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Crusades, or Wars of the Cross (French croisade)The objects of these religious wars carried on by European nations against Islam between the 11th and 13th centuries were originally to ensure the safety of pilgrims visiting the Holy Sepulchre, and to set up Christian rule in Palestine. Later on the attacks were directed against Egypt and even Constantinople, and in the 14th century the conquests of the Ottoman Turks turned crusading into a defensive movement.
Actually the movement was continuous for over two centuries, hardly a decade passing without one or more expeditions. Only the most successful or the most disastrous of these, however, have taken a prominent place in history. In Palestine the mild rule of the first Muslim conquerors had for centuries allowed a Christian protectorate (first established under Charlemagne) to exist in Jerusalem, and Christian pilgrims were allowed to come and go quite freely. But this state of affairs was ended in 1010 by the fanatical caliph, Hakim, who destroyed the sanctuary. The protectorate passed in 1021 to the Greek Church, and after 1071 the Saracens were themselves overcome by a rougher people, the Seljuk Turks. Christian pilgrimage became difficult and dangerous. In 1095 the appeals of Pope Urban II led to the undertaking of an enterprise which in various forms had already been proposed by more than one pope. The turbulent feudal knights of Europe received a new outlet for their energies. Instead of being restrained by the Church with peaceful admonitions, as in the institution of the Truce of God, their warlike ardour was encouraged, organised, and dedicated to what was proclaimed to be the highest and holiest service. The Deus vult of Clermont founds its echo in the hearts of both princes and commoners.
In 1095 several undisciplined hosts, including those of Walter the Penniless and Peter the Hermit, set out for the East, but perished on the way. In 1096-97 a great army under Godfrey de Bouillon, Bohemond of Otranto, and other leaders, concentrating on Constantinople, fought its way through Asia Minor, taking Antioch in 1098, and Jerusalem in 1099. A Christian kingdom was established, with Godfrey as its first head, his brother Baldwin as Count of Edessa (Upper Mesopotamia), and Bohemond ruling at Antioch. Godfrey died in 1100 and was succeeded by Baldwin.
During the next half-century, in spite of reinforcements, including fleets from Genoa, Norway, and Venice, the Christians in Syria were hard-pressed. To assist in the defence of Jerusalem the orders of Knights Hospitallers and Knights Templars were formed. In 1144 Edessa was lost, and the second crusade, under Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany (1146-48), ended disastrously. Its failure for a time discouraged European effort, while Muslim pressure increased on all sides. Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, having captured Damascus in 1174 and Aleppo in 1183, swept down through Galilee with an immense force, defeated the Christians at the Horns of Hattin, and took Jerusalem in October 1187. The news was received in Europe with consternation and rage. Fresh crusades were set on foot, of which the most important was that led by Philip of France, Frederick of Germany, and Richard I of England (1189). The Germans went through Asia Minor, losing their emperor on the way by drowning; the French and English went by sea to Acre, which had already been besieged for nearly two years by Guy de Lusignan. Richard distinguished himself in the capture of the city, but quarrelled with his allies, who left him to carry on the war alone. After a year of brilliant but useless exploits, he made a truce with Saladin, and returned to Europe.
Another crusade, starting from Venice in 1202, became involved in Venetian and Byzantine intrigues, and instead of reaching Jerusalem, assisted the deposed Isaac Angelus to regain the Greek throne; a few months later Constantinople was stormed and sacked by the crusaders, and a Latin empire established there under Baldwin of Flanders, 1204. In 1212 several thousand children were allowed to go on a crusade, many dying on the way from France and Germany to the Italian coast. The rest embarked, but those who reached Alexandria were promptly sold into slavery.
A crusade under Andrew of Hungary and others (1217-21) against the Muslim power in Egypt was a failure, but that of Frederick II, undertaken in 1228 while he was under the ban of the Church, was successful. By diplomacy, not fighting, he regained Jerusalem and the south of Palestine, which remained in Christian hands until 1244, when it was finally lost. The crusade of Louis IX of France (St Louis) in 1249 was, like that of 1217, directed against Egypt, and proved even more disastrous. Louis, with the greater part of his army, was captured, and had to pay 800,000 pieces of gold as a ransom. Even after this, in 1270, he headed another crusade, but died at Carthage. Prince Edward of England (afterwards Edward I), a few months later led his own followers to Acre, but achieved no results.
Though several popes preached united war against the infidels, nothing came of it. Even when Constantinople was captured by Mohammed II in 1453, Pius II failed in trying to raise a crusade for its recovery. The Templars had been suppressed, but the Hospitallers, at Rhodes and afterwards at Malta, continued to be a bulwark against Turkish advance in the Mediterranean. Though the crusades failed in effecting the spiritual objects for which they were intended, they benefited Europe indirectly in a number of ways in awakening the beginning of European expansion. Trade between Europe and Asia Minor was greatly stimulated; the merchants and mariners of the Mediterranean, especially of Venice and Genoa, found the demand for their shipping increased manifold, both for the transport of armies and for the bringing of new and rare commodities from east European craftsmen, and crusaders learned valuable lessons from Saracen skill in art and in war. Sugar, cotton, and many other articles now of everyday use, first became known in Europe through the crusades. In addition, the cultural contacts which the crusades maintained between Europe and the East had a stimulating effect on the medieval learning of Europe, and to some extent anticipated and paved the way for the Renaissance.
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