Crusading Movement
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The
First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
inspired the crusading movement, which became an important part of late medieval western culture. The movement influenced the Church, politics, the economy, society and created a distinct ideology that described, regulated, and promoted crusading. It was defined by legal and
theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
terms based on the concepts of
holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
and
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
. Theologically, the movement merged ideas of Old Testament wars instigated and assisted by God with
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
ideas of forming personal relationships with Christ. The concept of crusading as holy war was based on the ancient idea of
just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...
, in which an authority initiates the war, there is just cause, and the war is waged with pure intention. Crusades were seen as special pilgrimagesa physical and spiritual journey under the authority and protection of the Church. Pilgrimage and crusade were penitent acts and Crusade participants were considered part of Christ's army. While this was only metaphorical before the First Crusade, the concept transferred from the
Clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
to the wider world. Crusaders attached crosses of cloth to their outfits marking them as followers and devotees of Christ, responding to the biblical passage in Luke 9:23 which instructed them ''to carry one's cross and follow Christ''. Anyone could be involved and those who died campaigning were considered martyrs. Crusading was strongly associated with the recovery of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and the Palestinian holy places. The Holy Land was considered the patrimony of Christ, and its recovery was on the behalf of God. The historic Christian focus on Jerusalem as the setting for Christ's act of redemption was fundamental for the First Crusade and the successful establishment of the institution of crusading. Campaigns to the Holy Land were met with the greatest enthusiasm and support. The Crusading movement expanded to other theatres on the periphery of Christian Europe: the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
; north-eastern Europe, against the
Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...
; the Baltic region; against heretics in France, Germany, and Hungary; and into mainly Italian campaigns against the papacy's political enemies. Common to all was papal sanction and the medieval concept of one Christian Church ruled by the papacy and separate from non-believers, so that Christendom was a geopolitical reference. Crusading was a paradigm that grew from the encouragement of the
Gregorian Reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...
of the 11thcentury and the movement declined after the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. The ideology continued after the 16thcentury but in practical terms dwindled in competition with other forms of religious war and new ideologies.


Terminology

The
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
identifies that from the 13thcentury the adjective ''
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
'' was used for
members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
who lived ''in the world'' or as opposed to in monastic seclusion; for example a secular canon or abbot who was not a monk, but had the title and income, without the responsibilities of an abbot. It became used to describe belonging to the world and its affairs rather than those of the church and religion. It was usually a negative term meaning non-ecclesiastical, non-religious, or non-sacred. By the 16thcentury it described literature, history, art, music, writers, artists, buildings, education that were not concerned with or devoted to the service of religion. As a noun the word described one of the secular clergy to distinguish them from d monks and by the 15thcentury it was used for someone who was engaged in the affairs of the world as opposed to the affairs of the church. The verb ''
secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
'' describes conversion of an ecclesiastical institution or its property to secular ownership; the conversion of an Ecclesiastical polity to a lay one or the giving of a secular or non-sacred character direction to art, studies, morals, education etc.


Background

Following the inspiration of the first crusades, the crusading movement defined late medieval western culture and had an enduring impact on the history of the western Islamic world. This influence was in every area of life across Europe. Christendom was a geopolitical reference, and this underpinned the practice of the medieval Church. These ideas arose with the encouragement of the reformists of the 11thcentury and declined after the Reformation. The ideology of crusading continued after the 16thcentury with the military orders but dwindled in competition with other forms of religious war and new ideologies. The period following the collapse of the
Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...
and the onset of the feudal revolution was seen by a reformist movement as an era of decline in morals, and religious institutions. It was considered the result of too much involvement in the dealings of the mundus. In the 11th century the reformers responded primarily with the monasticisation and reform of the clergy. This reform was centred on ideals of personal piety, chastity, moral purity, spiritual discipline, and elaborate liturgies. The clerical reformers viewed themselves as architects of a re-established respublica Christiana. Focussed on the monastery at Cluny this became known as Cluniac reform. Thus, an ideological framework was created for a faction within the clergy who saw themselves as God’s agents of the moral and spiritual renewal of Christendom. As church historian Colin Morris noted, quoting Erdmann, this reforming party gaining control of the Roman Church was an important turning point because these were men who stood for the concept of holy war and sought to enact it.
International Relations Theory International relations theory is the study of international relations (IR) from a theoretical perspective. It seeks to explain causal and constitutive effects in international politics. Ole Holsti describes international relations theories as a ...
academic Andrew Latham identified three key pre-conditions that persisted during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. * The reform of the essential identity of the Latin Church into an independent, motivated by God deliverer of religious renewal. The core interests of this identity provoked conflict with the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, Muslim polities, heretics, and pagans. * The construction of crusading as a new social institution in which the Church was a war-making entity that the armed nobility fought for as . * The development of formal structures for building an army that progressed the Church's interests. This new identity and developments created conflict between the Church and its opponents that become violent. The crusades were not only a function of anarchy but became part of the wider social and political development. Without these factors, the crusades were impossible, and when they faded crusading declined.


