(1217-1221) ended unsuccessfully for Christians. Jerusalem remained in the hands of Muslims, which gave the Pope a reason to call the knights of Western Europe to a new military campaign in the Holy Land. But this time, the church did not need to look for a leader among European monarchs and nobles, since the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Frederick II (1194-1250) was originally considered to be such.

Emperor Frederick II and Egyptian Sultan Al-Kamil agree to transfer Jerusalem to Christians

He took Active participation in the Fifth Crusade, sending crusaders from Germany to Palestine and Egypt. However, he did not accompany the army himself, strengthening his positions in Germany and Italy. In 1220, Pope Honorius III placed the imperial crown on Frederick's head, and he became the sovereign ruler of the most powerful state in Europe. After that, the emperor swore to the pontiff that he would lead the Sixth Crusade (1228-1229).

The oath was reinforced by her marriage to Yolanda of Jerusalem, the daughter of the nominal ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, John of Brienne. The wedding took place in 1225, and Frederick II developed a vital interest in expanding and strengthening the lands of the Latin East.

Now there was no point in postponing the military campaign to the Holy Land indefinitely, and in 1227 the emperor and his crusaders sailed from Italy to Acra, which at that time was considered the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, an epidemic of plague broke out there, and the German army hastily departed back to Italy.

In the same year, in March, Pope Honorius III died. He was replaced by Gregory IX (1227-1241). This man treated Frederick II extremely negatively. We can say that he was an enemy of the emperor, since he sought to subjugate the lands of Italy, which are under the absolute control of the Catholic Church. Therefore, the new pontiff was looking for any excuse to annoy the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.

He stated that Frederick II had broken his vow of the crusade by leaving Acre. The fact that the plague was rampant there could not serve as an excuse in the opinion of the pope. After such a statement, Gregory IX excommunicated the emperor from the church and thereby freed his subjects from all oaths and obligations to the ruler. Frederick II tried to improve relations with the pope, but he remained adamant, hoping by his decision to weaken the power of the emperor.

Pope Gregory IX, who excommunicated Frederick II

I must say that Frederick II was extremely intelligent and wonderful educated person... He spoke 6 languages ​​fluently, including Arabic. He was concerned about the well-being of his state and was highly respected by all strata of the German population. Therefore, his authority was not severely undermined after excommunication.

Unable to come to an agreement with the pontiff, the emperor set out on the Sixth Crusade in 1228, but he no longer enjoyed the support of the church. The way of the Germans lay by sea through Cyprus. On this island, the leader of the next military expansion to the Holy Land tried to solve his dynastic claims to the throne of the Kingdom of Cyprus. It was a crusader state created by the English king Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade.

In it sat as regent Jean I Ibelin. The German emperor declared that his rule was illegitimate, and the island should return to the full control of the Holy Roman Empire. But this initiative did not meet with understanding among the local nobility. As a result, everyone quarreled, and the main thing was that Cyprus ceased to consider itself an ally of the German emperor.

After Cyprus, Frederick II went to Acre, where the political situation turned out to be difficult and ambiguous. The ministers of the church reacted to the arrived leader of the Sixth Crusade extremely negatively. But the knights were divided. Some supported the emperor, while others expressed sympathy for the servants of God. Thus, only the crusaders and knights of the Teutonic order who had arrived with him were in control of Frederick. With such forces, there was no way to conduct actions against Muslims.

What was left to do to the emperor, who fell out of favor with the pope? He got acquainted with the political situation in the Muslim world and realized that the Sultan of Egypt Al-Kamil was bogged down in suppressing the rebellions in Syria and also did not have sufficient military forces to successfully resist the crusaders. And from this it followed that with a competent approach, it was possible to resolve the issue of returning Jerusalem to Christians without bloody battles.

