Christendom and the Crusades

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  • Christendom and the Crusades
    • Why did the Crusades take place?
      • The Crusades were a series of wars between Christians and Muslims over control of the Holy Land, modern-day Israel.
      • The main goal of the Crusades was to capture Jerusalem, the city where Jesus was crucified.
      • The Crusades began in the late 11th century and lasted hundreds of years.
      • The Pope hoped the Crusades would make the Church even more powerful.
      • People went on Crusades for many reasons.
        • Some kings and lords were seeking money and power.
        • Some believed it would get them into heaven when they died.
        • Criminals and thieves wanted to escape punishment.
    • Who won the Crusades?
      • In 1099, the Crusaders captured Jerusalem and created a Christian Kingdom in the Holy Land.
      • Within 100 years Muslims had recaptured most of the Holy Land.
      • Salah u Din, known as Saladin, was a major Muslim warrior king who controlled the Holy Land between 1174 and 1193.
      • In 1187, Saladin won a great victory over the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin.
      • One of Saladin's main Christian opponents was the English King, Richard I, who was known as Richard the Lionheart. He fought Saladin in the Third Crusade but failed to capture Jerusalem.
      • In 1212, there was even a Children's Crusade when 30,000 children from France and Germany tried to reach Jerusalem.
      • Although the Crusaders had some success and ruled the Holy Land for part of the Middle-Ages, for the most of the time the area was controlled by Muslims.
    • Why Jerusalem?
      • Jerusalem is an important place in the history and beliefs of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. For each religion, there are places in the city that are seen as particularly holy.
      • At the time of the First Crusade, Christians had not ruled Jerusalem for over 400 years, but they had still been allowed pilgrimages there,
      • In 1070, Jerusalem was captured by the Seljuk Turks, who were Muslims. They made it difficult for Christian pilgrims to visit the city.
        • The Christian Ruler of the Byzantine Empire (The nearest Christian Empire to Jerusalem) was afraid the Turks would attack his lands next. He asked Pope Urban II for help. In 1095 the Pope called for a Crusade.
          • Thousands of people joined the Crusade- mostly ordinary people and the poorer nobles. The army reached Jerusalem in June 1099. After an 8 day siege they took the city.
      • The Second Crusade was a response to Muslim leaders taking some land back from the Christians. The Crusaders failed to win their land back
    • The Third and Fourth Crusades
      • Richard I led the Third Crusade.
        • In 1189, Richard led the Third Crusade to push Saladin out.
        • The Christian army didn't win back the city of Jerusalem, but they did recapture some ports along the coast.
        • Richard was away fighting a lot in the Holy Lands. he spent less than a year in England in the 10 years he was King.
      • The Fourth Crusade.
        • Innocent III became Pope in 1198 and wanted to arrange more Crusades.
        • In 1202, 11,000 Crusaders met in Venice. The Crusaders made a deal to get transport across to Jerusalem. However, there was an argument about money and the Crusader's couldn't pay.
        • As they couldn't pay the venetians, they decided to capture them some land instead. They attacked a port called Zara and Constantinopl-e
        • The Fourth Crusade petered out without reaching Jerusalem.

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