Christianity and war

Texts described the development of a distinct ideology that regulated, and promoted crusades. The Church defined crusading in legal and theological terms based on the theory of holy war and the concept of pilgrimage. Theology merged Old Testament Israelite wars that were instigated and assisted by God with New Testament Christocentric views on forming individual relationships with Christ. Holy war was based on , the ancient idea of just war. It was the 4th-century theologian Augustine of Hippo who Christianised this, and canon lawyers developed it from the 11thcentury into , the paradigm of Christian holy war. Theologians widely accepted
Henry of Segusio Henry of Segusio, usually called Hostiensis, (c. 1200 – 6 or 7 November 1271) was an Italian canonist of the thirteenth century, born at Susa (Segusio), in the ancient Diocese of Turin. He died at Lyon. Life He undertook the study of Roman law ...
's justification that holy war against pagans was just because of their opposition to Christianity. The theology of war evolved from the linking of
Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...
with Christianity; Christian citizens now had the obligation to fight against the Empire's enemies. Augustine argued that war was sinful, but in certain circumstances, a "
just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...
" could be rationalised. The criteria were: * If an authority such as a king or bishop proclaimed the war. * If it was defensive or for the recovery of territory. * If combatants fought without an excessive degree of violence. Gregory VII extended the institutions of holy war and in 1083 his supporter Anselm of Lucca consolidated the just war theories in or Collection of canon law. In the 11thcentury, the Church sponsored conflict with Muslims on the southern peripheries of
Christendom Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
, including the siege of Barbastro and fighting in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
In 1074, Gregory planned a holy war in support of Byzantium's struggles with Muslims, which produced a template for a crusade, but he was unable to garner the required support. Augustine's principles formed the basis of a doctrine of
holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
that was later developed in the 13thcentury by
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
,
canon lawyers Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
, and theologians. Historians, such as
Carl Erdmann Carl Erdmann (17 November 1898 – 5 March 1945) was a German historian who specialized in medieval political and intellectual history. He is noted in particular for his study of the origins of the idea of crusading in medieval Latin Christendom ...
, thought that from the 10thcentury the
Peace and Truce of God The Peace and Truce of God ( lat, Pax et treuga Dei) was a movement in the Middle Ages led by the Catholic Church and one of the most influential mass peace movements in history. The goal of both the ''Pax Dei'' and the ''Treuga Dei'' was to limit ...
movement restricted conflict between Christians. This movement's influence is apparent in Pope Urban II's speeches, but historians now assert that this was limited and had ended by the time of the crusades. Erdmann documented in ''The Origin of the Idea of Crusade'' the three stages of the development of a Christian institution of crusade: * The Augustinian argument that the preservation of Christian unity was a ''just cause'' for warfare. * The idea developed under
Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregor ...
that the conquest of pagans in an ''indirect missionary war'' also complied. * The paradigm developed under the reformist popes
Leo IX Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...
, Alexander II and Gregory VII, in the face of Islamic conflict, that it was right to wage war in defence of Christendom. The Church viewed Rome as the Patrimony of Saint Peter, and
canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
considered crusades as purely defensive wars to protect theoretical Christian territory.


