The Crusades, Military expiditions in the 12th through the 14th centuries by the catholic church in response to muslim agression (Madden). At the end of the 11th century almost 2/3 of the ancient christean world had been taken over by muslims (Madden). This made the catholic church feel threatened leading to an outburst of violence. The main goals of the crusades were to retake the Holy Land of Jerusalem and to stop muslim expansion (Madden). The crusades we will be focusing on during this paper are the first, second, third and fourth crusades. The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II November, 1095 in the town of Clermont (Phillips). Urban II saw the Crusades as a way to stop the sinful knights of Europe from fighting eachother and
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There were three major generals in the 3rd Crusade. The first, Fredric Bodarossa set out on the crusade with the largest crusader army ever assembled (Madden). On June 10 Fredric Bodarossa drowned while attempting to cross a river (Madden). The second major General was none other than Phillip II the King of France (Madden). Philip II was not a soldier but a cunning politician with a talent for planning seiges (Madden). The third and most famous general was The King of England Richard (The Lion Heart) (Madden). Unlike Phillip, Richard was a military genius, and the epitome of what it meant to be a Crusader (Madden). The two kings met in the city of Messina and on June 8th Richard began his seige on the city of Acre (Madden). However once the Crusaders intered the city Richard and Philip had a dispute that split the Crusade (Madden). Philip decided that he had fulfiled his Crusaders vow and abandoned the Crusade (Madden). This left Richard entirely in charge of the Crusade. A mounth after Richard arrived at the seige of Acre the garrison surrendered (Madden). This directly violated the Muslim leader Saladin's orders (Madden). Saladin still ratified the surrender with the agreement that if Richard released 2,700 men of the garrison that he would release all of his christan prisoners (Madden). However Saladin failed to pay the first ransom so in response Richard executed all 2,700 men of the garrison in front of Saladin and his army (Madden). This caused Saladin to execute all of his Christian hostages (Madden). The previous exchange then led to the only large battle between Saladin and Richard on Setember, 7, 1191 (Madden). In the end Richard was victorious with only very light losses (Madden). After the battle Richard pushed forward to capture Jerusalem twice, and twice he retreated (Madden). Seeing that they would not be able to take Jerusalem without first taking
There were three major generals in the 3rd Crusade. The first, Fredric Bodarossa set out on the crusade with the largest crusader army ever assembled (Madden). On June 10 Fredric Bodarossa drowned while attempting to cross a river (Madden). The second major General was none other than Phillip II the King of France (Madden). Philip II was not a soldier but a cunning politician with a talent for planning seiges (Madden). The third and most famous general was The King of England Richard (The Lion Heart) (Madden). Unlike Phillip, Richard was a military genius, and the epitome of what it meant to be a Crusader (Madden). The two kings met in the city of Messina and on June 8th Richard began his seige on the city of Acre (Madden). However once the Crusaders intered the city Richard and Philip had a dispute that split the Crusade (Madden). Philip decided that he had fulfiled his Crusaders vow and abandoned the Crusade (Madden). This left Richard entirely in charge of the Crusade. A mounth after Richard arrived at the seige of Acre the garrison surrendered (Madden). This directly violated the Muslim leader Saladin's orders (Madden). Saladin still ratified the surrender with the agreement that if Richard released 2,700 men of the garrison that he would release all of his christan prisoners (Madden). However Saladin failed to pay the first ransom so in response Richard executed all 2,700 men of the garrison in front of Saladin and his army (Madden). This caused Saladin to execute all of his Christian hostages (Madden). The previous exchange then led to the only large battle between Saladin and Richard on Setember, 7, 1191 (Madden). In the end Richard was victorious with only very light losses (Madden). After the battle Richard pushed forward to capture Jerusalem twice, and twice he retreated (Madden). Seeing that they would not be able to take Jerusalem without first taking