The Crusades were carried out by the inhabitants of Western Europe in the 11-15th centuries AD, and their goal was to convert pagan peoples to Christianity or to free Christian shrines from the yoke of the infidels.
The start of the crusader movement
In March 1095, the Council of Clermont was held, after which Pope Urban urged Europeans to go to the East. He considered the reasons for such a movement to be the lack of food for the inhabitants of Europe, as well as the need to take away Christian shrines from the pagans. Therefore, he began to form the order of the crusaders, which was supposed to go with a campaign against the pagans, and called on ordinary people to join.
The campaigns of 1095-1290 were aimed at capturing Jerusalem, where the Holy Sepulcher was located. The then Christians also fought with the Turks, with the pagans in the B altics and with the Eastern Slavs, who professed a different kind of Christianity. Pope Urban II acted as an ardent ideologue of the campaign against the Turks, and to everyone who agreed to fight on his side, he promised fullcancellation of their debts to the state and pensions to their families who remained in European countries. A lot of people gathered under his banner, and therefore the invasion of the crusaders to the East took place.
The consequences of the first campaign
Since the idea of Pope Urban was shared not only by knights and noble people, but also by ordinary people, a large army went to the East. As a result, Jerusalem was conquered, 1099 became the year of the foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The crusade's enthusiasm was also fueled by stories that the Turks who conquered Jerusalem mistreat Christian pilgrims and severely oppress them.
The first king of Jerusalem was Baldwin, brother of the Crusade leader Gottfried of Bouillon. He annexed the cities of Beirut and Sidon to his territories. Baldwin was largely responsible for what order the crusaders established in the conquered countries. So, Italians settled here in large numbers, who were given permission to trade and open ports. The knights who opened their orders in this kingdom looked after the order.
Other Crusader States
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was not the only state created by the crusaders. During this period, the Edessa County, the Principality of Antioch, and the Trypillia County were founded. Here was the Order of the Crusaders of St. John.
The Principality of Antioch occupied the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and its population was somewhere around thirty thousand people. The crusaders who came from Italy also lived there. Normandy.
Edessa county appeared in 1098, and appeared on the lands where the Armenians originally lived. This county occupied a large territory, but it did not have access to water bodies. There were approximately 10,000 inhabitants there. The county had vassal territories. The states of the crusaders, the map of which the Muslim rulers had, did not last long.
The first quarter of the twelfth century was marked by the fact that the possessions of the crusaders increased. In 1100, the soldiers of Christ captured the cities of Tripoli and Caesarea, two years later Acre was captured. After that, the Trypillia County was created. At its head was Bertrand, Count of Toulouse. What orders the crusaders established in the conquered countries can be judged by how many cities were burned and how many local residents were killed.
The Decline of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
The heyday of this territory fell on the reign of Baldwin of Edessa. He was considered a person who sacredly observes Christian ideals, he had a wife - Queen Melisende - and a son. His son Baldwin the Third began to rule the kingdom after the death of his father. At this time, the states of the crusaders in the East united and became a stronghold of the Christian religion. Baldwin the Fourth became the heir of Baldwin III.
From 1185 the decline of the kingdom began. Several rulers have changed. In 1189, Emperor Salahaddin and his Muslim army appear on the horizon of this kingdom. They besiege Jerusalem, where many Christians are hiding.fugitives. After the capture of the city, its inhabitants survived, but they had to pay a ransom. Those who did not pay the ransom became slaves. The locals remembered what order the crusaders had established in the conquered countries, and therefore they were more willing to go under the authority of the Muslim sultan.
In 1229, King Frederick II temporarily returns the city to the possession of Christians. But soon the Muslims captured it again, and in 1285 the last knights escaped to Cyprus, leaving Jerusalem to the Muslim regiments. The Mamluk sultan Baibars played a major role in the capture of Jerusalem. The battle between the Crusaders and Muslims lasted three days.
Children's Crusade
One of the tragic pages of the Crusades is the Children's Crusade, which began in 1212. In one of the French villages, the shepherd Stephen appeared, who announced that allegedly only with the help of children it was possible to free the Holy Sepulcher, and urged the children to go to Jerusalem. As a result, he managed to collect up to thirty thousand followers.
Their further fate was deplorable: some died from various disasters, some were sold into slavery. Many died along the way. Subsequently, the Pope released them from the crucifixion vow, postponing its fulfillment until they came of age.
How did the Crusades affect the Middle East
The impact of the Crusades on the history and economy of different countries is ambiguous. On the one hand, thanks to this, there was a rise of Italian cities, in which thetrade. On the other hand, the economy and culture of Syria and Palestine were in decline. Much depended on what order the crusaders established in the conquered countries.
Syria and Palestine suffered, as many cities were destroyed and burned due to the raids of the crusaders. Cities such as Edessa, Ascalon and Kaisaria finally disappeared into oblivion. In 1227, Tinnis, the third largest city in what was then Egypt, was finally destroyed. At the end of the thirteenth century, the seaside part of Palestine was a ruined area where no one dared to settle.
Many handicraft centers in Syria and Palestine were forever destroyed and never rebuilt, and people moved from there to Egypt.
