Crusades

We explain what the Crusades were, what were their causes and how they are classified. In addition, its characteristics and consequences.

What were the crusaders?

Is known as crusades to A series of military campaigns carried out by Christians from Western Europeespecially from France, the Holy Roman Empire and England, under the impulse of the highest authority of the Catholic Church based in Rome, the Pope.

They took place over almost two centuries (between 1096 and 1291) and Its purpose was to recover the political and religious control of the so -called “Holy Land” (Jerusalem and surroundings), which was governed by Muslim authorities.

They are recognized Eight official crusades aimed at the Middle East and North Africabut other wars and political-religious initiatives, such as the reconquest in the Iberian Peninsula, the persecution of the Albigenses of the southern France (declared heretics by the Catholic Church) or the confrontations with “pagans” and Muslims in areas of the Baltic and Eastern Europe.

The warriors who participated in these armed contingents were called Crusaders because They carried a cross cross over their clothes. In this way, they identified themselves as faithful to the mission of the Catholic Church. In exchange for their efforts, plenary indulgence was granted, that is, all the sins they had committed in the past were forgiven.

• See also: Imperialism

Historical context

Background of the Crusades

In the mid -eleventh century, the Selyuk Turks who professed Sunni Islam expanded through the East. They conquered Baghdad and extended their domain to the west. The Byzantine Empire, which preserved the Christian faith, was losing territories in Europe and Asiaand the Roman emperor IV decided to face the Selyuk Turks who threatened their predominance in Anatolia (current Türkiye).

The Byzantine defeat in Manzikert (1071) allowed the Shyúcidas to conquer Anatolia, Syria and Palestine, the latter from the Fatimis (Shiite Muslims who had established a caliphate with center in Egypt).

The Muslim domain over Jerusalem and surroundings had not prevented until then the coexistence and pilgrimage of Christians who wanted to come into contact with the “holy places” for which Jesus was believed to have walked. But Selyuk domain and conflicts in the region turned the pilgrimage into a dangerous company. At the same time, the weakness of the Byzantine Empire prevented it from offering protection to pilgrims.

In this context, the expansion of Islam and, in particular, of the Selyuk domain that was at the gates of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, motivated both the request for military aid by the Byzantine emperor Alejo and Comneno and the disposition of Western powers to go.

Crusades call

The request for military aid of the Byzantine emperor Alejo I Comneno motivated the called made by Pope Urban II in the Council of Clermont (France) in 1095. This convened the Christians from Europe to travel to the Holy Land to free it from the Muslim domain and offered those who came to the plenary indulgence, that is, the forgiveness of all the sins committed in the past.

While Urban II’s call was aimed at noble and gentlemen, People of all social status came under the motto “God wants it”. It is estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 individuals mobilized in 1096 motivated either by faith, by the obligation to follow a man or by the desire to acquire land and loot.

A first unofficial excursion, known as “Popular Crusade”, was instigated by Pedro “El Hermito”, a French cleric who promoted the call of Urban II between peasants and other humble sectors. These advanced from thousands of Europe, the majority unarmed or with rudimentary weapons; They looted in their path to supply and attacked Jewish populations. When they arrived in Anatolia, they were mostly massacred or enslaved by the Selyuk Turks.

Origin of the term “Crusades”

The Crusades They take their name from the cross that the crucados embroidered in their uniform or painted in their shields and other implements. This sign publicly stated that the person had brought the vote of “taking the cross”, that is, committing to an expedition in defense of the Catholic faith. Thus, the term in Latin Crucesignatuswhich can be translated as “crossed”, appointed a person who was “under the sign of the cross.”

At the beginning of the crusades, the Christians left armed or unarmed to the Holy Land They were indistinctly recognized as pilgrimsand the campaigns received generic names such as “trip to Jerusalem”, “pilgrimage” or “expedition.” Throughout the twelfth century, the difference between warriors and unarmed pilgrims became more pronounced and both the term “crossed” (reserved for the warriors) and “crusade” began to generalize at the end of this century. “Crusade” became synonymous with armed pilgrimage and Santa Guerra.

