The crusaders' states in Syria became, like Spain1 and Sicily," a meeting-place of East and West. 172. Second Crusade, 1147–1149 A.D., and Third The success of the Christians in the First Crusade had been largely due to the disunion among their enemies. But the Moslems learned in time the value of united action, Origin of the Second and in 1144 A.D. succeeded in capturing Edessa, Crusade one of the principal Christian outposts in the East. The fall of the city, followed by the loss of the entire county of Edessa, aroused western Europe to the danger which threatened the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and led to another crusading enterprise. The apostle of the Second Crusade was the great abbot of Clairvaux, St. Bernard.3 Scenes of the wildest enthusiasm Preaching of marked his preaching. When the churches were St. Bernard not large enough to hold the crowds which flocked to hear him, he spoke from platforms erected in the fields. St. Bernard's eloquence induced two monarchs, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, to take the blood-red cross of a crusader. The Second Crusade, though begun under the most favorable auspices, had an unhappy ending. Of the great host that set Failure of the Second Crusade out from Europe, only a few thousands escaped annihilation in Asia Minor at the hands of the Turks. Louis and Conrad, with the remnants of their armies, made a joint attack on Damascus, but had to raise the siege after a few days. This closed the crusade. As a chronicler of the expedition remarked, "having practically accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned home." Not many years after the Second Crusade, the Moslem world found in the famous Saladin a leader for a holy war against the Christians. Saladin in character was a typical Mohammedan, very devout in prayers and fasting, fiercely hostile toward unbelievers, and full of the pride of Saladin 1 See page 383. 2 See page 413. See pages 449-450. race. To these qualities he added a kindliness and humanity not surpassed,, if equaled, by any of his Christian foes. He lives in eastern history and legend as the hero who stemmed once for all the tide of European conquest in Asia. army Capture of by Saladin, Having made himself sultan of Egypt, Saladin united the Moslems of Syria under his sway and then advanced against the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Christians met him in a great battle near the lake of Galilee. It ended in the rout of their and the capture of their king. Even the Holy Cross, which they had carried in the midst of the fight, became the spoil of the conqueror. Saladin quickly reaped the fruits of victory. The Christian cities of Syria opened their gates to him, and at last Jerusalem itself surrendered after a short siege. Little now remained of the possessions which the crusaders had won in the East. Third 1189 A.D. The news of the taking of Jerusalem spread consternation throughout western Christendom. The cry for another crusade arose on all sides. Once more thousands of men sewed the cross in gold, or silk, or cloth upon their Crusade garments and set out for the Holy Land. When organized, the three greatest rulers of Europe Philip Augustus, king of France, Richard I, king of England, and the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa 2 assumed the cross, it seemed that nothing could prevent the restoration of Christian supremacy in Syria. Death of The Germans under Frederick Barbarossa were the first to start. This great emperor was now nearly seventy years old, yet age had not lessened his crusading zeal. He took the overland route and after much hard fighting Frederick reached southern Asia Minor. Here, however, he was drowned, while trying to cross a swollen stream. Many of his discouraged followers at once returned to Germany; a few of them, however, pressed on and joined the other crusaders before the walls of Acre. Barbarossa, 1190 A.D. The expedition of the French and English achieved little. RICHARD I IN PRISON From an illuminated manuscript of the thirteenth century. King Richard on his return from the Holy Land was shipwrecked off the coast of the Adriatic. At tempting to travel through Austria in disguise, he was captured by the duke of Austria, whom he had offended at the siege of Acre. The king regained his liberty only by paying a ransom equivalent to more than twice the annual revenues of England. Richard many adventures and performed knightly exploits without number, but could not capture Jerusalem. Tradition declares that when, during a truce, some crusaders went up to Jerusalem, Richard refused to accompany them, saying that he would not enter as a pilgrim the city which he could not rescue as a conqueror. He and Saladin finally concluded a treaty by the terms of which Christians were permitted to visit Jerusalem without paying tribute. Richard then set sail for England, and with his departure from the Holy Land the Third Crusade came to an end. 173. Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Con- The real author of the Fourth Crusade was the famous pope, Innocent III.2 Young, enthusiastic, and ambitious for the Innocent III glory of the Papacy, he revived the plans of Urban II and sought once more to unite the forces of Christendom against Islam. No emperor or king and the answered his summons, but a number of knights (chiefly French) took the crusader's vow. Fourth Crusade The cru the Venetians The leaders of the crusade decided to make Egypt their objective point, since this country was then the center of the Moslem power. Accordingly, the crusaders proceeded to Venice, for the purpose of secur- saders and ing transportation across the Mediterranean. The Venetians agreed to furnish the necessary ships only on condition that the crusaders first seized Zara on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. Zara was a Christian city, but it was also a naval and commercial rival of Venice. In spite of the pope's protests the crusaders besieged and captured the city. Even then they did not proceed against the Moslems. The Venetians persuaded them to turn their arms against Constantinople. The possession of that great capital would greatly increase Venetian trade and influence in the East; for the crusading nobles it held out endless opportunities of acquiring wealth and power. Thus it happened that these soldiers of the Cross, pledged to war with the Moslems, attacked a Christian city, which for centuries had formed the chief bulwark of Europe against the Arab and the Turk. The crusaders now better styled the invaders took Constantinople by storm. No "infidels" could have treated in worse fashion this home of ancient civilization. They burned down a great part of it; they slaughtered the inhabitants; they wantonly destroyed monuments, statues, paintings, and manuscripts Sack of Constantinople, 1204 A.D. the accumulation of a thousand years. Much of the movable wealth they carried away. Never, declared an eye-witness of the scene, had there been such plunder since the world began. The victors hastened to divide between them the lands of the Roman Empire in the East. Venice gained some districts in Greece, together with nearly all the Ægean islands. The The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 12041261 A.D. chief crusaders formed part of the remaining territory into the Latin Empire of Constantinople. It was organized in fiefs, after the feudal manner. There was a prince of Achaia, a duke of Athens, a marquis of Corinth, and a count of Thebes. Large districts, both in Europe and Asia, did not acknowledge, however, these "Latin" rulers. The new empire lived less than sixty years. At the end of this time the Greeks returned to power. Constantinople, after the Fourth Crusade, declined in strength and could no longer cope with the barbarians menacing it. Two centuries later the city fell an easy victim to the Turks. The responsibility for the disasof the Fourth ter which gave the Turks a foothold in Europe rests on the heads of the Venetians and the French nobles. Their greed and lust for power turned the Fourth Crusade into a political adventure. Disastrous consequence Crusade The 1212 A.D. The so-called Children's Crusade illustrates at once the religious enthusiasm and misdirected zeal which marked the whole crusading movement. During the year 1212 A.D. thousands of French children assembled in bands and marched through the towns and villages, carrying banners, candles, and crosses and singing, "Lord God, exalt Christianity. Lord God, restore to us the true cross." The children could not be restrained at first, but finally hunger compelled them to return home. In Germany, during the same year, a lad named Nicholas really did succeed in launching a crusade. He led a mixed multitude of men and women, boys and girls over the Alps into Italy, where they expected to take ship for Palestine. But many perished of hardships, many were sold into slavery, and only a few ever saw their homes again. "These children," Pope Innocent III declared, "put us to shame; while we sleep they rush to recover the Holy Land." The crusading movement came to an end by the close of the thirteenth century. The emperor Frederick II2 for a short |