to Pope Urban II, the successor of Gregory VII,
requesting aid. The fact that the emperor appealed to the pope, rather
than to any king, shows what a high place the Papacy then held in the
affairs of Europe.
COUNCIL OF CLERMONT, 1095 A.D.
To the appeal of Alexius, Urban lent a willing ear. He summoned a great
council of clergy and nobles to meet at Clermont in France. Here, in an
address which, measured by its results, was the most momentous recorded in
history, Pope Urban preached the First Crusade. He said little about the
dangers which threatened the Roman Empire in the East from the Turks, but
dwelt chiefly on the wretched condition of the Holy Land, with its
churches polluted by unbelievers and its Christian inhabitants tortured
and enslaved. Then, turning to the proud knights who stood by, Urban
called upon them to abandon their wicked practice of private warfare and
take up arms, instead, against the infidel. "Christ Himself," he cried,
"will be your leader, when, like the Israelites of old, you fight for
Jerusalem.... Start upon the way to the Holy Sepulcher; wrench the land
from the accursed race, and subdue it yourselves. Thus shall you spoil
your foes of their wealth and return home victorious, or, purpled with
your own blood, receive an everlasting reward."
"GOD WILLS IT!"
Urban's trumpet call to action met an instant response. From the assembled
host there went up, as it were, a single shout: "God wills it! God wills
it!" "It is, in truth, His will," answered Urban, "and let these words be
your war cry when you unsheath your swords against the enemy." Then man
after man pressed forward to receive the badge of a crusader, a cross of
red cloth. [5] It was to be worn on the breast, when the crusader went
forth, and on the back, when he returned.
PRELUDE TO THE FIRST CRUSADE
The months which followed the Council of Clermont were marked by an
epidemic of religious excitement in western Europe. Popular preachers
everywhere took up the cry "God wills it!" and urged their hearers to
start for Jerusalem. A monk named Peter the Hermit aroused large parts of
France with his passionate eloquence, as he rode from town to town,
carrying a huge cross before him and preaching to vast crowds. Without
waiting for the main body of nobles, which was to assemble at
Constantinople in the summer of 1096 A.D., a horde of poor men, women, and
children set out, unorganized and almost unarmed, on the road to the Holy
Land. One of these crusading bands, led by Peter the Hermit, managed to
reach Constantinople, after suffering terrible hardships. The emperor
Alexius sent his ragged allies as quickly as possible to Asia Minor, where
most of them were slaughtered by the Turks.
THE MAIN CRUSADE
Meanwhile real armies were gathering in the West. Recruits came in greater
numbers from France than from any other country, a circumstance which
resulted in the crusaders being generally called "Franks" by their Moslem
foes. They had no single commander, but each contingent set out for
Constantinople by its own route and at its own time. [6]
LEADERS OF THE CRUSADE
The crusaders included among their leaders some of the most distinguished
representatives of European knighthood. Count Raymond of Toulouse headed a
band of volunteers from Provence in southern France. Godfrey of Bouillon
and his brother Baldwin commanded a force of French and Germans from the
Rhinelands. Normandy sent Robert, William the Conqueror's eldest son. The
Normans from Italy and Sicily were led by Bohemond, a son of Robert
Guiscard, [7] and his nephew Tancred.
THE CRUSADERS IN ASIA MINOR AND SYRIA
Though the crusaders probably did not number more than fifty thousand
fighting men, the disunion which prevailed among the Turks favored the
success of their enterprise. With some assistance from the eastern emperor
they captured Nicaea, overran Asia Minor, and at length reached Antioch,
the key to northern Syria. The city fell after a siege of seven months,
but the crusaders were scarcely within the walls before they found
themselves besieged by a large Turkish army. The crusaders were now in a
desperate plight: famine wasted their ranks; many soldiers deserted; and
Alexius disappointed all hope of rescue. But the news of the discovery in
an Antioch church of the Holy Lance which had pierced the Savior's side
restored their drooping spirits. The whole army issued forth from the
city, bearing the relic as a standard, and drove the Turks in headlong
flight. This victory opened the road to Jerusalem.