Causes or motivations of the Crusades

The main motivation of the Crusades was to stop Islamic expansion and Recover control of the so -called “Holy Land”that is, Jerusalem and other Palestine sites in which Jesus had lived, dead and resurrected.

Also known as “Santos Places”, these sites were since the seventh century under the political domain of Islamic regimes and were the fate of Christian pilgrims from Europe. But the conquest of the Sajucent Turks and the conflicts that took place in the region at the end of the eleventh century made the pilgrimage dangerous and fueled the Christian yearning to expel Muslims from it.

However, historians also recognize other complementary motivations:

• The request for help from the Byzantine Emperor who triggered the subsequent call to the Crusades was a request for military assistance to deal with the Selyúcidas Turks and defend the political sovereignty of what still remained of the empire.
• The preaching of Pope Urban II who called to travel to Jerusalem to recover and defend the Holy Land could also be due to interest in returning the primacy to the papacy over all Christianity that, at that time, was divided into the Catholic Church of the West and the Orthodox Church of the East.
• Some of the participants in the crusades had economic interests, such as the appropriation of land and wealth or the use of land and sea routes to do business. The fourth crusade even acquired a large commercial motivation: the Venetian merchants convinced the crusaders to attack Christian cities with those who competed for commercial supremacy, which resulted in the take and looting of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine empire.

The major crusades

• First Crusade. It began in 1096 and culminated in 1099. It was formed mainly by French and Norman gentlemen who integrated contingents led by leaders authorized by the Pope. Among these were Prince Bohemundo de Taranto and Duke Godofredo de Bouillón. It resulted in a victory for the Crusaders, who crossed Anatolia, conquered Antioch and finally captured Jerusalem, which was in possession of the Fatimis Muslims. This meant the recovery of some territories by the Byzantine Empire and the establishment in Syria and Palestine of four cross -states (known as Latin States of the East) governed by some of the military leaders of the Crusades: the kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the Tripoli County and Edesa County.
• Second Crusade. It took place between 1147 and 1149, from the fall of Edesa’s county (the first Latin state) against the Turks sealed in 1144. The Christian armies of King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrado III of Germany marched throughout Europe encouraged by the preaching of the Cistercian monk Bernardo de Claraval. They crossed Anatolia, where they had to face Turkish attacks. They tried to take Damascus in Syria but failed and retired with great human losses. At the beginning of this crusade in 1147, the crusaders marched to the East had passed through the Iberian Peninsula and had recovered Lisbon, Almería and Tarragona from the Muslims.
• Third Crusade. It happened between 1189 and 1192 and was known as the Crusade of the Kings, because the king of England Ricardo I “Heart of León”, the king of France Felipe II and the emperor of the sacred Roman Empire Germanic Federico I Barbarroja participated. He had the objective of recovering Jerusalem, who had fallen into the hands of the Sultan of Egypt and Syria Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (known in the West as Saladino) after the battle of Hattin in 1187. Although the crusaders could not reconquer Jerusalem, a series of coastal victories favored the signing of the Ramla treaty between Ricardo I and Saladino Muslim control of the city and the second promised to allow Christian pilgrimage.
• Fourth Crusade. It began in 1202 and culminated in 1204, but did not head against Muslims but against other Christians. The initial intention of this crusade was to advance on Egypt to weaken the control exercised by Muslims on Holy Land. However, the Crusaders had difficulties in suffering the trip and were convinced by the authorities of the Republic of Venice, who had gathered an onerous fleet for the expedition, to conquer the Christian city of Zara (in the current Croatia) with which they rivaled by the control of the Adriatic. Also moved by the interest of ensuring commercial predominance in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Venetians persuaded the Crusaders of Atacing Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, whose emperor Alejo IV had not fulfilled, in addition, their financing commitment of the original expedition. The crusaders besieged and conquered Constantinople in 1204 and looted it for several days. Then they proclaimed the Latin Empire of Constantinople, which endured up to 1261.