The German emperor staged a demonstration of his allegedly huge army. He split his army into detachments and led them south near the sea coast. For al-Kamil, that was enough. The sultan believed in the power of the crusaders and agreed to negotiate. They proved to be extremely fruitful for the soldiers of Christ. The Muslims gave Jerusalem to Christians, and in addition gave them such fortresses as Bethlehem, Sidon, Nazareth and Jaffa.

Frederick II with crusaders and Muslims in Jerusalem

A treaty on this and a truce for 10 years was concluded on February 18, 1229. Already on March 17 of the same year, Frederick II solemnly entered Jerusalem and the next day proclaimed himself king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, the patriarch of the Latin East was absent at the coronation, and therefore this ceremony had no legal force. The newly-made king was not approved by either the pope or the noble feudal lords of the Holy Land. He could only be a regent with his son Konrad, born of a marriage with Yolanda of Jerusalem.

The German emperor stayed in Jerusalem until mid-May 1229 and left for his homeland, where political problems of a local nature arose. This was the end of the Sixth Crusade. In the same year, the Pope canceled the excommunication of Frederick II, guided by the interests of the church. And in the revived kingdom, strife and a struggle for power began. But the most important thing happened: Jerusalem returned to the Christians and was under their complete control in 1229-1239 and in 1241-1244. The same can be said for other parts of the Holy Land.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the crusade led by Frederick II showed the whole world that the most important state issues can be resolved through negotiations, and not on the battlefield. The emperor himself was nicknamed "a crusader without a cross", and his campaign began to be called "a campaign without a campaign." After all, the soldiers of Christ did not fight the Muslims, but won a complete victory over them, which cannot be said about other military campaigns to the Holy Land..

Crusades, lasting from 1096 to 1272, is an important part of the Middle Ages taught in the 6th grade history course. These were military colonial wars in the countries of the Middle East under the religious slogans of the struggle of Christians against "infidels", that is, Muslims. It is not easy to speak briefly about the crusades, since only the most important ones are distinguished by eight.

Reasons and reason for the crusades

Palestine, which belonged to Byzantium, was conquered by the Arabs in 637. It has become a place of pilgrimage for both Christians and Muslims. The situation changed with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks. In 1071 they interrupted the pilgrimage routes. The Byzantine emperor Alexei Komnenos appealed to the West for help in 1095. This was the reason for organizing the campaign.

The reasons that prompted people to participate in a dangerous event were:

• the desire of the Catholic Church to expand its influence in the East and increase wealth;
• the desire of monarchs and nobles to expand their territories;
• peasants' hopes for land and freedom;
• the desire of merchants to establish new trade relations with the countries of the East;
• religious upsurge.

In 1095, at the Clermont Cathedral, Pope Urban II called for the liberation of the holy lands from the yoke of the Saracens (Arabs and Seljuk Turks). Many knights immediately accepted the cross and declared themselves warlike pilgrims. Later, the leaders of the campaign were determined.

Rice. 1. Call of Pope Urban II to the crusaders.

Participants of the crusades

In the crusades, a group of main participants can be distinguished:

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• large feudal lords;
• petty European knights;
• merchants;
• bourgeois artisans;
• peasants.

The name "crusades" comes from the images of the cross sewn onto the clothes of the participants.

The first echelon of the crusaders was made up of the poor, led by the preacher Peter of Amiens. In 1096 they arrived in Constantinople and, without waiting for the knights, crossed over to Asia Minor. The consequences were dire. The poorly armed and untrained peasant militia was easily defeated by the Turks.

The beginning of the crusades

There were several Crusades aimed at Muslim countries. The first crusaders set out in the summer of 1096. In the spring of 1097 they crossed over to Asia Minor and captured Nicaea, Antioch, and Edessa. In July 1099, the crusaders entered Jerusalem, staging a brutal massacre of Muslims here.

On the occupied lands, the Europeans created their own states. By the 30s. XII century. the crusaders lost several cities and territories. The king of Jerusalem turned to the Pope for help, and he called on the European monarchs for a new crusade.

