"This hill is a witness, and this monument is a witness"
(Genesis 31:52)
And now let's get acquainted directly with the chronicle of the Crusades or "expeditions", as they said then, to Palestine or Outremer ("Lower Lands") *. After all, there will be a lot of campaigns called "crusades" in European history. But it is precisely the campaigns to the East, aiming at the liberation of the cross of the Lord, that are considered the main ones and that they mean when they talk about the crusaders and their military expansion. After all, those who vowed to participate in the campaign and, so to speak, "took the cross" received it in the form of a patch on their clothes. This is how they began to be called crusaders, although it is not entirely clear how exactly they wore crosses on their armor. After all, the warriors of the first campaign to the East did not yet have cash clothes. Chain mail, chain mail stockings … and where can you attach the cloth cross?
Crusader. Fresco 1163 - 1200 in the church of Cressac sur Charent, France.
All autumn and winter were spent in training camps - after all, it was necessary to stock up on a lot of weapons, equipment and provisions for the road, while the preachers, meanwhile, were touring the cities and campaigning there. It is clear that the Pope was, first of all, interested in the fact that the knights went on a campaign. Moreover, he directly spoke about this, warning against participation in the "expedition" of townspeople and peasants, as well as women and those ministers of the church who did not receive the papal blessing for this. However, the "crusader fever" turned out to be so contagious that people removed entire villages from their places, abandoned their workshops and trade, and women went on a campaign with the men!
1096 Spring came, and the poor were the first to set out on the crusade, excited by the words of the monk Peter the Hermit. In addition to him, they were led by another poor man - although the knight Gauthier Sanzavoir (also known as Walter Golyak or Walter the Poor), and this "army" of about 20 thousand people moved down the Danube and further to Constantinople. Most of the peasants and townspeople who took part in this campaign fell victims of clashes with local residents of those Christian countries through which they went - Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria and Byzantium, who saw them as beggars and robbers. Then they had to face the Pechenegs who attacked them in Hungary, and when they crossed the Bosphorus, they had to fight the Seljuk Turks. As a result, many of them were killed, and the survivors fell into slavery. However, there were about 700 knights among them, although this number was not enough to fight the Seljuks. However, the remnants of these detachments in the amount of about 3,000 people escaped the general massacre and, subsequently joining the knightly militia, participated in the battles of Dorileo and Antioch. Walter Golyak died in the battle of Nicomedia, but Peter the Hermit was lucky. He survived and ended his days in one of the monasteries in France.
Finally, in August 1096, the first knightly detachments moved to Palestine. However, it turned out that the chief sovereigns of Europe could not lead the campaign. The reason is all of them: William II of England, Philip I of France, and even the German Emperor Henry IV were excommunicated by the Pope at that time! Therefore, the dukes and counts took over the campaign. So the crusaders from Normandy were led by Duke Robert, son of William the Conqueror; Flanders Crusaders - Robert II; the knights of Lorraine marched under the command of Gottfried of Bouillon (Godefroy of Bouillon). The crusaders of southern France marched under the command of Raymond of Toulouse and Count Stephen of Blois; the troops of southern Italy were led by the ambitious Bohemond of Tarentum, son of Robert Guiscard. The troops, marching in different ways, united in Constantinople, after which the Byzantines transported them to the lands of Asia Minor, where they captured Nicaea, the capital of the Ruman Sultanate, and where the Byzantines of Alexei I Comnenus reaffirmed their power. In August 1097, the Seljuk Turks of Sultan Kilich-Arslan I were defeated by the crusaders near Doriley, and then part of the crusader army took Edessa and the capital of Syria, the city of Antioch. Further, the campaign was continued only by individual knightly detachments, which were led by the Dukes of Lorraine and Normandy and Counts Raymond of Toulouse and Robert of Flanders. Finally, on July 15, 1099, Jerusalem was taken by storm, and then newcomers from Europe captured many other cities of the Holy Land so attractive to them, and in particular, Tripoli. Thus was born the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Godefroy of Bouillon received its throne, along with the title of "defender of the Holy Sepulcher"; then the principality of Antioch of Bohemund of Tarentum; the county of Tripoli by Raymond of Toulouse and the county of Edessa, inherited by the brother of Godefroy of Bouillon Baudouin. In the battle of Ascalon, the Seldujuk were defeated once again, which made it possible to consolidate the success of the campaign.