[Illustration: "MOSQUE OF OMAR," JERUSALEM
More correctly called the Dome of the Rock. It was erected in 691 A.D.,
but many restorations have taken place since that date. The walls
enclosing the entire structure were built in the ninth century, and the
dome is attributed to Saladin (1189 A.D.). This building, with its
brilliant tiles covering the walls and its beautiful stained glass, is a
fine example of Mohammedan architecture.]
CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM, 1099 A.D.
Reduced now to perhaps one-fourth of their original numbers, the crusaders
advanced slowly to the city which formed the goal of all their efforts.
Before attacking it they marched barefoot in religious procession around
the walls, with Peter the Hermit at their head. Then came the grand
assault. Godfrey of Bouillon and Tancred were among the first to mount the
ramparts. Once inside the city, the crusaders massacred their enemies
without mercy. Afterwards, we are told, they went "rejoicing, nay for
excess of joy weeping, to the tomb of our Savior to adore and give
thanks."
171. CRUSADERS' STATES IN SYRIA
LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM
After the capture of Jerusalem the crusaders met to elect a king. Their
choice fell upon Godfrey of Bouillon. He refused to wear a crown of gold
in the city where Christ had worn a crown of thorns and accepted, instead,
the modest title of "Protector of the Holy Sepulcher." [8] Godfrey died
the next year and his brother Baldwin, who succeeded him, being less
scrupulous, was crowned king at Bethlehem. The new kingdom contained
nearly a score of fiefs, whose lords made war, administered justice, and
coined money, like independent rulers. The main features of European
feudalism were thus transplanted to Asiatic soil.
OTHER CRUSADERS' STATES
The winning of Jerusalem and the district about it formed hardly more than
a preliminary stage in the conquest of Syria. Much fighting was still
necessary before the crusaders could establish themselves firmly in the
country. Instead of founding one strong power in Syria, they split up
their possessions into the three principalities of Tripoli, Antioch, and
Edessa. These small states owed allegiance to the Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem.
MILITARY-RELIGIOUS ORDERS
The ability of the crusaders' states to maintain themselves for many years
in Syria was largely due to the foundation of two military-religious
orders. The members were both monks and knights; that is, to the monastic
vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience they added a fourth vow, which
bound them to protect pilgrims and fight the infidels. Such a combination
of religion and warfare made a strong appeal to the medieval mind.
HOSPITALERS AND TEMPLARS
The Hospitalers, the first of these orders, grew out of a brotherhood for
the care of sick pilgrims in a hospital at Jerusalem. Many knights joined
the organization, which soon proved to be very useful in defending the
Holy Land. Even more important were the Templars, so called because their
headquarters in Jerusalem lay near the site of Solomon's Temple. Both
orders built many castles in Syria, the remains of which still impress the
beholder. They established numerous branches in Europe and, by presents
and legacies, acquired vast wealth. The Templars were disbanded in the
fourteenth century, but the Hospitalers continued to fight valiantly
against the Turks long after the close of the crusading movement. [9]
[Illustration: EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT TEMPLAR
Temple Church, London. Shows the kind of armor worn between 1190 and 1225
A.D.]
CHRISTIAN AND INFIDEL IN THE HOLY LAND
The depleted ranks of the crusaders were constantly filled by fresh bands
of pilgrim knights who visited Palestine to pray at the Holy Sepulcher and
cross swords with the infidel. In spite of constant border warfare much
trade and friendly intercourse prevailed between Christians and Moslems.
They learned to respect one another both as foes and neighbors. The
crusaders' states in Syria became, like Spain [10] and Sicily, [11] a
meeting-place of East and West.