Basic hikes

The table "Crusades" will help to systematize the information

Rice. 2. Crusaders.

The second campaign took place in 1147-1149. It was led by the German Emperor Konrad III Staufen and the French King Louis VII. In 1187, Sultan Saladin defeated the crusaders and captured Jerusalem, which went to the third campaign of King Philip II Augustus of France, King of Germany Frederick I Barbarossa and King of England Richard I the Lionheart.

The fourth was organized against Orthodox Byzantium. In 1204, the crusaders mercilessly plundered Constantinople, staging a massacre of Christians. In 1212, 50,000 children were sent to Palestine from France and Germany. Most of them became slaves or died. In history, the adventure is known as the "Children's Crusade".

After a report to the Pope on the fight against the heresy of the Cathars in the Languedoc region, a series of military campaigns took place from 1209 to 1229. This is the Albigensian or Qatari crusade.

The fifth (1217-1221) was the great failure of the Hungarian king Endre II. In the sixth (1228-1229) the cities of Palestine were handed over to the crusaders, but already in 1244 they finally lost Jerusalem for the second time. To save those who remained there, a seventh campaign was proclaimed. The crusaders were defeated, and the French king Louis IX was captured, where he remained until 1254. In 1270, he led the eighth - the last and extremely unsuccessful crusade, the stage of which from 1271 to 1272 is called the ninth.

Crusades of Russia

The ideas of the Crusades also penetrated into the territory of Russia. One of the directions foreign policy its princes - wars with unbaptized neighbors. The campaign of Vladimir Monomakh in 1111 against the Polovtsy, who often attacked Russia, was called a cross. In the XIII century, the princes fought with the Baltic tribes, the Mongols.

Consequences of hikes

The crusaders divided the conquered lands into several states:

• The Kingdom of Jerusalem;
• kingdom of Antioch;
• County of Edessa;
• county of Tripoli.

In the states, the crusaders established feudal orders along the lines of Europe. To protect their possessions in the east, castles were built and spiritual-knightly orders were founded:

• hospitallers;
• the templars;
• Teutons.

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Who did not fulfill the vow to go to the liberation of the Holy Land, given by him at his coronation in Aachen (1215) and postponed his speech there from year to year. However, Frederick accepted the title of King of Jerusalem (although the actual king, John, was his father-in-law) and immediately sent Bishop Amalieri to Palestine to take the oath of office from the Jerusalem barons.

In 1227, a huge mass of crusaders (from England alone, about 60 thousand people) gathered in southern Italy, in Apulia, to march on the Sixth Crusade. The crusaders were only waiting for the emperor. The accumulation of such a significant number of people, mostly unaccustomed to the hot climate, led to the terrible development of the plague, from which many died, while others fled home. As a result, Frederick, arriving in Brindisi in August 1227, found the crusader army already significantly weakened. The crusaders were immediately put on ships and sailed away, and the emperor set off after them on September 8, but after 6 days he returned to the harbor of Brindisi. In a report immediately sent to the Pope, Frederick explained his return with illness and nasty winds. But dad Gregory IX, extremely angry and did not believe in the reality of the emperor's illness, on November 17, 1227, he publicly excommunicated him.

The Emperor, however, paid very little attention to this excommunication. He did not abandon his intention to go to the Holy Land, especially since the then political situation in the East was very favorable for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher. The sons of Sultan Melik-Adil, who had recently rallied in view of the danger that threatened Egypt, now again began to quarrel with each other. One of them, the Egyptian sultan Melik-Kamil, even turned to Frederick, asking him for help against his brothers and promising Jerusalem for this. Most of the former crusaders have already scattered. Frederick II had to look for new ones, and this was opposed in every possible way by Gregory IX, clearly proving that he placed his personal interests above the holy work of liberating the Holy Sepulcher. As a result, Frederick, with all his energy, could collect a very small number of crusaders, with whom he sailed on the Sixth Crusade on 40 galleys in August 1228 from Brindisi.

