Ed Ranks the Crusades (Part 3 of 3: The Epic)

Yes, it's Final Four time! Final Four Crusades, that is. These are the greatest and most epic of all the Crusades.

4. Fourth Crusade (1202 - 1204)

This Christian city doth seem a good place to attack, nay?

Background: The Third Crusade serves as an excellent introduction to the Fourth Crusade, but then again we're not reading these in chronological order so that might mean nothing to you yet. Long story short - the two sides of Christianity and Islam came to a peace treaty. Neither side probably truly sought lasting peace, and both merely intended to wait a few years until they were in a better and stronger position to war again. However, the heroes of the Third Crusade did not last very long beyond the end of hostilities. Saladin died of a fever not long after peace, and Richard the Lionheart died in France in 1198, fighting the forces of his once "ally" Phillip Augustus. Another major outcome of the Third Crusade was rising tension between Christian factions - the Latin Church to the West and the Orthodox Church to the East (in the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire). Since Westerners had to generally pass through the Byzantine Empire to get to the Holy Land, cultures naturally clashed. When Innocent III became the Pope in 1198, he immediately called for a new Crusade to pick up where the last one failed - retaking Jerusalem.

The Crusade: The master plan this time was to strike an invasion through Egypt. That involved sending major maritime forces down through Venice to set sail for Cairo (now ruled by Al-Adil I, the brother of Saladin commonly known in the west as "Saphadin"). Things started poorly for the invasion plans and never got better. Turnout to the Crusade was low and the Crusaders didn't have enough money to pay the Venetians what they were owed for the resources and ships provided. To try and make up for their debts, the Latin Christians decided, "Hey, instead of sailing to Egypt... let's just start raiding and plundering a bunch of port towns up and down the coastlines of these filthy Greek Christians to make our cash!" This led to events like "the Siege of Zara," which sounds a lot like something White women do at the mall. Innocent III wasn't super happy about this and threatened to excommunicate the crusaders, but then walked it back realizing that would end the Crusade. The Venetian fleet soon wound up in the port of Constantinople, home of the Byzantine Empire and I'm sure purely coincidentally Venice's major trade rival. A deal was struck between the Crusaders and Alexios IV, son of the deposed Byzantine Emperor Isaac II who had been expelled from the throne and blinded after a coup by his brother Alexios III.  Alexios IV made all sorts of promises in the deal that he obviously couldn't keep: soldiers to fight in the crusade, ships, paying the Crusaders' dept to the Venetians, and a reunification of the Orthodox Church to back under the Pope. The Crusaders attacked Constantinople in 1203 and helped Alexios IV take the throne to co-rule with his returning blind dad. But the people of Constantinople themselves weren't that happy about it and deposed them again. Soon after Isaac II was dead (of either old age or poisoning) and Alexios IV was strangled. Honestly the Crusaders were probably glad about this because they could use the whole thing as an excuse to just go in and completely sack Constantinople again in 1204... for good this time, totally plundering its wealth. That pretty much ended the whole thing. Barely any Crusaders wound up going to the Holy Land. The Pope was, again, pretty unhappy about this but couldn't really do much so he accepted plunder from Constantinople and helped to set up and legitimize a feudal Crusader State known as the "Latin Empire." 

End Result: The Latin Christians defeat the other dirty Greek Christians.

Legacy:  Constantinople had long been considered a bastion that helped defend Latin Christianity from the oncoming invasions of Muslims. In return for these centuries of service, Western Christianity took war up against and slaughtered their fellow Christians partly because they were the "wrong" type of Christian, but mostly because money. The First Crusade was announced by another Pope over a hundred years prior to help protect the Byzantines and heal the rift between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The Fourth Crusade did exactly the opposite, and ensured that the rift would never be healed. It also served as a final deathblow for the Byzantine Empire, albeit a slow deathblow. Founded nearly 900 years prior around 330AD, it would plod on for another two and a half centuries in a weaker and crippled form until finally being conquered by the Ottomans in 1453.

What about the Jews? Holy shit! The Jews got off lucky this time. No recorded Jew massacres associated with this Crusade, as the Christians were too busy killing each other. 

Any Sub Crusades? Nope.

If Have to Remember One Thing, Remember: This is the Crusade where Christians decided the best way to defeat Islam was to just fight each other and completely undermine the buffer zone they had which protected them from encroaching Muslim conquerors. Soooo... smart?


3. Seventh Crusade (1248 - 1254)
 

Louis IX doth sail his galley to have his foppish Capetian haunch whipped.