172. SECOND CRUSADE, 1147-1149 A.D., AND THIRD CRUSADE, 1189-1192 A.D.
ORIGIN OF THE SECOND CRUSADE
The success of the Christians in the First Crusade had been largely due to
the disunion among their enemies. But the Moslems learned in time the
value of united action, and in 1144 A.D. succeeded in capturing Edessa,
one of the principal Christian outposts in the East. The fall of the city,
followed by the loss of the entire county of Edessa, aroused western
Europe to the danger which threatened the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and
led to another crusading enterprise.
PREACHING OF ST. BERNARD
The apostle of the Second Crusade was the great abbot of Clairvaux, St.
Bernard. [12] Scenes of the wildest enthusiasm marked his preaching. When
the churches were not large enough to hold the crowds which flocked to
hear him, he spoke from platforms erected in the fields. St. Bernard's
eloquence induced two monarchs, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of
Germany, to take the blood-red cross of a crusader.
FAILURE OF THE SECOND CRUSADE
The Second Crusade, though begun under the most favorable auspices, had an
unhappy ending. Of the great host that set out from Europe, only a few
thousands escaped annihilation in Asia Minor at the hands of the Turks.
Louis and Conrad, with the remnants of their armies, made a joint attack
on Damascus, but had to raise the siege after a few days. This closed the
crusade. As a chronicler of the expedition remarked, "having practically
accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned home."
SALADIN
Not many years after the Second Crusade, the Moslem world found in the
famous Saladin a leader for a holy war against the Christians. Saladin in
character was a typical Mohammedan, very devout in prayers and fasting,
fiercely hostile toward unbelievers, and full of the pride of race. To
these qualities he added a kindliness and humanity not surpassed, if
equaled, by any of his Christian foes. He lives in eastern history and
legend as the hero who stemmed once for all the tide of European conquest
in Asia.
CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM BY SALADIN, 1187 A.D.
Having made himself sultan of Egypt, Saladin united the Moslems of Syria
under his sway and then advanced against the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The Christians met him in a great battle near the lake of Galilee. It
ended in the rout of their army and the capture of their king. Even the
Holy Cross, which they had carried in the midst of the fight, became the
spoil of the conqueror. Saladin quickly reaped the fruits of victory. The
Christian cities of Syria opened their gates to him, and at last Jerusalem
itself surrendered after a short siege. Little now remained of the
possessions which the crusaders had won in the East.
THIRD CRUSADE ORGANIZED, 1189 A.D.
The news of the taking of Jerusalem spread consternation throughout
western Christendom. The cry for another crusade arose on all sides. Once
more thousands of men sewed the cross in gold, or silk, or cloth upon
their garments and set out for the Holy Land. When the three greatest
rulers of Europe--Philip Augustus, [13] king of France, Richard I, king of
England, and the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa [14]--assumed the
cross, it seemed that nothing could prevent the restoration of Christian
supremacy in Syria.
DEATH OF FREDERICK BARBAROSSA, 1190 A.D.
The Germans under Frederick Barbarossa were the first to start. This great
emperor was now nearly seventy years old, yet age had not lessened his
crusading zeal. He took the overland route and after much hard fighting
reached southern Asia Minor. Here, however, he was drowned, while trying
to cross a swollen stream. Many of his discouraged followers at once
returned to Germany; a few of them, however, pressed on and joined the
other crusaders before the walls of Acre.
[Illustration: RICHARD I IN PRISON
From an illuminated manuscript of the thirteenth century. King Richard on
his return from the Holy Land was shipwrecked off the coast of the
Adriatic. Attempting to travel through Austria in disguise, he was
captured by the duke of Austria, whom he had offended at the siege of
Acre. The king regained his liberty only by paying a ransom equivalent to
more than twice the annual revenues of England.]
ACRE CAPTURED BY PHILIP AND RICHARD, 1191 A.D.
The expedition of the French and English achieved little. Philip and
Richard, who came by sea, captured Acre after a hard siege, but their
quarrels prevented them from following up this initial success. Philip
soon went home, leaving the further conduct of the crusade in Richard's
hands.
