What Were the Crusades?
During the high medieval period in Europe — a time when the continent’s population increased rapidly, bringing about great social and political change — Pope Urban II sparked a religious war when he urged Christians to recapture the Holy Land, a region that lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and is held sacred among Christians, Jews and Muslims, particularly the holy city of Jerusalem. The result was a series of military campaigns that lasted from 1095 to 1291, known today as the Crusades.
The Roots of Religious Conflict
By the end of the 11th century, about two-thirds of the ancient Christian world had been conquered by Muslims, including strategically and religiously important regions such as Palestine, Syria, and Egypt. When, around 1077, Muslim Turks took control of the Holy Land, religious and territorial frictions between the two religious groups reached a tipping point. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus feared that his lands — the Eastern Roman Empire, which included the strategically important city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) — would be next, and he appealed to the pope for assistance. Pope Urban II responded in 1095, promising the knights of Europe that their sins would be forgiven if they recaptured the Holy Land and, more specifically, Jerusalem, for Christianity. With that fateful promise, the Crusades began.
Rallying to the Cause
Pope Urban’s plea was met with a massive response, not only among knights but also among ordinary citizens who chose to join the Crusades. Their reasons for joining the holy war were varied. Many knights sought to defend Christianity while earning forgiveness for their sins and eternal glory, as promised by Pope Urban II. But their motives weren’t always religious. Knights also believed firmly in chivalry and sought out adventures in which they might gain honor or renown. The campaigns also presented material opportunities, with conquered land up for grabs. European merchants, too, were typically in favor of the Crusades, as they sought to monopolize important trading centers that were under Muslim control. They could also earn good money shipping Crusaders to the Middle East — an estimated 90,000 men, women, and children of all classes joined the First Crusade alone, so there was wealth to be made in providing passage.
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The First Crusade
The armies of the First Crusade set off for the Holy Land in 1096. Warriors had gathered from around Europe, and a force of about 60,000 soldiers (of which some 6,000 were knights) and at least 30,000 noncombatants was amassed, known as the “Princes’ Crusade.” By 1098, the campaigning forces had taken major cities including Nicaea and Antioch, but not without suffering significant losses. By the time the Crusader army reached its primary objective, Jerusalem, in June 1099, there were only around 1,300 knights and 12,000 infantry remaining. Undeterred, they laid siege to Jerusalem, breaching the walls on July 15. The Crusaders then spent two days massacring the inhabitants and pillaging the city. The First Crusade was a bloody victory for Europe, and Jerusalem returned to Christian rule.
The Second Crusade
Despite the outcome of the First Crusade, holding territory in the Holy Land was no easy task. So-called “Crusader states” were formed, but the first of them, the County of Edessa, was retaken in 1144 by Muslim forces. In response, Pope Eugene III called for a Second Crusade, this time to be led by European kings. A force of 60,000 people assembled and marched east. The campaign, however, was a failure. The Crusader armies became stretched out, and after numerous skirmishes and a handful of sieges, the whole endeavor fizzled away.
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart
Next came the rise of Saladin, one of the most famous figures of the Crusades. The Muslim sultan of Egypt and Syria brought forces from both nations under his own control and began attacking the Crusader states. Most importantly, Saladin recaptured Jerusalem — the prize of the First Crusade — in 1187, sending shockwaves around Europe. The pope soon called for a Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem. The kings of Europe responded — most notably Richard I of England, known as Richard the Lionheart due to his reputation as a fearsome warrior. So began one of the greatest military rivalries not only of the Crusades, but of warfare in general. Richard and Saladin developed a mutual respect and admiration for each other through their conflicts, and became the defining figures of the Crusades. The Third Crusade ended in 1192 with the Crusader armies recapturing the vital cities of Acre and Jaffa. The Crusaders retook most of the territory captured by Saladin, but failed to recapture Jerusalem.
The End of the Crusades
The Crusades didn’t end there. There were at least eight Crusades in total, until the period finally ended with the fall of the city of Acre in 1291. This marked the end of any major European presence in the region, and no further large military campaigns were organized. Between 1095 and 1291, a number of popular campaigns also took place, but without papal approval, so they are not considered part of the Crusades. This includes the infamous and somewhat bizarre “Children's Crusade,” led by a 12-year-old shepherd named Stephen. The details of this unofficial quest are questionable and may well have been hugely exaggerated by contemporary sources, which claim that as many as 30,000 children set off toward Jerusalem. Whatever the actual numbers, the Children’s Crusade was a failure and never even reached the Holy Land — but it can lay claim to being the first European youth movement.