Background: The Khwarezmids were a group of Sunni Muslims who ruled in Iran and a good chunk of Central Asia until this hep cat (maybe you've heard of him) named "Genghis Khan" rolled through a large part of Eurasia and called dibs. Displaced, the Khwarezmids formed an alliance nominally with the with the Ayyubids.  In practice, the alliance was really more with the Mamluks - a sort of slave/servant class that was at the time highly respected by the Ayyubids for their military prowess. Although "respected" is a somewhat odd term to use considering that the word "Mamluk" means "property" and they were, you know, still slaves. Think of them as like the Unsullied in Game of Thrones (but they got to  keep their junk). Somewhat stupidly, the Ayyubid leaders continued to surround themselves with Mamluks and appoint them to important positions like atabegs. At any rate, the Ayyubid-Khwarezmid alliance brought the Khwarezmids down to aid in the fight against the Christians in Jerusalem. On July 15, 1244 the Khwarezmids captured Jerusalem. And by "captured" I mean completely and totally destroyed it, leveling it to the ground and massacring the Christians. The new pope, Innocent IV, responded by calling for another Crusade. But it was tough sell. The Germans couldn't go because the papacy was still feuding with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (and even had him deposed). Hungary couldn't help, because they too were falling victim to the Mongol invasion. England couldn't help, because one of the English heroes of the recent Baron's Crusade, Simon de Montfort, was now feuding with his King, Henry III. Besides, the English were in a feud with the French (as usual) and the French were the only ones who really wanted to take up the Crusade. Why help the French?
 
The Crusade: Louis IX of France was the only European power to join the Crusade to retake Jerusalem, although he was supported by the Knights Templar. His plan of attack wasn't to go directly to Jerusalem however - it was to invade Egypt and use that has a base. Now, an invasion of Egypt was also the Christian battle plan in the ill-fated Fifth Crusade. The Seventh Crusade would prove just as ill-fated for the Christians. Although Louis set sail in 1248 he had to winter in Cyprus. He finally arrived in Egypt in 1249 and took Damietta in June only to be grounded there for another six months due to Nile flooding (like the Fifth Crusade). In November he marched to Cairo and coincidentally Ayyubid Sultan As-Salih Ayyub died following a leg amputation for an abscess. But the death of the Sultan had no negative effect because a Mamluk military commander by the name of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdar (but let's just call him "Baibars") totally crushed the Crusaders and left them seiged at Mansourah. There they stayed for several months, running out of provisions and starving, before Louis decided to try to retreat back to Damietta. But on April 6, 1250 Baibars captured Louis at the Battle of Fariskur and his army was annihilated.
 
End Result: Total Ayyubid Mamluk victory. Think that hinting in the background section was for nothing? Just check out the legacy...
 
Legacy: There was a time Christians cared about retaking Jerusalem. But I suppose after it went back and forth several times the Christians just figured "meh, we'll get it back soon I'm sure." They were dead wrong. Louis went on the Crusade largely alone and was captured. He was ransomed for 800,000 bezants (roughly the equivalent of a million dinars, 53,010 smackers, 346,894 pieces of cheddar, 87,934 skrilla, or 400,000 simoleons... following the 2-1 bezant-to-simoleon exchange rate peg of 1971). Technically the crusade lasted until 1254, with the ransomed Louis leading a fledgling attempt to launch another campaign from Acre (until he ran out of money). The Christians would never take Jerusalem back. Ever. So - a big ol' victory for the Ayyubids, huh? Nope. With as-Salih Ayyub dead, his son Turanshah took over the sultanate. And about a month after the victory at Fariskur, Turanshah decided to throw a "we're the winners" banquet. A banquet where he was surrounded by all of his Mamluk warrior slaves who were like "forget this slave nonsense." Turanshah was assassinated and the slaves took control - with Baibars ending the Ayyubid dynasty of Cairo which had been in place since 1174 and replacing it with the brand new Mamluk Sultanate. They would rule for the next 267 years.
 
What about the Jews? I dunno. They were probably just hiding in a corner to avoid the conflict and nodding their head approvingly at the whole "the slaves of Egypt rise up and now become the masters" thing.
 