Penance and indulgence

Before the 11thcentury, the
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
developed a system that provided remission and absolution of sin in return for contrition, confession, and penitential acts. However, reparation through abstinence from martial activity presented a major challenge to the noble warrior class. In a revolutionary innovation at the end of the 11thcentury Gregory VII offered absolution of sin earned through the Church-sponsored violence in support of his causes, if selflessly given. This was developed by subsequent Popes into the granting of plenary indulgence that reduced all God-imposed temporal penalties. At the
Council of Clermont The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Pope Urban's speech ...
in November 1095,
Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II;  – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...
effectively founded the crusading movement with two recorded directives: * the exemption of atonement for those who journeyed to Jerusalem to free the Church; * that while doing so all goods and property were protected. The weakness of conventional theologies in the face of crusading euphoria is shown in a letter critical of
Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050  1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...
from the writer Sigebert of Gembloux to the crusader Robert II, Count of Flanders. Sigebert referred to Robert's safe return from Jerusalem but completely avoided mentioning the crusade. It was Calixtus II who first promised the same priveliges and protections of property to the families of crusaders. Under the influence of
Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order throug ...
, Eugenius III revised Urban's ambiguous position with the view that the crusading indulgence was remission from God's punishment for sin, as opposed to only remitting ecclesiastical confessional discipline. Innocent III emphasised crusader oaths and clarified that the absolution of sins was a gift from God, rather than a reward for the crusaders' suffering. With his 1213 bull '' Quia maior'', he appealed to all Christians, not just the nobility, offering the possibility of vow redemption without crusading. This set a precedent for trading in spiritual rewards, a practice that scandalised devout Christians and became a contributing cause of the 16th century
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
. As late as the 16thcentury, writers sought redemptive solutions in the traditionalist wars of the cross, while others such as English martyrologist John Foxe saw these as examples of papist superstition, corruption of religion, idolatry, and profanation. Critics blamed the Roman Church for the failure of the crusades. War against the infidel was laudable, but not crusading based on doctrines of papal power, indulgences, and against Christian religious dissidents such as the Albigensian and
Waldensians The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...
. This based on juristic ideas of just war to which
Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
, Calvinists and Roman Catholics could all subscribe, and the role of indulgences diminished in Roman Catholics tracts on the Turkish wars.
Alberico Gentili Alberico Gentili (14 January 155219 June 1608) was an Italian-English jurist, a tutor of Queen Elizabeth I, and a standing advocate to the Spanish Embassy in London, who served as the Regius professor of civil law at the University of Oxfor ...
and Hugo Grotius developed international laws of war that discounted religion as a cause in contrast to popes, who persisted in issuing crusade bulls for generations.


Knights and chivalry

At the beginning of the crusading movement, Chivalry was in its infancy but it went on to define the ideas and values of knights, central to the crusade movement. Literature illustrated the prestige of knighthood, but it was distinct from the aristocracy. 11th and 12thcentury texts depict a class of knights that were closer in status to peasants within recent generations. In the 13thcentury knighthood entered the nobility as a social class with legal status, closed to non-nobles. Chivalric development grew from a society dominated by the possession of castles. Those who defended these, became knights. At the same time, a novel form of combat evolved based on the use of heavy cavalry, coupled with the growing naval capability of Italy's
maritime republics The maritime republics ( it, repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics ( it, repubbliche mercantili), were Thalassocracy, thalassocratic city-states of the Mediterranean Basin during the Middle Ages. Being a significant presence in I ...
, that strengthened the feasibility of the First Crusade. The new methods of warfare led to the development of codes, ethics, and ideologies. Contrary to the representation in the romances, battles were rare. Instead, raids and sieges predominated, for which there was only a minimal role for knights. During the 11th and 12thcenturies, the armies consisted in the ratio of one knight to between seven and twelve
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
, mounted sergeants, and
squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...
s. Knighthood required combat training, which created solidarity and gave rise to combat as a sport. Crusade preachers used tournaments and other gatherings to obtain vows of support from attending dignitaries, begin persuasive campaigns and announce a leader's taking of the cross. Military strategy and medieval institutions were immature in feudal Europe, with power too fragmented to form disciplined units. Despite their courage and notable generalship, the crusades in the
Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
were typically unimpressive. Developing vernacular literature glorified the idea of adventure and the virtues of valour, largesse, and courtesy. This created an ideal of the perfect knight. Chivalry was a way of life, a social and moral model that evolved into a myth conflicting with the ideals of the Church. Whilst fearing the knighthood, the Church co-opted it in conflicts with feudal lords. Writers lauded those who fought for the Church; others were
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
. By the 11thcentury, the Church developed liturgical
blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...
s sanctifying new knights, and existing literary themes, such as the legend of the
Grail The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraf ...
, were Christianized and treatises on chivalry written. In 1100, kings depicted themselves as knights to indicate power. Crusading participation was considered integral to idealized knightly behaviour. Crusading became part of the knightly class's self-identification, creating a cultural gap with other social classes. From the Fourth Crusade, it became an adventure normalised in Europe, which altered the relationship between knightly enterprise, religious and worldly motivation.


