The Crusades were a series of military expeditions from Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean, driven by religious faith and a desire to protect Christ and his kingdom. The First Crusade, called by Pope Urban II in 1095 CE, was successful in capturing Jerusalem, but subsequent crusades were less so. The Third Crusade, led by Richard the Lionheart, was a failure, and the Fourth Crusade ended in disaster, with the Crusaders sacking the Christian city of Constantinople. The Crusades failed to establish long-term Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land and did not open up lines of communication between the Christian and Muslim worlds. Instead, they were a drain on Europe's resources and ultimately led to the downfall of the Byzantine Empire. The Crusades are an important reminder of the medieval world's fundamentally different values and the power of religious motivation.
Here are the key facts from the text, each numbered and in a short sentence:
1. The Crusades were a series of military expeditions from parts of Europe to the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
2. The Crusades were not initially a "holy war" on the part of Europeans against Islam.
3. The Crusades were driven by religious faith in important ways.
4. The early Islamic dynasties, such as the Umayyads and the Abbasids, allowed Christians and Jews to live among them as long as they paid a tax.
5. The Christian pilgrimage business was beneficial to the Islamic Empire's economy.
6. The Seljuk Turks moved into the region and sacked the holy cities, making it difficult for Christians to make pilgrimages.
7. The Byzantines, who had been defeated by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, called upon the West for help.
8. The first official Crusade began with a call to arms from Pope Urban II in 1095 CE.
9. Pope Urban II wanted to unite Europe and create a common enemy to achieve this goal.
10. The Crusades were not primarily military operations, but pilgrimages.
11. The Crusades were not an early example of European colonization of the Middle East.
12. Many of the people who responded to the call to Crusade were poor people, not knights.
13. The Crusaders were motivated by religious faith and a desire to protect Christ and his kingdom.
14. The First Crusade was successful, and the Crusaders took Jerusalem, securing it for Christendom.
15. The Crusaders killed many people in the al-Aqsa mosque during the siege of Jerusalem.
16. The Turkish Muslims, who were Sunnis, did not help the Egyptians, who were Shia, during the First Crusade.
17. The Third Crusade was a response to the emergence of a new Islamic power, led by Saladin.
18. Saladin was a Kurdish-Egyptian Sultan who united Egypt and Syria under his rule.
19. The Third Crusade was led by three of the most important kings in Europe: Philip II of France, Richard I of England, and Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire.
20. The Third Crusade was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Crusaders failed to take Jerusalem.
21. The Fourth Crusade was marked by the sacking of the Christian city of Zara and the eventual conquest of Constantinople.
22. The Crusaders were excommunicated by the Pope for their actions during the Fourth Crusade.
23. The Fourth Crusade legitimized the idea that Crusading didn't have to be about pilgrimage, but could be against any enemies of the Catholic Church.
24. The Byzantine Empire was weakened by the Fourth Crusade and eventually conquered by the Ottomans in 1453.
25. The Crusades were ultimately a failure at establishing Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land long-term.
26. The region remained solidly Muslim after the Crusades, as it mostly is today.
27. The Crusades did not bring Europe out of the Middle Ages or open up lines of communication between the Christian and Muslim worlds.
28. The Crusades were a tremendous drain on Europe's resources.