On September 7, 1228, Frederick arrived at the harbor of Acre and was solemnly greeted by the patriarch and the people. But after him, envoys from the pope came to Palestine and announced the excommunication weighing on the emperor. Then the clergy and the Palestinian population in general began to treat the emperor with hostility. Upon learning of Frederick's arrival, Sultan Melik-Kamil sent ambassadors to him with rich gifts and himself went with an army to Palestine, with the goal of capturing Damascus, whose ruler had just died. The emperor immediately entered into negotiations with Camille on the concession to the Christians of Jerusalem. But the negotiations were not as successful as one might expect: Camille, apparently, was afraid of the possibility of too close interference of the German emperor in the affairs of the East.

Frederick II and Sultan Camille. XIV century miniature

Then Frederick, wishing to hide the protracted negotiations (this could compromise him in the eyes of Christians), approved the intention of the crusaders to strengthen the cities in their hands, and also to seize the city of Jaffa (Joppa), which is very important as the port closest to Jerusalem. The seizure of Jaffa was all the more part of the emperor's plans because the possession of this city brought him closer to the Egyptian sultan, with whom he was negotiating. But, but the reason for the excommunication gravitating over Frederick, the Jerusalem knights ( templar and joannites) agreed to go with the emperor only on condition that all orders would come not in the name of Frederick, but in the name of God and the holy church. Since the emperor did not agree to this, he had to move to Jaffa with only 10 thousand infantry (forces, unsatisfactory both in number and composition: the absence of cavalry with an enemy rich in it). To the honor of the knights, the consciousness of duty and the importance of the cause overpowered in them the desire to serve the interests of the pope: they followed Frederick at some distance, so that, if necessary, they could always support him. Soon the emperor, not wanting to risk the division of forces, yielded to the demand of the knights.

On November 15, 1228, the crusaders occupied Jaffa and began to fortify this city. When setting out to Jaffa, the participants of the Sixth Crusade took food with them only for the duration of the campaign to her. They expected to bring the rest of the supplies later by sea to the city they had taken. It was extremely careless: they could not take Jaffa, then there would not be enough food for the return trip; besides, the sea, depending on the weather, is an extremely wrong communication line. Indeed, a strong storm delayed the fleet carrying food at sea, as a result of which the crusaders of the Sixth Campaign began to endure extreme poverty, attributing their adversity to the decision to follow the excommunicated emperor. Many even thought to leave the ranks of the army, but fortunately soon the wind died down, and the expected transport to Jaffa arrived.

Meanwhile, negotiations with the Sultan continued. Both sides wanted peace: the emperor - because of the enmity of the Palestinian Christians towards him (there was even a conspiracy against his life) and rumors of an attack by the pope's troops on his European possessions; Camille - in view of the threatening situation adopted by the army of the new Damascus sultan. Therefore, on February 18, 1229, a truce was concluded for 10 years, according to which the Christians received Jerusalem and other holy places. This treaty, despite the fact that he achieved the goal of the Sixth Crusade without bloodshed, angered everyone, and especially the Jerusalem Patriarch, without whose knowledge it took place. The Patriarch forbade worship in Jerusalem while the emperor was in it, and this further increased the strife among Christians.

Kingdom of Jerusalem (marked in yellow) after treaty of 1229

Meanwhile, the unity of the latter was very necessary. Sultan David of Damascus did not recognize the concession of Jerusalem, and it was important to take advantage of the strife between the Saracens in order to finally strengthen the Holy Land behind him. Despite the non-recognition of the treaty, the emperor entered Jerusalem on March 17, 1229, where, due to the refusal of the patriarch, he himself assumed the Jerusalem crown. The increased hostility of Palestinian Christians towards Frederick forced him to return to Jaffa two days later, but he was met with discontent here too. The embittered emperor began to cruelly persecute the clergy who were hostile to him. Soon, news from Europe about the pope's attack on the domain of Frederick forced him on May 1, 1229 to go home. Departing, he did not take measures to consolidate the holy places for the Christians. This ended the Sixth Crusade. Departure of Frederick, who enjoyed great influence over the Saracens, thanks to his good relationship to Sultan Camille, significantly weakened the position of the Christian colony in the Holy Land, which was further aggravated by constant strife between the knightly orders and the imperial governor.

