The crusades- by austin

How many crusades were there?

there crusaders were 9, the first 4  crusades were as import and scant reference is made to other crusades. crusades were batlling for a very long period of time.

Who were the Crusaders

The Crusades were a series of Holy Wars launched by the Christian states of Europe against the Saracens. The term ‘Saracen’ was the word used to describe a Moslem during the time of the Crusades. The Crusades   started in 1095 when Pope Claremont preached the First Crusade at the Council of Claremont. The Pope’s preaching led to thousands immediately affixing the cross to their garments – the name Crusade given to the Holy Wars came from old French word ‘crois’ meaning ‘cross’. The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the holy places of Palestine from the hands of the Mohammedans. They were eight in number, the first four being sometimes called the Principal Crusades, and the remaining four the Minor Crusades. In addition there was a Children’s Crusade. There were several other expeditions  which were insignificant in numbers or results. For full details, facts and information about the crusades click one of the following links

What are the effects of the crusade?

The crusades effected the Europe in many ways. They helped the progress of civilization, earn wealth and power for the church

The first crusade:

The first crusade which was from 1095-1099, established a latin kingdom jerusalem, for providing more lands for the crusaders. crusades often travelled to europe

End of crusades?

The crusading movement came to an end by the close of the thirteenth century. The emperor Frederick II  for a short time recovered Jerusalem by a treaty, but in 1244 A.D. the Holy City became again a possession of the Moslems. They have never since relinquished it. Acre, the last Christian post in Syria, fell in 1291 A.D., and with this event the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist. The Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John, still kept possession of the important islands of Cyprus and Rhodes, which long served as a barrier to Moslem expansion over the Mediterranean.

The lasting effects of the Crusades

What lasting effects did the crusades have?         Rachel G

The crusades had greatly effected these important areas: The medieval society, The structure, the trade and the political system (and these are only a few  points.)                                                                                                                                                   The political system was changed from Feudalism to Monarchy in Europe. This changed the Manorial system (when the manors didn’t trade), to everyone trading around Europe. There was also a very big change in Europe. The crusades had effected their society structure, because there was a new class, the middle class.

The Kings who were leading the crusades were also gaining more power. Then instead of the peasants serving their lords for protection, they would give their service to the king for protection. This was when the Feudal system was beginning to weaken. The king also began to bring in taxes and become bigger by joining to other countries. He also gave his word to his people that  he would protect them by keeping thieves and thugs off the trading routes.

The serfs who were at the bottom fo society fled or was able to buy their freedom. You were not able to change class’s before the crusades. If you were a very rich peasant you would not change. What ever you were born you would die as they were very strict on the structure of society. The crusades had changed that though, now they were able to make a new class which was the middle class, and this class was the biggest of them all. This was were the serfs or the peasants would go to have a better life. That ment that the peasants and serfs didn’t work all day. They were able to trade and produce money. Now the serfs don’t exist anymore and there are still the three classes in Europe.

Europeans social structure

The role of the Catholic Church in this time

The Catholic Church had been involved with the  Crusades from the very beginning. They were asked by the Byzantine emperor to help get rid of the Turkish Muslims because they had taken over Jerusalem.

The Catholic Church had supported the crusades from the very beginning. The Church tried everything in its power to convert everyone to Christianity. Then those who disagreed were killed.

The Crusades also helped the Church gain power and become very wealthy. The people became very enthusiastic because of the Churches wealth. They were also very religious. Whatever the Church said, went, and there were no arguments about that.

The medieval Church

Was anyone benefited from the Crusades?

Many people were benefited because in this time they weren’t all fighting; they were also trading with each other. Western Europe did pretty well and so did the Muslims. They were trading for a while and got quite a bit. They were trading all kinds of materials like: foods products, house hold goods, furniture and many new ideas like games and clever inventions.

Europe was the one who benefited the most from the crusades. For the first crusade Europe was able to successfully reach their military aim and were able to learn many skills from the countries of the East, and brought them back to Europe.        They had also improve their language and mathematics, and grew stronger in their medicine field, their hygiene and building structures. They also became smarter with their trading skills, they were bringing more materials in from other countries. They had different types of: new foods; new materials like silk and velvet; Jewellery; cotton; and even glass brought to their country. They were building better ships and finding new routes to India and China because the Muslims had control over the Holy Land. Since they had to find new routes, they learnt to read maps, navigate and use compasses.

