Crusaders and Muslims in the 12th Century:

The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem: 12th century AD

Along with the official reason of the crusade achieved, in the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre, attention becomes a difficulty of at least equal about many of the crusaders - how to set up feudal kingdoms in the captured territories, along with fiefs of land distributed to nobles and their followers in due degree.

The administration of Syria and Palestine evolves over is after ten years, as more regions are annexed. Through 1109 the regions comprise four feudal states. Jerusalem is an empire, whose king is owed allegiance through the other three rulers. Edessa and Tripoli are counties, the fiefs of hereditary counts. Antioch is a principality.

These areas form a continuous strip along the east Mediterranean. The coastal town advantage from raised trade as ships from Genoa, Barcelona and Venice arrive along with supplies, pilgrims and reinforcements. They return home along with the pilgrims and a cargo of eastern goods for the markets of the west.

Enabling pilgrims to arrive at the holy places of Palestine has been one of the major purposes of the crusade. Protecting pilgrims from disease or attack is seen as a significant task for the crusaders one time they are in Palestine where they turn into termed as the Franks, as the majorities are French or Norman and their language are French. Such responsibilities prompt the determining of two famous orders of knighthood, the Knights of St John and the Templers.

The years before the fall of Edessa: AD 1099-1144:

During the early years of the Latin kingdom the crusaders establish themselves in Palestine further safely than might have been predictable. The Fatimids of Egypt attack Jerusalem in 1105 but are repelled. After that the Latin kingdom seems to settle down like one power amongst several in an unsettled area, taking part in the endemic local warfare however not in any fanatically sectarian mood. And also nor are the neighboring states mainly inflamed against the Christians, despite the crusaders' appalling treatment of Muslim Jerusalem.

The Turkish governor of Mosul is one exception to this surprising mood of tolerance.

Zangi who is the governor of Mosul, is a Mameluke appointed to his place in 1127 through the Seljuk Turks. He instantly begins to enlarge his power westwards, taking Aleppo in 1128. Identifying that the presence of the crusaders can be utilized to unify the Muslims of this fragmented area under his own leadership, he urges a jihad against the intruders. The Arabic word implies any struggle on behalf of Islam, the great form of that is a holy war.

By Aleppo, Zangi is well positioned to threaten the elongated line of crusader states at a vulnerable point in between Edessa and Antioch. However, first he tries to form a more direct advance on Jerusalem, by Damascus.

Zangi fails to acquire Damascus that is held through an independent Muslim dynasty, however eventually he strikes, in 1144, against Edessa. Next to a four week siege the city falls to him, soon followed through the rest of this northern crusader territory. Zangi's campaign breaks the Christian barrier that the Turks of Iran for half a century has divided from the Turks of Anatolia.

The Muslims of the Middle East discover an innovative sense of causes, whereas the loss of Edessa leads to consternation in western Christendom. The pope preaches a second crusade, urging the kings and princes of Europe to leave to the defense of their colleagues in the east.

A new crusade: AD 1147-1148

The second crusade, departing in 1147, has much more differentiated leadership than the first. One army is acquired east through the king of France, Louis VII, and the other through the German king, Conrad III.

The expedition is upon all fronts a disaster. 9 to 10ths of the German army and half the French are destroyed through Turkish forces whereas trying to create their way across Anatolia. The two kings finally arrive in Palestine through sea to join the remnants of their forces. Bothe together, in July 1148, they make an ill prepared and ill conceived attack on the rich city of Damascus. Once a pathetic effort lasting merely four days, the crusaders' siege of the city is ditched.

After such fiasco Conrad hurries home to Germany. Louis lingers in Jerusalem till the subsequent summer. The loss of face is significant. But more important damage has also been done to the crusaders' reasons.

The Muslim rulers of Damascus have not been hostile to the crusaders, and for a good purpose. They share an enemy in the aggressive Zangi, ruler of a wide sweep of territory from Mosul to Edessa and Aleppo. While Damascus is besieged through the crusaders in 1148, Zangi himself is dead, killed in his sleep through a eunuch in 1146. However his ambition for a jihad is inherited along with equal force through his son, Nur ed-Din. As well as the people of Damascus though not their rulers but have now lost patience along with the Franks.

Nur ed-Din, Ayub and Saladin: AD 1154-1186:

While Nur ed-Din arrives (1154) to besiege Damascus, the inhabitants unlock the gates to his army. The ruling dynasty is ejected. Nur ed-Din positions Ayub, a Kurdish chieftain, in charge of the city.

Along with Damascus secured to the north of Jerusalem, Nur ed-Din's strategy is to enclose the crusader kingdom through gaining control of Egypt to the south. He sent Syrian armies to assist the Fatimid rulers of Egypt against crusader attacks.