The Sixth Crusade, remarkable for the absence of military clashes between the warring parties, is completely invisible militarily. This approach is much more interesting from the side of politics: it showed its importance in the war and the importance of personal relations between the main leaders (bad relations between the emperor and the pope hurt the cause; good ones between the emperor and the sultan, on the contrary, helped). More importantly, the Sixth Crusade characterized in relief the relationship between papal and imperial powers. The first was clearly inclined towards decline: even excommunication from the church did not deprive the emperor of the opportunity to go to the East. Another obvious conclusion from the events of this campaign was the cooling of Europe to the idea of ​​the Crusades.

The Crusades - an armed movement of the peoples of the Christian West to the Muslim East, expressed in a number of campaigns over two centuries (from the end of the XI to the end of the XIII) with the aim of conquering Palestine and freeing the Holy Sepulcher from the hands of the infidels; it is a powerful reaction of Christianity against the then growing power of Islam (under the Caliphs) and a grandiose attempt not only to take possession of the once Christian regions, but in general to widen the limits of the rule of the cross, this symbol of the Christian idea. Participants in these hikes, crusaders, worn on the right shoulder a red image cross with a saying from Holy Scripture (Luke 14, 27), due to which the campaigns were called cross.

Causes of the crusades (briefly)

Performance in was scheduled for August 15, 1096, but before the preparations for it were over, crowds of the common people, led by Peter the Hermit and the French knight Walter Golyak, set out on a campaign through Germany and Hungary without money and supplies. Indulging along the path of plunder and all sorts of atrocities, they were partly exterminated by the Hungarians and Bulgarians, and partly reached the Greek Empire. The Byzantine emperor Alexei Komnenos hastened to transport them across the Bosphorus to Asia, where they were finally killed by the Turks at the Battle of Nicaea (October 1096). The first disorderly crowd was followed by others: for example, 15,000 Germans and Lorraine, led by the priest Gottschalk, set out through Hungary and, having engaged in the beating of Jews in the Rhine and Danube cities, were exterminated by the Hungarians.

The Crusaders set out on the first crusade. Miniature from a manuscript by Guillaume of Thirsky, 13th century

The real militia entered the First Crusade only in the fall of 1096, in the form of 300,000 well-armed and excellently disciplined soldiers, led by the most valiant and noble knights of the time: next to Gottfried of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, the main leader, and his brothers Baldwin and Eustathius (Estache), shone; Count Hugh of Vermandois, brother of the French king Philip I, Duke Robert of Normandy (brother of the English king), Count Robert of Flanders, Raymond of Toulouse and Stephen of Chartres, Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum, Tancred Apulia and others. As papal governor and legate, the army was accompanied by Bishop Ademar of Monteil.

The participants of the First Crusade arrived by various routes to Constantinople, where the Greek emperor Alexei forced them to swear a feudal oath and promise to recognize him as a feudal lord of future conquests. At the beginning of June 1097, the army of the crusaders appeared before Nicaea, the capital of the Seljuk sultan, and after the capture of the latter, it was subjected to extreme difficulties and hardships. Nevertheless, he took Antioch, Edessa (1098) and, finally, on June 15, 1099, Jerusalem, which was at that time in the hands of the Egyptian sultan, who unsuccessfully tried to restore his power and was completely defeated at Ascalon.

The capture of Jerusalem by the crusaders in 1099. Miniature of the 14th or 15th centuries.

Under the influence of the news of the conquest of Palestine in 1101, a new army of crusaders moved into Asia Minor under the leadership of Duke Welf of Bavaria from Germany and two others, from Italy and France, making up an army of 260,000 people and exterminated by the Seljuks.