Any Sub Crusades? According to legend - yes, but really - no. The "Shepherds' Crusade of 1251" was supposedly launched to free Louis IX from his capture. But the stories about it make it sound more like a fable and moral tale than actual history, similar to the bullshit Children's Crusade. The story is that Louis' brothers went back to France to ask for help but the arrogant, lazy nobility wouldn't assist. So instead a group of peasants and shepherds led by a Hungarian monk in France rallied in Paris to save the day. They, of course, quickly broke apart without doing anything. Why this same lame story as the Children's Crusade? Is it to talk about the goodness of the poor? Or about how stupid and misguided they are? Maybe a bit of both. Maybe it was just an overused meme like how today we have the lame "he meant to get himself captured!" plot twist in every story. In reality, none of it probably ever happened and Louis had been ransomed and freed on April 30, 1250... less than a month after he was captured and a good year before this alleged Crusade to free him even happened.
 
If Have to Remember One Thing, Remember: If at first you don't succeed in invading through Egypt - try, try again? No. This is a terrible idea. Stop trying to invade through Egypt.

2. Third Crusade (1189 - 1192)

Saladin maketh that craven rogue Guy of Lusignan bendeth the knee. FIE!!!!

Background: After the Second Crusade, Nur ad-Din of the Zengid dynasty began expanding his territory and control throughout the Muslim world until he assembled a pretty large sultanate. One of his pupils was a young Kurish Sunni military commander and rising star named An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub. That's too long of a name for Westerners to say so they usually just called him by another name: Saladin. The pupil soon became the master, and after the death of Nur ad-Din, Saladin consolidated power, established the new Ayyubid dynasty, and became the first sultan of a unified Egypt and Syria. Saladin would become a constant thorn in the side of the Crusader States, culminating in 1187 with victories at Acre, Nablus, Jaffa, Toron, Sidon, Beirut, Ascalon, Hattin and Jerusalem. In the Battle of Hattin, Saladin destroyed the vast majority of Crusader forces and captured Guy of Lusignan, the King of Jerusalem. On October 2, 1187 the highest ranking lord left in Jerusalem, Balian of Ibelin, surrendered the city. After 88 years of Christian rule of Jerusalem, it all ended. Christians wouldn't rule Jerusalem again until the short 15 years following the Sixth Crusade. One (bullshit) legend says that Pope Urban III collapsed and died upon hearing the news. His successor, Gregory VIII would only reign for two months before dying himself. But in that two months he issued the papal bull Audita tremendi, calling for the Third Crusade.

The Crusade: It took almost a full two years before the rulers of Europe got off their butts to respond to the loss of Jerusalem. Elderly Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa initially led the charge but drowned in a Turkish river on the way down. France and England had been locked in constant territorial conflict for decades but came to an understanding when frenemies Phillip Augustus (King of France) and Prince Richard of England decided to team up to take out Richard's father, the ailing King Henry II. Henry died and Richard ascended to the throne as Richard I - aka Richard the Lionheart. In 1190 the English and French eventually set off for the Holy Land, but a series of delays and pit stops including fighting Moors in Ibera, King Tancred in Sicily (who was holding Richard's sister Joan hostage), and Isaac Komnenos in Cyprus delayed their arrival to the Holy Land until the next summer. Once they did arrive, Richard the Lionheart started tearing up shop with successful wins at Acre and Arsuf. But rival factions within the Crusader armies caused friction that would prevent any realistic gains. Phillip Augustus pretty much peaced out and ran home so he could start attacking Richards' armies back in France, there was an argument over who should be crowned the new King of Jerusalem (somewhat stupidly, since they didn't actually hold Jerusalem anymore), and Richard had to put up with unrealistic demands on him to attach Jerusalem despite lacking a supply line and appropriate troops to hold the city. By July 1192, Richard was about to go home to protect his lands when he heard that Saladin captured Jaffa. He decided instead to launch a daring maritime sneak attack that forced Saladin to retreat and, by September, agree to a peace treaty that would end the hostilities and allow Christians the right to send pilgrims to Jerusalem.

End Result: Stalemate and peace treaty (the Treaty of Jaffa). Although the Crusaders were able to make a few significant territorial gains back from Saladin (Acre and Jaffa), they couldn't capture Jerusalem. And most of their gains would be short-lived after Richard departed to return home be kidnapped by his fellow Christians and held ransom because the French and Germans were petty little jealous fuckheads and the original haters. 

Legacy: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin are the two most famous figures in the history of the Crusades, and deservedly so. They were both brilliant military tacticians and neither was brash or irresponsible. They only took on battles they had reasonable chances of winning, and when they realized that neither was in a position to defeat the other - they found a way to make peace. This despite great resistance and racism from Richard's Christian colleagues who thought it was beneath them to treat Muslims as equals. While an ending of "stalemate" with barely any territorial changes doesn't exactly seem like it would make for an epic and great war - the Third Crusade is by far and away the most written about and studied of all the Crusades, and the one whose historic figures are most embedded into the culture 825 years later.