Military Orders

The crusaders' propensity to follow the customs of their western European homelands meant that there were very few innovations developed from the culture of the crusader states. Three notable exceptions to this were the military orders, warfare, and fortifications. The Knights Hospitaller were founded in Jerusalem before the First Crusade but added a martial element to their ongoing medical functions to become a much larger military order. In this way, the knighthood entered the previously monastic and ecclesiastical sphere. Military orders like the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar provided Latin Christendom's first professional armies to support the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other crusader states. The Templars were founded around 1119 by a small band of knights who dedicated themselves to protecting pilgrims en route to Jerusalem. These orders became supranational organizations with papal support leading to rich donations of land and revenue across Europe. This led to a steady flow of recruits and the wealth to maintain multiple fortifications in the crusader states. In time, they developed into autonomous powers. After the fall of Acre, the Hospitallers relocated to
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
, then conquered and ruled
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
(1309–1522) and
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
(1530–1798), and continue to exist to the present-day. King Philip IV of France had financial and political reasons to oppose the Knights Templar, which led him to exert pressure on Pope Clement V. The pope responded in 1312, with a series of papal bulls including '' Vox in excelso'' and '' Ad providam'', which dissolved the order on alleged and false grounds of
sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sod ...
, magic, and heresy.


Common people

There were contributions to the crusading movement from classes other than the nobility and knighthood. Grooms, servants, smiths, armourers, and cooks provided services and could fight if required. Women also formed part of the armies. Despite papal recruitment concentrating on warriors in the movement's early years, it proved impossible to exclude non-knightly participants. Historians have increasingly researched the motivations of the poor who joined the early crusades in large numbers and engaged in popular unsanctioned events during the 13th and 14thcenturies. Participation was voluntary, so preaching needed to propagandise theology in popular forms, which often led to misunderstanding. For example, crusading was technically defensive, but amongst the poor, Christianity and crusading were aggressive. An emphasis on popular preaching developed in the 12thcentury generated a wealth of useful resources. The most popular example is that of Humbert of Romans from 1268. The popular but short-lived outbreaks of crusading enthusiasm after the
fall of Acre The siege of Acre (also called the fall of Acre) took place in 1291 and resulted in the Crusaders losing control of Acre to the Mamluks. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continue ...
were largely driven by
eschatological Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...
perceptions of crusading amongst the poor rather than the advanced, professionalized plans advocated by theorists. Pilgrimage was not a mass activity. To develop an association with the Holy Sepulchre, western Christians built models of the site across Europe and dedicated chapels. Although these acts predated crusading, they became increasingly popular. These may have provided a backdrop to Easter Drama or sacramental liturgy. In this way, what was known as the ''remotest place'' in 1099 became embedded in daily devotion, providing a visible sign of what crusading was about. Ungoverned, uncontrolled peasant crusading erupted in 1096, 1212, 1251, 1309, and 1320. Apart from the Children's Crusade of 1212, these were accompanied by violent
antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
; it is unexplained why this was the exception. The literate classes were hostile to this particular unauthorized crusade but mytho-historicized it so effectively that it is one of the most evocative verbal artefacts from the Middle Ages that remained in European and American imagination. The term “Children's Crusade” requires clarification in that neither ''children'', in Latin or ''crusade'' described in Latin as , , or are completely wrong nor correct. Although there are a number of written sources, they are of doubtful veracity, differing over dates and details while exhibiting mytho-historical motifs and plotlines. Clerics used the sexual purity and ''innocence'' of the as a critique of the sexual misbehaviour in the formal crusades, which was seen to be the source of God's anger and the failure of campaigns.