Second crusade (briefly)

Second Crusade - in brief, Bernard of Clairvaux - biography

In 1144, Edessa was taken by the Turks, after which Pope Eugene III declared Second crusade(1147-1149), freeing all the crusaders not only from their sins, but at the same time from their duties in relation to their feudal lords. The dreamy preacher Bernard of Clairvaux was able, thanks to his irresistible eloquence, to attract the French King Louis VII and Emperor Konrad III Hohenstaufen to the Second Crusade. The two troops, which in total, according to the Western chroniclers' assurances, were about 140,000 plate horsemen and a million infantrymen, set out in 1147 and headed through Hungary and Constantinople and Asia Minor. Edessa was abandoned, and the attempt to attack Damascus failed. Both sovereigns returned to their possessions, and the Second Crusade ended in complete failure.

Crusader states in the East

Third Crusade (briefly)

The reason for Third Crusade(1189-1192) was the conquest of Jerusalem on October 2, 1187 by the powerful Egyptian sultan Saladin (see the article The capture of Jerusalem by Saladin). This campaign was attended by three European sovereigns: the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus and the English Richard the Lionheart. Frederick was the first to set out on the Third Crusade, whose army on the way increased to 100,000 people; he chose the path along the Danube, on the way he had to overcome the intrigues of the distrustful Greek emperor Isaac Angelus, whom only the capture of Adrianople prompted to give free passage to the crusaders and help them cross to Asia Minor. Here Frederick defeated the Turkish troops in two battles, but soon after that he drowned while crossing the Kalikadn (Salef) river. His son, Frederick, led the army further through Antioch to Akka, where he found other crusaders, but soon died. The city of Akka surrendered in 1191 to capitulation to the French and English kings, but the discord between them forced the French king to return to his homeland. Richard remained to continue the Third Crusade, but, desperate in the hope of conquering Jerusalem, in 1192 concluded an armistice with Saladin for three years and three months, according to which Jerusalem remained in the possession of the Sultan, and Christians received the coastal strip from Tire to Jaffa, as well as the right to free visiting the Holy Sepulcher.

Frederick Barbarossa - Crusader

Fourth Crusade (briefly)

For more details, see the individual articles The Fourth Crusade, the Fourth Crusade - briefly and the Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders

Fourth crusade(1202-1204) was originally aimed at Egypt, but its participants agreed to help the exiled emperor Isaac Angel in his quest to ascend the Byzantine throne again, which was crowned with success. Isaac soon died, and the crusaders, deviating from their goal, continued the war and took Constantinople, after which the leader of the Fourth Crusade, Count Baldwin of Flanders, was elected emperor of the new Latin Empire, which existed, however, only 57 years (1204-1261).

Participants of the fourth crusade at Constantinople. Miniature for the Venetian manuscript of Vilgardouin's History, c. 1330

Fifth Crusade (briefly)

Regardless of the strange Krestovoy hike children in 1212, prompted by a desire to experience the reality of God's will, Fifth Crusade can be called the campaign of King Andrew II of Hungary and Duke Leopold VI of Austria in Syria (1217-1221). At first, he walked sluggishly, but after the arrival of new reinforcements from the West, the crusaders moved to Egypt and took the key to access this country from the sea - the city of Damietta. However, the attempt to seize the large Egyptian center of Mansuru was unsuccessful. The knights left Egypt, and the Fifth Crusade ended with the restoration of the former borders.

The assault by the crusaders of the Fifth campaign of Damietta's tower. Painter Cornelis Claes van Wieringen, c. 1625

Sixth Crusade (briefly)

Sixth Crusade(1228–1229) was made by the German emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen. For long delays in the beginning of the campaign, the Pope excommunicated Frederick from the church (1227). The next year, the emperor still went to the East. Taking advantage of the strife of the local Muslim rulers, Frederick started negotiations with the Egyptian sultan al-Kamil on the peaceful return of Jerusalem to Christians. To back up their claims with a threat, the emperor and the Palestinian knights besieged and took Jaffa. Threatened by the Sultan of Damascus, al-Kamil signed a ten-year truce with Frederick, returning Jerusalem and almost all the lands that Saladin had once taken from them to Christians. At the end of the Sixth Crusade, Frederick II was crowned in the Holy Land with the Jerusalem crown.

