CR U S A D E S

TEAM MEMBERS
MUHAMMAD WAQAS
Q
MUHAMMAD UMER FAROO
SYED AOUN MUHAMMAD
 INTRODUCTION
• THE CRUSADES FOR THE HOLY LAND LASTED NEARLY 200 YEARS, TAKING PLACE BETWEEN 1096 AND 1291.
• THEY WERE A SERIES OF RELIGIOUS WARS BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS FOR JERUSALEM IN THE MIDDLE EAST
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES.

• BY THE BEGINNING OF THE 11TH CENTURY, THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE CONTROLLED MOST OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN
TERRITORY BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S CONTROL IN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE MUSLIM ARMIES OF
CENTRAL ASIA. HOWEVER, SELJUK TURKS FROM ASIA HAD BEEN INVADING BYZANTINE COUNTRIES FOR DECADES,
TAKING OVER PERSIA, ARMENIA, IRAQ, AND EVENTUALLY JERUSALEM BEFORE 1070. IN 1095, EMPEROR ALEXIUS I OF
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE PETITIONED FOR HELP AGAINST THE TURKS, AND POPE URBAN II DECLARED THE HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE'S INTENTION TO TAKE BACK THE HOLY LAND AT THE 1095 COUNCIL OF CLERMONT.
 THE FIRST CRUSADE (1096-1099)
• AN ARMY OF CRUSADERS, MOSTLY CONTAINING KNIGHTS AND EUROPEAN INFANTRY, MARCHED TOWARD
ASIA MINOR IN 1096. BY 1097, THE CRUSADERS TOOK NICAEA OF THE HOLY LAND FROM THE TURKS AND
LATER TOOK ANTIOCH IN A BLOODY MASSACRE. THEY REACHED JERUSALEM IN 1099, KILLED TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS, AND CAPTURED THE CITY.

• THE FIRST CRUSADE ENDED IN A VICTORY FOR THE CHRISTIANS AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, AS
JERUSALEM WAS IN THEIR CONTROL. THEY ESTABLISHED THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM TO SERVE AS THE
STRONGHOLD OF THE LATIN MIDDLE EAST.
 THE SECOND CRUSADE (1147-1149)
• NEARLY 50 YEARS LATER, THE CRUSADERS RODE ONCE MORE AGAINST THE MUSLIM TURKS. THE CITY OF
EDESSA, WHICH HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN IN CHRISTIAN CONTROL, HAD BEEN TAKEN BY THE MUSLIMS IN
1144. POPE EUGENIUS III CALLED FOR A SECOND CRUSADE A YEAR LATER, AND CONRAD III (KING OF
GERMANY) AND LOUIS VII (KING OF FRANCE) TOOK UP THE CROSS IN 1147, MEANING THAT THEY AGREED
TO LEAD THE CRUSADE. THE CRUSADERS CLASHED WITH THE BYZANTINE FORCES AT CONSTANTINOPLE
BEFORE BEING DEFEATED BY THE TURKS IN ASIA MINOR. A POORLY PLANNED SIEGE AT DAMASCUS ENDED

• THE SECOND CRUSADE AS A LOSS FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

 THE THIRD CRUSADE (1189-1192)

• THE FAILURE OF THE SECOND CRUSADE EMBOLDENED THE MUSLIMS AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS, WHO
NOW SEEMED WEAK. A UNIFIED MUSLIM STATE LED BY SALADIN, SULTAN OF EGYPT, TOOK CHRISTIAN-
HELD JERUSALEM IN 1187. POPE GREGORY VIII CALLED FOR THE THIRD CRUSADE SHORTLY AFTERWARD,
AND KING FREDERICK I OF GERMANY AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, KING PHILIP II OF FRANCE, AND KING
RICHARD I OF ENGLAND SET OFF ON WHAT WOULD BE KNOWN AS THE KINGS' CRUSADE.

• BEGAN TWO YEARS LATER AS AN EFFORT TO TAKE THE CITY BACK.