Perception of Muslims

In medieval times, ethnic identity was a social construct, defined in terms of culture rather than race and Christians considered all of humanity common descendants of Adam and Eve.
Chroniclers A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and l ...
used the ethno-cultural terms barbarians or that were inherited from the Greeks of antiquity for others or aliens. In this case, it differentiated from the self-descriptive term ''Latins'' that the crusaders used for themselves. Although there are no specific references to crusading in the 11thcentury , the author, for propaganda purposes, represented Muslims as monsters and idolators. Christian writers repeated this image elsewhere. Visual cues were used to represent Muslims as evil, dehumanized, and monstrous aliens with black complexion and diabolical physiognomies. This portrayal remained in western literature long after the territorial conflict of the crusades had faded into history. The term "Saracen" designated a religious community rather than a racial group, while the word "Muslim" is absent from the chronicles. Instead, various terms are usedsuch as infidels, gentiles, enemies of God, and pagans. The conflict was seen as a
Manichean Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...
contest between good and evil. Historians have been shocked by the inaccuracy and hostility involved in the representations that included crude insults to
Mohammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
, caricatures of Islamic rituals, and the representation of Muslims as libidinous gluttons, blood-thirsty savages and semi-human. Historian Jean Flori argues that to self-justify Christianity's move from pacificism to warfare, ⁶the enemies needed to be ideologically destroyed. Despite the negative representations, the Turks were respected as opponents with the considering only the Turks and the Franks had knightly lineage. Some, like the character Aumont in the , were represented as equals, even as far as being seen as following the chivalric code. By the
Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
, there is evidence of a vertical class division within the nobility in both camps who shared a chivalric identity that overcame religious and political differences. This differentiated the two elites from their common co-religionists who had other loyalties. Increasingly, epics involved instances of conversion to Christianity, which promised a solution to the conflict in favour of the Franks at a time they were being militarily defeated. Poets often relied on the patronage of leading crusaders, so they extolled the values of the nobility, the feudal status quo, chivalry, martial prowess, and the idea of the Holy Land being God's territoryusurped and despoiled. Writers designed works encouraging revenge on Muslims, who deserved punishment and were God's enemies. The artists addressed their works to the patrons, often beginning with or , based on dialectical understanding of rhetoric in terms of praise or blame. Works praised those who answered the call to crusade, writers vilified those who did not. The reformist Church's identity-interest complex framed Islam as a particular form of
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. Muslim rule in formerly Christian territory was an ''unjust'' confiscation of Christian property and this persecution of Christians required repayment. The view was that these injustices demanded Christian action. Islamic polities' own identity-interest complexes led them to be equally violently opposed to the restoration of Christian rule.


