In 1095 the first step was taken in what was to become one of the great movements of the Middle Ages: the Crusades. Pope Urban II, speaking at a Council of the Church at Clermont (France), asked the knights and lords of Europe to rescue the Holy Places in Jerusalem from their Muslim rulers, and promised them a special indulgence* if they did so. Muslim rule in the Holy Land was not new. By this time it had already lasted more than four centuries, and until recently Christians living under Islamic rule had been well treated. Now a new and powerful group, the Seljuk Turks, were pushing west, threatening the Christian Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople. The Emperor Alexius Comnenus sent messengers to the Pope asking for help. Numbers beyond Urban’s wildest imaginings responded to his call and set off on what became known as the First Crusade. Tens of thousands of people made their way east. The first wave of crusaders were unarmed peasants, who believed that they would find in Jerusalem a Heavenly city. Few of them ever reached it. Behind them came the knightly armies, dragging their armour behind them through the hot wastelands of the east as their throats burned with thirst. Despite the hardships of the journey, they reached the Holy Land and on 15th July 1099 Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders, who set up a new Christian state there.
The First Crusade was followed by others. In 1144 the city of Edessa was lost, and the Second Crusade was launched in an attempt to strengthen the position of the crusaders. It failed, and in 1187 Jerusalem itself fell once more to the Muslims, triggering a Third Crusade. Although individuals from England had joined the first two crusades, the Third Crusade was the first in which an English King took part. Richard I, known as the Lionheart, joined King Philip II of France and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa**, taking with him many English knights. He also raised large sums in taxes from his English kingdom to pay for the expedition. Frederick Barbarossa drowned on the way to the Holy Land, but the two kings, Richard and Philip, reached their destination, where they found themselves pitted against a worthy foe: Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt. Saladin, who is still considered a great Arab hero, had managed to unite various quarrelling Muslim groups into a great Saracen army. In 1191 Philip returned home, leaving Richard to make peace with Saladin. On his way back to his own lands in England and France, Richard was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria. He was held hostage for two years, until a large ransom was paid and he was allowed to return home. If you have heard stories about Robin Hood, you will remember that wicked Prince John and his friend, the Sheriff of Nottingham, plotted against the absent King Richard, while Robin and his men tried to raise the money for the king’s ransom. Although Robin Hood himself is probably little more than a myth, the setting of the stories is true – King Richard really was kept a prisoner, while his brother John ruled England in his own interests.
Throughout the thirteenth century western Christendom tried to support the remnant of the Crusader State in the Holy Land. Another English king, Edward I, joined the effort, spending four years on crusade between 1270 and 1274. When he left England he was a Prince, but his father, King Henry III, died in 1272 so he returned home a king. Despite Edward’s efforts, and those of many others from western Europe, the city of Acre fell to the Muslims in 1290 and the Crusader State came to an end. Right through into the 1500s popes, kings and other western European rulers encouraged further crusades. At first these were intended to try to regain a foothold in the Holy Land, but as time went on the nature of the crusades changed as the Ottoman Turks began to push westwards. Suddenly the crusaders were defending their own lands, rather than trying to win others. In 1453 the great city of Constantinople fell to the Turks and became known by its modern name, Istanbul. In what may be seen as the last victorious battle of the Crusades a Christian fleet defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1577, finally ending the threat to Europe.
It is hard for us today to understand why the crusades were so important to medieval Christians, and why so many people wanted to join them. Why would so many men from across Europe want to travel such a long way, at such risk, to fight in the name of religion? Could it be right to fight, often with great brutality, in the name of God? The crusaders believed that the Holy Land where Jesus lived, died and was resurrected was God’s own country, and that they had a duty to recover it on his behalf. They heard that their fellow Christians were threatened by “infidels”. They knew that pilgrims were finding it harder, if not impossible, to visit the Holy Places in the east. When the pope, and later great Christians of the day such as St.Bernard of Clairvaux and St.Catherine of Siena, called for their help, they were ready to give it. Many probably had other reasons: going on crusade was seen as a great adventure! Some crusaders went because they hoped to win new lands and new wealth for themselves. At its worst the crusading ideal lost out completely to greed and political ambition, as in 1204 when the Fourth Crusade turned against the Byzantine Empire, captured Constantinople and never even got close to the Holy Land. For many, however, it meant a heroic sacrifice to go on crusade: first there was the expense of the journey; then the risk of leaving lands and family unprotected, maybe for years; and of course there was always the possibility that the crusader might never return. Today we would choose different ways to fight for God, but the crusades remind us that people of all ages have believed that God is worth fighting for.
* The indulgence given to the crusaders promised them a shorter time in purgatory after their death. Most crusaders believed that anyone who died on crusade would go straight to heaven.
** Frederick Barbarossa ruled the “Holy Roman Empire”, which included most of modern Germany and Italy.
TIMELINE:
1095 Pope Urban II preaches the 1st Crusade
1099 Jerusalem is captured by the crusaders
1146 Second Crusade
1187 Jerusalem is lost again
1190 Third Crusade
1192 Richard the Lionheart captured
1204 Fourth Crusade
1270-4 King Edward I on crusade
1290 End of Crusader State in the Holy Land
1453 Constantinople captured by Turks
HISTORICAL NOTE: The association of Saint George with England began during the crusades. Saint George was reputed to have appeared at the head of a heavenly army at the battle of Antioch in 1099. After this he was adopted as a patron by many of the English crusaders. In the reign of Edward III (1327-77) he was adopted as the patron saint of England.
FEAST DAY: Saint George – April 23rd
PRAYER: Almighty God, you blessed St George with a spirit of bravery to follow Christ in his suffering and death; by his prayers may your blessing be upon England; and grant us, like him, a spirit of gentleness and courtesy in our Christian life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
FURTHER READING:
Big John’s Secret, Eleanore Jewett
Knight Crusader, Ronald Welch (out of print)
The Children’s Crusade, Henry Treece (out of print)
The Donkey’s Crusade, Jean Morris (out of print)
© Kathryn Faulkner 2005. All rights reserved.