 THE FOURTH CRUSADE (1202-1204)
• HE CRUSADERS SET OUT AGAIN IN 1202 TO RETAKE JERUSALEM IN THE FOURTH CRUSADE, BY CALL
OF POPE INNOCENT III. HOWEVER, THE YEARS OF STRIFE AND MISTRUST BETWEEN THE HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE AND THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE LED TO SIGNIFICANT CLASHES BETWEEN THE CRUSADERS AND
BYZANTINE CITIZENS. IN 1204, THE CRUSADERS SACKED AND LOOTED CONSTANTINOPLE, THE CAPITAL OF
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND THEIR PREVIOUS ALLIES. THE REST OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE WAS DIVIDED
BY THE LATIN EMPIRE. A FEW CRUSADERS EVENTUALLY REACHED JERUSALEM BUT FAILED TO RETAKE IT.
 THE FIFTH CRUSADE (1217-1221)
• IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE JERUSALEM, WESTERN EUROPE BEGAN THE FIFTH CRUSADE AGAINST
THE MUSLIMS. THE CRUSADE WAS AGAIN CALLED BY POPE INNOCENT III. RATHER THAN GO THROUGH
BYZANTIUM TO THE HOLY LAND, THE CRUSADERS ATTEMPTED TO WEAKEN MUSLIM FORCES BY TAKING
DAMIETTA AND CAIRO FROM AL-KAMIL, SULTAN OF EGYPT, FIRST. AFTER BREACHING DAMIETTA IN AN
EXTENSIVE CAMPAIGN, THE CHRISTIANS REJECTED EGYPT'S PEACE OFFER OF CONTROL OF JERUSALEM
AND TOOK DAMIETTA INSTEAD. HOWEVER, THE CAMPAIGN TO TAKE CAIRO ENDED IN DEFEAT AND STILL
NO CONTROL OVER JERUSALEM.
 THE SIXTH CRUSADE (1228-1229)
• MANY HISTORIANS CONSIDER THE SIXTH CRUSADE TO BE A CONTINUATION OF THE FIFTH CRUSADE, AS
ITS AFTERMATH ACHIEVED THE GOALS OF THE PREVIOUS (AND UNSUCCESSFUL) CRUSADE. HOLY ROMAN
EMPEROR FREDERICK II'S MARRIAGE TO ISABELLA II AND THE BIRTH OF SON CONRAD MADE HIM LEADER
OF THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM, THE CHRISTIAN HOLDINGS IN THE LATIN MIDDLE EAST, AND GAVE HIM
NEW INSPIRATION TO TAKE BACK THE CITY ONCE AND FOR ALL. HIS CRUSADERS MARCHED ON THE HOLY
LAND, AND IN 1229, FREDERICK II NEGOTIATED THE TREATY OF JAFFA. IT GAVE CHRISTIANS PRIMARY
CONTROL OF JERUSALEM IN EXCHANGE FOR THE PROTECTION OF MUSLIM INTERESTS AND A 10-YEAR
TRUCE.
 THE SEVENTH CRUSADE (1248-1254)
• JERUSALEM WAS TAKEN BY THE KHWARISMIANS IN 1244 IN A VIOLENT SIEGE, AND THE CHRISTIANS ALSO LOST
TERRITORY TO EGYPTIAN SULTAN AL-SALIH AYYUB. POPE INNOCENT IV CALLED FOR THE SEVENTH CRUSADE
SOON AFTER, AND KING LOUIS IXOF FRANCE BEGAN A WELL-FUNDED (PRIMARILY FROM PILLAGING WEALTH AND
PROPERTY FROM FRENCH JEWS) CAMPAIGN IN 1248. WHEN THE CRUSADERS ARRIVED IN EGYPT, THEY TOOK
DAMIETTA BUT FAILED TO PROGRESS PAST THE CITY OF MANSOURAH. LOUIS IX WAS CAPTURED DURING THE
CRUSADERS' SURRENDER AND RELEASED AFTER PAYING A RANSOM AND GIVING UP THE CITY OF DAMIETTA.

• IT WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE CRUSADE TO DATE AND ENDED WITH MUSLIMS MAINTAINING CONTROL OVER
JERUSALEM.
 THE EIGHTH CRUSADE (1270)
• KING LOUIS IX WAS NOT FINISHED WITH THE LIFE OF BEING A CRUSADER. AFTER FORTIFYING CHRISTIAN
STRONGHOLDS IN THE LATIN MIDDLE EAST (PRIMARILY THE CITY OF ACRE), HE AGAIN SET OFF IN THE
EIGHTH CRUSADE TO RETAKE JERUSALEM. THIS TIME, HE WOULD FOCUS ON TUNIS AS A MORE STRATEGIC
PLACE TO ATTACK EGYPT AND CONQUER JERUSALEM. HOWEVER, LOUIS IX AND HIS SON DIED OF
DYSENTERY ONLY A MONTH INTO THE CAMPAIGN, AND THE CRUSADE WAS ABANDONED. LOUIS IX WAS
LATER CANONIZED AS A SAINT FOR HIS DEVOTION TO THE CHURCH.
THANK YOU