Through this time period the Europeans had gained so much knowledge and was able to become so much stronger as a country.

Trade in the medieval period

The effects on the Women and Children

When all the men would go out to battle this would have left many families distressed. While the fathers, sons and husbands were at war they women would have done all the house hold chores, taken care of the taxes, looked after the children and look after the land.

The children would have had to help their mothers too. They would have grown up without a father and would not  know if they were even coming back. This must have haunted them the whole time they were away. The men would go away for about 10 years and many wouldn’t come back. For the 2nd  and 3rd crusade about 500,000 on estimate died, and the pain they would have gone through would have been horrible.

Some women actually came along to accompany their husbands, but they were not able to be apart of the crusade, neither were children. Through the crusades though there were many women and children who died, which were apart  of the thousands of men who also had died.

Did the crusades achieve their goal?

No, the crusades did not reach the goal they were intended to reach. The main  point of the crusades, was to take back the Holy Land from the Turkish Muslims who controlled the land, and then at the same time convert them to Christianity. Then eventually wipe out the Muslim race.

None of this happened though the only thing that only happened was that many countries became stronger as a country. At the end of the day though, the crusades had not achieved their goal. They didn’t wipe out the Muslim race and gain control over the Holy Land either. They were able to convert some people to Christ, but then also lost many in war.

In some areas the Crusades didn’t do what they were ment to achieve, but in a way did changed the world around them.

Bibliography:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nigel.nicholson/hn/CrusadeFAQs/f-change.html

http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/9/30/151342/112

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/effects-of-crusades.htm

http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/med_hist3.html

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cru3.htm

http://www.feltonfleet.co.uk/departments/history/Resources/Effects%20of%20Crusades%20on%20Europe.pdf

http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine3.html

Diorama

The soldiers who fought in the crusades

Mother and daughter taking care of the crops

This shows the Church, trades, soldiers, mother and daughter, monks and also a soldier in front.

This diorama shows events that were effected by the crusades.This has the church, because it became apart of the crusades from the very first one and encouraged the crusades. It has two traders trading silk and food, because in this time the amount of trading increased. The mother and daughter taking care of the land because the men are away fighting. There is also a soldier holding a bow and arrow. The bow and arrow would have likely been used as a weapon in battle and they would have had lots of armor on.

The women taking care of the children

The crusades

WHAT WERE THEY? WHY THEY STARTED?

In the year 1095, Alexius I asked of the pope to help send mercenaries, to help the Byzantines in the east, to resist the advances of Muslim Turk armies into the territories. It apparently seemed that he was trying to encourage the liberation ofJerusalemfrom the domination of the Muslims, who had ruled it since 638 A.D. The reply to the request from the Pope was so great, large numbers of Franks, both common and noble, travelled to the East in several waves, and retakingJerusalemin 1099.

DESCRIBE THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES.

The crusaders had had a successful job of recapturingJerusalem, but however it was not long until it was the Muslims conquered it again less then 50 years after it was recaptured. Another failure they had was the divided leadership; there were multiple men that wanted to be the only leader of the crusade.

WHEN, AND WHY THEY STOPPED.

The crusades ended because the fact that people started to lose interest in fighting for the ‘Holy Land.’ They men that fought were starting to focus on their other duties in life and less on the crusade. The crusades also stopped because of the inability to sustain power for a long time in the areas they tried recapturing. The last crusade, which was the ninth, ended in 1272.

WHAT DID THEY WEAR?

The crusaders wore a white cloth with a red cross on it. The Red Cross represented that the crusader was a follower of Christ. The crusader wore a chainmail underneath the white cloth. They had a can shaped helmet which covered the whole head, a sword, a spur, and a shield. But the armour was not very effective as it was heavy and it was very hot to wear in the hot temperatures.

WHAT DID THEY DO AND WHY?

The crusades fought to recaptureJerusalemfrom Muslim power, and also to aid the Byzantine Emperors in the area. People took part in the crusades also to look for adventure, get away from their normal life or job back at home, and also fight in it as it was ‘God’s will’ as the Pope had said at the time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades

–http://historymedren.about.com/od/crusades/p/crusadesbasics.htm

–http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/end-of-medieval-crusades.htm

Here is my closest creation to a crusader. 🙂