The son of Ayub , Saladin who was the governor of Damascus, plays a prominent role in such Egyptian campaigns. During the 1169 Nur ed-Din appoints him commander of the Syrian forces in Egypt. During the 1171 Saladin deposes the Fatimid caliph. Conversely, officially reacting on behalf of Nur ed-Din, the young campaigner, thirty-three aged, is at this time in effect the ruler of Egypt. While Nur ed-Din dies, three years later, he is suitably placed to assert himself in a wider context.

By his base in Egypt, where he founded the Ayubid dynasty the named after his father, Ayub, has died in year 1172, Saladin extends his power by  Nur ed-Din's extensive territory.

Damascus simply falls to him, thanks to his father's links alongwith the city. Northern Iraq and Syria keep for a while faithful to the family of Nur ed-Din, however by a grouping of force and diplomacy that making much of the theme of jihad, Saladin secures control of Mosul in 1186 and Aleppo in 1183.

The whole Muslim world surrounding the crusader territories, from Egypt to Syria, is at this time united in a holy origin. Disunity among the Franks soon gives both the pretext and the opportunity for action.

The fall of the kingdom of Jerusalem: AD 1187

During the 1185 an eight year old, Baldwin V inherits the kingdom of Jerusalem. Rivalries throughout the regency erupt in virtual civil war while the child dies, merely a year later, in 1186. In that similar year a Frankish nobleman breaks the terms of a truce along with plunders and Saladin a rich caravan making its approach from Egypt to Damascus. Travelling by the caravan, as whether to aggravate the offence, is Saladin's sister.

The May 1187 Saladin crosses the Jordan in the empire of Jerusalem all along with an army of several 20,000 men. In July he meets a Christian army of regarding the similar size beneath two projecting hills, west of the Sea of Galilee, the Horns of Hattin.
The Franks create the mistake of camping overnight on a plateau, here the wells are dry. Through the morning of the battle, in the July heat, they are desperate along with thirst. They are damaged by Saladin's army. The empire of Jerusalem lies open to him. Hattin, in the 1187, is the turning point in the story of the crusades.

Saladin spends after those two months securing crusader fortresses in Galilee and upon the coast. Gaza and Acre capitulate. Ascalon and Jaffa are besieged and taken. Merely Tyre holds out against him. During September he is prepared for the last challenge. He besieges Jerusalem. On the final day of the month the city surrenders.

Saladin's lasting reputation amongst Christians, since a man of honor and chivalry, derives above all from his treatment of the Jerusalem’s inhabitants. The contrast, 88-years earlier, along with the behavior of the crusaders in Jerusalem could not be superior. Conversely, pillage and massacre, there is an orderly handing above of the city. Holy places are respected. A ransom is to be paid for all Christian to depart in freedom, however it is not elevated. In between those who cannot afford it, several are released through Saladin in place of being sold into slavery.

To the extremely end, the Christian authorities put an appalling illustration. The patriarch, after buying his independence by ten dinars, departs along with wagonloads of valuable wealth that could have been utilized to free fellow Christians.

The third crusade: AD 1189-1192

The calamity in the Holy Land prompts the pope in Rome to urge an instant new crusade. Again the stakes are increased. In place of the two kings who led the earlier expedition, this time there are to be three: Philip II of France, Richard I of England and the German king who is the Holy Roman Emperor also, Frederick Barbarossa.

Frederick sets out first, in the May 1189, along with the main army ever to march east on a crusade - about 100,000 in all, comprising both mounted knights and foot soldiers. They illustrate a serious threat to Saladin. However, in the year June 1190, when they are crossing the Calycadnus River which is now in Goksu in eastern Anatolia, the ruler is drowned. His army drifts aimlessly apart.

The kings of France and England, Philip II and Richard I, arrive by sea at Acre throughout the early summer of 1191. On the 12 July they agree to the surrender of the Muslim garrison, agreeing to spare their lives upon stipulated terms the payment of huge sums and the release of 1500 Christian prisoners. In the end of the month the king of France, along with this symbolic task attained, sets off home to France. In August Richard, impatient as Saladin has not till now been capable to maintain the Muslim side of the bargain, orders the massacre of the 2700 members of the confined garrison.

He after that sets off on a campaign of conquest; the causes after, his entire crusade.

For the subsequent twelve months Saladin and Richard test each other's strength through military and diplomatic means. Richard wins mainly of the military encounters, frequently representing outstanding personal courage. However his forces are too few to hold much of Palestine or, the actual prize, to acquire Jerusalem. Diplomatic and Time both advantage are on Saladin's side.

Finally a truce is made, in the 1192. The Franks are to retain a strip beside the coast from Acre down to Jaffa, and Christian pilgrims might openly visit every holy places of Palestine. Richard sets off on a lengthy and ruinous journey, with as much accomplished.

The fourth crusade: AD 1202-1204

Inspired through the pope's preachers to set off for the east, a modern wave of crusaders makes travel arrangements in Venice in the 1201. Their instantaneous target is Egypt, at this time thought to be the more vulnerable part of Saladin's kingdom in the eastern Mediterranean.

