The Crusades were medieval military expeditions preached and authorized by the papacy. The campaigns most often meant by the name began with Pope Urban II’s call in 1095 and led to the establishment of Latin Christian states in the eastern Mediterranean. Those states faced wars, treaties and repeated changes of territory. A campaign could begin with a vow made for religious reasons and end at a place far from the one its participants originally intended to reach. Accounts of Clermont and Urban’s letter to Flanders Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades Geoffrey of Villehardouin’s account of the Fourth Crusade
Clermont and the First Crusade
In November 1095, Urban II called for an expedition at the Council of Clermont in France. The Byzantine Empire sought military help in the face of Turkish expansion, and Jerusalem held particular importance for Christians because of places associated with Jesus’s death and burial. Different chroniclers later represented Urban’s speech in different ways. Fulcher of Chartres emphasizes aid to Christians in the East. Robert the Monk places particular emphasis on Jerusalem. A surviving letter from Urban to Christians in Flanders also identifies Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy as his representative for the expedition. Accounts of Clermont and Urban’s letter to Flanders Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades
Church authorization linked the expedition to penance and the remission of sins. The participants included people with different resources, expectations and motives. Some forces attacked Jewish communities in the Rhineland in 1096, before the expedition reached the eastern Mediterranean. The Latin chronicler Albert of Aachen records killings and plunder, while medieval Hebrew accounts record the persecution from the perspective of the affected communities. Mainz and Worms appear in the Hebrew accounts. The persecution was part of what mobilization for the First Crusade meant to people far from Jerusalem. Accounts of Clermont and Urban’s letter to Flanders Albert of Aachen on attacks against Jewish communities Medieval Hebrew chronicles in Shlomo Eidelberg’s translation
Jerusalem, conquest and reversal
After crossing Anatolia and taking Antioch, the crusading armies besieged Jerusalem, which was then under Fatimid rule. The siege began in June 1099 and the city fell on July 15. The anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum describes the killings that followed the entry into the city. The author writes from the crusaders’ perspective and interprets victory in religious terms. A reader can distinguish that interpretation from the violence the account records. Gesta Francorum on the capture of Jerusalem Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was one of several Latin states established in the region. Protecting territory involved ports, castles and routes between settlements as well as control over shrines. At the Holy Sepulcher, builders brought the shrine of Christ’s tomb and the chapel associated with the crucifixion into a single complex while keeping parts of the earlier Byzantine decoration. The building shows how the conquest changed the setting of pilgrimage without erasing every trace of earlier Christian worship. Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades Metropolitan Museum of Art Eastern Mediterranean chronology
In 1187, Saladin defeated a crusader army at Hattin and took Jerusalem. The Third Crusade recovered Acre in 1191, but Jerusalem remained outside Latin control at its conclusion. The contrast between the two cities shows why a campaign’s outcome depends on which goal is being measured. Holding a port gave Latin rulers a foothold on the coast. It did not restore control of Jerusalem. Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades Metropolitan Museum of Art Eastern Mediterranean chronology
Why the Fourth Crusade reached Constantinople
The leaders of the Fourth Crusade contracted with Venice to carry their army by sea. The force that assembled could not meet the agreed cost. In his account, Geoffrey of Villehardouin describes the arrangement by which the crusaders helped Venice take Zara, a Christian city then under the king of Hungary. A Byzantine claimant, Alexios Angelos, then offered money and support if the crusaders helped restore his father to the throne. The commitments over ships, payment and imperial succession drew the army into a different conflict. Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades Geoffrey of Villehardouin’s account of the Fourth Crusade
In 1204 the crusaders took and sacked Constantinople. The Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates describes looting in churches and the mistreatment of sacred objects. His account presents what the sack meant to inhabitants of a Christian capital attacked by other Christians. Villehardouin and Choniates wrote from different positions. Together their accounts help explain the decisions that brought the army there and the consequences once it entered the city. Geoffrey of Villehardouin’s account of the Fourth Crusade Niketas Choniates on the sack of Constantinople
Egypt and the fall of Acre
In the expedition later called the Seventh Crusade, Louis IX of France captured Damietta in Egypt in 1249. After the advance inland failed, Louis and many of his troops were captured in 1250. In a letter sent from Acre after his release, the king reported the return of Damietta as part of the agreement to free him and other prisoners. Acre remained an important Latin center for several decades. It fell to the Mamluks in 1291, ending the main period of Latin crusader rule on the mainland of the eastern Mediterranean. Metropolitan Museum of Art timeline of the Crusades Louis IX’s report of the Egyptian campaign
Conclusion
Urban’s call tied military service to penance and the defense of places and communities Christians held sacred. The course of the campaigns also depended on provisions, ships, rival claims to rule and the ability to hold territory. Jerusalem in 1099, Constantinople in 1204 and Acre in 1291 mark different outcomes of that history. Reading accounts from the people who called, joined and suffered from the expeditions gives a fuller picture of what crusading changed.
Published by Ralf. About our editorial process.
