The Crusades, ostensibly, were a
series of armed expeditions launched by Christian
states against Muslim forces to seize control
of territory deemed sacred by both parties
— AKA, the “Holy Land.”
The fighting spanned several centuries and
produced some of the bloodiest combat in military
history, motivated by both heavenly salvation
and earthly plunder.
Beginning in the late 11th century, soldiers
would endure innumerable hardships during
these long, often treacherous journeys.
These church-sanctioned escapades would eventually
come to an end, but the bitter divide of East
vs. West continues today throughout much of
the Middle East with the chance of peace about
as likely as the Yankees and Red Sox ever
playing nice.
8.
The Pope’s Speech
On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II addressed
the Council of Clermont in France, where several
hundred clerics and noblemen had gathered.
He passionately decried the suffering of Christians
in the Byzantine Empire at the hands of the
powerful Seljuk Turks.
The Pontiff then implored all Christians to
embark on a mission to reclaim Jerusalem from
Muslim forces.
The Pope’s spirited address promised absolution
and remission of sins for anyone who died
while doing the Lord’s work and culminated
with the war cry, “Deus vult!”
(“God wills it!”)
The recruiting drive proved successful — and
cemented his legacy for having instigated
the Holy Wars.
Although exact numbers vary, up to 100,000
people would take part in the initial mission
to rescue the ancient city.
During this time, Urban seized on the opportunity
to increase the power of the papacy.
European nobles would also benefit from the
acquisition of land and plunder, conquering
and killing anyone along the way considered
adversarial to their cause.
7.
Sign of the Cross
The name given to the Holy Wars derives from
the medieval French word for crois, meaning
“cross.”
Combatants consisting of nobles, knights,
and peasants took a public, binding ecclesiastical
vow to join a crusade that required a red
cross sewn onto their garments as a sign of
the pledge.
The cross could only be removed after completing
their pilgrimage.
Although soldiers didn’t receive wages while
fighting in the service of Christ, they received
certain privileges from the Church.
Soldiers received protection for their family
and property, hospitality during the trip,
exemption from tolls and taxes, and immunity
from arrest.
Upon returning home, soldiers who had managed
to avoid being killed or taken prisoner were
granted a plenary indulgence for completing
the pilgrimage.
Any acquired booty would have been considered
well-earned spoils of war — not to mention
the pride of rolling up their sleeves to reveal
battle scars down at the local watering hole.
6.
The Lonnnnnnng Road
The First Crusade got underway in France in
1096 with an army consisting of soldiers throughout
Europe.
Despite the multi-national coalition, the
troops would be called “Franks” by their
Muslim foes.
The round trip trek would often take years
to complete, covering as many as 2,500 miles
each way — or roughly the same distance
as going from L.A. to Pittsburgh on foot.
Crusading took on many different forms, with
each expedition launched for distinct reasons
with several years in between separating the
campaigns.
In addition to the longer trips against Muslim
forces, battles also involved pagan tribes
and heretics scattered across the European
continent.
Enemies of the Pope were also frequently targeted.
Even the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (a
devout Christian monarch) didn’t get a pass
and would be excommunicated three times and
branded the Antichrist by Pope Gregory XI.
5.
Strategy and Tactics
The holy wars nearly ended in the disaster
for Christian forces early on.
Led by a coalition of European knights, the
crusaders found themselves surrounded by the
enemy under Turkish commander Kilij Arslan
in Anatolia.
In short, they needed a miracle, which fortunately
for them, arrived in the form of a fast-thinking
Italian prince named Bohemond of Taranto.
After having fought several smaller skirmishes,
the Battle of Dorylaeum introduced the first
full-scale confrontation between western armies
and Muslim forces.
The crusaders faced not only a constant torrent
of arrows from mounted archers but the effects
of the scorching, arid weather on unfamiliar
ground.
Bohemond quickly realized that conventional
infantry and cavalry charges were ineffective
against a more mobile army relying on hit-and-run
tactics.
He then ordered his heavily armored knights
to dismount and form a protective shield around
the foot soldiers, horses, and supplies.
The shift in military structure also allowed
Bohemond’s line to hold until reinforcements
arrived in mass as the Turks eventually exhausted
their resources.