RICHARD IN THE HOLY LAND, 1191-1192 A.D.
The English king remained for fourteen months longer in the Holy Land. His
campaigns during this time gained for him the title of "Lion-hearted,"
[15] by which he is always known. He had many adventures and performed
knightly exploits without number, but could not capture Jerusalem.
Tradition declares that when, during a truce, some crusaders went up to
Jerusalem, Richard refused to accompany them, saying that he would not
enter as a pilgrim the city which he could not rescue as a conqueror. He
and Saladin finally concluded a treaty by the terms of which Christians
were permitted to visit Jerusalem without paying tribute. Richard then set
sail for England, and with his departure from the Holy Land the Third
Crusade came to an end.
173. FOURTH CRUSADE AND THE LATIN EMPIRE OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1202-1261 A.D.
INNOCENT III AND THE FOURTH CRUSADE
The real author of the Fourth Crusade was the famous pope, Innocent III.
[16] Young, enthusiastic, and ambitious for the glory of the Papacy, he
revived the plans of Urban II and sought once more to unite the forces of
Christendom against Islam. No emperor or king answered his summons, but a
number of knights (chiefly French) took the crusader's vow.
THE CRUSADERS AND THE VENETIANS
The leaders of the crusade decided to make Egypt their objective point,
since this country was then the center of the Moslem power. Accordingly,
the crusaders proceeded to Venice, for the purpose of securing
transportation across the Mediterranean. The Venetians agreed to furnish
the necessary ships only on condition that the crusaders first seized Zara
on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. Zara was a Christian city, but it
was also a naval and commercial rival of Venice. In spite of the pope's
protests the crusaders besieged and captured the city. Even then they did
not proceed against the Moslems. The Venetians persuaded them to turn
their arms against Constantinople. The possession of that great capital
would greatly increase Venetian trade and influence in the East; for the
crusading nobles it held out endless opportunities of acquiring wealth and
power. Thus it happened that these soldiers of the Cross, pledged to war
with the Moslems, attacked a Christian city, which for centuries had
formed the chief bulwark of Europe against the Arab and the Turk.
SACK OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1204 A.D.
The crusaders--now better styled the invaders--took Constantinople by
storm. No "infidels" could have treated in worse fashion this home of
ancient civilization. They burned down a great part of it; they
slaughtered the inhabitants; they wantonly destroyed monuments, statues,
paintings, and manuscripts--the accumulation of a thousand years. Much of
the movable wealth they carried away. Never, declared an eye-witness of
the scene, had there been such plunder since the world began.
THE LATIN EMPIRE OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1204-1261 A.D.
The victors hastened to divide between them the lands of the Roman Empire
in the East. Venice gained some districts in Greece, together with nearly
all the Aegean islands. The chief crusaders formed part of the remaining
territory into the Latin Empire of Constantinople. It was organized in
fiefs, after the feudal manner. There was a prince of Achaia, a duke of
Athens, a marquis of Corinth, and a count of Thebes. Large districts, both
in Europe and Asia, did not acknowledge, however, these "Latin" rulers.
The new empire lived less than sixty years. At the end of this time the
Greeks returned to power.
DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES OF THE FOURTH CRUSADE
Constantinople, after the Fourth Crusade, declined in strength and could
no longer cope with the barbarians menacing it. Two centuries later the
city fell an easy victim to the Turks. [17] The responsibility for the
disaster which gave the Turks a foothold in Europe rests on the heads of
the Venetians and the French nobles. Their greed and lust for power turned
the Fourth Crusade into a political adventure.
THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE, 1213 A.D.
The so-called Children's Crusade illustrates at once the religious
enthusiasm and misdirected zeal which marked the whole crusading movement.
