Holmes-Ungvary-loffelmacher

​

"Crusaders, Oh Crusaders"



 The First Crusade was an attempt to re-capture Jerusalem. Jerusalem was captured by the Muslims in 1076. The Muslims soilders made life for Christians very hard. Obviously this angered the Christians. The fight against the Muslims became a Holy war. All Christians who fought against the Muslims cut out red crosses and sewed them onto theri tunics. Their goal was to make sure all Muslims were out of their city. The Crusaders were targeting many countries. Their first target was the city of Nicea. Next, was Antioch, which is a Turkish city; and of course Jerusalem.



 The Second Crusade came 48 years after the first. After the Muslims united and captured the city of Edessa. This led to an uproar of religious enthusiasm in the west. King Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany both joined the Crusade. Even with the new found enthusiasm, the Christian assult of Asia Minor was eventually a failure. The attack only lasted two years.



The Third Crusade was started by the capture of Jerusalem by the newest Muslim leader Saladin. Upon the news of this King Richard of England, King Phillip of France, and Emperor Fredrick Barbossa of Germany took up the war for the cross. Eventually all that was left leading the attack was King Richard "The Lion-Hearted" as he would soon come to be known by. Though King Richards efforts were valiant he was ultimatly unable to recapture Jerusalem. He would have to settle for a truce with Saladin that would allow christians to visit freely but leave Jerusalem under Muslin control.



**The Fourth Crusade was ​mustered first by Pope Inoccent III. No king answered his call against Islam, but a number of knights did. The Crusaders made Egypt, being the capital of the Muslim world at the time, their focal point. The Crusaders went to Venice to get the ships they needed for the attack, and the Venetians agreed on the condition that they first capture the coastal city Zara for trade and finacial purposes. After the capture of Zara, instead of continuing on to Egypt, the Crusaders and Venetians decided to attack the long time __christian__ city of Consantinople for the sake of wealth yet again. Constantinople fell to the greedy Crusaders and Venetians. They split up the Roman Eastern empire amongst themselves in a feudal manner. This new empire lasted less than fifty years until the greeks regained power. After the Fourth Crusade Constantinople was too week to stand against the Turks who captured it and now had a foothold in Europe.**



The Children's Crusade was started by a 12 year old named Stephen of Cloyes. He believed he had a letter from Jesus calling for another crusade for the Holy Land. After being turned down by King Philip of France, Stephen went on to preach the crusades and gain a following of about 30,000 christian children. The children then marched to Marseilles where they boarded seven ships to Jerusalem. That was the last anyone heard of them, though it is believed that of the seven ships two sunk killing everyone aboard and the other five were captured by pirates who sold the children aboard into slavery. The Children's Crusade was ultimatly a Disaster.

Links:
 * []
 * []
 * []

References: Main Source: Alchin, Linda. “The Crusades.” //Middle Ages//. N.p., 16 Nov. 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

Other Source: Trueman, Chris. “The Crusades.” //History Learning Site//. N.p., 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

First Crusade Picture: //The First Crusade//. N.d. //What Really Happened//. N.p., 2002. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

Second Crusade Picture: //Arrival of the Second Crusade before Constantinople//. N.d. //Manuel I Comnenus//. N.p., 2003. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

Third Crusade Picture: Corbin. //A fight during the Crusades//. N.d. //The Third Crusade (1189-1192 AD)//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

Fourth Crusade Picture: Porter, Daniel. //Delacroix Painting of Crusaders Entering Constantinople in 1204//. N.d. //crusaders enter Constantinople//. Skeptical Inquirer, 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. .

Children's Crusade Picture: Cline, Austin. //Child Preaching the Children’s Crusade//. N.d. //About.com//. The New York Times Company., 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://atheism.about.com/‌library/‌FAQs/‌christian/‌blxtn_crus_ill27.htm>.