Historians around the world are still arguing about what the crusades are and what results their participants achieved. Despite the fact that more than 900 years have passed since the day of the first pilgrimage, no one can give an answer - did they make any sense? In this article, you will learn the goals of the Crusades and their results. Based on what you read, you will be able to judge the appropriateness of such campaigns.
Causes of the Crusades
At the end of the tenth century, religious fervor in Europe reached its climax. The popes decided to turn such a mass mood of the people to their advantage. They began to urge citizens to fulfill their duty and go to the Middle East in order to free the Holy Land from Muslims. All those wishing to join the detachment were promised heavenly and earthly blessings that a mere mortal could only dream of. Many were attracted by the award, but in the bulk of all people were sure that they were going to fight for a just cause. They were called the soldiers of Christ, and red pectoral crosses were sewn on their clothes. For this they were called crusaders. Religious motives played a big role - Muslims were portrayed as desecrators of shrines, and this had an effect on believers in Europe.
One of the most important goals of the Crusades was the enrichment and conquest of lands. Economic incentives did their bit. The younger sons of the feudal lords could not claim their father's lands. They had to look for ways to acquire the territories they needed on their own. The rich Middle East attracted them with its vast lands and inexhaustible useful resources... For this, they assembled troops and went to fight the Muslims. The peasants also saw in such campaigns a benefit for themselves - they were freed from lifelong serfdom.
The beginning of the crusades
For the first time, Pope Urban II announced the need to start a war against infidel Muslims. In front of a crowd of thousands of people, he broadcast about the atrocities committed in Palestine, accused the Turks of attacking pilgrims, about the threat hanging over their Byzantine brothers. He called on all the clergy and the nobility to unite in the name of a godly cause and stop all civil strife. As a reward, he promised not only the conquered lands, but also the remission of all sins. The crowd accepted the call, and several thousand immediately confirmed their intention to destroy the Arabs and Turks with the slogan "Deus vult!", Which means "God wants it!"
First crusaders
By order of the Pope, the appeal was spread throughout Western Europe. The ministers of the church agitated their parishioners, and the preachers took care of the peasants. Often they achieved such excellent results that people in religious ecstasy gave up everything - work, owners, families and rushed through the Balkans to Constantinople. The history of the crusades at the very beginning was stained with blood ordinary people... Thousands of peasants were eager to fight, not even thinking about what difficulties await them on the long journey. They did not have any military skills, but they were sure that God would not allow them to perish, and the Christian brothers would help with provisions. But they were in for a bitter disappointment - the people treated the hordes of pilgrims with coldness and contempt. The participants in the crusades realized that they were not welcome here, and began to look for other ways.
The peasants were forced to start robbing their fellows. This led to even more alienation and real battles. Even when they reached Constantinople, they did not find a warm welcome there. Emperor Alexei ordered them to be settled outside the city and transported to Asia as soon as possible. And there the first crusaders were already waiting for reprisals from the warlike Turks.
First crusade
In 1096, the armies set out to clear the Middle East with three routes at once. The commanders-in-chief led their detachments by sea and by land. The feudal barons and their armies ignored the Pope's instructions and acted on their own. They did not stand on ceremony with their Byzantine brothers - in a year they managed to plunder several cities. Clashes between the troops regularly arose. The emperor and the population of Constantinople watched in horror as an army of 30,000 arrived in their city. The crusaders did not particularly stand on ceremony with the local population and conflicts soon began. The fighters for the holy cause stopped trusting the Byzantine guides, as they often found themselves in traps through their fault.
The Europeans did not expect their opponents to raid their army. The well-armed enemy cavalry rushed in like a whirlwind and managed to hide before the cavalry in heavy armor began the pursuit. In addition, everyone was demoralized by the lack of food and water. The Muslims prudently poisoned all the wells. The unfortunate army barely endured such hardships, but soon the fighting spirit grew stronger - the victory was won and Antioch was taken. The first crusade was rewarded with the discovery of a great shrine - the spear with which the Roman pierced the side of Jesus. This find inspired Christians so much that they took Jerusalem a year later. All residents were killed - both Muslims and Jews. The result of the first crusade was the formation of three new states at once - the county of Edessa, the principality of Antioch and the kingdom of Jerusalem.
Emperor Alexei also participated in the conquest and was able to defeat the army of Kylych-Arslan I and take Nicaea. The disgruntled crusaders began to protest, because it was they who weakened the enemy. The emperor was forced to share the spoils. Gottfried of Bouillon, who headed the Kingdom of Jerusalem, received the proud title of "Guardian of the Holy Sepulcher". Victory and new lands made it clear to everyone that such crusades would be beneficial from many sides. There was a lull for several decades.
Second Crusade. Under the protection of the church
The result of the first was a noticeable strengthening of positions catholic church... For 45 years, the crusaders lived in the conquered lands and developed their states. But in 1144 Mosul captured the Edessa county, it became clear that the owners came to take their territories. The rumor quickly spread to Western Europe. German Emperor Conrad III and French King Louis VII decide to make a second crusade. What caused this decision is clear to everyone - it was possible not only to return what was lost, but also to seize new territories.
The only difference in this campaign was the official bull - Pope Eugene III guaranteed the protection of the church to all participants. In total, a huge army was gathered - 140 thousand people. However, no one bothered to think over a plan and develop a strategy. The troops were defeated on all fronts. For three years the crusaders tried to fight, the defeat at Damascus and Ascalon completely destroyed the fighting spirit. The French and Germans were forced to return home with nothing, and their ranks were noticeably reduced.
3rd crusade. Under the leadership of great leaders
Unlike Christian military leaders, who regularly fought among themselves, Muslims began to unite. They soon formed a single state stretching from Baghdad to Egypt. Sultan Salah ad-din was able to reclaim Jerusalem and smash the scattered Christian settlements. In Europe, preparations began for the third crusade. They already knew how such a campaign could end, but this did not stop their aspirations. Richard I the Lionheart, Philip II Augustus and Frederick I Barbarossa led the campaign. The German emperor was the first to die while crossing the river. His soldiers were able to reach the Holy Land only in small numbers. The Roman emperor imitated illness in order to return home, and in the absence of the English king, take Normandy from him.
Richard I the Lionheart took over all campaign management. Despite such an unsuccessful start of the crusade, the result was the capture of Acre and Jaffa from the Muslims. The king accomplished a lot of feat, which forever glorified his name in legends. He even managed to conclude an agreement with the Sultan on unhindered visits by pilgrims to holy places. The biggest achievement was the conquest of Cyprus.
4th crusade. Accomplishments in the name of the Lord
The goals and participants changed, and the popes remained the ideological inspirers. Innocent III blessed the French and Venetians for the next achievements in the name of the Lord. It was expected that the army would number at least 30 thousand people. The Venetians took it upon themselves to ferry the French to the shores of the Holy Land. In addition, they had to provide them with weapons and provisions. The soldiers arrived in the amount of 12 thousand people, and could not pay for the prepared supplies. The Venetians invited them to take part in the war for the city of Zadar with the Hungarians. The Pope forbade the French to enter into other people's showdowns, but they disobeyed. As a result, all participants in the crusade were excommunicated.
Inspired by the victory over the Hungarians, the Venetians proposed to seize Constantinople as well. As a reward, a good reward and full security were promised for the entire trip. Not giving a damn about the pope's prohibitions, the French returned the throne to Isaac II Angel. However, after the uprising, the emperor was overthrown, and the soldiers did not see the promised reward. The angry crusaders once again captured Constantinople, and for 13 days they mercilessly destroyed cultural values \u200b\u200band plundered the population. The Byzantine Empire was destroyed, in its place a new one appeared - Latin. Daddy exchanged anger for mercy. Never reaching Egypt, the army returned home. The Venetians celebrated - they were the most fortunate in this campaign.
Children's crusade
The goals, participants and results of this campaign are still shuddering. What did the peasants think when blessing their children for this work? Thousands of teenagers were convinced that innocence and faith would help them reclaim the Holy Land. Parents could not achieve this with weapons, but they will be able to do it with a word. It should be noted that dad was categorically against such a campaign. But the parish priests did their job - the army of children, led by the shepherd Etienne, arrived in Marseille.
From there, on seven ships, he was to reach Egypt. Two were drowned, while the other five were safely captured. The shipowners quickly sold the children into slavery. 2 thousand German children were forced to walk to Italy. They were led by ten-year-old Nicholas. In the Alps, two-thirds of the children died in conditions of unbearable cold and hunger. The rest made it to Rome, but the authorities sent them back. On the way back, everyone died.
There is also another version. The French children gathered in Paris, where they asked the king to provide them with everything they needed for the campaign. Tom managed to dissuade them from undertaking, and everyone went back to their homes. The German children stubbornly went to Mainz, where they were also persuaded to leave the venture. Only a fraction of them reached Rome, where the Pope freed them from their vows. As a result, most of the children simply disappeared without a trace. This is where the story of the Gammel Pied Piper takes its roots. Now historians are questioning the scope of that campaign and the composition of the participants.
5th crusade
In 1215, Innocent III announces another campaign. In 1217, John of Briensky, the nominal king of Jerusalem, led another crusade. At this time, there were sluggish fighting in Palestine, and the help of the Europeans arrived in time. They quickly captured the Egyptian city of Damietta. The Sultan reacted instantly and offered an exchange - he gives Jerusalem, and in return receives Damietta. But the Pope refused such an offer, because the legendary "King David" was soon to come. 1221 was marked by an unsuccessful assault on Cairo, and the crusaders gave Damietta in exchange for the opportunity to retreat without loss.