During the year 1212 A.D. thousands of French children assembled in bands
and marched through the towns and villages, carrying banners, candles, and
crosses and singing, "Lord God, exalt Christianity. Lord God, restore to
us the true cross." The children could not be restrained at first, but
finally hunger compelled them to return home. In Germany, during the same
year, a lad named Nicholas really did succeed in launching a crusade. He
led a mixed multitude of men and women, boys and girls over the Alps into
Italy, where they expected to take ship for Palestine. But many perished
of hardships, many were sold into slavery, and only a few ever saw their
homes again. "These children," Pope Innocent III declared, "put us to
shame; while we sleep they rush to recover the Holy Land."
END OF THE CRUSADES
The crusading movement came to an end by the close of the thirteenth
century. The emperor Frederick II [18] for a short time recovered
Jerusalem by a treaty, but in 1244 A.D. the Holy City became again a
possession of the Moslems. They have never since relinquished it. Acre,
the last Christian post in Syria, fell in 1291 A.D., and with this event
the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist. The Hospitalers, or
Knights of St. John, still kept possession of the important islands of
Cyprus and Rhodes, which long served as a barrier to Moslem expansion over
the Mediterranean.
174. RESULTS OF THE CRUSADES
FAILURE OF THE CRUSADES
The crusades, judged by what they set out to accomplish, must be accounted
an inglorious failure. After two hundred years of conflict, after a vast
expenditure of wealth and human lives, the Holy Land remained in Moslem
hands. It is true that the First Crusade did help, by the conquest of
Syria, to check the advance of the Turks toward Constantinople. But even
this benefit was more than undone by the weakening of the Roman Empire in
the East as a result of the Fourth Crusade.
WHY THE CRUSADES FAILED
Of the many reasons for the failure of the crusades, three require special
consideration. In the first place, there was the inability of eastern and
western Europe to cooperate in supporting the holy wars. A united
Christendom might well have been invincible. But the bitter antagonism
between the Greek and Roman churches [19] effectually prevented all unity
of action. The emperors at Constantinople, after the First Crusade, rarely
assisted the crusaders and often secretly hindered them. In the second
place, the lack of sea-power, as seen in the earlier crusades, worked
against their success. Instead of being able to go by water directly to
Syria, it was necessary to follow the long, overland route from France or
Germany through Hungary, Bulgaria, the territory of the Roman Empire in
the East, and the deserts and mountains of Asia Minor. The armies that
reached their destination after this toilsome march were in no condition
for effective campaigning. In the third place, the crusaders were never
numerous enough to colonize so large a country as Syria and absorb its
Moslem population. They conquered part of Syria in the First Crusade, but
could not hold it permanently in the face of determined resistance.
WHY THE CRUSADES CEASED
In spite of these and other reasons the Christians of Europe might have
continued much longer their efforts to recover the Holy Land, had they not
lost faith in the movement. But after two centuries the old crusading
enthusiasm died out, the old ideal of the crusade as "the way of God" lost
its spell. Men had begun to think less of winning future salvation by
visits to distant shrines and to think more of their present duties to the
world about them. They came to believe that Jerusalem could best be won as
Christ and the Apostles had won it--"by love, by prayers, and by the
shedding of tears."
INFLUENCE OF THE CRUSADES ON FEUDALISM
The crusades could not fail to affect in many ways the life of western
Europe. For instance, they helped to undermine feudalism. Thousands of
barons and knights mortgaged or sold their lands in order to raise money
for a crusading expedition. Thousands more perished in Syria and their
estates, through failure of heirs, reverted to the crown. Moreover,
private warfare, that curse of the Middle Ages, [20] also tended to die
out with the departure for the Holy Land of so many turbulent feudal
lords. Their decline in both numbers and influence, and the corresponding
growth of the royal authority, may best be traced in the changes that came
about in France, the original home of the crusading movement.