1107-1110 took place the so-called "Norwegian Crusade", which was undertaken by the Norwegian king Sigurd I. It was attended by about 5,000 people who sailed to Palestine on 60 ships. Having reached the Holy Land, Sirugd and his soldiers took part in a number of battles, after which they sailed to Constantinople, from where they already overland, having received horses from Emperor Alexei I, and leaving him their ships, returned to their homeland.
1100 Godfroy of Bouillon died and Baudouin (Baldwin) I (his younger brother) ascended to his throne, who had already assumed the title of King of Jerusalem. He entrusted the administration of the county of Edessa to Baudouin of Bourgues, his cousin.
1101-1103 A campaign of another knightly militia followed, following the warriors of the first campaign under the command of the Duke of Bavarian Welf, Bishop of Milan Anselm and Duke of Burgundy - the so-called "Rearguard Crusade". But it ended in failure, as the Seljuk Turks inflicted several defeats on its participants.
1100-1118 Jerusalem is ruled by Baudouin (Baldwin) I. The Crusaders continued the conquest of cities in Syria and Palestine: Tiberias, Jaffa, Zarepta, Beirut, Sidon, Ptolemais (Acre, or Akkon) and individual fortresses. An active struggle with local feudal lords at this time was waged in Galilee - one of the provinces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1118-1131 Baudouin (Baldwin) II (Burgsky) becomes king. The large city of Tire was taken and the spiritual-knightly orders of the Templars and Hospitallers were formed, which were supposed to guard the Christian possessions in the Holy Land.
1131-1143 The reign of King Fulk of Anjou, son-in-law of Baudouin II, was marked by the construction of a number of castles and powerful fortresses. In 1135, Roger II, King of Sicily and Southern Italy, once again defeated the Iconian Sultan. However, the attempt to take Aleppo (Aleppo) made in 1137 failed.
1143-1162 The king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is Baudouin (Baldwin) III, the grandson of Baudouin (Baldwin) II. Under him in 1144 the county of Edessa fell.
1147-1149 The French King Louis VII and the German Emperor Conrad III set out on the second crusade. But the German troops were defeated at the Battle of Dorilea, and the French during the siege of Damascus. In addition, there were strife between the two Christian armies. Under Baudouin (Baldwin) III, he managed to capture Ascalon (August 19, 1153), and besides, he married Theodora, niece of the Byzantine emperor Manuel Comnenus (1158), which strengthened the ties between the Crusaders and the Byzantines. In the same year 1147, the so-called Vendian crusade took place, directed against the Slavs (Wends), in which the feudal lords of Saxony, Denmark and Poland acted jointly against the Slavs who lived on the lands between the Elbe, Trave and Oder.
Castle Krak des Chevaliers.
1162-1174 Under Amalric (Amory) I, the younger brother of Baudouin (Baldwin) III, two campaigns took place in Egypt, and in addition, Guy de Lusignan and knights from Poitou and Aquitaine arrived in Palestine, and the knight Renaud de Chatillon also appeared there. Among the Muslims, the commander Saladin (Salah ad-Din ibn Ayyub) in 1171 overthrew the Egyptian caliph from the Fatimid dynasty and, having declared himself a sultan, became the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (1171-1250).
Weapons and equipment of the army of Sallah ad Din.
1174-1185 The reign of Baudouin (Baldwin) IV (Leper), son of Amalric I. In 1178, the Christians were successful: they defeated Saladin in a battle near Ascalon. Baron Renaud de Chatillon became the owner of the Kerak and Montreal castles, standing on the trade route between Egypt and Jerusalem. The wedding of Sibylla, sister of Baudouin IV and Guy Lusignan, took place, followed by his appointment as regent of the kingdom. However, in 1185, Lusignan was removed from the post of regent, and the little son of Sibylla from his first marriage to William of Montferrat was crowned as Baudouin V, only he ruled for only one year. Meanwhile, Renaud de Chatillon broke the truce and began to plunder the caravans of eastern merchants.