6th Crusade. No casualties
In addition to the peasants, thousands of large feudal lords died in the crusades. In addition, entire families went broke over debt. In the hope for future production, loans were taken and property was mortgaged. The authority of the church was also shaken. The first campaigns undoubtedly strengthened faith in the popes, but after the fourth it became clear to everyone that it was possible to violate the prohibitions without loss. For the sake of profit, orders could be neglected, and this significantly reduced the authority of the pope in the eyes of believers.
It used to be thought that the Crusades were the cause of the Renaissance in Europe. Historians now tend to regard this as a historical exaggeration. Literature has been enriched with many legends, poetry and legends. Richard the Lionheart became the hero of The History of the Holy War. The consequences of the Crusades are dubious. If you remember how many people died and how much money was spent in eight campaigns.
Crusades to Russia
About it historical fact need to speak separately. Despite the fact that Christianity had already existed in Russia for two centuries, in the middle of the 30th century, the Livonian Order, with the help of the Swedish allies, declared a crusade. The crusaders knew what a plight their enemy was in - the state was fragmented and defeated by the Mongol-Tatars. The arrival of the Crusaders could significantly worsen the already difficult situation. The Germans and Swedes complacently offered their help in the war against the yoke. But in return Russia had to accept Catholicism.
The Novgorod principality was divided into two parties. The first was for the Germans, and the second was well aware that the Livonian knights would not be able to defeat the Mongols. But they will be able to occupy Russian lands and settle, spreading Catholicism. It turned out that in this situation everyone won, except for Russia. The second party won, and it was decided to give battle to the crusaders and refuse to plant an alien faith. Asking for help from suzdal prince... They took the right step. Young Alexander Yaroslavovich defeated the Swedes on the Neva and forever received the nickname "Nevsky".
The crusaders decided to try again. Two years later, they returned and were even able to occupy Yam, Pskov and Koporye. They were helped by the same pro-German party, which in this area had big influence and weight. The people had to again ask for help from Alexander Nevsky. The prince again defended the Russian land and his fellow citizens - the famous Battle on the Ice on Lake Peipsi ended with the victory of his army.
However, the problem did not disappear even after such a rebuff from Western gentiles. Alexander faced a difficult choice - to pay tribute to the Mongols or to accept Western rules. On the one hand, he was impressed by the pagans - they did not try to impose their faith and they did not care about the colonization of Russia. But they poisoned his father. On the other hand, the West and the consequences. The wise prince understood that the Europeans would quickly colonize the land and would plant their faith until they got their way. After hard consideration, he decides in favor of the Mongols. If then he leaned towards the West, then the Orthodoxy of the Russian people would now be a big question. For his great deeds, Alexander Yaroslavovich was recognized as a saint and canonized.
The last time the crusaders tried to spread their influence was in 1268. This time they were repulsed by the son of Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry. The fierce battle ended in victory, but a year later the Teutonic Order returned to lay siege to Pskov. After 10 days, the crusaders realized the futility of their actions and retreated. Crusades to Russia ended.
In the era of the Middle Ages, Christianity did not have a framework limiting its action. In particular, the Roman Church performed not only its spiritual function, but also influenced the political life of many countries. You can also read the topic: the struggle of the Catholic Church against heretics. In order to consolidate its power in society, the church went on very un-Christian actions: wars were unleashed under the banner of the Catholic Church, everyone who, to one degree or another, did not support the Catholic ideology were executed.
Naturally, the birth and development of Islam in the East could not pass unnoticed by the Roman Church. What was the East associated with among the Catholic clergy? This is, first of all, untold wealth. Poor, eternally hungry Europe, covering up its greedy impulses in the name of Jesus Christ, went on predatory campaigns to the Holy Land.
Purpose and reasons for the Crusades
The official goal of the first Crusades was the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher from the "infidel" Muslims, who, as it was then believed, blaspheme against the shrine. The Catholic Church was able to professionally inspire the participants of the Crusades that their heroism will be rewarded by God for the forgiveness of all their earthly sins.
The First Crusade dates back to 1096. Its main characteristic is that the participants in the campaign were of different social classes: from feudal lords to peasants. Representatives of Europe and Byzantium, already Orthodox at that time, took part in the First Crusade. Despite the internal disunity, the participants in the Crusade succeeded in capturing Jerusalem through terrible bloodshed.
For two centuries, the Catholic Church managed to organize eight Crusades, most of them were directed not only to the East, but also in the Baltic States.
Aftermath of the Crusades
The Crusades had enormous consequences for Europe. The crusaders adopted and brought to Europe from the Eastern countries the tradition of cruel executions, which will be used repeatedly in the inquisition processes in the future. The end of the Crusades was, to some extent, the beginning of the fall of medieval foundations in Europe. Crusaders admired Eastern culture, because earlier they considered the Arabs to be barbarians, but the depth of art and traditions that was inherent in the East changed their worldview. After returning home, they will begin to actively spread the Arab culture throughout Europe.
The costly Crusades virtually ravaged Europe. But the opening of new trade routes significantly improved the situation. The Byzantine Empire, which helped the Roman Church in the First Crusade, eventually provoked its downfall: after it was completely plundered by the Ottomans in 1204, it could no longer achieve its former power and completely fell after two centuries. After the fall of the Empire, Italy became the sole monopoly in the trade of the Mediterranean region.
Two centuries of violent conflicts between the Catholic Church and Muslims have brought an enormous amount of suffering and death to both sides. Naturally, greedy desires only shook the position of the Catholic Church in society: believers saw her uncompromising attitude in matters related to power and money. The first disagreements with its ideology began to emerge in the consciousness of the population of Europe, which will become the basis for the creation of reforming churches in the future.
Crusades
- a series of military campaigns from Western Europe directed against Muslims. The purpose of the first crusades was the liberation of Palestine, primarily Jerusalem (with the Holy Sepulcher), from the Seljuk Turks, but later crusades were also conducted for the sake of converting the pagans of the Baltic states to Christianity, suppressing heretical and anticlerical movements in Europe or solving the political problems of the popes.
Causes of the Crusades
The crusades are based on a whole complex of demographic, socio-economic, political, religious and psychological motives that were not always realized by their participants. In the 11th century. in Western Europe demographic growth came across limited resources, primarily land as the main means of production. Demographic pressures have exacerbated with progress commodity-money relations, which made a person more dependent on market conditions, and his economic position - less stable. A surplus of population emerged, which could not be provided within the framework of the medieval economic system: it was formed at the expense of the younger sons of feudal lords, impoverished knights, small and landless peasants. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe untold riches of the East, which was consolidating in the minds, gave rise to a thirst for the conquest of fertile overseas lands and the acquisition of treasures.
For the Italian trading city-republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, expansion to the East was a continuation of their struggle with the Arabs for dominance in the Mediterranean. Their support for the crusading movement was motivated by the desire to establish themselves on the banks of the Levant and to control the main trade routes to Mesopotamia, Arabia and India. Demographic pressures have fueled political tensions. Civil strife, feudal wars, peasant revolts became a constant feature of European life. The Crusades provided an opportunity to channel the aggressive energies of frustrated groups feudal society in a just war with the "infidels" and thereby ensure the consolidation of the Christian world. In the late 1080s - early 1090s, socio-economic and political difficulties were aggravated by a series of natural Disasters and epidemics that struck primarily Germany, the Rhine regions and eastern France. This contributed to the widespread dissemination of religious exaltation, asceticism, and hermitism in all strata of medieval society. The need for religious feat and even for self-sacrifice, ensuring the atonement of sins and the achievement of eternal salvation, found its adequate expression in the idea of \u200b\u200ba special pilgrimage to the Holy Land for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher.
Psychologically, the desire to seize the riches of the East and the hope of eternal salvation were combined with the thirst for wandering and adventure characteristic of Europeans. A journey into the unknown made it possible to escape from the usual monotonous world and get rid of the hardships and disasters associated with it. The expectation of the afterlife bliss was intricately intertwined with the search for an earthly paradise. The initiator and main organizer of the crusading movement was the papacy, which significantly strengthened its position in the second half of the 11th century. As a result of the Cluny movement and reforms Gregory VII (1073-1085) the authority of the Catholic Church increased significantly, and she again could claim the role of leader of the Western Christian world. 
First Crusade (1096-1099)
The first campaign began in 1096. At the head of the large and well-armed militia were Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, Hugh de Vermandois (brother of the French king Philip I), Etienne II, Count of Blois and Chartres, Duke of Normandy Robert III Courtegez, Count of Flanders Robert II, Gottfried of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine , with brothers Eustachius III, Count of Boulogne, and Baldwin, as well as nephew Baldwin the Younger, finally Bohemond of Tarentum, with nephew Tancred. The number of crusaders who gathered in different ways in Constantinople reached 300 thousand. In April 1097, the crusaders crossed the Bosphorus. Soon Nicaea surrendered to the Byzantines, and on July 1 the crusaders defeated Sultan Kilidj-Arslan at Doriley and thus made their way through Asia Minor. Moving on, the crusaders found themselves precious 
allies against the Turks in the princes of Lesser Armenia, whom they began to support in every possible way. In October 1097, the crusaders laid siege to Antioch, which they managed to take only in June of the following year. In Antioch, the crusaders, in turn, were besieged by the Emir of Mossul, Kerboga, and, enduring hunger, were in great danger; they managed to get out of the city and defeat Kerboga.