Evolution


Birth

The papacy developed ''Political Augustinianism'' into attempts to remove the Church from secular control by asserting ecclesiastical supremacy over temporal polities and the Orthodox Church. This was associated with the idea that the Church should actively intervene in the world to impose ''justice''. In the 12thcentury,
Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...
and the
Decretists In the history of canon law, a decretist was a student and interpreter of the ''Decretum Gratiani''. Like Gratian, the decretists sought to provide "a harmony of discordant canons" (''concordia discordantium canonum''), and they worked towards this ...
elaborated on this, and Thomas Aquinas refined it in the 13thcentury. In the late 11th and early 12thcentury the papacy became a unit for organized violence in the Latin world order, equivalent to other kingdoms and principalities. This required, what were partly inefficient, mechanisms of control that mobilised secular military forces under direct control of the papacy. The sanctification of war developed during the 11thcentury through campaigns fought for, instigated, or blessed by the pope including the
Norman conquest of Sicily The Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1139, involving many battles and independent conquerors. In 1130, the territories in southern Italy united as the Kingdom of Sicily, which included the island of Sicily, the southern th ...
, the recovery of Iberia from the Muslims, and the Pisan and Genoese Mahdia campaign of 1087 to North Africa. Crusading followed this tradition, assimilating chivalry within the locus of the Church through: * The concept of pilgrimage, the primary focus in Pope Urban II's call to crusade. * The view on penance, that it could apply to killing adversaries. * The identification of Muslims as pagans. This made those killed by them martyrs, equivalent to early Christian victims of pagan persecution. * The identification of the recovery of the despoiled country of Christ. Urban assembled his own army to re-establish the patrimony of Christ over the heads of kings and princes. * The principle that crusade knights were Christ's vassals. This refined the term used originally for Christians, then only for clergy and monks fighting evil through prayer, and from 1075 warriors fighting for St. Peter before the term became synonymous with crusaders. Knights no longer needed to abandon their way of life or become monks to achieve salvation. Crusading was a break with chivalry; Urban II denounced war among Christians as sinful, but fighting for Jerusalem led by a new knighthood was meritorious and holy. This ideology did not support chivalryonly crusading. Urban II made decisions that were fundamental for the nascent religious movements, rebuilding papal authority and restoring its financial position. It was at the Council of Clermont that he arranged the juristic foundation of the crusading movement. The catalyst was an embassy from the Byzantine Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
to the earlier
Council of Piacenza The Council of Piacenza was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Roman Catholic Church, which took place from March 1 to March 7, 1095, at Piacenza. The Council was held at the end of Pope Urban II's tour of Italy and France, which he m ...
, requesting military support in his conflict with the
Seljuk Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...
. These
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
were expanding into
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
and threatening
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. He subsequently expressed the dual objectives for the campaign: firstly, freeing Christians from Islamic rule; secondly, freeing the Holy Sepulchre the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem from Muslim control. This led to what is recognised as the first crusading expedition. The First Crusade was a military success, but a papal failure. Urban initiated a Christian movement seen as pious and deserving but not fundamental to the concept of knighthood. Crusading did not become a duty or a moral obligationlike a pilgrimage to
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
or jihad were to Islam and the creation of military religious orders is indicative of this failure. Canon law forbade priests from warfare, so the orders consisted of a class of lay brothers, but the orders were otherwise remarkably like other monastic orders. The difference was that these became orders of monks called to the sword and to blood-shedding. This was a doctrinal revolution within the Church regarding warfare. Its acknowledgement in 1129 at the
Council of Troyes There have been a number of Ecumenical council, councils held at Roman Catholic Diocese of Troyes, Troyes: Council of 867 The council was held on orders of Pope Nicholas I, to deal with Hincmar of Reims and his quarrels. The decrees were signed o ...
integrated the concept of holy war into the doctrines of the Latin Church. This illustrated the failure of the Church to assemble a force of knights from the laity and the ideological split between crusades and chivalry. The military vulnerability of the settlers in the East required further supportive expeditions through the 12th and 13th centuries. In each generation, these followed the pattern of a military setback in the East, a request for aid, and crusade declarations from the papacy.