1186 Guy de Lusignan is proclaimed King of Jerusalem.
1187 Saladin's armies invaded Palestine. On July 4, the crusaders are defeated in a battle with his troops at Hattin, and Jerusalem has to be defended by a simple knight, Balyan de Ibelin. In October 1187, Jerusalem surrendered to the Muslims and a number of cities and fortresses fell after that. Ascalon is exchanged for the king of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, who was captured at Hattin.
1187-1192 Lusignan is only a purely figurehead king of Jerusalem. Marquis Conrad of Montferrat successfully defends the city of Tire from Muslims.
Knightly weapons from the Battle of Hattin.
1189-1192 Third Crusade. To the East are the armies led by the German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the English king Richard I the Lionheart and the king of France Philip II Augustus. Barbarossa won a number of victories, but … he drowned in the mountain river Salef in Asia Minor, and did not reach Palestine, after which most of his army turned back. Richard I recaptured the island of Cyprus from the Byzantines, and the Akru fortress on the coast of Palestine. As a result of disputes between the British and the French, the latter left Syria. Therefore, Richard I's attempts to liberate Jerusalem were unsuccessful. As a result, he signed a peace treaty with Sultan Saladin, obtained from him the right to land on the coast from Tire to Jaffa, completely destroyed Ascalon, and free passage for pilgrims to Jerusalem. Then he left Palestine in order not to return here again. Guy Lusignan also resigned his crown and departed for Cyprus. Konrad of Montferrat became King of Jerusalem, but he was killed by a sent assassin assassin. The new king eventually became Count Henry of Champagne.
Seal of King Richard I of England (1195). (Museum of the History of Vendée, Boulogne, Vendée).
1193 Death of Saladin.
1195 Death of the German emperor Henry VI, who planned to go on a crusade, which never took place because of this.
1202-1204 The fourth and most infamous crusade. On the call of Pope Innocent III to go to Egypt, the Marquis Boniface of Montferrat and Count Baudouin (Baldwin) of Flanders volunteered. Pursuing the private interests of Venice, Doge Enrico Dandolo managed to redirect the crusader army against Orthodox Byzantium. In April 1204, after a fierce assault, the capital of the empire, the city of Constantinople, fell, and the European possessions of Byzantium and part of the lands of Asia Minor became part of the newly formed Latin Empire, headed by the Count of Flanders (under the name of Emperor Baudouin (Baldwin) I). On the remnants of the possessions of Byzantium in Asia Minor, a new Orthodox state arose - the Nicene Empire, in which the Laskaris dynasty was established.
The Praying Crusader is a miniature from the Winchester Psalter. Second quarter of the 13th century Shown in defensive armor typical of its time: a chainmail hauberge with a hood and riveted metal discs on the front of the leg. It is possible that the cross on the shoulder has a rigid base under it, well, say the shoulder pad of a cuirass made of leather, which is covered by a surcoat. (British Library).
1205 Death of King Amalric II of Jerusalem. Maria, the daughter of his wife from her second marriage, becomes the regent of the kingdom. The French king Philip II Augustus is seeking her marriage to John de Brienne, who becomes king of Jerusalem.
1212 The crusade of children, which began immediately in France and Germany after preaching that God would give the Holy Land into the hands of sinless children. As a result, thousands of teenagers were loaded into Marseille (then Marsala), on ships and upon their arrival in Alexandria were sold into slavery.
1217-1221 The Fifth Crusade was led by King Andrew (Endre) of Hungary, Duke Leopold of Austria and the rulers of the Crusader states in Palestine. The result was the capture of Damietta, an important fortress in Egypt. However, strife among the crusaders did not allow to develop the achieved success and keep the city.
King Louis VII of France and King Baudouin III of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (left) fight the Saracens (right). Miniature from the manuscript of Guillaume de Tire "History of Outremer", 1337 (National Library, Paris).