On June 7, 1099, the holy city opened before the eyes of the crusaders, and on July 15 they took it. Gottfried of Bouillon received power in Jerusalem. Having defeated the Egyptian army at Ascalon, he secured for some time on this side the conquests of the crusaders. After the death of Gottfried, Baldwin the Elder became king of Jerusalem, who handed Edessa to Baldwin the Younger. In 1101, a second large crusading army from Lombardy, Germany and France appeared in Asia Minor, led by many noble and wealthy knights; but most of this army was destroyed by the combined forces of several emirs. The crusaders, established in Syria, had to wage a hard fight with the neighboring Muslim rulers. Bohemond was taken prisoner by one of them and ransomed by the Armenians. Since the spring of 1099, the crusaders have been at war with the Greeks over the coastal cities. In Asia Minor, the Byzantines succeeded in reclaiming significant territory; their successes could be even more significant here if they did not waste their forces in the fight against the crusaders over the distant Syrian and Cilician regions. The spiritual-knightly orders of the Templars and Hospitallers, which were soon formed, provided significant support to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. A serious danger began to threaten the crusaders when Imad-ad-Din Zangi received power in Mossul (1127). He united under his rule several Muslim possessions lying near the possessions of the crusaders, and formed a vast and strong state that occupied almost all of Mesopotamia and a significant part of Syria. In 1144, he took Edessa despite heroic resistance. The news of this calamity again caused a crusading spirit in the West, which was expressed in the 2nd Crusade. The sermon of Bernard of Clairvaux raised first of all the mass of French knights, headed by King Louis VII; then Bernard was able to attract the German Emperor Conrad III to the Crusades. Konrad was accompanied by his nephew Frederick of Swabia and many German princes. 
Second Crusade (1147-1149)
Konrad arrived in Constantinople through Hungary, in the middle of September 1147, he sent troops to Asia, but after a clash with the Seljuks at Dorilee, he returned to the sea. The French went along the western coast of Asia Minor; then the king and noble crusaders sailed on ships to Syria, where they arrived in March 1148. The rest of the crusaders wanted to break through by dry route and for the most part died. In April, Konrad arrived in Akru; but the siege of Damascus, undertaken together with the Jerusalemites, went unsuccessfully, owing to the selfish and short-sighted policies of the latter. Then Conrad, and in the fall of the following year, and Louis VII returned to their homeland. Edessa, taken after the death of Imad-ad-Din by Christians, but soon again taken from them by his son Nur-ad-Din, was now forever lost to the crusaders. The 4 decades that followed were a difficult time for Christians in the East. In 1176, the Byzantine emperor Manuel was defeated by the Seljuk Turks at Myriokephalus. Nur-ad-Din took possession of the lands lying in the northeast of Antioch, took Damascus and became a close and extremely dangerous neighbor for the crusaders. Its commander Asad ad-Din Shirkuh established himself in Egypt. The crusaders were surrounded by enemies. Upon the death of Shirkukh, the title of vizier and power over Egypt passed to his famous nephew Saladin, the son of Ayyub. 
Third Crusade (1189-1192)
In March 1190, Frederick's troops crossed into Asia, moved southeast and, after terrible hardships, fought their way through the whole of Asia Minor; but soon after crossing the Taurus, the emperor drowned in the Salef River. Part of his army dispersed, many died, the rest were led by Duke Frederick to Antioch, and then to Acre. In January 1191 he died of malaria. In the spring, the kings of France (Philip II Augustus) and English (Richard the Lionheart) and the Duke Leopold of Austria arrived. On the way, Richard the Lionheart defeated the Emperor of Cyprus, Isaac, who was forced to surrender; he was imprisoned in a Syrian castle, where he was kept almost until his death, and Cyprus fell into the power of the crusaders. 
The siege of Acre was going badly, due to strife between the kings of France and England, as well as between Guy de Lusignan and the Margrave Conrad of Montferrat, who, after the death of Guy's wife, claimed the Jerusalem crown and married Isabella, sister and heiress of the deceased Sibylla. On July 12, 1191, Acre surrendered after almost two years of siege. Konrad and Guy were reconciled after the capture of Acre; the first was recognized as Guy's heir and received Tire, Beirut and Sidon. Soon after this, Philip II sailed to his homeland with part of the French knights, but Hugo of Burgundy, Henry of Champagne and many other noble crusaders remained in Syria. The Crusaders managed to defeat Saladin in the Battle of Arsuf, but due to lack of water and constant clashes with Muslim troops, the Christian army was unable to reconquer Jerusalem - King Richard twice approached the city and both times did not dare to storm. In September 1192, a truce was concluded with Saladin: Jerusalem remained in the power of Muslims, Christians were only allowed to visit the holy city. After that, King Richard sailed to Europe.
The circumstance that facilitated the position of the crusaders was the death of Saladin in March 1193 and the division of his possessions between his many sons became a source of civil strife among Muslims. After the failure of the third crusade, Emperor Henry VI began to gather in the Holy Land, who accepted the cross in May 1195; but he died in September 1197. Some of the earlier crusaders did arrive in Acre. Somewhat earlier, the emperor died Henry of Champagne, who was married to the widow of Conrad of Montferrat and therefore wore the Jerusalem crown. Amaury II, who married Henry's widow, was chosen as king.
H
fourth crusade
The failure of the third crusade prompted Pope Innocent III to begin agitation for a crusade against Egypt, the main enemy of the crusader states, who ruled Jerusalem. In the summer of 1202, detachments of knights led by the Marquis Boniface of Montferrat gathered in Venice. Since the crusader leaders did not have the means to pay for the transportation by sea to Palestine, they agreed to the demand of the Venetians to take part in a punitive expedition against the deferred port of Dara in Dalmatia. In October 1202, the knights sailed from Venice and at the end of November, after a short siege, captured and plundered Daru. Innocent III excommunicated the crusaders, promising to lift the excommunication if they continued their campaign in Egypt. But at the beginning of 1203, at the request of the Byzantine prince Alexei Angel, who had fled to the West, the son of Emperor Isaac II, who was overthrown in 1095 by his brother Alexei III, the knights decided to intervene in the internal political 
fight in Byzantium and restore Isaac to the throne. At the end of June 1203 they laid siege to Constantinople. In mid-July, after the flight of Alexei III, the power of Isaac II was restored, and Tsarevich Alexei became his co-ruler under the name of Alexei IV. However, the emperors were unable to pay the crusaders the huge amount of two hundred thousand ducats promised to them, and in November 1203 a conflict broke out between them. On April 5, 1204, as a result of a popular uprising, Isaac II and Alexei IV were overthrown, and the new emperor Alexei V Murzufl entered open confrontation with the knights. On April 13, 1204, the crusaders broke into Constantinople and subjected it to a terrible defeat. On the site of the Byzantine Empire, several crusading states were founded: the Latin Empire (1204-1261), the Kingdom of Thessaloniki (1204-1224), the Duchy of Athens (1205-1454), the Moray principality (1205-1432); a number of islands went to the Venetians. As a result, the Fourth Crusade, whose purpose was to strike a blow at the Muslim world, led to the final split of Western and Byzantine Christianity.
In 1212, the young crusaders headed towards the shores in two streams Mediterranean Sea... Troops of French teenagers, led by the shepherd Etienne, reached Marseille and boarded the ships. Some of them died in a shipwreck; the rest, upon their arrival in Egypt, were sold into slavery by the shipowners. The same fate befell the German children who sailed east from Genoa. Another group of young crusaders from Germany made their way to Rome and Brindisi; the pope and the local bishop freed them from their vows and sent them home. Few of the participants in the Children's Crusade returned home. In 1215, Innocent III called on the West for a new crusade; his successor Honorius III repeated this call in 1216. In 1217, the Hungarian king Endre II landed with an army in Palestine. In 1218 more than two hundred ships arrived there with crusaders from Friesland and Rhine Germany. In the same year, a huge army under the command of the Jerusalem king Jean de Brienne and the grand masters of the three spiritual and knightly orders invaded Egypt and laid siege to the strategically important fortress Damietta at the mouth of the Nile. In November 1219 the fortress fell. At the request of the papal legate Cardinal Pelagius, the crusaders rejected the offer of the Egyptian sultan al-Kamil to exchange Damietta for Jerusalem and launched an attack on Cairo, but found themselves caught between the Egyptian troops and the flooded Nile. For the possibility of an unhindered retreat, they had to return Damietta and leave Egypt. Under pressure from popes Honorius III and Gregory IX (1227-1241), the German emperor Frederick II (1220-1250), the husband of the heiress to the throne of Jerusalem, Iolanta, undertook a campaign in the summer of 1228 
Palestine. Taking advantage of al-Kamil's conflict with the ruler of Damascus, he entered into an alliance with the Egyptian sultan; under the terms of the ten-year peace concluded between them, al-Kamil freed all Christian captives and returned Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the coast from Beirut to Jaffa to the Kingdom of Jerusalem; The Holy Land was open to pilgrimage for both Christians and Muslims. On March 17, 1229, Frederick II solemnly entered Jerusalem, where he placed himself on the royal crown, and then sailed to Italy.