What about the Jews? Although technically before England joined the Crusade itself, Jews were attacked at King Richard's coronation ceremony and then a rumor spread around that the new king had ordered all Jews to be killed. He hadn't, but that didn't stop a series of massacres, the burning of Jewish homes, and forced conversions. Richard released a royal writ telling people to stop doing it. Yep, a strongly worded letter was the planned solution to an antisemitic murder spree.

Any Sub Crusades? Not really, although Barbarossa's earlier failed effort is sometimes classified as separate event. A few years after the end of the Third Crusade in, there would be another abortive German crusade of 1197 that would come stumbling to a halt after Barbarossa's son, Henry VI, also died before ever reaching the Crusader States. Like father, like son!

If Have to Remember One Thing, Remember: Had Richard the Lionheart's Christian "allies" in France and Germany actually supported him rather than try to undermine him every step in order to advance their own agendas, Saladin may have been routed and Jerusalem recaptured. The history of the world, Middle East conflict, Christianity and Islam could potentially be vastly different if a few people in the late 12th century had acted slightly differently. But we can only guess at the history which didn't happen - so we'll never know.

1. First Crusade (1095-1099)

Grab thine whetstones and beeswing... it be time to Crusade!!!

Background: In 1095 Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos begged his Christian brethren from Western Europe to help him repel the invading Muslim Seljuq Turks. One group of Turks, the Sultanate of Rum under the leadership of  Sultan Kilij Arslan I (whose name means "Sword Lion" by the way, how badass can you get? That's some Voltron sounding shit!) had reached Nicaea, a mere 56 miles as the crow flies from the Byzantine capitol of Constantinople. Pope Urban II jumped in on the action and promoted the aid to the Byzantines throughout Western Europe, despite the fact that earlier in the century there had been the "Great Schism" where the Eastern Orthodox Church broke away from Western Latin Church. Perhaps the Pope was trying to re-unite Christianity again. At the Council of Clermont, the Pope rallied support--especially from France--to aid the Byzantines. Thus began the First Crusade.

The Crusade: But as would be typical throughout the history of the Crusades, "mission creep" set in and the goals of Crusaders rapidly changed. Little add-ons like "Hey, let's start massacring Jews in the Rhineland while we're on our way down" were common. An early contingent of First Crusade known as the "People's Crusade" arrived near Nicaea first, and Sultan Sword Lion obliterated them, supposedly slaughtering 30,000 men, women and children. First of all... who brings women and children on a crusade?  If the Crusaders really did that then they deserved to get slaughtered. Second... this man's name is Sword Lion, so they should have expected that. Third... this probably never happened because people made up numbers back then. By 1097, the main French Crusader force arrived and Sword Lion, perhaps underestimating the Christians based on his initial easy victory, was defeated and Nicaea surrendered. Sword Lion rallied support from rival Muslim Turks known as the Danishmend for a battle at Dorylaeum, but it wasn't enough. With the objective to protect Constantinople achieved, the Christian mission creep continued and the Crusaders figured, "Aww hell... we've gone this far. Let's just march to Jerusalem now and take it!" Half way from Constantinople to Jerusalem the Crusaders reached Antioch and engaged in a lengthy siege which ended in victory. By 1099 they were now at the gates of Jerusalem (ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate, namely its powerful vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah) and started a siege there too. It ended, unsurprisingly for the Crusaders, in a merciless bloodbath and massacre of the Muslims.

End Result: Overwhelming Christian victory. 

Legacy: The Christians, now victoriously winning back the Holy Land and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which wasn't even the initial point of the Crusade), established the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Christians would never see success like this again. The Muslims were simply caught off guard because they weren't expecting it. Hell, the Christians weren't really expecting it either. It just sort of happened. The Muslims would not be caught off guard again. But the overconfident Christians thought that these Crusade things would be easy and kept at it. They would be proven wrong.

What About the Jews?  The Christians slaughtered them for no particular reason in the Rhineland and also burned Jews in their temple in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the Muslims protected them and many Jews fled with the Muslims.

Any Sub Crusades? Yep. The aforementioned People's Crusade which ended in total failure. Slightly after the First Crusade began the Crusade of 1101, which was really just for people who were mocked for staying at home during the initial Crusade. They went off a few years late, were mostly routed, but a few forces made it to the Holy Land to reinforce the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other Crusader States.

If You Have to Remember One Thing, Remember: Sword Lion.