Venice drives a tough bargain. The city will offer 20,000 foot soldiers and their horses, 9000 squires to provide them and ships for 4500 knights; food for a year for the whole expedition; and fifty galleys as an escort. For this 85,000 silver marks were paid the crusaders and will cede to Venice half of some lands they conquer. This is decided, along with a departure date planned for several time after June 1202.

Venetian diplomats immediately acquire in touch along with the sultan in Egypt, along with whom they have brilliant trading agreements, to comfort him secretly which Venice will not permit the crusading fleet to reach his shores. After the scenes the doge is also negotiating along with agents of Alexius, son of the deposed ruler in Constantinople. This seems achievable that the crusaders may be diverted to this ancient and rich city, here Venice through now has some grudges to settle.

Soon the tough facts of commerce are playing in Venetian hands. The crusading army is gathered in Venice during the summer of 1202. However it has nowhere near assembled the granted sum of 85,000 silver marks.

The Venetians offer a compromise. They will admit deferred payment and still honor their side of the bargain, whether the crusading army will do them a minute favor on the journey out to Egypt. Venice has for a while been argument for control of Dalmatia along with the king of Hungary. The Hungarians have recently seized a significant coastal city, Zara is now Zadar. This would be a suitable thing whether the crusaders would improve this city.

The crusaders sail by Venice on 8 November and arrive at Zara on 10 November. They besiege the city for five days and pillage the city for three. This is after that decided that this is too late in the year to continue eastwards. They form a winter camp.

Throughout the winter the Venetians agree terms along with Alexius. He will pay Venice the sum owed through the crusaders, if placed on the throne in Constantinople. He will also offer funds and men to assist the crusade on its manner.

The proposals are put to the crusading army and with some reluctance are accepted. The fleet reaches Constantinople in the year June 1203. The crusaders break by the huge chain protecting the harbor and breach the city walls in the July. On the August 1, in Santa Sophia, Alexius is crowned co-emperor alongside his blind father. Along with the instant purpose attained, the crusade must be capable to continue on its way. However now it is Alexius who cannot deliver his side of the bargain.

The sack of Constantinople: AD 1204

The crusaders camp outside Constantinople whereas Alexius, as ruler, tries to increase his debt to the Venetians through taxing the citizens and confiscating church property. For nine months growing resentment inside the city is matched through raising impatience outside. In the April the Venetians influence the crusaders to storm Constantinople and put a Latin ruler on the throne. In the second time they succeed in breaching the walls.

The doge of the leading crusaders and Venice install themselves in the royal fort. The army is granted three days to pillage the city.

The Venetians, from their long relations along with Constantinople, can understand the treasures of Byzantium. They loot quite than destroy. St Mark's in Venice is graced today through several rich possessions brought back in 1204; parts of the Pala d'Oro, the porphyry figures termed as the tetrarchs and above each the four great bronze horses.

The crusaders, mostly Flemish and French, are less refined in their tastes. They have a tendency to smash what they determined. They ride their horses into Santa Sophia, tear down its silken hangings, and vanishes the icons in the silver iconostasis. A prostitute, put on the patriarch's throne, considerately sings a bawdy song in Norman French.

The last crusades and crusaders: AD 1218-1303

While word of the sack of Constantinople reaches the pope, in the year1204, he sent a stinging rebuke; outraged that crusaders must have behaved in this way to fellow Christians. His words descend deaf ears, like the westerners settle down to entertainment new eastern estates.

However the crusading ideal remains vivid during the 13th century even making probable the disaster of the two Children's crusades. The well planned strategy of the 4th crusade, attacking the Muslims first in Egypt, extremely near brings success to the 5th crusade launched in the year 1218. The crusaders, surrounding the town of Damietta, cause such irritation to the emperor of Egypt that he makes an amazing offer.

If the knights of the 5th crusade accept leave Egypt, the emperor will relinquish to them the whole kingdom of Jerusalem between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. Foolishly they refuse the offer, for their ambition at this time extends to the get of Cairo itself. At the end, trapped through a Nile flood in the year 1221, they retreat attaining nothing.

The sixth crusade from 1228-1229 is led through a free-thinking eccentric among monarchs, the Holy Roman ruler Frederick II, who shocks Christendom by negotiating along with the Muslims quite than fighting them. The emperor of Egypt grants him Jerusalem, where he crowns himself king in 1229 before returning house. However the Franks are evicted from the city again in the year 1244.

The seventh crusade from 1248 to 1254 is led through the saintly Louis IX of France. Since his predecessors of the fifth crusade, he captures Damietta in the 1249 and is offered Jerusalem in exchange. Again as his predecessors, he turns down the bargain in the hope of conquering Cairo. He returns home along with nothing.

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