aia ISLAM ‘Mobainimed was born in 570 AD in Mecca in Arabia. He was a poor camel-driver whe became wealthy. ‘He was very religious and often used to pray in a cave in Mecca. There the angel Gabriel is said to have appeared to him, The angel instructed him to preach anew religion and to write down its tenets in a book which was later called the Koran. Mohammed's teaching caused him to make many enemies, and in 622 AD he had to make a joumey from Mecca to Medina ta escapé his enemies. From this date the Islamic calendar begins. Vaton Ye died in 632, it-wes-belicued that-he-was-taken.up to heaves, His followers were known as Muslims, which means “trae believers” and thé religion spread very fast indeed. Tthad a strict code of conduct, Muslims were not allowed to drink alcoholic drinks and they were to give to the poor, They were to pray five times a day, and must face Mecca when doing 60. The religion came. with a set of laws and moral teachings. Muslims believed that Jesus was a prophet but that he was not the son of God. The central teaching of Islamn was: “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet.” Islam and Christianity therefore disagreed on a fundamental point even though they had come from the same root. - A By the time Mohammed died, most Arabians had become Muslims. Then the religion spread into Affica and along its whole north coast. Then the Muslims captured Spain, but were unable to take France because Charles Martel, the father of Charlemagne, defeated them and prevented them from taking any more’ of Europe. Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor soon belonged to Islam. ‘The Arabian people preserved mich of the learning of Classical Greece and Rome, They were excellent astronomers and mathematicians. It is from them that most of the world takes its system of counting, Charlemagne was later crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope, because he had spread the Christian religion, had restored the order that had prevailed during the Romian Empire, and had conquered land in Germany and Italy. THE CRUSADES ‘ ~The word comes from the Latin crux, meaning cross. ‘The Muslims took Jerusalem in 637 AD but only in 1078 did they begin to prevent the Christians from visiting the Holy Sepulchre and other religious sites in Jerusalem, This wes when the Seljuk Turks or ‘Saracens took control of the armies in that area and Jews and Christians were no longer allowed to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. If they did they risked being killed ar totured, ‘The Roman Emperor in Constantinople appealed to the Pope for assistance and Pope Urban II made an appeal in 1095 to all Christians urging them to reconquer Jerusalem. He added that any Christian who died on any crusade’ would go straight to Heaven. Why did people go on the Crusades? % ‘They were religious and wanted to fight for thei faith, : % They wanted to do penance (punishment) for their sins. % They wished to leave home for other reasons (such as debt, crimes they had committed, etc). 4 They hoped to find a better life (some of them had been very poor). They hoped they might find new land and wealth when they conquered the Holy Land. + They were merely seeking adventure, ‘The Crusade of Peter the Hermit Peter was a French monk who gathered peasants together in France and Germany and made for the East. He himself was a rather dirty long-haired man who rode on a donkey. These crusaders were ill-prepared and untrained in militéry arts. They had no supplies so they robbed and murdered the inhabitants of all the areas through which they passed. Many of them were murdered too because they were a nuisance. At Constantinople the Emperor, shocked at the peculiar crowd that arrived with Peter, immediately sent themto Asia Minor where most of them were slaughtered by the Saracens. Peter himself narrowly escaped with his life. The First Crusade (1096-1099 AD) This was led by a group of nobles and knights, : Foroes marched to Constantinople where they argived with the Emperor. The dispute concernitig authority ‘was sorted out but there was much distrust. uy a 1097 militery operations began, 100 000 men'laid siege to Nicaea, Victory was obtained over the Muslims, and Antioch war taken after a siege of 7 months. 15 July 1099 an army of 20 000 crusaders took Jerusalem and brutally slaughtered the Jewish inhabitants. To defend the new Christian Jerusalem two new orders of knights were formed: Kaights of the Ts ats) to protect the Christian pilgrims Knights of St John (Hospitallers) to heal the sick. The Second Crusade (1147-1148) The Saracens had begun gaining ground and were again likely to threaten Jerusalem. People were, promised special privileges for fighting in the Crusade. Their sins-would be forgiven including any sins. they might commit during the Crusade. Debts were cancelled. : Ce of. (Holy Roman ror) and Louis VIL of France led this Crusade. They set out in April 1147. The German army was nearly annihilated in Asia Minor but what was left of them joined the French army to try to take Damascus, where they were defeated by the Saracens. The Crusade was later abandoned and the last surviving crusaders arrived home in 1149, The Third Crusade (1189-1192) Pope Gregory VIII encouraged further Crusades since the new: Saracen leader Saladin had captured Jerusalem in 1187. This Crusade was led By Frederick [ Richard I (the Lis of lip I 2. The only-military victory was the conquest of Acre in 1191, Frederick ‘had drowned in a river on the way and his leaderless army had gone home. Philip and Richard had serious disagreements and Philip went home with his men, leaving Richard to continue alone. He did not have , enough forces to attack Jerusalem, and itis said that when he neared it he covered his eyes rather than look at it, Richard received news that his brother John was conspiring against him in England so he had to ~ “Go home, He therefore made a treaty with Saladin stating that though Saladin was ruler of Jerusalem Christians would have the right to make pilgrimages to the city unmolested There were other crasades inchiding the disastrous Children's’ Crusade in 1212, during which 50 000 children from France and Germany journeyed East. Many died on the journey and many were enslaved. ‘During the later Crusades Jerusalem was captured but the Crusaders failed to