In the second half of the 1250s, the position of Christians in Syria and Palestine strengthened somewhat, as Muslim states had to fight the Tatar-Mongol invasion. But in 1260 the Egyptian Sultan Baybars subjugated Syria and gradually began to seize the fortresses of the Crusaders: in 1265 he took Caesarea, in 1268 - Jaffa, in the same year he captured Antioch, putting an end to the existence of the principality of Antioch. The last attempt to help the crusading states was the Eighth Crusade, led by Louis IX, the Sicilian king Charles of Anjou and the King of Aragon Jaime I. It was planned to attack Tunisia first, and then Egypt. In 1270 the crusaders landed in Tunisia, but due to the outbreak of the plague among them (among the dead was Louis IX), they interrupted the campaign, making peace with the Tunisian sultan, who pledged to pay tribute to the king of Sicily and provide the Catholic clergy with the right to freely worship in his possessions.
Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)
The case of Innocent III was continued by Honorius III. Although Frederick II postponed the campaign, and John of England died, nevertheless, in 1217 significant detachments of crusaders set out for the Holy Land, with Andrew of Hungary, Duke Leopold VI of Austria and Otto of Meran at the head; it was the 5th crusade. The hostilities went sluggishly, and in 1218 King Andrew returned home. New troops of the Crusaders arrived in the Holy Land, led by George of Wid and Wilhelm of Holland. The crusaders decided to attack Egypt, which was at that time the main center of Muslim power in Western Asia. Al-Adil's son, al-Kamil, offered a profitable peace: he even agreed to the return of Jerusalem to Christians. This proposal was rejected by the crusaders. In November 1219, after more than a year's siege, the crusaders took Damietta. The removal from the camp of the crusaders Leopold and King John of Brienne was partially compensated by the arrival of Louis of Bavaria with the Germans in Egypt. Part of the crusaders, convinced by the papal legate Pelagius, moved to Mansur, but the campaign ended in complete failure, and the crusaders concluded peace with al-Kamil in 1221, according to which they received a free retreat, but pledged to cleanse Damietta and Egypt in general. Meanwhile, Frederick II Hohenstaufen married Iolanta, daughter of Mary of Jerusalem and John of Brienne. He pledged to the Pope to begin a crusade. 
Sixth Crusade (1228-1229)
Frederick in August 1227 sent a fleet to Syria with Duke Henry of Limburg at its head; in September he sailed himself. Landgrave Ludwig of Thuringia, who took part in this crusade, died almost immediately after landing in Otranto. Pope Gregory IX did not respect Frederick's explanations and pronounced excommunication over him for not fulfilling his vow at the appointed time. A struggle began between the emperor and the pope. In June 1228, Frederick finally sailed to Syria (6th Crusade), but this did not reconcile the pope with him: Gregory said that Frederick was going to the Holy Land not as a crusader, but as a pirate. In the Holy Land, Frederick restored the fortifications of Joppa and in February 1229 concluded a treaty with Alkamil: the Sultan ceded Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and some other places to him, for which 
the emperor pledged to help Alkamil against his enemies. In March 1229 Frederick entered Jerusalem, and in May he sailed from the Holy Land. After the removal of Frederick, his enemies began to seek to weaken the power of the Hohenstaufens both in Cyprus, which had been a fief of the empire since the time of Emperor Henry VI, and in Syria. These strife were very unfavorable reflected in the course of the struggle between Christians and Muslims. Relief for the crusaders was brought only by the strife of the heirs of Alkamila, who died in 1238.
In the fall of 1239, Thibault of Navarre, Duke of Hugo of Burgundy, Duke Pierre of Breton, Amalrich of Montfort and others arrived in Acre. And now the crusaders acted in disagreement and recklessness and were defeated; Amalrich was taken prisoner. Jerusalem again fell for some time into the hands of one Eyyubid ruler. The alliance of the crusaders with the emir Ishmael of Damascus led them to war with the Egyptians, who defeated them at Ascalon. After that, many crusaders left the Holy Land. Earl Richard of Cornwall, who arrived in the Holy Land in 1240, managed to conclude a beneficial peace with Egyptian Eyyub. Meanwhile, strife among Christians continued; the barons hostile to the Hohenstaufens handed over power over the Kingdom of Jerusalem to Alice of Cyprus, while the legitimate king was the son of Frederick II, Konrad. After Alice's death, power passed to her son, Henry of Cyprus. The new alliance of Christians with the Muslim enemies of Eyyub led to the fact that Eyyub called for the help of the Khorezm Turks, who took Jerusalem shortly before that returned to Christians in September 1244 and devastated it terribly. Since then, the holy city was forever lost to the crusaders. After a new defeat for the Christians and their allies, Eyyub took Damascus and Ascalon. The Antiochians and Armenians had to at the same time pledge to pay tribute to the Mongols. In the West, the crusading zeal cooled, due to the unsuccessful outcome of the last Campaigns and as a result of the manner of action of the popes, who spent money collected for the Crusades on the fight against the Hohenstaufens, and declared that with the help of the Holy See against the emperor, one could free one from the earlier vow to go to the Holy Land. However, the preaching of the Crusade to Palestine continued as before and led to the 7th Crusade. Louis IX of France accepted the cross first: during a dangerous illness, he made a vow to go to the Holy Land.
Seventh Crusade (1248-1254)
In the summer of 1249, King Louis IX landed in Egypt. The Christians occupied Damietta, and in December they reached Mansur. In February of the following year, Robert, having rashly burst into this city, was killed; a few days later, the Muslims nearly took the Christian camp. When the new sultan arrived in Mansuru, the Egyptians cut off the crusaders' retreat; in the Christian camp hunger and pestilence opened up. In April, the Muslims completely defeated the crusaders; the king himself was taken prisoner, ransoming his freedom by returning Damietta and paying a huge sum. Most of the crusaders returned to their homeland. Louis stayed in the Holy Land for four more years, but could not achieve any results. 
Eighth Crusade (1270)
In 1260, Sultan Kutuz defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut and captured Damascus and Aleppo. When Baybars became the sultan after the assassination of Kutuz, the position of Christians became hopeless. First of all, Baybars turned against Bohemond of Antioch; in 1265 he took Caesarea, Arzuf, Safed, defeated the Armenians. In 1268, Antioch fell into his hands, which the Christians owned for 170 years. Meanwhile, Louis IX again accepted the cross. His example was followed by his sons, brother Count Alphonse de Poitiers, nephew Count Robert d'Artois, King Tybaldo of Navarre and others. In addition, Charles of Anjou and the sons of the English king Henry III, Edward and Edmund, promised to go to the crusades. In July 1270, Louis sailed from Aigues-Mortes. In Cagliari, it was decided to start crusades related to the conquest of Tunisia, which was under the rule of the Hafsid dynasty, which would be beneficial for Charles of Anjou (brother of Saint Louis), but not for the Christian cause in the Holy Land. Near Tunisia, a pestilence opened among the crusaders: John Tristan died, then the papal legate and on August 25, 1270, Louis IX himself. After the arrival of Karl of Anjou, peace was concluded with the Muslims, beneficial for Karl. The crusaders left Africa and some of them sailed to Syria, where the British also arrived in 1271. Baybars continued to gain the upper hand over the Christians, took several cities, but his attempt to conquer Cyprus failed. He signed a truce with Christians for 10 years and 10 days and took up the fight against the Mongols and Armenians. Bohemond VI's successor, Bohemond of Tripoli, paid tribute to him.
“I became a crusader for God
and go there because of my sin.
May He see to it that I come back
because one lady grieves for me,
and that I should meet her with honor:
that is my request.
But if she changes love
may God let me die "
(Albrecht von Johannesdorf. Translated by M. Lushchenko)
Like a pendulum. First it goes one way, then the other. At first, the crusaders went on campaigns to Syria and Tunisia, now crowds of refugees from Syria and North Africa are moving to Europe, and both of them were attracted and are still attracted by the hope for a better life. We don't want to work here for ourselves, but we will go to where everything has already been done for us, or we will ask God, and he will give us everything. Here it is - the laziness of human nature. However, to begin with, that is, in order to understand the reasons for the so-called crusades to the East, let's mentally go to medieval Europe and try to imagine what we would see there if we had a fantastic "time machine" in our hands. Well, first of all, the cities are small in size, and the villages still consist of just a few houses. Roads are most often unpaved, and there are very few paved with stone, and even those remained from the era of the Ancient World and Roman rule, as well as stone bridges in the form of arches standing on the rivers.
Sermon by Pope Urban II on the occasion of the First Crusade in the square in Clermont. 1835 Painting by artist Francesco Aets (1791 - 1882).
But the castles of the knights-feudal lords rise everywhere. Any hill or hill is fortified, and Christian monasteries are also fortified. However, in some ways this picture is quite different from the images we are used to from childhood, born through viewing pictures in the history textbook of the Middle Ages. Not all castles are made of stone. Not at all! Many - and there are most of them around - are just rough structures of wood covered with lime. And some of them are also covered with ... cow skins! This was done not for the sake of aesthetics - because what aesthetics is this, but to protect them from incendiary arrows, because their owners had to fight each other, or even with the king himself, very often at that time!
Surely we will notice that construction is going on everywhere here. Not only fortifications were built, but also numerous cathedrals - at first squat and massive Romanesque type. Well, and later, from the XII century, - directed into the sky and decorated with spiers and towers - Gothic cathedrals. It is interesting that lumberjacks and blacksmiths are valued more in this society than tillers. After all, it is they who, together, bring down forests, cutting them down for arable land. That is why, by the way, woodcutters are so often mentioned in Western European fairy tales: this profession at the beginning of the Middle Ages was very honorable and responsible. After all, nine out of every ten Europeans lived in villages separated from each other by uncultivated lands and forests, in which wolves and wild boars lived. Lumberjacks not only uprooted the forest, but also made it passable.
