Understanding the History of the Crusades

Added: 07/21/2006

In the history of Christianity the Crusades stand out as one of the pivotal moments in the history of Christendom. These holy wars defined lives of many Europeans throughout much of the Middle Ages. The Crusaders ultimately lost their holy wars, but the ramifications of the Crusades still affect us to this day in our understanding of Christianity and Christianity's relation with the world.

Of all the figures that came out of the Crusades, perhaps none resonates as strongly as King Richard I of England, known better as Richard Lionheart. After defeating the Saracens at the city of Acre he became one of Europe's leading warriors, a hero to every man, woman and child in Christendom. In England and the United States he is even better known for the place where he was not for most of his reign: England, where he is seen as the perfect king, off to fight the holy war and one day return to make England great again, while noble vigilantes such as Robin Hood fought to protect the English people in his absence.

The chivalry and mystique which have surrounded Richard Lionheart since his victory at Acre do much to confuse the true reality of the Crusades. They were cold, brutal wars where dirty, stinking, filthy knights would fight amidst the hot and horrid climate of the Holy Land. While some of the soldiers of the Crusades were motivated by true piety, many had far baser desires: gold and land. While many would become rich during the Crusades, overall these wars were a horrible failure for the Christians of Western Europe as well as of eastern Christendom.

It all began in 1095 at the Council of Clermont. The Pope in these days was Urban II. For various reasons which are still debated by scholars to this day, at this council Pope Urban II made one of the most famous speeches in the entire history of Christianity, calling for the knights of France to take up arms and march into the Holy Land of Israel where Muslims had defeated the Christians centuries before and restore the Holy Land to the hands of the true people of God and away from the pagan infidels.

At first the Crusades were successful. The knights that took up the cross were able to make great strides into the Holy Land, including taking the most important city of the region, Jerusalem. The Crusader States were formed and for decades Western Europe was in control of the Holy Land, restoring these lands to Christendom.

But nothing lasts forever, and the success of the Crusades is only one example. Many Europeans found they did not like the Holy Land: while it is described as the land of milk and honey in the Bible, the reality is something far different. Many Europeans who had come to settle in the Holy Land left to return to their homes in France. Meanwhile the Muslims returned in force, ultimately defeating the Crusaders and leading to a number more Crusades that would ultimately fail in returning the Crusader States to their western holders.

One of the most infamous and devastating of the Crusades was the Fourth Crusade. The last of the major Crusades, it was organized by Pope Innocent III. Calling together knights of the realm, the original plan was to retake Jerusalem by way of Egypt. However the Crusaders were unable to find the money to pay for transport. Pope Innocent III found himself with an army full of righteous anger and no one to fight.

Ultimately they went to Byzantium, thinking to quell the unrest that had developed in the capital of the eastern empire amid a feud for leadership. However upon taking the city the Crusaders sacked it, the first time in the city's history that it had ever been successfully sacked. The failed Crusade has been a blight on the history of Christianity ever since and completed the rift between the eastern and western church that has not healed to this day.

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