The minor crusades

• Fifth Crusade. It began in 1217 and culminated in 1221. It was proposed to defeat the Ayubí State of Egypt, as a way towards the reconquest of Jerusalem. A great army met and put it in command of King Andrés II of Hungary and Duke Leopold VI of Austria at the initiative of Pope Innocent III and his successor Honorio III. After capturing Damieta, at the mouth of the Nile, the Crusaders tried to attack Cairo but the Muslim forces and the floods of the Nile forced them to withdraw and abandon the previous conquests.
• Sixth Crusade. It took place between 1228 and 1229 by Federico II Hohestaufen, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who had been excommunicated by the Pope for not having marched before to the Holy Land and, therefore, undertook the campaign without the papal endorsement. The internal tensions of Islam allowed the German emperor to establish negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Al-Kamil, who faced political conflicts within their vast territory. Thus Federico II obtained Jerusalem, Belén, Nazareth and other cities on condition of allowing the permanence and free transit of Muslims.
• Seventh crusade. It took place between 1248 and 1254, by Luis IX of France, once the truce signed at the end of the sixth crusade had defeated and the Muslims had reconquered Jerusalem in 1244. The crusaders were defeated in Egypt, as in the fifth crusade, and were made prisoners. Luis IX and his troops were then rescued.
• Eighth crusade. In 1270, Louis IX reimbursed the conquest of Muslim lands landing in Tunisia with the intention of moving then on Egypt, where the Sultan Mameluco Baibars now ruled. But he contracted dysentery and died within a few days. Then Prince Eduardo of England joined the efforts of the late Luis IX and directed his troops to Palestine in what some consider a ninth crusade, but this also failed in 1272. From now on, the crossed states were losing territories against the Mameluco advance and ceased to exist in 1291 (for this reason, some historians place the end of the crusades in this reason). The last cross redoubt in the region was the island of Arwad that was conquered by the Mamluks in 1302.

The cross states

The advance of the first crusade by Anatolia, Syria and Palestine promoted the creation of four Christian states that had the function of ensuring the conquered territories. They are known as cross states or Latin states of the East.

Each of these states was in charge of a cross leader who exercised authority over its Christian and Muslim population. Many crusaders who fulfilled their votes when visiting the Holy Sepulcher returned to Europewhile others remained and put themselves under the authority of Christian rulers.

These states were organized mainly according to a feudal order: the military leader demanded territories by conquest and distributed land and responsibilities among his followers, which owed him fidelity.

• EDESA County (1098-1144). It was the first cross state. Created by Balduino de Boulogne in Syria, who subsequently proclaimed King of Jerusalem, was also the first cross to disappear, as he was conquered by the Turks sealed in 1144, a fact that triggered the second crusade.
• The Principality of Antioch (1098-1268). To the south of the current Türkiye, this state was in charge of Bohemundo de Taranto, who after being taken prisoner by the Muslims and finally released, left his nephew Tancredo as regent. This principality crossed various territorial conflicts and losses until its dissolution in 1268 at the hands of the Mamelucos of Sultan Balibar.
• Tripoli County (1109-1268). Tripoli’s siege in Lebanon was initially conducted by Raimundo de Saint-Gilles, who came to hold the Tripoli count for having conquered neighboring lands. The siege was completed after his death. This created the Tripoli County, which endured up to 1268 when it fell to the Mamlucos.
• The Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187). The conquest of Jerusalem was the protagonist of Godofredo de Bouillón, who managed to overcome the Fatimis Muslims who had, in turn, expelled the Selyuk Turks. The immediate result was a massacre of Muslim and Jewish population accompanied by the capture of prisoners. Godofredo was proclaimed ruler of Jerusalem with the title of “Protector of the Holy Sepulcher” and, at his death, was happened by his brother Balduino who adopted the title of King of Jerusalem. This kingdom was lost at the hands of Sultan Saladino in 1187. During the third crusade the Christians recovered territories on the coast of Palestine and established their center in Acre (in the current Israel). They also founded the kingdom of Cyprus. Acre was finally conquered by the Mamelucos in 1291 and this meant the end of the cross states.