However, what's the point in the fact that there was at least some kind of connection between the castles of the lords and rather rare cities, when people very often lack food, which we can also read about in the same fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Drought, hurricane, locust raids - and now entire regions are forced to starve and pray to God for intercession. And who else could they hope for, except God? After all, their master in the castle often starved, as they themselves - his unfortunate peasants, because he was fed from their own labors. End of the XI century. became a particularly serious test for everyone. Yes, forests were cut down, castles and monasteries were built, but the success of agriculture led to the fact that the population of Europe began to grow. And although every second woman at that time died in childbirth, because the midwives did not wash their hands, the number of eaters began to increase everywhere. Moreover, the number of children in families of knights-feudal lords increased especially rapidly, whose living conditions were still better than those of the same peasants. And there would be nothing wrong with that, only each feudal lord, according to custom, transferred all the lands and the castle to his eldest son, who inherited all his rights and property. But then what could the younger ones do? Someone became a priest, someone went to the royal service, but many did not find a place for themselves and became the most real robbers, robbing everyone in a row. The Church tried to limit the arbitrariness of the feudal lords, introducing the so-called "God's world" - that is, the time when it was forbidden to fight, but this helped little.
It is not surprising that in conditions of constant robberies and murders, to which were added periodic crop failures, droughts and deaths of livestock, people were looking for salvation in religion. That is why the number of pilgrims to holy places - and above all to the Holy Sepulcher in Palestine - has been constantly growing. So, in 1064 alone, Bishop Gunther of Bamberg brought seven thousand pilgrims there, who dreamed in this way to cleanse themselves of their sins and subsequently find themselves in paradise. And everyone had to be fed and provided with an overnight stay. But there were even smaller groups and they all strove to Jerusalem in order to walk with their feet on the slabs on which Christ's foot walked and, venerating his shrines, to gain the grace of the Lord, and with it health and good luck in business!
The Arabs who owned it did not interfere with the Christians, but very often they severely insulted their religious feelings. So, in 1010, the Caliph Hakim, for example, ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Pope, in response, immediately began to preach a holy war against Muslims. However, Hakim soon died, the destroyed buildings were restored, and the war did not begin.
But what did it do? Life in Europe became more and more difficult from year to year, and the only, in fact, hope of salvation - the legendary shrine of Christianity, the Holy Sepulcher - was in the hands of Muslims, and it became more and more difficult to worship it. There was only one thing left to do: to return by force the relics from which almost every Christian of that era expected his salvation. This is how the campaigns to the East, so well-known to the whole world, began, which later received the name "crusades" and this is how the first crusaders appeared in Europe.
However, they did not appear here immediately and not suddenly. That is, we seem to know that the first such campaign to the East was proclaimed by Pope Urban II in 1096, but he only said it out loud. But who exactly thought about this for the first time? Who nurtured this idea, had it in mind, doing ordinary worldly affairs? Or at that time there was still some kind of intellectual center, from where it spread among many people, and already one of the popes was its main spokesman.
The French historian Louis Charpentier tried to find answers to these questions. He believes that for the first time the idea of \u200b\u200ba campaign against the infidels for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher, and maybe for some other important goals - who knows, came to the head of the pope of the thousandth year - Sylvester II. He managed to force the noble lords, who had previously traded with robbery and robbery, to accept the "truce of God", that is, he was truly a "good shepherd", although the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize him as especially holy! Before his election as Pope, he was a Benedictine monk Herbert, and he became famous as a talented mathematician, inventor and, as such, even improved the church organ. Moreover, having completed his studies in Spain, he by no means longed for war with the Moors, who by this time had captured a significant part of Spain, by no means. He put forward his idea of \u200b\u200ba crusade, having before himself the main goal - Jerusalem, which was revered at that time as the center of the world.
At the same time, the influence of the Christian Church in Europe grew continuously, the western feudal lords crowded out the Byzantine ones, and the Duke Guillaume also conquered England. That is, the power of Rome was very harshly extended to the very outskirts of Christian Europe. Pope Gregory VII, known as the “Pope of Canossa” and an enlightened reformer of the calendar, and ... also a Benedictine, contributed to this, because he put a lot of effort into getting the same Normans to establish their power in southern Italy! Gregory VII decided to personally lead the campaign against the infidels. 50,000 enthusiasts agreed to follow him, but a conflict with the German emperor forced him to abandon this idea. His successor, Pope Victor III, repeated the call of his predecessor, promising its participants forgiveness of sins, but did not want to personally participate in it. The inhabitants of Pisa, Genoa, and a number of other Italian cities, constantly suffering from the raids of Muslim pirates, equipped a fleet, sailed to the coast of Africa and burned two cities in Tunisia, but this expedition did not receive a wide response in Europe.
By the way, Gregory VII also intended to support Byzantium in its struggle against the Turks. So it is not at all surprising that in 1095 another pope and again the Benedictine Urban II once again proclaimed a campaign to the East. Surprisingly, this has not been done before. But if all these popes were Benedictines ... then, does this not mean that this idea was born precisely among the monks of the Order of St. Benedict, and found its concrete embodiment in this appeal ?! Another thing is that it would be more correct to say that the real inspirer of the campaign was by no means the Pope, but the beggar hermit Pyotr Amiens, nicknamed the Hermit, a native of Picardy. During his visit to Golgotha \u200b\u200band the Holy Sepulcher, seeing the oppression from the Muslims, he felt intense indignation. Having obtained letters from the patriarch asking for help, Peter went to Rome to see Pope Urban II, after which, dressed in rags, barefoot, and holding a crucifix in his hands, he went through the cities of Europe, everywhere preaching the idea of \u200b\u200ba campaign for the liberation of Eastern Christians and the Holy Sepulcher. Moved by his eloquence, the commoners saw him as a saint, and even, as many authors write about it, “they considered it good luck to pinch off a piece of wool from his donkey as a keepsake”. So the idea of \u200b\u200bthe campaign spread among the masses very widely and became really popular.
But, of course, no propaganda can be successful if it is not based on a very specific action, event or ... information about it, even if not always accurate. Indeed, the events in the East influenced what was happening in the West in the most direct way, although in the absence of modern superliners and satellite communications, news from there had been waiting for years! So not entirely accurate was the information that was in the words of Pope Urban II at Claremont Cathedral, where he said literally the following: “From the borders of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople, important news came to us, and even earlier it very often reached our ears, that the people of the Persian kingdom, a foreign tribe, alien to God, a stubborn and rebellious people, unsettled in heart and unfaithful to the Lord with their spirit, invaded the lands of these Christians, devastated them with sword, robbery, fire ... Whoever has to take revenge for all this, to snatch [ from them] captured, who, if not you, whom God has exalted before all the strength and majesty of spirit, dexterity and valor, to crush the heads of enemies who oppose you? " But the powerful enemy of Christians was not at all the people from the Persian kingdom, but the Seljuk Turks - Muslim nomads of the Turkic tribes, whose leaders considered themselves to be the descendants of a certain Seljuk. The Seljuk Turks came from Central Asia, in the 11th century they invaded Persia under the leadership of Togrul, and by the middle of the century advanced to the Middle East. In 1055, the Seljuks captured Baghdad, the richest city in the Middle East, and by 1064 they had seriously pushed Georgia back, conquered Armenia and Azerbaijan. Four years later, in 1068, under the leadership of Sultan Arslan, they began to conquer the territory of the Byzantine Empire. Although, on the other hand, it was these details that were not important. As the saying goes - "there would be a man, but he will find wine!"
Western European knight of the XI century. was like a metal statue.
And Byzantium was no longer the great power that Europe was equal to in everything, as the heir to the great Roman traditions. Two centuries of continuous wars with the Bulgarians, Russians and the South Italian Normans forced her to send her troops to the north, then to the Mediterranean Sea, and within the country itself, the struggle for power did not stop. When the Turks threatened them on the eastern borders of the empire, the Byzantines threw large forces against them, but on August 26, 1071, in the battle of Manzikert, they suffered a serious defeat, as a result of which the Byzantine emperor Roman IV Diogenes himself was captured by the Seljuks. Then, in 1077, on the occupied lands, the Turks founded the Konya (or Rum, Romei) Sultanate - a state with the capital in Konya, and gradually expanded their borders to almost the entire Asia Minor. The new emperor of Byzantium, Alexei I Comnenus, no longer had the manpower to fight such a serious enemy. But I still had to do something. And then, in despair, he turned with a letter to Pope Urban II, and asked for his assistance in liberating the lost lands with the help of the military force of the Western countries, capable of fighting the expansion of the "peoples of the Persian kingdom" from the East. Pope liked the message of the basileus for two reasons at once. First, he now had the opportunity to lead the conquest of the Holy Land under perfectly legitimate circumstances. Second, by sending a significant part of the soldiers to the East, he removed them from Europe, which immediately solved many problems.
And on November 18, 1095, Pope Urban II convened an Episcopal Council in Clermont, which was supposed to solve a number of pressing church problems. Since the council was held in France, it was mainly attended by French bishops. But, concluding the council on November 27, the pope made a public speech in front of a huge crowd of people, in which he no longer addressed the prelates, but directly to the people in the square in front of the palace where the cathedral was held. And although the exact text of it has not reached us, many of those who heard it, it is so engraved in the memory that later they were able to write it down and, albeit in their own words, bring it to our days.