Emperor Frederick II and Sultan al-Kamil. XIV century miniature

The violation of the truce by some of the pilgrims led a few years later to the resumption of the struggle for Jerusalem and to its final loss by Christians in 1244. Jerusalem was taken from the crusaders by the Turkic tribe of Khorezmians, driven out of the Caspian regions by the Mongols during the movement of the latter to Europe.

Seventh Crusade (briefly)

The fall of Jerusalem caused Seventh Crusade(1248-1254) Louis IX of France, who made a vow during a grave illness to fight for the Holy Sepulcher. In August 1248, French crusaders sailed east and spent the winter in Cyprus. In the spring of 1249, the army of Saint Louis landed in the Nile Delta. Due to the indecision of the Egyptian commander Fakhreddin, she took Damietta almost without difficulty. Having delayed there for several months, awaiting reinforcements, the crusaders at the end of the year moved to Cairo. But near the city of Mansur, their path was blocked by the Saracen army. After hard efforts, the participants of the Seventh Crusade were able to cross the Nile arm and even break into Mansura for a while, but the Muslims, taking advantage of the separation of Christian troops, inflicted great damage on them.

The crusaders should have retreated to Damietta, however, due to false concepts of knightly honor, they did not rush to do this. They were soon surrounded by large Saracen forces. Having lost many soldiers from disease and hunger, the participants of the Seventh Crusade (almost 20 thousand people) were forced to surrender. Another 30 thousand of their comrades were killed. Christian captives (including the king himself) were released only for a huge ransom. Damietta had to be returned to the Egyptians. Having sailed from Egypt to Palestine, Louis the Saint spent about 4 more years in Akka, where he was engaged in securing Christian possessions in Palestine, until the death of his mother Blanca (regent of France) recalled him to his homeland.

Eighth Crusade (briefly)

Due to the complete futility of the Seventh Crusade and the constant attacks on Christians in Palestine by the new Egyptian (Mamluk) Sultan Baybars the same king of France Louis IX Saint took in 1270 Eighth(And last) cross hike. The crusaders initially thought to land in Egypt again, but Louis' brother, king of Naples and Sicily Karl of Anjou, persuaded them to sail to Tunisia, which was an important trade rival of southern Italy. Coming ashore in Tunisia, the French participants of the Eighth Crusade began to wait for the arrival of Charles's troops. In their cramped camp, a plague broke out, from which Saint Louis himself died. Mor caused such losses to the army of the crusaders that Karl Anjou, who arrived shortly after the death of his brother, chose to end the campaign on the condition that the ruler of Tunisia paid an indemnity and released Christian captives.

Death of Saint Louis in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Artist Jean Fouquet, c. 1455-1465

End of the Crusades

In 1286 Antioch ceded to Turkey, in 1289 - Lebanese Tripoli, and in 1291 - Akka, the last major possession of Christians in Palestine, after which they were forced to give up the rest of their possessions, and the whole Holy Land was united again in the hands of the Mohammedans. Thus ended the Crusades, which cost the Christians so many losses and did not reach the originally intended goal.

