The Origins of the Crusades
The Rise of Islam
After the death of Mohammad in 632 the soldiers of Islam struck out against the Christian countries and in less than 100 years what had once been the most heavily Christian areas of the world were conquered. Palestine, Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia fell swiftly and by the eighth centaury Muslim Armies had conquered all of Christian North Africa and swept through Spain and across the Pyrenees and into southern France. The conquest of southern France ended at Tours in 732, saving not just southern France but northern Italy as well.
Chronicle of St. Denis
The Muslims planned to go to Tours to destroy the Church of St. Martin, the city, and the whole country. Then came against them the glorious Prince Charles, at the head of his whole force. He drew up his host, and he fought as fiercely as the hungry wolf falls upon the stag. By the grace of Our Lord, he wrought a great slaughter upon the enemies of Christian faith, so that---as history bears witness---he slew in that battle 300,000 men, likewise their king by name Abderrahman. Then was he [Charles] first called "Martel," for as a hammer of iron, of steel, and of every other metal, even so he dashed: and smote in the battle all his enemies. And what was the greatest marvel of all; he only lost in that battle 1500 men. The tents and harness [of the enemy] were taken; and whatever else they possessed became a prey to him and his followers. Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine, being now reconciled with Prince Charles Martel, later slew as many of the Saracens as he could find who had escaped from the battle.
The defeat at Tours arrested the conquest of mainland Western Europe by Muslim armies; however they carried on east and conquered Persia, Afghanistan, and a large part of India. Further expansion by the Muslims had significantly driven back the borders of the Byzantine Empire, although the Byzantines still held Constantinople, the greatest city in Christendom, and an important focus for the next 300 years of conflict between crescent and cross.
Pilgrimage
Christians still journeyed in large numbers to Palestine to visit the Holy sites and were usually unmolested on their journeys. Discourse between the two great religions and their leaders was still possible, but very difficult. Christian works were also still possible in the holy land such as the setting up of alms houses for the pilgrims. The account of the journey of St. Willibald, Bishop of Eichstädt, details some the hardships faced by the Pilgrims. Whilst on Pilgrimage to the holy land, he was captured and imprisoned by Saracens who thought him a spy. His pilgrimage took nearly seven years to complete.
Attempts were made to improve relations between the Muslim states and the Christian states and make it easier for pilgrims. Pepin the Short entered into negotiations with the Caliph of Baghdad and successfully secured the keys of the Holy Sepulchre, the banner of Jerusalem, and some precious relics and agreement that Pilgrims could visit the Holy Sepulchre unmolested. Despite this and other agreements, none of which lasted, conditions continued to deteriorate for Pilgrims, shrines were repeatedly ransacked and defaced, and pilgrims were considered to be easy prey for robbers and brigands. Conversely, the more adverse the conditions they would suffer on the Pilgrimage the more it became the great act of faith for the pilgrims to complete a pilgrimage, and the numbers of people going on Pilgrimage during the eighth and ninth centuries grew rather than declined.
Intolerance came to a head in 1009. The Fatimite Khalif of Egypt al-Hakim explicitly ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other Christian shrines. A schizophrenic later named the "Nero of Egypt" for his merciless acts; he persecuted ferociously both Christians and Jews. He ordered that in public Jews were to wear masks representing the head of an ox and bells around their necks; Christians were to wear mourning apparel and Crosses one yard in length. For eleven years Christians were prohibited from visiting the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and were not allowed in to pray in its ruins. In the 1048, the Caliph Al Zachir, under a treaty with Byzantium, permitted the reconstruction of the shrines and reconstruction of the Holy Sepulchre basilica.
The enthusiasm of Western Christians for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem resurged. Now, not just princes, bishops, and knights, but common men and women also undertook the great journey in ever increasing numbers. Armies of pilgrims travelled across Europe heading for the Holy Land and many more alms houses were established to cope with the ever growing number of pilgrims. Pilgrims started to travel in ever larger groups to try and afford protection to one and other; however numbers were not always enough to deter robbers and enslavers. In 1065 over 12,000 Germans crossed Europe under the command of Günther, Bishop of Bamberg, while on their way through Palestine they had to seek shelter in a ruined fortress, where they defended themselves against a Bedouin army.
From the seventh until the eleventh centuries Jerusalem and the surrounding region had been ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. Generally they were mild and tolerant, towards Christian pilgrims who came to the holy land. The arrival of the Seljuk Turk’s changed all of that. The Seljuks were not anywhere near as tolerant as the Fatimids and pilgrims returning to Europe reporting of harsh treatment, abuse and suffering at their hands. Although their stories were almost certainly exaggerated, maybe to make their Pilgrimage seem more worthy than those who had an easy journey, these stories none the less deeply unsettled and alarmed western rulers and the church.
The powerful Italian trading states who had been trying to expand their control of trade in the Mediterranean now found these avenues blocked as the Muslims controlled the strategic seaports and would not let them enjoy any monopoly. They knew that if the Muslim hold on these cities could be ended or at least significantly weakened, then cities like Venice, Genoa, and Pisa had a chance to enrich themselves further and so they started to lobby the church that something had to be done to make the areas accessible to Christians again.
In 1070 Jerusalem fell to the Seljuk Turk’s and in 1073 the Byzantine emperor called for assistance from the pope. Letters were exchanged on the subject and the Pope seriously contemplated leading a force of 50,000 men to the East in order to re-establish Christian unity, repulse the Turks and rescue the Holy Sepulchre. However, the conflict over the Investitures in 1076 ensured that the Pope was too busy trying to contain Henry IV of Germany and re-establish his authority over Germany’s church and Emperor to come to the aid to the Byzantines
In 1091 Diogenes, the Byzantine emperor, was defeated and made captive at Mantzikert a disastrous defeat for the Byzantines. Asia Minor and all of Syria also fell under the control of the Turks, and Antioch succumbed in 1084. By 1092 the entire region was controlled by them and Jerusalem was almost unreachable for Pilgrims.
Alexius, the new Byzantine emperor wrote to Urban II in 1095 and requested assistance in the defence of Christendom against the terrible Turks. Alexius sought to enrol five hundred Flemish knights in the imperial army which was still recovering from its momentous defeat of 1091. When he asked for those 500 knights little could he have imagined that within eighteen months 120,000 – 150,000 knights, soldiers, women and children would answer his plea for help and that the Crusade once started would carry on for so many years and in the end achieve nothing.