In particular, what was said there can be read in the "Jerusalem History" of Fulcherius of Shatrsky (French priest, chronicler of the First Crusade), who in this story informs that, having outlined to the audience all the circumstances associated with the confrontation between Eastern Christians and their Turkish conquerors, the Pope said the following: “I am not asking you about this matter, but the Lord Himself, therefore I urge you, the heralds of Christ, to gather all of you - horse and foot, rich and poor - and hasten to help those who believe in Christ, in order to turn away, thus, that filthy tribe from the ruin of our lands. I speak about this to those who are here, and I will pass it on to others [later]: this is what Jesus commanded! All those who, having gone there, on the way or during the crossing, or in battle with the pagans, finish their mortal life, they will immediately receive remission of their sins. And from that I promise this to all who are going to go there, that such a right is endowed by the Lord. What a shame it would be if a tribe so despicable, base, serving the devil overcomes a people endowed with faith in the almighty Lord and glorified in the name of Christ. How many reproaches you will be from the Lord Himself if you do not help those who, like you, have believed in Christ. Embark on a glorious battle against the unbelievers that is beginning, said the Pope, and those who, as usual, waged here frequent wars against believers will be rewarded. And those who robbed before will become the wars of Christ. Let those who previously fought against their brothers and relatives fight worthily against the barbarians. Eternal rewards are now being handed out to those who formerly served for the merchant's pitiful solidity. Those who previously [in vain] tormented their body and soul will now fight for a double reward. The poor and the poor now, there will be rich and well-fed; the enemies of the Lord are here, there they will become his friends. Those who intend to set off on the road, let them not postpone it, but, having gathered together in suitable places, they will spend the winter and next spring, led by the Lord, set off as quickly as possible. "
Western European knight of the XI century. and the device of the shield.
It is clear what eloquence is, and even from the lips of the viceroy of Christ on earth, it simply could not fail to find a response in the hearts of the audience, and they immediately shouted that God wants it so! As a sign that they had chosen their path, those gathered in the square in Clermont seemed to immediately begin to sew crosses on their clothes. And here we meet with another historical incongruity. So, the same Fulcherius of Shatrsky wrote: “Oh, how pleasant and joyful it was for all of us to see these crosses, made of silk or embroidered with gold, which the pilgrims, whether they were warriors, clergy or laity, wore on their cloaks, after at the call of the pope they made a vow to go [on a campaign]. Truly, the soldiers of the Lord, who were preparing for battle for the glory of [his name], should rightfully be marked and inspired by such a sign of victory. " And the question immediately arises, how, then, other authors report that the pilgrims cut kerchiefs into strips or tore strips of cloth from their clothes and sew them onto their cloaks? Moreover, in a number of places it is indicated that these crosses were made of red fabric, but also scarlet and white, while others, they say, did burn out a cross on their bodies!
It would not be at all surprising if we knew that these crosses were prepared for those gathered in Clermont in advance (!), Since with the wealth of the popes, it was not a big problem to sew and even embroider with gold several thousand crosses. And then, well, who at that time constantly wore clothes of red and white, not to mention the completely dubious then "scarves"! So, most likely all these crosses, and in large numbers, were prepared in advance, and already here, in Clermont, they were handed out to everyone who wanted to, in order to further warm up their religious feelings and also a sense of their own importance. After all, the crosses embroidered in gold (although it may be that it was just a golden gimp), were a very valuable thing, and were ... just beautiful! It could have been ribbons of red and white silk, which were rewound into pieces and cut off right here on the spot, while the "crusaders" themselves sewed them onto clothes in the shape of a cross! That is, the crosses of the first crusaders were of the simplest form: either in the form of a classical Greek straight cross with equilateral ends, or they were Latin crosses, or maybe someone even had a papal cross. After all, there were more crossbars on it, and suddenly more holiness will descend on the person wearing this cross?
Servilier helmet XIII - XIV Served as a helmet-comforter under the "big helmet". However, the same helmets were the main means of protection for the warrior in 1099 (Municipal Museum Torres de Quart de Valencia, Valencia, Spain).
Moreover, it is interesting that no one has yet called this "event" a "crusade". As before, the word "expeditio" or "peregrinatio" was used - "expedition" or "pilgrimage", that is, it seemed to be about an ordinary pilgrimage, but with weapons. And the pope also promised its participants the complete abolition of all penances imposed on them, that is, the forgiveness of their previous sins. But the crusaders themselves - for the most part, dark and ignorant people (because at that time it was necessary to look for others!) Hardly understood such subtleties. Most likely, most of them naively believed that the Pope generally forgave them all sins, both past and all future, because they did not just go on a campaign, but on a campaign for the faith, and even shaded with the sign of the cross!
Figure: A. Shepsa
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CRUSADES(1095-1270), military-colonization campaigns of Europeans in the Middle East (in Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia) in the late 11-13 centuries. in the form of a pilgrimage to free the Holy Land (Palestine) and the Holy Sepulcher (in Jerusalem) from the "infidels" (Muslims). Going to Palestine, their participants sewed red crosses on their chest, returning, sewed it on the back; hence the name "crusaders".
Causes of the Crusades.
The crusades are based on a whole complex of demographic, socio-economic, political, religious and psychological motives that were not always realized by their participants.
Started in the 11th century. In Western Europe, demographic growth has come across limited resources, primarily land as the main means of production (low labor productivity and productivity). Demographic pressure intensified in connection with the progress of commodity-money relations, which made a person more dependent on market conditions, and his economic position less stable. A significant surplus of the population arose, which could not be provided within the framework of the medieval system of management: it was formed at the expense of the younger sons of feudal lords (in a number of countries the right of enthronement prevailed - inheritance of paternal land holdings only by the eldest son), impoverished knights, small and landless peasants. According to J. Le Goff, "the crusades were perceived as a cleansing agent from the overpopulation of the West." The idea of \u200b\u200bthe innumerable riches of the East, which was gaining strength in the minds, gave rise to a thirst for conquering fertile overseas lands and acquiring treasures (gold, silver, precious stones, exquisite fabrics).
For the Italian trading city-republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, expansion to the East was a continuation of their struggle with the Arabs for dominance in the Mediterranean. Their support for the crusading movement was motivated by the desire to establish themselves on the banks of the Levant and to control the main trade routes to Mesopotamia, Arabia and India.
Demographic pressures have fueled political tensions. Civil strife, feudal wars, peasant revolts became a constant feature of European life. The Crusades made it possible to channel the aggressive energy of the frustrated groups of feudal society into a just war with the "infidels" and thereby ensure the consolidation of the Christian world.
In the late 1080s - early 1090s, socio-economic and political difficulties were aggravated by a series of natural disasters (severe winters, floods) and epidemics (primarily fever and plague), which struck primarily Germany, the Rhine regions and Eastern France ... This contributed to the widespread dissemination of religious exaltation, asceticism, and hermitism in all strata of medieval society. The need for religious feat and even for self-sacrifice, ensuring the atonement of sins and the achievement of eternal salvation, found its adequate expression in the idea of \u200b\u200ba special pilgrimage to the Holy Land for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher.
Psychologically, the desire to seize the riches of the East and the hope of eternal salvation were combined with the thirst for wandering and adventure characteristic of Europeans. A journey into the unknown made it possible to escape from the usual monotonous world and get rid of the hardships and disasters associated with it. The expectation of the afterlife bliss was intricately intertwined with the search for an earthly paradise.
The initiator and main organizer of the crusading movement was the papacy, which significantly strengthened its position in the second half of the 11th century. As a result of the Cluny movement () and the reforms of Gregory VII (1073-1085), the authority of the Catholic Church increased significantly, and it could again claim the role of leader of the Western Christian world.
The beginning of the Crusades.
Situation in the East.
With the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate at the end of the 10th century. Palestine came under the rule of Fatimid Egypt; the hostility of Muslims to Christians increased. The situation became even more tense after the capture of Jerusalem by the Seljuk Turks (1078). Europe was agitated by stories about the atrocities of Muslims in relation to Christian shrines and cruel persecution of believers. In 1071-1081, the Seljuks seized Asia Minor from the Byzantine Empire. In the early 1090s, the Byzantine emperor Alexei I Komnenos (1081-1118), pressed by the Turks, Pechenegs and Normans, appealed to the West for help.
Clermont Cathedral.
Taking advantage of the appeal of Alexei I, the papacy took the lead in organizing a holy war to free the Holy Sepulcher. On November 27, 1095, at the Cathedral of Clermont (France), Pope Urban II (1088-1099) preached to the nobility and clergy, urging the Europeans to end civil strife and go on a crusade to Palestine, promising its participants forgiveness and eternal salvation. The Pope's speech was enthusiastically received by the crowd of thousands, repeating as an incantation the words "This is what God wants", which became the slogan of the Crusaders.
Peasant Crusade.
Numerous preachers carried Urban II's call across Western Europe. Knights and peasants sold their property to purchase the necessary military equipment and sewed red crosses on their clothes. In mid-March 1096 crowds of peasants (about 60-70 thousand people), mainly from Rhine Germany and northeastern France, led by the ascetic preacher Peter the Hermit, set out on a campaign, not waiting for the knights to gather. They passed through the valleys of the Rhine and Danube, crossed Hungary and in the summer of 1096 reached the limits of the Byzantine Empire; their path was marked by looting and violence against the local population and Jewish pogroms. To prevent the atrocities, Alexei I demanded that they not stay anywhere for more than three days; they followed the territory of the Empire under the watchful eye of the Byzantine troops. In July, a significantly thinned (almost halved) militia of peasant crusaders approached Constantinople. The Byzantines hastily ferried it across the Bosphorus to the town of Tsibotus. Contrary to the advice of Peter the Hermit, peasant detachments moved to Nicaea, the capital of the Seljuk state. On October 21, they were ambushed by Sultan Kilich-Arslan I in a narrow desert valley between Nicaea and the village of Drakon, and were utterly defeated; most of the peasant crusaders perished (about 25 thousand people).
