The Crusades

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From 1100 to 1300 there were a series of military campaigns between Catholic Europe and the Muslim Middle East. These wars were preached by popes to recover the holy land that they thought so holy. The First Crusade was not organized by kings; rather by knights who thought the cause to be right.

The First Crusade was preached by Pope Urban, who believed that Jerusalem should be recovered. Truly, several million Europeans went to the Holy Land to fight. The Crusaders won this war and established a group of Christian States in the land, known as the Outremer. Sadly for the Crusaders, Muslim forces regrouped and retook the land. After Pope Urban heard this, it is said that Pope Urban died on the spot.

The Second Crusade was a failure. Though several knights heard the call, they fought each other for land when the reached the former Outremer.

The Third Crusade is the most famous. Three kings organized this Crusade; King Richard of England, who would later earn the title Lionheart for his courage, a fiery warrior, benevolent one second and malevolent the next; King Phillip of France, good at planning sieges; and Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor.


Things went horrible for Barbarossa, who drowned while crossing a lake in full armor. Phillip planned a siege on Acre, and Richard joined him. Meanwhile, the Muslims gained a powerful leader in Saladin, Sultan of Cairo.

Saladin joined in the defense of Acre and fought courageously, killing many Europeans. However Saladin also had a strong sense of compassion, and sent medicine to Richard, who was falling ill. Though the two fought, secretly they were also friends.

The Fourth Crusade was organized by Pope Innocent IV. Instead of reaching the Holy Land however, the journey ended at Constantinople, chief city in Byzantium. The Crusaders raided the city and stole its valuables. A Greek empire was reinstated for a century, but in the early 1300's Byzantine rule was reinstated.

The Crusades were a failure for the European Christians, but things were gained in the war. Europeans learned Arab concepts, medicine, art, technology and were much better off.




I would like this to be in the History Articles list plz XIII