The crusades of Medieval times were an attempt to take back what the Christians considered to be their holy land from the Muslims. The most important of these lands was Jerusalem. “Taking the Cross” meant for European noblemen to take arms for the Pope against the Infidel of Arabia, also known as the Saracen. To take the cross meant a complete pardon for past sins and favor gained in the eyes of the church. Although the crusades were for some a religious endeavor, for others it was a political move.

These crusades occurred between the years of 1096 and 1291. There were eight crusades in all. The first crusade was called for by Pope Urban II. Prior to the first crusade, the Byzantine Empire (Orthodox Christians) and their Islamic neighbors, the Saracens, had a relatively stable relationship with occasional small skirmishes. While the Saracens were in control of the holy city of Jerusalem, Christians were allowed to make pilgrimages there. However the coming of a new, more warlike and fearsome group of Muslims, the Seljuk Turks, took over control of Jerusalem and began to persecute the Christians there. These Turks i

The fall of Edessa prompted St. Bernard of Clairvaux to preach of a new crusade in 1144 to recapture the land and fortify Christian presence there. Unlike the First Crusade, the Second Crusade successfully recruited two of the monarchs at the time, King Lonrad II of Germany and King Louis VII of France and his consort, Queen Eleanor (of Aquitaine). This crusade was poorly managed as the two monarchs spent more time posturing for control and than cooperating with each other. The majority of the Second Crusade was cut down by the Islamic military in Turkish Antatolia. The crusade quickly fell apart after that.

The Fifth Crusade was promoted by Pope Innocent III in 1217. King Andrew II of Hungary led the attack. The plan was to attack Egypt and gain control of the Eastern Mediteranean. The Crusaders were able to capture Damietta in Egypt however gave it back in a truce when the Crusader army surrendered to Saladin’s nephew.

A minor and tragic crusade between the Fourth and Fifth Crusade was the Children’s Crusade. This crusade was lead by a twelve year old peasant boy named Stephen of France in 1212. It consisted of 30,000 little girls and boys between the ages of six and eighteen. This French Crusade inspired a German Crusade led by a boy named Nicholas and added 20,000 more children to the number. Unlike the French Crusade who wanted to recapture the Holy Land, the German Crusade wanted to convert the Infidel to Christianity. They believed that the sea would part for them and the Infidel would through down their weapons. In their quest, 48,000 of the children starved, drowned or were sold into slavery. Only 2,000 children survived and none ever reached Palestine.

The Eighth and Final Crusade was led by Louis again in 1270. Although this crusade was better organized than the previous one, the Crusaders only made it to Tunis in North Africa before a plague ravaged the town and killed Louis, making him a martyr. At the same time there was a military uprising in Egypt and Saladin’s descendants were replaced with a new government called the Mamluk Sultanate. The Mamlukes were able to capture Acre on May 5, 1291. This is seen as the end of the Crusades. There were additional half-hearted attempts to organize other Crusades over the next couple of centuries but popularity waned as Europeans began to look west to the New World.

The crusades were never able to recapture the Holy Land for any length of time. When the Crusades first began it increased the strength of the Holy Roman Catholic church but as they continued and the Crusaders were defeated again and again, it began to hurt the image of the Chruch. The Crusades brought Western Eur

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