The first knightly crusade began in August 1096. Knights from Lorraine, led by Duke Gottfried IV of Bouillon, from Northern and Central France, led by Counts Robert of Normans, Robert of Flanders and Stephen of Blois, from Southern France, led by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse and from southern Italy (Normans), led by Prince Bohemond of Tarentum; the spiritual leader of the campaign was Bishop Ademar of Puy. The way of the Lorraine knights went along the Danube, the Provencal and North French - through Dalmatia, the Norman - along the Mediterranean Sea. From the end of 1096 they began to concentrate in Constantinople. Despite the tense relations between the crusaders and the local population, sometimes resulting in bloody clashes, Byzantine diplomacy managed (March-April 1097) to get them to swear a fief oath to Alexei I and the obligation to return to the Empire all its former possessions in Asia Minor, seized by the Seljuq Turks. By early May, the crusading troops crossed the Bosphorus and in the middle of the month, together with the Byzantines, besieged Nicaea. The knights defeated the army of Kylych-Arslan I under the walls of the city, but his garrison surrendered not to them, but to the Byzantines (June 19); in order to pacify the crusaders, Alexei I allocated them part of the booty.
At the end of June, the knights set out on a campaign against Antioch. On July 1, they utterly defeated the Seljuks at Dorilee and, with great difficulty, passing through the interior regions of Asia Minor (the Turks used the tactics of scorched earth), in mid-August they reached Iconium. Having repulsed the attack of the Seljuks near Heraclius, the crusaders entered Cilicia and in October, having crossed the Antitavr ridge, entered Syria. On October 21, they laid siege to Antioch, but the siege dragged on. At the beginning of 1098 a detachment of knights captured Edessa; their leader Baldwin of Bouillon founded here the first crusader state - the county of Edessa. The crusaders were able to take Antioch only on June 2, 1098. On June 28, they defeated the army of the emir of Mosul, which had come to the rescue of the city. In September 1098, by agreement between the leaders of the crusaders, Antioch was transferred into the possession of Bohemund of Taren; thus, the second state of the crusaders arose - the principality of Antioch.
After the fall of Antioch, the leaders of the crusading army took up the conquest of the Syrian fortresses, which caused discontent among ordinary soldiers who wanted to continue the campaign. In the winter of 1098/1099, they raised a revolt in Maar and forced their leaders to move in the spring of 1099 to Jerusalem, which by that time had passed from the hands of the Seljuk to the rule of the Egyptian sultan. On June 7, 1099, they laid siege to the city and on July 15 took it by storm, exterminating the entire non-Christian population. The victors created the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which was headed by Gottfried of Bouillon with the title of "guardian of the Holy Sepulcher". On August 12, Gottfried defeated the Fatimid forces at Ascalon, ending their rule in Palestine.
In the first quarter of the 12th century. the possessions of the crusaders continued to expand. In 1101 they captured Tripoli and Caesarea, and in 1104 - Acre. In 1109, the county of Tripoli was created, ruled by Bertrand, son of Raymund IV of Toulouse. Beirut and Sidon fell in 1110, and Tire in 1124.
Crusader states.
The Jerusalem king was the supreme overlord of the Palestinian and Syrian lands that fell under the rule of Christians; the count of Edessa, the prince of Antioch and the count of Tripoli were in vassal-fief dependence from him. Each state was organized according to the Western European feudal model: it was divided into baronies, and the baronies into knightly fiefs. Vassals were obliged, upon the call of the overlord, at any time of the year to carry military service... Direct vassals of the rulers sat in the council (in the Kingdom of Jerusalem - Assiz of the High Court). Legal relations were regulated by the local law court - Jerusalem Assises... Italian merchants (Genoese, Venetians, Pisans) played the leading role in the port cities; they enjoyed wide privileges and had their own fortified quarters, ruled by elected consuls. The dependent population was local peasants and slaves (mostly prisoners).
In ecclesiastical terms, the crusading lands formed the Jerusalem Patriarchate, which was divided into fourteen bishops. The local Catholic Church possessed great wealth and considerable political weight. An extensive system of monasteries existed in Syria and Palestine.
In the crusading states, special spiritual and knightly orders arose, whose task was to fight the "infidels" and provide conditions for the pilgrimage of Christians to the Holy Land (guarding roads and shrines, setting up hospitals and hospitals). Their members were both monks (took vows of chastity, poverty and obedience) and knights (they could take up arms to protect the faith). The orders were headed by the great masters and chapters directly subordinate to the pope. The first such order in Palestine was the Order of the Johannites, or Hospitallers (Order of St. John the Merciful; from 1522 Order of Malta), constituted in 1113; its members wore red cloaks with a white cross. In 1128, the Order of the Knights Templar (the Order of the Temple of Solomon) was formed; they wore white cloaks with a red cross. In 1190/1191 the German knights founded the Teutonic Order (Order of the Holy Virgin Mary); their distinguishing feature was a white cloak with a black cross.
Subsequent Crusades.
After the emir of Mosul, Imad al-Din Zenghi, captured Edessa in December 1144, in 1145 Pope Eugene III (1145-1153) called for a new crusade. The fiery preacher, Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, persuaded the French king Louis VII (1137-1180) and the German emperor Conrad III (1138-1152) to head it. In 1147 the German army moved into Asia along the Danube route through Hungary; the French followed two months later; the total strength of the two armies was 140 thousand people. The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I (1143-1180) did not give them a serious material support and hastened to ferry them across the Bosphorus. Without waiting for the French, the Germans headed deep into Asia Minor. At the end of October 1147, they were defeated by the Seljuk Turks at Doriley, retreated to Constantinople, and then reached Acre by sea; another German unit was defeated in Pamphylia in February 1148.
The French army, having reached Constantinople, crossed the Bosphorus and moved to Syria by the southern road (through Lydia). In the battle at Laodicea south of the river. Meander Louis VII failed, retreated to Pamphylia and sailed from Attalia to the Holy Land.
In March 1148 German and French troops arrived in Palestine. Together with the troops of the Jerusalem king Baldwin III, they undertook two campaigns to Damascus and to Ascalon, which ended in complete failure. In September 1148, Conrad III evacuated his army from Palestine; Louis VII soon followed suit.
In the early 1150s, the position of the crusader states in Palestine improved somewhat: in 1153 they managed to capture Ascalon. However, in the mid-1170s, they encountered a new threat: in 1176, the new Egyptian sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin) subdued Syria, and the crusaders were in the ring of his possessions. In 1187, one of the largest feudal lords of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Renaud of Shatiyon, captured a caravan with Salah ad-Din's sister, which provoked an attack by the Sultan on the crusader states. In June 1187, the Egyptians inflicted a series of defeats on the knights near Lake Gennesaret, and on July 5 they defeated their main forces at Hattin, taking prisoner King Guy de Lusignan, Grand Master of the Templar Order, Renaud of Chatillon and a large number of knights. On September 19 Salah ad-Din laid siege to Jerusalem and on October 2 forced it to surrender. Then he captured Ascalon, Acre, Tiberias and Beirut, part of the county of Tripoli and the principality of Antioch.
At the call of Pope Clement III (1187-1191), the third crusade was organized, led by the German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190), the French king Philip II Augustus (1180-1223) and the English king Richard I the Lionheart (1189-1199 ). The first were the Germans (end of April 1189). Having concluded an alliance with the Hungarian king White III (1173-1196) and the Seljuk sultan Kylych-Arslan II, Frederick I led his army along the Danube route. He easily reached the borders of Byzantium, but, once on its territory, faced the hostility of Emperor Isaac II Angelus (1185-1195). Nevertheless, he managed to negotiate with the Byzantines, who allowed the German army to spend the winter in Adrianople. In the spring of 1190, Frederick I crossed the Hellespont to Asia Minor and moved to Syria through Lydia, Phrygia and Pisidia. The Germans captured Iconium, crossed the Taurus and entered Isauria; On June 10, 1190, Frederick I drowned while swimming in the Kalikadna (Salef) river near Seleucia. The army was led by his son, Duke Friedrich of Swab; passing Cilicia and Syria, he reached Palestine and laid siege to Acre.
In 1190 Philip II Augustus and Richard I concentrated their troops in Messina (Sicily). But the conflict that broke out between them led to the division of the forces of the crusaders. In March 1191 the French left Sicily and soon joined the Germans in besieging Acre. They were followed by the British, who along the way captured Cyprus, which belonged to the Byzantine dynast Isaac Comnenus; in June 1191 they landed at Acra. A few weeks later the fortress fell. A new conflict with Richard I forced Philip II Augustus to evacuate his troops from Palestine. In the second half of 1191 - the first half of 1192, Richard I undertook a number of military operations against Salah ad-Din, but did not achieve any success; three of his attempts to take Jerusalem failed. In September 1192, he concluded peace with the Egyptian Sultan, according to which the Christians reclaimed the coastal strip from Jaffa to Tire, the Muslims pledged to destroy Ascalon, but retained Jerusalem. October 9, 1192 British troops left Palestine. Cyprus Richard I ceded to the former Jerusalem king Guy de Lusignan, who founded the independent Kingdom of Cyprus (1192-1489).