1228-1229 Sixth Crusade. It was headed by the German emperor and king of the State of the Two Sicilies, Frederick II Staufen, who accepted the cross in 1212, but kept pulling and pulling with his participation in the campaign. He fortified Jaffa, and then, by quite peaceful negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt Elkamil, returned Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem to Christians without war, after which he proclaimed himself King of Jerusalem, but was not approved either by the Pope or by the assembly of feudal lords of the Holy Land. Moreover, the pope excommunicated him and freed all Italians from their oath of allegiance to their emperor. That is why it is sometimes said about Frederick that he was a crusader without a cross, and his campaign was a campaign without a campaign, since he did not fight the Muslims. However, he pronounced Jerusalem for the Christians for ten whole years, which, according to the treaty, was in their hands until 1244.
The initial letter "O" - with the image of the knights of Outremer (Lower Earth) inside. Around 1232 - 1261 Pay attention to the characteristic "cap" under the chain mail hood of the knight standing on the right. Thumbnail from Outremer's Story. (British Library)
1248-1254 The Seventh Crusade was organized by the French King Louis IX the Saint, famous for his piety and asceticism. He also landed in Egypt, took several fortresses, but was defeated at the walls of Cairo, captured by the Muslims and managed to free himself only for a huge ransom.
The duel between Knut the Great and Edmund Ironside, after which they made peace, and Edmund was treacherously killed. Thumbnail from "The Confessor's Bible" by Matthew Paris. Around 1250 (Parker Library, Body of Christ College, Cambridge)
1261 The Latin Empire created by the Crusaders collapses. The Nicene Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus recaptured Constantinople from the Crusaders and revived the Byzantine Empire.
Battle of Forby, 1244 The Templars are defeated by the Muslims. Miniature from "Big Chronicle" by Matthew Paris, second part. (Parker Library, Body of Christ College, Oxford)
1270 The Eighth Crusade, initiated by the same restless Saint Louis. At first, it was planned against Egypt, but then, under the influence of the brother of King Charles of Anjou, the King of the Two Sicilies, it was redirected against the Arabs of North Africa. The landing of the Crusaders took place in Tunis, not far from the ruins of Carthage, where King Louis and his entire army were killed by the plague.
Battle of Damietta. Miniature from the "Big Chronicle" by Matthew Paris. (British Library)
1271 landing in Palestine of the English knights under the leadership of the future king of England Edward I, nicknamed Long-Legs, then still the crown prince. In fact, it was a real ninth crusade, and it should be called the last crusade of the European crusaders to Palestine. First, Edward began negotiations with the Mongols, offering them a joint action against the worst enemy of Christians - the Egyptian Mamluk sultan. However, he managed to repel the offensive of the Mongols, and then he concluded a peace treaty with the Sultan, according to which the last crumbs of the Holy Land were to remain in the hands of Christians for another 10 years and 10 months.
Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Famagusta in Cyprus. Built in the 14th century on the model of the late Gothic Reims Cathedral by the Cypriot kings of the Lusignan dynasty. How beautiful can be judged by this photo. The Turks added a minaret to it on the left and turned it into a mosque!
From behind it, perhaps, looks even more impressive …
And this is how this "mosque" looks inside!
1291 The ten-year term of the treaty expired, and the Muslims were able to start hostilities. On May 18, 1291, after a long siege, they took Akkon, then Tire, Sidon, and, finally, on July 31 - Beirut, after which the domination of Christians in the East was ended. From their former possessions in Asia Minor, only Lesser Armenia (Cilicia) and the island of Cyprus remained behind them, where the royal dynasty of Lusignans was established.
Image of three inverted shields with the coat of arms of the French crusaders who died in Gaza and the inverted banners of the Hospitallers and Templars. "History of England", part three, continuation of "Great Chronicle" by Matthew Paris. Around 1250 - 1259 (British Library)
1298 Jacques de Molay becomes the Grand Master of the Knights Templar (before that the Grand Prior of England was the governor of the Order). Realizing that only military victories and the return to the Holy Land can prolong the existence of the Order, he takes a risky step - only with the forces of the Templars begins a crusade and in 1299 again takes Jerusalem by storm. But the Templars could no longer hold the city in their hands, and in 1300 they had to leave Palestine again, now forever.
Church of St. George, patron saint of the British, in Famagusta. This is all that remains of it, otherwise the Turks would have added a minaret to it!
* Palestine got the name Outremer - or "Lower Lands" because it was depicted below on European maps of that time.
Rice. And Shepsa
