Crusades as a military-religious phenomenon arose during the reign of Pope Gregory of Seventh and were aimed at the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem from the “infidels”, where the Holy Sepulcher was located, as well as the spread of Christianity by military means among pagans, Muslims, residents of Orthodox states and heretical movements . In the following centuries, the Crusades were conducted mainly for the Christianization of the Baltic population, the suppression of heretical manifestations in a number of European countries, or for the solution of some personal tasks of those who headed the throne in the Vatican.
There were nine military campaigns in total. What did the main participants in the Third Crusade strive for ? The table approximately reflects their claims in a particular campaign in general terms as follows:
Who went to the Crusades?
The rank and file members of the Third Crusade did not differ much in composition from the contingent that had taken part in such actions earlier. For example, the first campaign was attended by numerous French nobles of that time, who, with their squads and the monks and townsfolk adjoining them (there were even children who were ready to go to the “infidels” in the name of the pardon's promised forgiveness of all sins), came to Constantinople and 1097 crossed the Bosphorus.
Three hundred thousand crusaders participated in one of the campaigns
The total number of crusaders reached approximately one third of a million people. Two years later, they fought with battle in Jerusalem, killing a significant portion of the Muslim population living here. Then the knights waged wars with their troops, both against Muslims, and against the Greeks, Byzantines, and others. They founded several Christian states in Lebanon that controlled trade between Europe, China and India until new routes were opened to Asian lands through Eastern Russia. They also tried to control trade through the Russian lands with the help of the crusaders, so the supporters of this military-religious movement remained the longest in the Baltic states.
Ancient Edessa as an occasion for war
Participants of the Third Crusade (1147-1149) were actually involved in the second crusade. This event also began with the arrival in Constantinople of the German king Konrad with his troops in 1147. The prerequisites for the second wave of hostilities in the Holy Land were the fact that Muslim civilization became more active and began to return to its previously recaptured lands. In particular, Edessa was captured, King Fulk, who also had possessions in France, died in Jerusalem, and his daughter could not provide adequate protection of interests due to the rebellion of vassals.
Saint Bernard blessed Germans and French on a campaign
The participants of the third crusade (actually the second, in the middle of the 12th century) have been preparing for more than one year. It was assumed that the Pope Eugene the Third, who, however, at that time was weakened as an authority by democratic movements in Italy (under the leadership of Arnold Breschiansky), was actively speaking for him. The French ruler Louis the Seventh, a knight in spirit, also underwent some hesitation, until the Pope in the person of Saint Bernard blessed him on a campaign, who read a sermon on the need to free the Holy Sepulcher in 1146, inspiring the people of central and southern France. Participants of the 3rd crusade (historians consider it the second) left France for a total of about 70 thousand people, who were joined along the way by as many people from the pilgrims. A year later, St. Bernard caused the same wave of popular movement among the German population when he arrived on a visit to King Conrad.
After crossing the Bosphorus, the Germans of King Konrad faced such resistance from the Seljuks that they could not go inland and, in the end, returned to their homeland (including Konrad and King Ludwig the Seventh). The French went along the coast of Asia Minor, and the most notable of them sailed to Syria in 1148. The ground forces almost all died during the transition. Edessa, recaptured by the Crusaders from the “infidels,” was again conquered by the Muslims, Nur ad Din seized the lands near Antioch, the Kurds led by Shirk captured Egypt, in which the famous Saladin reigned, who also subjugated Muslim Syria, Damascus and part of Mesopotamia.
The aggravation of relations in the East after the death of Baldwin the Fourth
In those years, Jerusalem was ruled by the seriously ill leprosy Baldwin the Fourth, who was a good diplomat and successfully supported the neutrality between Jerusalem and Damascus. However, after his death, someone Guy de Lusignan married Baldwin’s sister, proclaimed himself king of Jerusalem and began to provoke Saladin into military operations, in which the latter more than succeeded, having won almost all the lands from the crusaders.
The military successes of Saladin led to the fact that in Europe there were potential participants in the third crusade who wanted to take revenge on him. A new military operation in the east with the blessing of the Pope was led by Frederick Barbarossa, King Philip Augustus II (French) and Richard the Lionheart - the king of England at that time. It is worth noting that Philip and Richard clearly did not like each other. This was due to the fact that Philip was a master of intrigue (including with Richard's brother, John Bezemmelny, who led England in the absence of the main ruler), which did not distinguish his English opponent. The latter, however, suffered a lot, not using the military power of his state.
Frederick Barbarossa was a cautious military leader
Such relations were among themselves the heads of state - participants of the Third Crusade. Frederick the First, as some historians believe, was far from such a squabble and prepared very carefully for his enterprise in the East. There is some evidence that before the campaign he negotiated with Byzantium, and with the Iconic Sultan, and, possibly, with the Sultan Saladin himself. Under an agreement with the Byzantine emperor, the participants in the 3rd Crusade received free passage through the land and the supply of provisions at predetermined prices. The Hungarian King Bela, who did not participate in the campaign, led the army of Barbarossa through his territory in the optimal way. But during the journey, gangs of robbers began to attack the Germans. The number of crusaders began to include local residents, dissatisfied with their rulers, which increased the number of military clashes.
What difficulties did the German participants in the Third Crusade face? Frederick 1 did not take into account that after the crossing of the Bosphorus in March 1190, his already exhausted troops would have to go through Asia Minor, previously devastated by wars with the Seljuks, where they would experience problems with pack animals and provisions. The king of Germany won a major victory at Iconium, but in Cilicia, when crossing the mountain river Salef, Frederick choked and died. This ruined the success of the entire enterprise, as part of the crusaders had to return to Europe by sea, and the part that reached Agra (the main goal of the campaign) under the leadership of the Duke of Swabia participated in the battles along with other Christians.
Richard and Philip went by sea
Other senior members of the Third Crusade (1189-1192) arrived for the siege of Agra with their troops in the spring of 1190. On the way, Richard managed to capture Cyprus. But Agra, mainly because of the contradictions between Richard and Philip, lasted until the summer of 1191, almost two years. Some of the French knights then sailed to their homeland under the guidance of their king. But some, like Heinrich Champagne, Hugo of Burgundy and others, remained to fight in Syria, where they defeated Saladin at Arsuf, but could not return Jerusalem. In September 1192, participants in the Third Crusade signed a peace treaty with the Sultan, according to which Christians could only visit the Holy City. Richard the Lionheart then returned to his homeland. Around the same period, the Teutonic Knights Order appeared, which was obtained by transforming the German hospital brotherhood of St. Mary, organized during the invasion of the East.
Crusade Results
What were the results of the Third Crusade member states? The table shows that Europeans and peoples of the East, rather, lost more from these historical events. But it is worth noting that the Crusades as a result had not only the death of a large number of people, the weakening of medieval forms of government, but also contributed to the rapprochement of classes, various nationalities and peoples, contributed to the development of navigation and trade, the spread of Christianity, the mutual penetration of the cultural values of the East and the West.