keep control of it Results of the Crusades © People were exposed to a different lifestyle. They had seen the plush courts and grand cities of the ‘Muslim rulers, and the beautiful fabrics and exciting spices they used. *& The exposure of Christians to another religion and another perception of reality made them curious, and this later helped them to shake off their fear and superstition and ask questions about all aspects #-_ offlfe. This led eventually to the Renaissance. : * Trade by sea grew and cities that had been important for those travelling, on Crusades became Prosperous trading cities. Commerce between East and West also gave rise to contact between people of differing ideas, and this also helped to end ignorance and to stimulate curiosity. From the Eastern + peoples they learned about mathematics and medicine. They became inclined to think for themselves % The Church also gained wealth during the Crusades, which may have led to its later.corruption. % The Church became divided into three: The Western Church with its Pope in Rome The Greek (Orthodox) Church with its Patriarch in Constantinople ~The Coptic Church (with members in the Middle East and Africa) under the Patriarch of Alexandria.1. Reasons for the crusades ‘* The pope wanted to rescue the Holy Places from the hands of the Saracens and make them safe for pilgrims. ‘2 By helping the Emperor in the East to defeat the Saracens, the Pope hoped to * secure better relations between the church of Constantinople and the church of Ro.ue. * The Pope hoped that if the nobles of Western Europe could be united in a common cause, they would stop waging wars against each other: The first crusade The First Crusade was an attempt to re-capture Jerusalem, After the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims in.1076, any Christian who wanted to pay a pilgrimage to the city faced a very hard time. Muslim soldiers made life very difficult for the Christians and trying to get to Jerusalem was filled with danger for a Christian, This greatly angered all Christians. Alexius. Lof Constantinople - feared that his country might also fall to the Muslims as it was very close to the territory captured by the Muslims. Constantinople is in modern day Turkey, Alexius called on the pope - Urban IT to give him help. In 1095, Urban spoke to a great crowd at Clermont in France. He called for a war against the Muslims so that Jerusalem was regained for the Christian faith. Those who volunteered to go +o fight the Muslims cut out red crosses and sewed them on their tunics. The French word “croix” means cross.and the word changed to "eroisades" or crusades, The fight against the ‘Muslims became a Holy War. Many people did volunteer to fight on the First Crusade. ‘There were true Christians who wanted to reclaitn Jerusalem for their belief and get the Muslims out of the city. There were those who knew they had committed sin and that by going on the Crusade they might be forgiven by God. They had also been told by the pope that if they were killed, they would automatically go to heaven as they were fighting for God. By 1097, nearly 10,000 people had gathered at Constantinople ready for the journey to the Holy Land. There was no one person in charge of the First Crusade, The first target of the Crusaders was the important fortress city of Nicea. This city was taken by the Crusaders without too much trouble as the man in charge of it was away fighting! ‘The next target for the Crusaders was Antioch - a strongly protected Turkish city. It took a seven month siege before the city fell. The next target was Jerusalem. ‘The ettack and capture of Jerusalom started in the summer of 1099 Jerusalem was well defended with high walls around it. The first attacks on the city were not successful as the Crusaders were short of materials for building siege machines. Once logs had arrived, two siege machines were built. After the success of the Crusaders, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was created and its first king ‘was Godftey of Bouillon who was elected by other crusaders. He died in 1100 and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin of Boulogne.2 ‘The capture of Jerusalem did not end the Crusades as the Crusaders wanted to get rid of the ‘Muslims from the whole region and not just Jerusalem, This desire led to the other crusades. Benefits of the crusades pe ‘The Crusades -ontributed to increase the wealth of the Church and the power of the Papacy, Thus the prominent part which the Popes took in the enterprises naturally fostered their authority and influence; by placing in their hands, the armies and resources of Christendom, and accustoming the people to look fo them as guides and leaders. One of the most important effects of the crusades was on commerce. They created a constant demand for the transportation of men.and supplies, encouraged ship-building, and extended the market for eastern wares in Europe. They helped {o undermine feudalism, Thousands of barons and knights mortgaged or sold their lands in order to raise money for a crusading expedition. they helped to break down the power of the feudal aristocracy. ‘The Crusades afforded an opportunity for tomantic adventure. The Crusades were therefore one of the principal fostering influences of Chivalry, _The crusaders returned with finer tastes, broader ideas, and wider sympathies. ‘The crusades opened up a new world, Furthermore, the knowledge of the science and learning of the East gained by the crusaders through their expeditions, greatly stimulated the Latin intellect, and helped to awaken in Western Europe that mental activity which resulted finally in the great intellectual outbarst known as the Revival of Learning and the period of the Renaissance. ‘Various arts, manufactures, and inventions before unknown in Europe, were introduced from Asia. ‘The incentive given to geographical discovery led various travellers, such as the celebrated Italian, Marco Polo, and the scarcely less noted Englishman, Sir John Mandeville, to explore the most remote countries of Asia, Even that spirit of maritime enterprise and adventure which rendeyed illustrious the fifteenth century, inspiring the voyages of Columbus, Vasco de Gama, and Magellan, may be traced back to that lively interest in geographical matters awakened by the expeditions of the crusaders,