The Crusaders

The first crusades summoned people of all social status and from different parts of Europe. Some humble and marginal sectors participated in the so -called “popular crusade” that did not have the approval of the Pope, but others were integrated into the official crusades along with nobles and gentlemen who were better equipped and trained. From the second crusade some kings acquired prominence in the conduct of these expeditions.

The reasons to participate in the Crusades were diverse. The most visible was the religious fervor that all the social strata of Western Christianity could experience, motivated by the defense of the Holy Land or by plenary indulgence. But the political ambition of some nobles who wanted to conquer territories and the economic interests of sectors of low nobility or less privileged social status that benefited from prey, loot or obtaining land to usufruct.

Some simply followed their lords, to whom they owed fidelity (this form of recruitment for vassalage obligations seems to have been predominant from the third crusade). Some merchants They could take advantage of the transfer routes to the Middle East as a business opportunity and other individuals could be motivated by obtaining noble titles as a reward for accompanying cross leaders.

The success of the first crusade and the settlement of the crusaders in Syria and Palestine also encouraged the creation of monastic orders and military who had the mission of protecting pilgrims and defending new Christian possessions. Thus were born the Knights Templar (1119-1314), the hospital knights (emerged in 1113 and celebrities, among other things, for their control of castles such as the Crac de los Caballeros in Syria), the Teutones knights (whose order was founded in 1190), among others. These monks-wreck took monastic votes and were dedicated to military activity.

The military organization of the Crusaders depended on both the cavalry and the infantry. The units were formed from the swearing of fidelity to a cross leader. The transfer from Europe was initially made by land but from the third crusade the resource to boats became more frequent, generally provided by Italian commercial cities such as Venice and Genoa.

Who were the crusaders against?

The Crusades to the Holy Land They headed against Muslim populations. The first target of the Crusaders was to expel the Turks of Selyúcidas from the holy places. At the end of the eleventh century they dominated much of the Middle East and threatened the Byzantine Empire. While the Crusaders faced the Sajuces in the first crusades, the Jerusalem site in 1099 was directed against the fatimis that ruled from Egypt and that had expelled the sealsa of that city.

Other Muslim adversaries of the Crusaders were the Ayubíes, who responded to the authority of the Sultan of Egypt and Syria (Saladino or their successors); The Mamluks, whose sultans highlighted Baibars I; and the lorávides who were defeated by crossed at the service of the King of Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula as part of the so -called reconquest.

The Crusaders also faced Christian populationsespecially in the Byzantine Empire, and exercised violence over Jewish populations. Other episodes that were called “crossed” were fought in European territory and headed against “heretics” Christians, such as the war against the Albigenses of southern France, and against “pagans”, such as the Baltic Crusades.

Consequences of the Crusades

The Crusades had various consequences in Europe and the Middle East, including:

• They arrested the advance of Islam to the West and preserved Christian hegemony in Europe.
• They expanded the influence of the papacy in the western world and even, for a while, among the Christians of the East, although the differences between Eastern and Western Christianity were accentuated and made irreversible the separation between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
• They determined the decline of the Byzantine Empire, which finally disintegrated in 1453 after the fall of Constantinople against the Ottoman Turks.
• They increased the Christian presence in regions of the Middle East and other places in Asia, including the promotion of Franciscan and Dominican missions.
• They reinforced the idea of ​​religious and cultural unity of Christian Western Europe in opposition to the Muslim East and increased religious intolerance against Muslims, Jews and who were considered pagans and heretics.
• They gave a new impulse to trade between the East and West, which introduced new crops and exotic products in Europe, and favored the western reception of sciences, arts and philosophy of Islam, as well as Greek works that preserved the Byzantine Empire or that had been translated and commented on by Arab intellectuals (although it had greater impact on this the reconquest on the Iberian Peninsula).
• They ruined many feudal lords who had abandoned or mortgaged their lands to go to the Holy Land, while benefiting merchants from the cities and strengthened some European real houses that had concentrated resources through taxes and tariffs on trade.
• They increased the hegemony of large commercial cities such as Venice, Genoa and Pisa that controlled the exchange routes with the Middle East.
• They encouraged the formation of religious-military orders created in order to participate in the Crusades and protect the pilgrims; Some of them accumulated power and wealth and inspired the creation of other orders, but sometimes they conflict with the ecclesiastical and secular powers (as happened with the order of the Templars, which was dissolved in the fourteenth century).
• They accentuated the divisions within Islam but also intensified their differences with Christian powers, whose behavior during the crusades was a reason for rebuke.
• They stimulated the elaboration of narratives that for centuries exalted heroism either by kings and noble European at the service of Christianity (in the Christian west) or of rulers who had fought in defense of Islam (such as Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub, known in the West as Saladino).
• They spread the idea of ​​religious crusade and “holy war” that influenced the conception of subsequent expansions, such as the conquest of the New World.

Forgiveness for the crusades

In 2000, the then Pope of the Catholic Church John Paul II publicly confessed the “guilt of the past” and apologized for acts of intolerance and violence committed in the name of the Catholic faith throughout history.

Among the facts that motivated this manifestation of repentance and penance were, although without naming them, the crimes of the Inquisition and the massacres perpetrated during the crusades.

Other crusades

Other wars and episodes of violence were called “crossed”, but were not part of the Catholic effort to recover or defend the Holy Land. Among them, the following stand out:

• The Albigense Crusade (1209-1229) He went against the Cathars or Albigenses of southern France who preached a Christian Gnostic doctrine considered heretical by the Catholic Church. The Pope turned to the French crown and began a war that concluded with the victory of the Crusaders of the King of France over Tolosa County that sheltered the Albigenses. Anyway, the Cathar movement was not extinguished and remained pursued by the Inquisition.
• The Reconquest In the Iberian Peninsula also acquired a crusade. For example, the crusaders marched to the Holy Land in 1147 received the ecclesiastical mission of expelling Muslims from Lisbon, Almería and Tarragona, and the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa that took place in 1212 received contingents from various parts of Europe because Pope Innocent III preached it as a crusade.
• The Baltic crusades They were starring the knights of the Teutonic Order that had been created during the third crusade. They headed against the pagan populations of the Baltic region from the thirteenth century. The Teutones received the approval of the Pope and the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to govern the lands conquered in Prussia and other bordering areas and impose their Christianization.
• The Crusade of Nicópolis He summoned in 1385 a large number of European troops at the request of King Segismundo de Hungary with the aim of stopping the advance of Ottoman Turks in Europe. The decisive battle took place in 1396 and was a defeat for Christians against the Muslim forces of the Ottoman Bayezid I.
• The call “Crusade of children” (1212) It was not really a crusade or mostly composed of children. It was a popular movement that seems to have been inspired by a young pastor from Germany who summoned a good number of people (including children and adolescents, but also poor and marginalized adults). While the goal seems to have been to reach the Holy Land from Genoa, they failed to leave Europe. Other similar movements could have converged with this. Anyway, the stories about this mobilization and about their inspirers seem to mix the story with fiction.

Continue with:

• Byzantine civilization
• Medieval culture
• Feudalism

References

• Asbridge, T. (2010). The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for The Holy Land. Simon & Schuster.
• Baldwin, MW, Madden, Tf & Dickson, G. (2022). Crusades. Britannica Encyclopedia.
• García-Guijarro Ramos, L. (1995). Papacy, Crusades and military orders, XI-XIII centuries. Chair.
• Nicolle, D. & Hook, C. (2011). The fight for Holy Land. Osprey-Rba.