Crusades: Christian Jihad or "act of mercy"?
“For on the very day on which they had promised that they would
surrender, Solomon and all the Turks, collected from neighboring and
distant regions, suddenly fell upon us and attempted to capture our
camp. However the count of St. Gilles, with the remaining Franks, made
and attack upon them and killed an innumerable multitude. All the
others fled in confusion. Our men, moreover, returning in victory and
bearing many heads fixed upon pikes and spears, furnished a joyful
spectacle for the people of God"
Please read the sources provided below, although I'm sure many of you have better sources, and answer the poll's question.
Here is a brief timeline:
CHRISTIAN INVASION (1096- 1101)
1096 April: The first organized crusader armies arrive in Constantinople, awaiting the arrival of the next 3 armies.
— August: Ill-organized bands, inspired by the crusader movement and led by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Pennyless, set across the Bosporos, and start pillaging Asia Minor, before most of them are slain by Turkish troops.
— December: The last of the 4 planned crusader armies arrive in Constantinople.
1097 June 1: Following a siege of Nicaea, the Byzantine emperor makes a deal with the Turks, that leaves the city in his hands, and the crusaders expelled from it.
— July 1: Battle of Dorylaeum.
— September: Tancred and Baldwin, both of Bouillon, leave the bulk of the crusader army, and enter the territory of Armenia.
— October 21: A siege is started against Antioch.
1098 March 10: The Christians take control over Edessa.
— June 3: Antioch falls to the Christian crusaders.
— November: The Crusaders sets out on the last leg of the campaign towards Jerusalem.
— December 12: The small city of Ma'arra east of Antioch, falls to the crusades. The crusaders shocks the Muslim world by eating human flesh from the adults and children massacred following their conquest. The Frankians would forever be referred to by Turkish historians as "cannibals".
1099 July 7: The crusaders starts attacking Jerusalem, first with a procession around the city walls led by priests. As the walls do not fall down, as they had believed (referring to Bible myths), they first attack the walls in a wild and unorganized manner. After some days, standard military techniques are introduced.
— July 15: Jerusalem falls to the crusaders, who kill almost all of its inhabitants. An estimate of 70.000 to 100.000 civilians are murdered.
— July 22: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected Latin ruler of Jerusalem.
1101: The last wave of crusaders arriving in Asia Minor are defeated by the Turks.
CHRISTIAN DOMINATION (1101- 44)
1109 July 12: Tripoli is captured by the crusaders.
1120: The Kinghts Templar are founded.
1124 July 7: Tyre is captured by the crusaders.
1129 November: Crusaders attack Damascus.
1137: The emperor of Constantinople and his army suppresses Antioch, making it a dependency.
1144 December 25: Edessa is attacked by the atabek of Mosul, and due to its geographical isolation it surrenders to the Muslims.
MUSLIM DOMINANCE and THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (1144- 87)
1145: Pope Eugenius 3 proclaims a second crusade.
1147: Christian soldiers leave for Asia Minor, starting the second crusade.
1148: Instead of embarking on the dangerous mission of liberating Edessa, the crusaders besiege Damascus for a few weeks. But even this endeavour ends when they realize that their forces are too weak for the Muslims of Damascus.
1149 July 15: The new church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated.
1154 April 25: Nureddin captures Damascus.
1160's: King Amalric of Jerusalem attacks Egypt on four occasions (1163, 67, 68 and 69). In the two first he has partial success — he doesn't take control of any lands but forces the rulers of Egypt to pay tribute to Jerusalem.
1169: The reconstruction of the church of Nativity in Bethelem is completed.
— March 23: Egypt submits to Nureddin.
1174 May 15: With the death of Nureddin, Saladin takes over a Muslim state that stretches from the Tigris Valley to the Libyan desert, effectively surrounding the crusader states on three sides.
1183 June 11: Aleppo submits to Saladin.
1186 March 3: Mosul submits to Saladin.
1187 May: Saladin invades the kingdom of Jerusalem.
— July 4: The Latin army is effectively defeated in the battle of Hattin (north of Jerusalem and east of Acre).
— October 2: Jerusalem surrenders to Saladin.
WEAK CRUSADER STATES (1187- 1291)
1187 Ocotber 3: Pope Gregory 8 of Rome declares the 3rd Crusade, and gets positive response from European rulers.
1189: The 3rd crusade starts.
1190 June 10: The German Emperor Frederick 1 drowns in Cilicia.
1191 July 12: The crusaders takes control over the strategically important town of Acre.
1192 September 2: The treaty of Jaffa is signed.
1197: Start of a German crusade to Palestine.
1198 August: Pope Innocent 3 proclaims the 4th crusade.
1202: The 4th crusade starts.
1204 April: The crusaders sack Constantinople.
— May 9: Baldwin of Flanders is elected Latin emperor of Constantinople.
1212: The Childrens' Crusade, where the Europeans hoped that children troops could bring forth the miracle needed to recapture Jerusalem. But most children were set up by Europeans sailors and sold as slaves in Egypt.
1213 April: The 5th crusade is declared by pope Innocent 3.
1217: The 5th crusade starts.
1218 May 27: Damietta of Egypt is besieged by the crusaders.
1219 November 5: Damietta falls to the crusaders.
1221 August 30: The crusaders are defeated by Muslim troops at al-Mansura.
1227: The pope excommunicates emperor Frederick 2.
1229 February 18: The crusaders gets back the control over Jerusalem following the signing of a treaty by German emperor Frederick 2 and the Egyptian sultan al-Kamil.
— The pope launches a crusade against Frederick 2.
1244 July 11: Jerusalem is besieged by the Khorezmians.
— August 23: Jerusalem falls to the Khorezmians.
1258: Mongol troops sack Baghdad, destroying the city for decades to come.
1261: Greek forces take back control over Constantinople.
1268 May 18: Antioch falls to the Mamluks, and slaughter almost all of its inhabitants.
1289 April 26: Tripoli falls to the Mamluks.
1291 May 18: Acre falls to the Mamluks.
— July: Beirut and Sidon falls to the Mamluks.
— August: The crusaders evacuate from the fortresses of Tortosa and Chāteau Pélerin.
So, what is your opinion on the Crusades?
Brief History
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm
Decrees of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, 1095.
http://falcon.arts.cornell.edu/prh3/.../clermont.html
A "revisionist" perspective
http://www.crisismagazine.com/april2002/cover.htm
Nice timeline
http://crusades.boisestate.edu/timeline/1095-1099.shtml
From this "classroom site"
http://crusades.boisestate.edu/
Last edited by Garbarsardar; April 25, 2006 at 07:56 PM.