The Pros And Cons Of The Crusades

The crusades, were not only barbaric, but they were unsuccessful at achieving their ultimate goal which was to preserving the holy land for generations to come.

The crusades lasted for a total of 195 years. There are eight official crusades, and there is one minor crusade known as The peasant crusade.

The Peasant Crusade,

This crusade is the one and only unofficial crusade of the nine. It got its name because of it’s a lack of orderliness and military experience. Pope urban called the second crusade upon those who believed, to stand up against the Muslim Turks, to take back the holy land. He wasn’t expecting for the help he received to be ordinary men who had almost no fighting experience. The Europeans were bothered by this, but they were

sure of their victory because God would be on their side. The crusade launched in the year 1096, April to October. The Crusaders had surrendered to the Muslim forces in their six months. They return home defeated and not accomplished. This was the start of a trend that would last for the next 195 years.

The First Crusade ,
The first Crusade, if you could really call it that, was an aid to the Byzantine emperor as he was struggling to hold off the Seljuk Turks. This was all a front of course to mask his own agenda. Once again Urban the second rallied the Christians, ones with military experience of course, and ventured back to the holy land with ambitions to conquer it. The Crusaders wasted no time. They quickly spring there planets action slaughtering the entire city of Jerusalem eradicating it completely. Gaining control, which is at this one a desolate wasteland, crusaders set up camp not just Andrew soon but in the several cities have conquered on their way. Now having the difficult job of protecting and maintaining peace within the new Conquered cities. However, one issue that still stands is their numbers have significantly dropped due to the constant fighting and revenge is rapidly growing in the hearts of those they conquered. (1096-1099)

The Second Crusade,
This crusade was more of a cry for help. The holy land is still in control of the Crusaders but I had very low numbers. Where is the Muslim state overthrowing the Crusaders we’re becoming more apparent. After this somewhat of a brief ceasefire, the city of Edessa Falls to the Turks in 1144. Crusaders currently in the holy land reached out to the pope alerting him of the growing danger and the fall of Edessa. Pope Eugene the third reached out to the neighboring countries asking for aid. The kings gave up the majority of their armies to defend the holy land. When the fighting began it was mostly civilian casualties women and children were initially told they would live but they were killed. Region surrounding the fighting zones could only describe spectacle as horrific, barbaric, and inhumane. The fighting continued for four years, thousands on both sides died. The entire army is reduced to just regiments. Cities were left empty, decimated, stained in blood, and reeked of death. Crusaders were forced to retreat because of lack of resources for men. The second crusade did not serve its purpose but instead resulted in the deaths of many.

The Third Crusade,
The third Crusade Muslim forces regained control of Jerusalem. Again the Crusader set out To reclaim the holy land what a surprise. The holy Roman Emperor, Frederick the first, Philip the second of France, Henry the second of England, and his son Richard had all made crusade vows. Sadly Frederick the first died along with Henry the second before settling off for the holy land. Philip and Richard continued on to the holy land. The fighting lasted for three years of constant pushing back and forth between Christian and Muslim forces. In the end, Richard was tired of going back-and-forth so he decided that a truce was an order. He created a peace treaty that Saladin signed on September 9, 1192, thus ending the third Crusade

The Fourth Crusade,
The fourth Crusade was brought into existence by pope Innocent the second.

The pope decided instead of trying to make the long journey on foot he would go by see an attack Egypt the base of the Muslim power. But unfortunately they never achieved that goal. Instead things took an unexpected turn to lead them to one of the holiest cities, Constantinople. But before they could even arrive or set off, they experienced plenty of political turmoil. The plan was for the leader of Venice to provide transportation for all the Crusaders approximately which was 33,500 men and 4500 horses. When the time came in 1202, when the crusade was supposed to begin, it was discovered that the estimated amount of men that was supposed to be in Venice was incorrect. 10,000 of the 33,500 men were present. The leader of Venice was furious. He was now demanding more. What seemed like an eternity of our arguing, The leader of that gave the Crusaders an ultimatum. He feels that if the Crusaders want his transportation, they need to aid him in taking on the port of Zara. This port happened to be under the control of the Hungarian King, he was a part the Christian countries that fought under one banner. This was a war crime. In spite of that, some of the Crusader forces saw the port. At this point, it was too late in the season to travel to Constantinople. The crusaders set up camp at the port and waited. Delayed again for the second time, the first crusade seemed like the crusaders would never even get

close to the holy land. Eventually they set off, and when they arrived at Constantinople, instead of cheers, they are met with a barrage of arrows. The Crusaders were surprised at this especially the leaders, because they were accused for trying to seize Constantinople for their own profit. These queens by Constantinople resulted in the Crusaders season Constantinople putting the rightful heir, Alexius, on the throne but he was surely overthrown. His predecessor subsequently ordered to Crusaders leave, in which the Crusaders responded by plundering Constantinople again off task. Several innocent people were killed yet again.

Sixth and Seventh Crusade,
These crusades end the era of the great Crusades.

Louis IX of France led the sixth crusade after invading Egypt and conquering Damietta. Soon after, the sixth crusade, which had been in Louis, was captured and held for ransom. When he was released, he gave up Damietta to ensure his freedom. Louis IX also took on the Seventh Crusade but was shortly killed after at Turis. At this point in time, trade between the Middle East and Europe was important. Treaties were put in place to help keep peace in trading areas. Which saw out the down fall of the crusades.

The Final

Crusade,
This was the final attempt at capturing the holy land. In the last twenty years, the crusader states that were still standing, began to lose power. Edward I of England had set off in the last Crusade which ended as quickly as it started. The Europeans had began trading with the Middle East in times of peace. But the conquest of the holy