An overview of the Crusades (part 2)

Where we left off in the last video, we had seen what would eventually be called the First Crusades. From a European point of view, it seemed successful; they were able to take back much of the Holy Land from Muslim rule. The Byzantine Empire was able to take back a significant chunk of the Anatolian Peninsula from the Seljuk Turks, who were also Muslim. Over the next few decades, this European rule over the Holy Land only gets consolidated.

This is a zoomed-in version of what it looked like, and you can see these Crusader states that were set up, or these Crusader kingdoms. As I pointed out in the last video, even though the Crusades were apparently to help the Byzantines reclaim land, when the Crusaders took the Holy Land, they for the most part kept it for themselves and set up these kingdoms. So we are about here on our timeline now.

As we fast forward a little over a decade, as we get to the middle of the 12th century, you do have the Muslims being able to take back some of the territory, in particular, Edessa and Aleppo. This spawns what will eventually be known as the Second Crusade, and it's really the second of many crusades. These are what historians consider the official numbered Crusades, but there were many other Crusades in this time period, in roughly this 200-year time period during the High Middle Ages.

You had Crusades against Germanic non-Christians in Northern Europe. You had Crusades in Spain in order to retake land from the Muslims, which they had for several hundred years, what's known as the Reconquista. After Aleppo and Edessa were taken, you have the Second Crusade, which ends up being quite unsuccessful and really doesn't change what the Middle East looks like.

Then, as you get to the end of the 12th century, you have a significant event in 1187. You have the sultan Salah Adin, often known as Saladin, being able to retake Jerusalem and much of the Holy Land. Remember, this is after roughly 90 years of rule of Jerusalem by the Western Europeans, by these Crusader kingdoms. This really strikes a chord with the West, and so they decide to launch what will be known as the Third Crusade.

The Third Crusade does make some gains, and in fact, this is a crusade that gets significant buy-in from the kings of Western Europe. Philip II of France gets involved, the English king Richard I, or Richard the Lionheart, gets involved, and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa gets involved. When I say Holy Roman Emperor and the Empire, you should really think of medieval Germany.

Now, as they go there, Frederick Barbarossa drowns in a river. This is very dispiriting for his soldiers, so many of them turn around. But Philip II and Richard the Lionheart are able to engage with Saladin, and they are able to gain some land, in particular, the region around Acre, and they're able to get some concessions from Saladin for unarmed Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem.

Now, Saladin dies as we approach the end of the 12th century. So, in the beginning of the 13th century, the Fourth Crusade gets launched, and these are interesting because the Crusaders, with the help of Venetian traders, actually engage with the claimant to the throne of the Byzantine Empire. They hope that if they can help him come back to the throne, he can provide them the necessary resources in order to continue on with the Crusades.

Well, they are able to put the claimant on the throne, but then an uprising takes that claimant down from the throne. The Crusaders don't get their payment, but they want that payment badly. So, they decide to take Constantinople themselves. As we mentioned in other videos, this is really the dagger in the heart of the relationship between the East and the West.

We already talked about the Great Schism of 1054, but now you have the West, who are followers of the Latin Church, which eventually gets known as the Roman Catholic Church, sacking Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire, the most important city in Eastern Christendom. Once they successfully sack the city in bloody fashion, they break up the Byzantine Empire amongst themselves, and you can see how they break it up.

The Fourth Crusade had very little effect on the actual Holy Land, but it does cause a temporary end to the Byzantine Empire. As we get to 1261, Constantinople is retaken by the Byzantines, but once again, this is the beginning of the end of the Byzantine Empire. The fact that for half a century it was taken over by the West means that many in the West are not satisfied, and in 1212, an interesting event may have occurred.

There are some accounts of what is known as a Children's Crusade. The stories of the Children's Crusade vary; there's different accounts as to exactly what happened, but something to the effect that Jesus told them to go with other pure children to the Holy Land and convert the Muslims to Christianity. So then, they go on this march, and there are tens of thousands of children. But they don't make it to the Holy Land; they either die of starvation or get sold into slavery on the way.

Historians today aren't sure whether it really happened as that account implies. That's why I put these question marks next to the Children's Crusade. But regardless of the actual facts, as we go into the first quarter of the 13th century, Jerusalem remains in the hands of the Muslims. The Fifth Crusade is launched to retake Jerusalem, which is a failure. Eventually, a Sixth Crusade is launched, and this is reasonably successful at retaking some land in the Holy Land.

But shortly thereafter, you have a non-numbered crusade, the Barons' Crusade, that rivals the First Crusade in its success in taking territory. After the Baron's Crusade, they're able to take back a good amount of territory, but then in 1244, Jerusalem is retaken by the Muslims. Then you have the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Crusades afterward, along with other efforts that are sometimes called Crusades, but for the most part, these are unsuccessful.

As we get into the end of the 13th and early 14th centuries, the Holy Land falls back under Muslim control. This is a map of the region as we enter into the 14th century, and you can see that the Muslims have retaken not just the Holy Land but most of the Anatolian Peninsula, with only Constantinople being in control of the Byzantines. That lasts until 1453, when the Turks finally take Constantinople as well.

When you look at the map at the beginning of this video and then look at the map here, you can see that the Crusades weren't really successful at changing the picture in the Holy Land. There were areas where the Crusades were successful or that Crusader mentality was successful. You can see that now that we're in the 14th century, much of the Iberian Peninsula has been taken by Christian kingdoms from the Muslims.

The Muslims at this period are left with only Granada. So, the Reconquista, to some degree, was successful, and it's going to continue until 1492, when the last Muslims are expelled from Spain. Now, one thing that I felt when I study the Crusades is it's very confusing how Jerusalem, in particular, goes back and forth between different parties. Just to get an overview of what actually happened, this timeline might be helpful.

Green shows Jerusalem under Muslim control, and red shows it under Christian control. At the end of the First Crusades, it switches hands; the Christians are in control all the way until Salah Adin takes it back. Now the Muslims are in control all the way until you get to the Sixth Crusade, where they're able to take some territory back, and even parts of Jerusalem, especially in the Barons' Crusade, they're able to take significant territory back. But then in 1244, Jerusalem is retaken again by the Muslims.