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BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Third Crusade

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the highs and lows of the Third Crusade.

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You're Dead To Me - Saladin - BBC Sounds

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Catch up on your favourite BBC radio show from your favourite DJ right here, whenever you like. Listen without limits with BBC Sounds.

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Pope Urban II and the First crusade.

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On the 27 th November 1095, Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade with an impassioned speech at the Council of Clermont. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos had appealed to the Pope for support against invasion by the Seljuk Turks, and many historians argue that Urban II took advantage of the situation as a way to reunite Christendom under the papacy.

By the 11 th Century, Christianity had secured a stable base across most of Europe. However the Byzantine Empire was on the very periphery and faced continuous threats from Muslim conquests. The city of Jerusalem had been in Muslim hands since 638, but ongoing wars between different Arab dynasties had resulted in it being captured by the Seljuks in 1076. When their army began threatening to attack Constantinople, Alexios appealed to the Pope for assistance.

There is no record of how many people responded to the Pope's call, but estimates suggest anywhere between 60,000 and 100,000 of which a large number were ordinary peasants. Exactly why so many people chose to "take the cross" is also a question subject to fierce debate. Certainly some nobles went in the hope of seizing riches along the way, but a large number of crusaders almost certainly did so out of piety.

Although Pope Urban had intended the Crusade to depart on the 15 th August 1096, large numbers of peasants and low-ranking knights set off earlier on what became known as the People's Crusade. Poorly disciplined and with little to no military training, these Crusaders killed thousands of Jews in the pogroms of 1096 before even leaving Europe.

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Pope Urban II and the launch of the First Crusade | | History revision for GCSE, IGCSE, IB and AS/A2 History | Mr Allsop History

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On the 27 th November 1095, Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade with an impassioned speech at the Council of Clermont. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos had appealed to the Pope for support against invasion by the Seljuk Turks, and many historians argue that Urban II took advantage of the situation as a way to reunite Christendom under the papacy.

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Did we benefit from the crusades? Includes some interesting video links on the crusades.

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KEY QUESTIONS Why did the Crusades occur? What caused Crusades to happen? Were any of the Crusades successful? What legacy did the Crusades leave on the World? Who were the key instigators...

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A brief overview of the crusades, together with some good sources for thinking about the crusades.

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Introduction - The Story of the Crusades

Jerusalem was the Holy City of the Christian religion, but it was part of the Turkish empire, and the Turks were Muslims.

In 1095, the Pope asked the people of Europe to go on a crusade to conquer the Holy Land for Christianity. Over the next four hundred years, thousands of Christians went to fight the Muslims:

Study these Sources, then answer the question sheet by clicking on the 'Time to Work' icon at the top of the page.

1 Richard the Lionheart

A drawing of Richard the Lionheart on Crusade, from an English children's book.

Some crusaders joined orders of knights such as the Knights of the Hospital of St John, and the Knights Templars. They took vows of poverty and chastity and lived holy lives. The Hospitallers' order still survives today as the St John's Ambulance Brigade.

2 A Knight Templar

A drawing of a crusader from the thirteenth century.

Why go on Crusade?

There were many reasons why people went on crusade. Some were genuinely religious men. Also, the Pope promised all crusaders forgiveness for their sins; this was important for knights who had killed people in battle, and believed that they were going to hell. Other knights actually went to kill and steal - at home, kings encouraged the most violent nobles to go on crusade, because it got them out of the country!

To go on a crusade was adventure. The Holy Land was full of different sights and unknown goods. Young knights could prove how brave they were. Sometimes the younger son of a great lord - who did not expect to inherit his father's lands - would go on crusade to win land. Villeins joined the crusades, because the Pope promised them freedom if they went to fight.

Results of the Crusades

In the East, the crusaders discovered all sorts of things they had never seen before, such as lemons, apricots, sugar, silk and cotton. They discovered new spices (used in cooking) and new perfumes. While the crusaders were fighting the Muslims, European merchants were sailing to the Holy Land and trading with the Muslims for these goods!

The crusaders realised that in some ways the Muslims were more civilised than the Europeans. The Muslims knew much more about medicine. They were also better at mathematics: Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, 4. etc.) were easier to use than Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, etc.).

The Muslims knew more about geography. In the Holy Land, the crusaders heard about unknown lands in the Far East, and they realised that the world was a bigger place than they had thought. In 1275 a European, Marco Polo, visited China.

The crusades led to improvements in armour and castle design in the West. One Chinese invention that found its way to Europe was gunpowder - a discovery that changed warfare.

Then, in 1492, Christopher Columbus tried to find a new way to bring spices from the Far East to western Europe without going through Muslim lands. He used Muslim mathematics to work out the size of the earth, and Muslim geography to find a way to sail west to China. As a result, he discovered America ... and 1492 is often said to be the date when the Middle Ages came to an end.

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Introduction - The Story of the Crusades Jerusalem was the Holy City of the Christian religion, but it was part of the Turkish empire, and the Turks were Muslims. In 1095, the Pope asked the people of Europe to go on a crusade to conquer the Holy Land for Christianity.

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Clear examples of reasons for going on a crusade and interactive activities to test your knowledge.

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To Muslims, Jerusalem is the third most holy city, as Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from there. Arab Muslims conquered the Holy Land in 638. The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque are sites of pilgrimage for Muslims.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Caliph of Egypt, Al-Hakim, in 1009. Following this time, Christian pilgrims were free to visit the church. However, around 1077 Muslim Seljuk Turks took control of the Holy Land.

It became harder for Christian pilgrims to visit as various Muslim groups struggled for power. Rumours of mistreatment of local Christians and pilgrims spread. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius, fearing the spread of Seljuk rule towards his own lands and a threat to the Christian city of Constantinople, appealed to the Pope for help.

Therefore in 1095, Pope Urban II promised the knights of Europe forgiveness of their sins if they went on a Crusade to win back Jerusalem for Christianity. Many responded by taking the cross and showed this act by cutting out red crosses before sewing them into their tunics.

After a long seige they captured Jerusalem in 1099. The attack was brutal, with thousands killed. A Christian source from the time claimed that The slaughter was so great that our men waded in blood up to their ankles .

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How did the Crusades begin? - The Crusades - KS3 History Revision - BBC Bitesize

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To Muslims, Jerusalem is the third most holy city, as Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from there. Arab Muslims conquered the Holy Land in 638. The Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque are sites of pilgrimage for Muslims. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Caliph of Egypt, Al-Hakim, in 1009.