Results and consequences of the crusades (briefly)

But they did not remain without a profound influence on the entire structure of the social and economic life of the Western European peoples. The consequence of the Crusades can be considered the strengthening of the power and importance of the popes as their main instigators, further - the rise of royal power due to the death of many feudal lords, the emergence of the independence of urban communities, which, thanks to the impoverishment of the nobility, received the opportunity to buy benefits from their fiefs; the introduction in Europe of crafts and arts borrowed from the eastern peoples. The results of the Crusades were an increase in the West of the class of free farmers, thanks to the liberation of the peasants who participated in the campaigns from serfdom. The Crusades contributed to the success of trade, opening up new routes to the East for it; fostered the development of geographical knowledge; expanding the sphere of mental and moral interests, they enriched poetry with new subjects. Another important result of the Crusades was the advancement of a secular knighthood to the historical stage, which constituted an ennobling element of medieval life; their consequence was also the emergence of spiritual orders of chivalry (the Johannites, Templars and Teutons), which played an important role in history. (For details, see separate articles

The history of mankind is, unfortunately, not always a world of discoveries and achievements, but often a chain of a myriad of wars. These include those committed from the XI to the XIII centuries. This article will help you understand the reasons and reasons, as well as trace the chronology. Attached to it is a table compiled on the topic of "Crusades" containing the most important dates, names and events.

Definition of the concepts of "crusade" and "crusader"

The Crusade is an armed offensive by the Christian army against the Muslim East, which lasted a total of more than 200 years (1096-1270) and was expressed in no less than eight organized actions of troops from Western European countries. In a later period, this was the name of any military campaign with the aim of converting to Christianity and expanding the influence of the medieval Catholic Church.

The crusader is a participant in such a campaign. On his right shoulder he had a patch in the form of the same image was applied to the helmet and flags.

Reasons, reasons, goals of trips

Military demonstrations were organized. The formal reason was the fight against Muslims in order to free the Holy Sepulcher, located in the Holy Land (Palestine). In the modern sense, this territory includes such states as Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, Jordan and a number of others.

Nobody doubted the success. At that time, it was believed that everyone who becomes a crusader will receive the remission of all sins. Therefore, joining these ranks was popular with both knights and city dwellers and peasants. The latter, in exchange for participation in the crusade, received liberation from serfdom. In addition, for European kings, the crusade was an opportunity to get rid of powerful feudal lords, whose power grew as their holdings increased. Wealthy merchants and townspeople saw economic opportunities in military conquests. And the highest clergy themselves, led by the popes, viewed the crusades as a way to strengthen the power of the church.

The beginning and end of the era of the crusaders

The 1st Crusade began on August 15, 1096, when an unorganized crowd of 50,000 peasants and urban poor went on a campaign without supplies or preparation. They were mainly engaged in looting (since they considered themselves the warriors of God, who owns everything in this world) and attacked the Jews (who were considered the descendants of the murderers of Christ). But within a year, this army was destroyed by the Hungarians who met along the way, and then by the Turks. Well-trained knights followed the crowd of the poor on the crusade. By 1099 they reached Jerusalem, capturing the city and killing big number residents. These events and the formation of a territory called the Kingdom of Jerusalem ended the active period of the first campaign. Further conquests (until 1101) were aimed at strengthening the conquered borders.

The last crusade (eighth) began on June 18, 1270 with the landing of the army of the French ruler Louis IX in Tunisia. However, this performance ended unsuccessfully: even before the start of the battles, the king died of a pestilence, which forced the crusaders to return home. During this period, the influence of Christianity in Palestine was minimal, while Muslims, on the contrary, strengthened their positions. As a result, they captured the city of Acra, which put an end to the era of the Crusades.

1st-4th crusades (table)

5-8th crusades (table)

Outcomes

How successful were the numerous crusades, the table clearly demonstrates. Among historians, there is no unequivocal opinion about how these events influenced the life of Western European peoples.

Some experts believe that the Crusades opened the way to the East, establishing new economic and cultural ties. Others point out that this could have been done even more successfully through peaceful means. Moreover, the last crusade ended in outright defeat.

One way or another, significant changes have taken place in Western Europe itself: an increase in the influence of the popes, as well as the power of kings; the impoverishment of the nobility and the rise of urban communities; the emergence of a class of free farmers from the former serfs who received freedom through participation in the crusades.