In the end, the crusaders notched an impressive
victory with a new strategy that would influence
future battles in the drive towards Jerusalem.
Moreover, the triumph helped perpetuate a
myth of divine intervention and serve as a
recruiting tool, declaring that crusaders
were under God’s protection.
4.
Fall To Your Knees And Repent If You Please
In the song “Exciter” by heavy metal gods
Judas Priest, the theme of salvation is delivered
through shrieking vocals, and thundering dual-lead
electric guitars.
The crusaders, however, used a more physical
approach by mandating that all sinners must
convert to Christianity or face righteous
execution in the name of God.
So much for Christ’s teachings of tolerance
and brotherly love.
The Pope‘s punishers were also given the
green light to rape, pillage, and plunder
at will — along with desecrating religious
monuments just for good measure.
Although the conflicts typically involved
the subjugation of Muslims, other faiths came
under attack as well.
As a precursor to the First Crusade, a movement
known as the People’s Crusade led by a fiery
monk named Peter the Hermit resulted in a
murderous rampage against the Jewish population
along the Rhine river in France and Germany.
Although they didn’t have the official blessing
of the Church, that didn’t stop them from
their wanton killing spree en route to the
Holy Land.
Eventually, the ragtag army comprised of mostly
ill-equipped peasants were slaughtered by
well-organized Turkish forces at the Battle
of Civetot in northwestern Anatolia.
Suffice to say, most Biblical scholars would
characterize this as ‘reaping what you sow.’
3.
Crusader Estates
Glossy real estate brochures didn’t exist
in the middle ages.
But if they did, they might sound something
like this: Imagine a gated community, where
Westerners live in non-exist tranquility on
sun-kissed, pilfered land, and awaken each
day with threats by the original inhabitants
who want to bludgeon them to death.
Welcome to the not-so-friendly, Crusader Estates.
The crusaders were spurred on by various motivations
and rewards that included grabbing some turf
they could call home.
The majority were usually landless nobles
or peasants in search of a better future by
grabbing some land from their Muslim enemies.
Thus, crusader states were born.
After establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem,
other developments popped up while introducing
the notion of class distinctions and feudalism
throughout the middle east.
Some of the larger settlements included the
County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch,
and the County of Tripoli.
2.
Revenge of Kurds
He is known by contemporary Muslims as simply
“Al Nassar” (“The Victorious”).
To European crusaders, however, the name Saladin
came to be known as a fearsome military leader,
who founded the Ayyubid dynasty and sought
nothing less than uniting his people against
a common enemy.
Born into a Kurdish Sunni Muslim family in
modern-day Iraq in 1137, Saladin spent his
formative years in Damascus, where he studied
Greek philosophy, mathematics, poetry, astronomy,
and law.
He would also become an ardent student of
the Koran while immersing himself in all aspects
of warfare.
He later became the first sultan of Egypt
and Syria, patron of Mecca and Medina, and
Lord of Arabia.
After declaring a jihad against the Crusader
States, he defeated the invaders at the Battle
of Hattin in 1187.
The victory also allowed him to later re-conquer
Jerusalem, along with a large amount of territory
— conquests that would inspire the launching
of the Third Crusade.
1.
Plunder over Piety
Among the horrifying, brutal conquests in
history, the Sack of Constantinople is in
a category all by itself.
Before 1204, the rich, vibrant city at the
crossroads of Europe and Asia had served as
the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
But a nasty dispute fuelled by greed, corruption,
nepotism, and poor leadership (sound familiar?)
during the Fourth Crusade culminated in the
frenzied bloodshed and systematic looting
of the greatest city in Christendom.
The deep rot in Constantinople had been festering
for years — finally reaching a boiling point
when the exiled Byzantine prince Alexius bribed
the crusaders to put him on the throne in
July 1203.
Six months later, however, he was murdered
by a rival faction.
Naturally, the crusaders sensed a (literally)
golden opportunity to pounce and responded
by laying siege to the city while randomly
massacring thousands of its citizens.
The utter ruin and instability caused by the
crusaders would later help pave the way for
the Mongol invasion in the mid 13th century,
creating further fragmentation and chaos to
the region.
The indulgence of the papal-pleasing pillagers
also later helped launch the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation of
the 15th century.
