Brewer-Lind



=The Crusades= = = = = = = = = = = = =
 * [[image:http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/images/crusades/second/second_crusade_route_map.jpg width="411" height="187" caption="Map of 2nd Crusades"]]



=__**//First Crusade://**__=

The first crusade was one of the most important crusades in Medieval England. This crusade was an attempt to capture the city of Jerusalem. The Muslims captured Jerusalem in the year 1076. They allowed christians to pay pilgrimmage to the city but faced a very hard time. Muslims made life very difficult and dangerous for the christians to travel to Jerusalem which made the christians very unhappy. Alexius I of Constantinople feared that his country would also fall to the Muslims due to the fact that the neighboring territory was recently overtaken by them. Due to his fear, he called onto the Pope, Urban II, to give him help. Pope Urban said a speech at Clemont in 1095 to declare war against the Muslims to gain back faith from the Christians. Many people volunteered to fight in the war on the first crusade. The christians really wanted to reclaim Jerusalem for the belief to keep the Muslims out. The Pope told them that if they died at war, they would go straight to heaven because they were fightinmg for God. During the journey, diseases started to become more and more common as many of them were forced to drink dirty water. Wheater you were rich or poor, everyone was equally affected by fatigue and diesease.


 * //__Second Crusade:__//**



The success of the Christians in the 1st crusade was mainly because of the disunion of their enemies. In 1144 AD, the Muslims successfully captured Edessa which was one of the principal outposts in the East. The fall of Edessa, then the complete loss of the country of Edessa, threatened the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and eventually led to another crusading enterprise. During this crusade, along with part of the third, two religious military orders known as the Hospitallers and the Templars were formed. In 1146 AD, the city of Edessa was taken by the Turks and many were slaughtered and the rest were sold into slavery. The apostle of the second crusade was the great abbot of Clairvoux, St. Bernard. Whn the chruches were not large enough to hold the crowds who were eager to hear him, he spoke from platforms that had been built in fields. The second crusade, though begun under the most favorable auspices, had a very unhappy ending. Louis and Conrad, with the renants of their armies, made a joint attack on Damarscus, but had oe raise the siege after a few days. This is what caused the end of the crusade. The strength of both the French and the German division of the expedition was wasted in Asia Minor, and the crusade didn't accomplish anything.


 * __//Third Crusade://__**



The third crusade was caused by the capture of Jerusalem by the sultan of egypt, Saladin, in 1187. After Saladin made him self the sultan of Egypt, he united the Moslems of syria and than advanced against the latin kingdom of Jerusalem. The christians met him in a great battle near the lake of galilee. When the battle ended, their leader was captured and their army was destroyed. Saladin quickly gained the benefits of winning a battle. The gates of the Christian cities of Syria were opened. Jerusalem also surrendered after a while in a short siege.


 * //__Fourth Crusade:__//**



At the time of 1200 AD Pope Innocent began asking leaders of Europe to participate in a Fourth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from Ayyubids who ruled there. They felt that it would be easier to attack from the south since before they attacked from the north. In order to get the ships needed to travel to the south side of Jerusalem, they had to go and buy some from Venice. When they arrived, they were short of money but the Venetians said they would let them have the ships if they recaptured the city of Zara for them. Zara was a Christian city but the crusaders said they would do this anyway. The Pope wasn't happy so he excommunicataed them all. When the crusaders took over Zara, they were asked by Alexius Comnenus to help him regain control of his throne in Constantinople. He promised them that they would receive loads of riches in return. When they captured Constantinople, Alexius did not have the money that he had promised them. To gain all of this money he raised the taxes. This made the people very angry and made himself very unpopular. He and his father was killed and a new king was named, Alexius V. In 1204, the crusaders robbed the city of Constantinople and took piles of money and gold and jewels. When they were done they went back home and the pope agreed to let them back into the church.

//**__Children's Crusade:__**//



The Children's Crusade started when a boy named Stephen of Cloyes went to King Philip and said he had a letter from Christ saying to start another Crusade to capture Jerusalem. Not surprisingly, King Philip denied him and told him to come back when he had grown up. Stephen was determined and didn't stop there. He went out and started preached to children in the city. He told them that the journey would be easy and the Mediterranean Sea would split as they were protected by God. Soon he had nearly 30,000 followers, all were Children. As they marched through France, they had no idea what was ahead. Suprisingly they were cheered on by adults along their route.The Roman Catholic Church was no so sure. The Children's Crusade was never actually a crusade because it was never blessed by a pope. The Church decided that there was no way they could bless a crusade that was doomed for failure. But even though it was doomed for failure, they did nothing to stop it. It was doomed for failure because many of the children had never walked such distances and there was to much effort involved proved to be too much for others. Later, the children boarded seven boats and that was the last that was ever heard of them. Also, the Sea never split like it was said too.

__**Websites to learn more information about the Crusades:**__ [|Knights in the Crusades] [|Overview of the Crusades] [|Unique Facts]


 * __Work Cited:__**

Dr. Karen Karr. "Info on Crusades." //The First Crusade//. Portland State University, 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. . Learned about the first crusade

Gable, C. I. "Information on the Fourth Cursade." //The forth crusade//. unknown, 2000-2008. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. . learned about the fourth crusade

History Learning. "The Crusades." //The Crusades//. History Learning, 2000-2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. . Learned overview of the Crusades

Midevial Tymes. "Picture on 1st crusade." //Medivial Tymes//. Medivial Tymes, 2004. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. . got a picture on the first cusades

"Picture on the second crusades." //dmbinns//. Robert Jones, 2006. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. . Got a picture on the second crusades

Unknown. "All of it." //The Second Crusade//. Unknow, 10 Jan. 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. . Learned about the second crusade

- -. "The third crusade." //the third crusade//. Uknown, 10 Jan. 2008. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. . Learned about the 3rd crusade