THE CRUSADES AND COMMERCE
One of the most important effects of the crusades was on commerce. They
created a constant demand for the transportation of men and supplies,
encouraged ship-building, and extended the market for eastern wares in
Europe. The products of Damascus, Mosul, Alexandria, Cairo, and other
great cities were carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian
seaports, whence they found their way into all European lands. The
elegance of the Orient, with its silks, tapestries, precious stones,
perfumes, spices, pearls, and ivory, was so enchanting that an
enthusiastic crusader called it "the vestibule of Paradise."
THE CRUSADES AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE
Finally, it must be noted how much the crusades contributed to
intellectual and social progress. They brought the inhabitants of western
Europe into close relations with one another, with their fellow Christians
of the Roman Empire in the East, and with the natives of Asia Minor,
Syria, and Egypt. The intercourse between Christians and Moslems was
particularly stimulating, because the East at this time surpassed the West
in civilization. The crusaders enjoyed the advantages which come from
travel in strange lands and among unfamiliar peoples. They went out from
their castles or villages to see great cities, marble palaces, superb
dresses, and elegant manners; they returned with finer tastes, broader
ideas, and wider sympathies. Like the conquests of Alexander the Great,
the crusades opened up a new world.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRUSADES
When all is said, the crusades remain one of the most remarkable movements
in history. They exhibited the nations of western Europe for the first
time making a united effort for a common end. The crusaders were not hired
soldiers, but volunteers, who, while the religious fervor lasted, gladly
abandoned their homes and faced hardship and death in pursuit of a
spiritual ideal. They failed to accomplish their purpose, yet humanity is
the richer for the memory of their heroism and chivalry.
STUDIES
1. On an outline map indicate Europe and the Mediterranean lands by
religions, about 1095 A.D.
2. On an outline map indicate the routes of the First and the Third
Crusades.
3. Locate on the map the following places: Clermont; Acre; Antioch; Zara;
Edessa; and Damascus.
4. Identify the following dates: 1204 A.D.; 1095 A.D.; 1096 A.D.; 1291
A.D.
5. Write a short essay describing the imaginary experiences of a crusader
to the Holy Land.
6. Mention some instances which illustrate the religious enthusiasm of the
crusaders.
7. Compare the Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca with the pilgrimages of
Christians to Jerusalem in the Middle Ages.
8. Compare the Christian crusade with the Mohammedan _jihad_, or holy war.
9. How did the expression, a "red-cross knight," arise?
10. Why is the Second Crusade often called "St. Bernard's Crusade"?
11. Why has the Third Crusade been called "the most interesting
international expedition of the Middle Ages"?
12. Would the crusaders in 1204 A.D. have attacked Constantinople, if the
schism of 1054 A.D. had not occurred?
13. "Mixture, or at least contact of races, is essential to progress." How
do the crusades illustrate the truth of this statement?
14. Were the crusades the only means by which western Europe was brought
in contact with Moslem civilization?
FOOTNOTES
[1] Webster, _Readings in Medieval and Modern History_, chapter xii,
"Richard the Lion-hearted and the Third Crusade"; chapter xiii, "The
Fourth Crusade and the Capture of Constantinople."
[2] See page 412.
[3] See pages 333, 380.
[4] See page 235.
[5] Hence the name "crusades," from Latin _crux_, old French _crois_, a
"cross".
[6] For the routes followed by the crusaders see the map between pages
478-479.
[7] See page 412.
[8] The emperor Constantine caused a stately church to be erected on the
supposed site of Christ's tomb. This church of the Holy Sepulcher was
practically destroyed by the Moslems, early in the eleventh century. The
crusaders restored and enlarged the structure, which still stands.
[9] The order of Hospitalers, now known as the "Knights of Malta," still
survives in several European countries.
[10] See page 383.
[11] See page 413.
[12] See pages 449-450.
[13] See page 513.
[14] See page 460.
[15] In French _Coeur-de-Lion_.
[16] See page 461.
[17] See page 492.
[18] See page 462.
[19] See pages 362-363.
[20] See page 423.