Fourth Crusade.
The failure of the third crusade prompted Pope Innocent III (1198–1216) to begin agitating for a crusade against Egypt, the main enemy of the crusading states who ruled Jerusalem. In the summer of 1202, detachments of knights led by the Marquis Boniface of Montferrat gathered in Venice. Since the leaders of the crusaders did not have the means to pay for transportation by sea to Palestine, they agreed to the demand of the Venetians to take part in a punitive expedition against the postponed port of Dara (Zadar) in Dalmatia. In October 1202, the knights sailed from Venice and at the end of November, after a short siege, captured and plundered Daru. Innocent III excommunicated the crusaders from the church, promising, however, to lift the excommunication if they continued their march to Egypt. But at the beginning of 1203, at the request of the Byzantine prince Alexei Angel, who had fled to the West, the son of Emperor Isaac II, who was overthrown in 1095 by his brother Alexei III (1195-1203), the knights decided to intervene in the internal political struggle in Byzantium and restore Isaac to the throne. At the end of June 1203 they laid siege to Constantinople. In mid-July, after the flight of Alexei III, the power of Isaac II was restored, and Tsarevich Alexei became his co-ruler under the name of Alexei IV. However, the emperors were unable to pay the crusaders the huge amount of two hundred thousand ducats promised to them, and in November 1203 a conflict broke out between them. On April 5, 1204, as a result of a popular uprising, Isaac II and Alexei IV were overthrown, and the new emperor Alexei V Murzufl entered open confrontation with the knights. On April 13, 1204, the crusaders broke into Constantinople and subjected it to a terrible defeat. On the site of the Byzantine Empire, several crusading states were founded: the Latin Empire (1204–1261), the Kingdom of Thessaloniki (1204–1224), the Duchy of Athens (1205–1454), the Moray (Achaean) principality (1205–1432); a number of islands went to the Venetians. As a result, the Fourth Crusade, whose purpose was to strike a blow at the Muslim world, led to the final split of Western and Byzantine Christianity.
At the beginning of the 13th century. in Europe, the conviction spread that only sinless children are able to free the Holy Land. The fiery speeches of the preachers who mourned the seizure of the Holy Sepulcher by the "infidels" found a wide response among children and adolescents, mainly from peasant families in Northern France and Rhine Germany. Church authorities for the most part did not interfere with this movement. In 1212, the young crusaders headed towards the shores of the Mediterranean in two streams. Troops of French teenagers, led by the shepherd Etienne, reached Marseille and boarded the ships. Some of them died in a shipwreck; the rest, upon their arrival in Egypt, were sold into slavery by the shipowners. The same fate befell the German children who sailed east from Genoa. Another group of young crusaders from Germany made their way to Rome and Brindisi; the pope and the local bishop freed them from their vows and sent them home. Few of the participants in the Children's Crusade returned home. This tragic event may have formed the basis of the legend about the rat-cat-flutist who took all the children away from the city of Gammeln.
In 1215 Innocent III called on the West for a new crusade; his successor Honorius III (1216-1227) repeated this call in 1216. In 1217, the Hungarian king Endre II landed with an army in Palestine. In 1218 more than two hundred ships with crusaders from Friesland and Rhine Germany arrived there. In the same year, a huge army under the command of the Jerusalem king Jean de Brienne and the grand masters of the three spiritual and knightly orders invaded Egypt and laid siege to the strategically important fortress Damietta at the mouth of the Nile. In November 1219 the fortress fell. At the request of the papal legate Cardinal Pelagius, the crusaders rejected the offer of the Egyptian sultan al-Kamil to exchange Damietta for Jerusalem and launched an attack on Cairo, but found themselves caught between the Egyptian troops and the flooded Nile. For the possibility of an unhindered retreat, they had to return Damietta and leave Egypt.
Under pressure from popes Honorius III and Gregory IX (1227-1241), the German emperor Frederick II (1220-1250), the husband of the heiress to the throne of Jerusalem, Iolanta, undertook a campaign in Palestine in the summer of 1228. Taking advantage of al-Kamil's conflict with the ruler of Damascus, he entered into an alliance with the Egyptian sultan; under the terms of the ten-year peace concluded between them, al-Kamil freed all Christian captives and returned Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the coast from Beirut to Jaffa to the Kingdom of Jerusalem; The Holy Land was open to pilgrimage for both Christians and Muslims. On March 17, 1229, Frederick II solemnly entered Jerusalem, where he placed himself on the royal crown, and then sailed to Italy.
At the end of the ten-year peace, the Crusaders undertook several offensive operations against Muslims. In 1239 Thibault I, king of Navarre (1234-1253) landed in Palestine, but his actions were unsuccessful. More successful was the campaign of 1240-1241 English knights under the command of Earl Richard of Cornwall, brother of King Henry III (1216-1272); Richard obtained from the Egyptian Sultan Ayyub the release of all Christian captives and left for his homeland. But in 1244 Ayyub, having gathered an army of Turkish mercenaries, invaded Palestine, captured Jerusalem and defeated the crusaders in the battle of Gaza. In 1247 the Muslims took possession of Ascalon. In response to the call of Pope Innocent IV (1243-1254), the French king Louis IX (1226-1270) in February 1249 sailed from Marseilles with a large fleet and landed in Egypt. The French occupied Damietta abandoned by the Muslims and moved to Cairo, but were surrounded and forced to surrender. The entire rank and file of the army was exterminated. With great difficulty, Louis IX managed to conclude an armistice and obtain freedom for a huge ransom of two hundred thousand livres; Damietta was returned to the Egyptians. The king went to Akra and for four years fought with varying degrees of success in Syria. In 1254 he returned to France.
In the second half of the 1250s, the position of Christians in Syria and Palestine strengthened somewhat, as Muslim states had to fight the Tatar-Mongol invasion. But in 1260 the Egyptian Sultan Baybars subjugated Syria and gradually began to seize the fortresses of the crusaders: in 1265 he took Caesarea, in 1268 - Jaffa, in the same year he captured Antioch, putting an end to the existence of the principality of Antioch. The last attempt to help the crusading states was the Eighth Crusade, led by Louis IX, the Sicilian king Charles of Anjou (1264–1285) and the King of Aragon Jaime I (1213–1276). It was planned to attack Tunisia first and then Egypt. In 1270 the crusaders landed in Tunisia, but due to the outbreak of the plague among them (among the dead was Louis IX), they interrupted the campaign, making peace with the Tunisian sultan, who pledged to pay tribute to the king of Sicily and provide the Catholic clergy with the right to freely worship in his possessions.
This failure made the fall of the last strongholds of the Crusaders in Syria and Palestine inevitable. In 1289, the Muslims took possession of Tripoli, eliminating the county of the same name, and in 1291 took Beirut, Sidon and Tire. The loss in the same year of Acre, which was fiercely defended by the Templars and the Johannites, was the end of the crusading rule in the East.
Consequences of the Crusades.
The Crusades brought innumerable calamities to the peoples of the Middle East and were accompanied by the destruction of material and cultural values. They (especially the Fourth Crusade) undermined the strength of the Byzantine Empire, thus bringing its final fall in 1453 closer. The Crusades ended in failure and therefore did not solve any of the long-term problems facing medieval Europe. Nevertheless, they had a significant impact on her further development... They allowed for a certain period to ease the demographic, social and political tensions in Western Europe. This contributed to the strengthening of royal power and the creation of national centralized states in France and England.
The Crusades led to a temporary strengthening of the Catholic Church: it significantly strengthened its financial position, expanded its sphere of influence, created new military-religious institutions - orders that played an important role in subsequent European history (the Johannites in the defense of the Mediterranean from the Turks, the Teutons in the German aggression in Baltic States). The papacy has confirmed its status as the leader of the Western Christian world. At the same time, they made the gap between Catholicism and Orthodoxy insurmountable, deepened the confrontation between Christianity and Islam, and exacerbated the intransigence of Europeans to any form of religious dissent.
Previously, it was believed that the Crusades significantly enriched the European food flora, gave an impetus to the development of production technologies and caused the expansion of cultural potential through borrowings from the East. Recent research, however, does not support such claims. At the same time, the Crusades left their mark on the Western economy and culture. The robbery of overseas countries became a catalyst for property stratification and the progress of commodity-money relations. The economic power of the Italian trading republics increased, making huge profits from freight and significantly strengthening their commercial positions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, seriously pushing the Arabs and Byzantines. The Crusades contributed to the social mobility of Europeans, overcoming their fear of the unknown; psychologically, they prepared the Great geographical discoveries... And, finally, the crusading movement and the crusading spirit were reflected in medieval literature (chivalrous romance, troubadour poetry, history writing). Among the most significant works are the historiographic and biographical works of Wilhelm of Tyre, Geoffroy de Villardoin, Robert de Clari and Jean de Joinville, poems Song of Antiochand History holy war.
In the words of J. Le Goff, the crusades were "the pinnacle of the expansionism of the medieval Christian world", "the first experience of European colonialism."
Ivan Krivushin
Literature:
Zaborov M.A. Crusaders in the East.M., 1960
Robert de Clari ... Conquest of Constantinople... M., 1986
Zaborov M.A. History of the Crusades in documents and materials.M., 1986
Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya O.A. Cross and sword.M., 1991
Geoffroy de Villardouin ... Conquest of Constantinople... M., 1993
Anna Komnin ... Alexiada... SPb, 1996