Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades III

First Crusade: In addition to what was noted in the previous blogs, the First Crusade was also in response to a plea from the Byzantine Empire. There were thousands people that came to the call that suffered and died. They marched thousands of miles across Europe.
They crossed the Bosporus at Constantinople, and then marched to Nicaea. Thousands of people that needed to be fed and sheltered on the move. The logistics boggle the mind. They restored the city to the Byzantine Emperor and then on to Anatolia and restored to Christian control the city of Antioch, one of the ancient patriarchates of Christianity. Keep in mind a lot of these Crusaders were not professional soldiers. Marching on they captured Edessa. Moving on, down the coast they come to Jerusalem. They captured it in July 1099. This Crusade completed what it set out to do. That it was done is amazing. So many people in a strange land, so unprepared, yet so successful. The rest of the story doesn’t show much success.

The Second Crusade, led by two kings and preached by St. Bernard of Clair Vaux, failed dramatically. Edessa had been lost, and this Crusade was to regain it. The leaders fought each other, undermined each other, and were an abysmal failure. It even strengthened a powerful Muslim leader. They tried to take Damascus and that failed too. Results of the Second Crusade, failure.

Third Crusade: A famous adventure, written about in many books, fiction and non-fiction, and movies, because the story involved Richard the Lionheart against Saladin. The fight was for Jerusalem. Results of the Third Crusade, failure.

Forth Crusade: This is the one where the Crusaders reached Constantinople, the largest, most powerful Christian city in the world; sacked it and dispersed. This was the source of the split between Western and Eastern Christendom.
The purpose of this one was to recapture Jerusalem. The Byzantine Empire and Turkey were still mad at what happened the last time the Crusaders crossed their land, destroying their crops, fields and cities, so the leaders of this Crusade thought they would sail across the Mediterranean. They didn’t have boats, so they went to Vienna, gave them some blank checks, and the Venetians asked them how many ships for how many people, supplies and livestock. The Crusaders ordered transportation and provisions for 33,500 men and 4,500 horses, and the Pope said, go ahead and do it. It took awhile, and eventually all ships and tons of provisions were ready. Only about 12,000 folks showed up. The Crusaders didn’t have the money as a result. To make amends the Venetians requested the Crusaders sack Zara, a city on the Dalmatian coast. The ruler of the city was the Hungarian king, which had signed on to the Crusades and was a supporter. The city was also a Catholic. They moved on to Constantinople and hoped to get to Egypt from there. A lot of misunderstanding. The city got sacked. The Pope was TO’d and excommunicated the lot. The Crusade didn’t even make it to the Middle East. Results of the Forth Crusade, failure.

Albigensian Crusade: Big civil war in France. Cathars were wiped out and Southern France’s attempt at independence from Northern France was squashed.

Children's Crusade: The leader of the French army, Stephen, led 30,000 children. The leader of the German army, Nicholas, led 7,000 children. The history of this Crusade is fuzzy. Some of the kids made it back home, a lot settled along the route, many were sold into slavery in the Middle East and North Africa, or died of starvation.

Fifth Crusade: This was organized by the Church, and was directed by professional administrators and soldiers to recapture Jerusalem. The captured the city of Damietta, and were then ordered to take Cairo. Lost that battle hugely. Major defeat. Results of the Fifth Crusade, failure.

The next crusade and the Fifth can be viewed as the same. Fredrick II had led the Fifth, went back and negotiated a settlement with the ruler of Egypt. This lasted for about ten years. He got Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem; Muslims got Muslims were given control of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque.

Over the next few years and Crusades, nothing else much happened. A lot of skirmishes in Europe. The Crusades as we were taught, and what Muslims were taught is incorrect.
If there should be any grievances, the West should be stating them. Now, a thousand years later, Muslims are again killing to convert, using both terrorism and the laws of democratic states to conquer.