HISTORY

Crusades

Crusades

Introduction

The Crusades were any of the military expeditions undertaken by European Christian powers, from the late 11th century through the late 13th century, to recover the Holy Land in the Near East from the Muslims. The first Crusades are relevant to the history of exploration since they marked the first attempt at expansionism and colonialism by Christian nations beyond Europe. They also led to increased contacts among differing cultures and growing geographic awareness.

Background

Palestine, the historic region on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea (presently controlled by Israel), was at the center of trade routes linking three continents—Asia, Europe, and Africa. Adherents of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions consider it a Holy Land; the city of Jerusalem in particular has sacred sites central to the belief systems of all three religions. In addition to the ancient local peoples—such as the Canaanites (related to the Phoenicians), Philistines, and Israelites—Palestine had been occupied at times by Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. It fell to the Arab Muslims in CE 638. Yet the region remained relatively open—a center of commerce and religious and intellectual activity until the late 11th century when the Seljuk Turks became the dominant Islamic people in Asia Minor (the Anatolian Peninsula) and took control of Jerusalem. Their harassment of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem and their aggressive stance toward Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), became a concern to Christian leaders. Alexius I Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor, appealed to the West for help defending against invaders. Soon afterward, in 1095, Pope Urban II gave a speech at the Council of Clermont in France encouraging aid to Byzantium against the Islamic threat.

Wandering preachers, such as Peter the Hermit (Peter of Amiens), helped spread the message of a "holy war." Some of those who would become involved over the next years did so for the sake of territorial and economic interests in addition to religious ideals. The prosperity and growing populations in Europe at that time prompted a looking outward to distant lands with curiosity, ambition, and dreams of adventure: Religious leaders wanted to make inroads into Muslim lands and unite the Latin and Orthodox branches of Catholicism; nobles saw the potential for territorial expansion; merchants recognized trade possibilities; knights saw the opportunity of using their skill in battle; and peasants saw the opportunity for a new life in Outremer, a French term for "beyond the seas." In any case, for varying reasons, the call to conquest was heard by people of many different social backgrounds and callings over the subsequent centuries.

Peasants' Crusade

In the so-called Peasants' Crusade of 1095-96, not an officially sanctioned endeavor, several thousand French and German peasants gathered and headed to Jerusalem by way of Constantinople. Peter the Hermit was one of several leaders. On the way, some of them sacked Belgrade; others attacked Jewish communities. Soon after their arrival in Constantinople, Alexius I provided them with boats to Jerusalem, where they were easily defeated by the ...