12th century

The first century of crusading coincided with the Renaissance of the 12th century, and crusading was represented through the rich vernacular literature that evolved in France and Germany during the period. There are French language versions, and in the literary language of southern France Occitan, of
epic poems An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...
such as about the Siege of Antioch (1268) and about the Albigensian Crusade. In French, these were known as , taken literally from the Latin for ''deeds done''. Songs dedicated to the subject of crusading known as
crusade song A Crusade song ( oc, canso de crozada, ca, cançó de croada, german: Kreuzlied) is any vernacular lyric poem about the Crusades. Crusade songs were popular in the High Middle Ages: 106 survive in Occitan, forty in Old French, thirty in Middle H ...
s are rare. Still, many works survive in Occitan, French, German, Spanish and Italian from the time of the Second Crusade onwards that include it as a topic or use it as an allegory. Poet-composers such as the Occitan troubadours
Marcabru Marcabru (; fl. 1130–1150) is one of the earliest troubadours whose poems are known. There is no certain information about him; the two '' vidas'' attached to his poems tell different stories, and both are evidently built on hints in the poems; ...
and
Cercamon Cercamon (, fl. 1135-1145) was one of the earliest troubadours. His true name and other biographical data are unknown. He was apparently a Gascony-born jester of sorts who spent most of his career in the courts of William X of Aquitaine and perha ...
wrote songs with themes called and about absent loves called . Crusading became the subject of songs and poems rather than creating new genres. Troubadours, their northern French, and German, , equivalents grew in popularity from 1160 leaving many songs about the third and fourth crusades. Crusade songs served multiple purposes: * They provided material for the poet/performer, variations on courtly love, allegories, and paradigms. * Audiences learnt doctrine, information, and propaganda unmediated by the Church. * They reinforced the nobility's self-image, confirmed its position in society, and inspired . * They provided for the expression of injustice and criticism of mismanagement when events did not go well. There is little evidence of protest by senior churchmen, although it is likely that had the First Crusade failed this would have been different. The crusade's success was astonishing and seen as only possible via a manifestation of God's will. When Paschal succeeded Urban he ended the schism by defeating the three anti-popes that followed Clement III. He also quarelled with Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, his eventual successor Guy, archbishop of Vienne (later Calixtus II) and Church reformists over the right to invest bishops. His legislation developed that of his predecessors in connection with crusading. After the failed 1101 crusade, he supported Bohemond I of Antioch's gathering of another army with the provision of the flag of St. Peter and a cardinal legate, Bruno of Segni. Calixtus II extended the definition of crusading during his five years as Pope, before his death in 1124. He was one of the six sons of
William I, Count of Burgundy William I (1020 – 12 November 1087), called the Great (''le Grand'' or ''Tête Hardie'', "the Stubborn"), was Count of Burgundy from 1057 to 1087 and Mâcon from 1078 to 1087. He was a son of Renaud I and Alice of Normandy, daughter of Richar ...
and a distant relation to Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Three of his brothers died taking part in the Crusade of 1101. This fact exemplifies that early crusade recruitment concentrated in certain families and networks of vassals. These groups demonstrated their commitment through funding, although the sale of churches and tithes may have been a pragmatic acceptance that retaining these properties was unsustainable in the face of the reform movement in the Church. These kinship groups often exhibited traditions of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, association with Cluniac monastacism, the reformed papacy, and the veneration of certain saints. Female relatives spread these values through marriage. He also equated the reconquest of Iberia from the Muslims with crusading in the Holy Land, proposing a war on two fronts, and posthumously leading to the campaign by King Alfonso I of Aragon against Granada in 1125. Strategically, the crusaders could not hold Jerusalem in isolation, which led to the establishment of other western polities known as the Latin East. Even then, these required regular missions for their defence supported by the developing military orders. The movement expanded into Spain with campaigns in 1114, 1118, and 1122. Eugenius III was influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux to join the Cistercians. Exiled by an antipapal commune, Eugenius III encouraged King Louis VII of France and the French to defend Edessa from the Muslims with bull in 1145 and again, slightly amended, in 1146. Eugenius III commissioned Bernard of Clairvaux to the crusade and travelled to France where he issued (II) under the influence of Bernard, associating attacks on the
Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...
and the reconquest of Spain with crusading. The crusade in the East was not a success and he subsequently resisted further crusading. Although there were three campaigns in Spain, and in 1177 one in the East, the next three decades were the lowest ebb of the movement until the 15thcentury. This lull ended when news of the defeat at the hands of the Muslims at the Battle of Hattin created consternation throughout Europe and reignited enthusiasm. Early crusades such as the First, Second and Albigensian included peasants and non-combatants until the high costs of journeying by sea made participation in the Third and Fourth Crusade impossible for the general populace. Afterward, the professional and popular crusades diverged, such as in 1309 when the Crusade of the Poor and one by the
Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
occurred simultaneously, both responding to Pope ClementV's crusading summons of the previous year. Europeans adopted the terms or meaning ''one signed by the cross'' from the end of the century with crusaders marking themselves as a follower of Christ by attaching cloth crosses to their clothing. The fashion derived from the biblical passage in Luke 9:23 ''to carry one's cross and follow Christ''. Through this action, a personal relationship between Crusaders and God was formed that marked the crusader's spirituality. Anyone could become a crusader, irrespective of gender, wealth, or social standing. This was an or imitation of Christ; or a sacrifice motivated by charity for fellow Christians and those who died campaigning were martyrs. The Holy Land was the patrimony of Christ; its recovery was on behalf of God. The Albigensian Crusade was a defence of the French Church, the
Baltic Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around the ...
were campaigns conquering lands beloved of Christ's mother
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
for Christianity.


13th century

Crusade
providentialism In Christianity, providentialism is the belief that all events on Earth are controlled by God. Belief Providentialism was sometimes viewed by its adherents as differing between national providence and personal providence. Some English and Americ ...
intricately linked with a prophetic sensibility at the end of the 12thcentury.
Joachim of Fiore Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1135 – 30 March 1202), was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to th ...
included the war against the infidels in his cryptic conflations of history combining past, present, and future. Such was his influence that
Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
met him in Messina en route to the East because, in his view, ''for this Joachim had the spirit of prophecy and used to foretell what was going to happen.'' Foreshadowing the Children's Crusade, the representatives of the third age were children, or .
Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
such as Salimbene saw themselves as an order of little ones amongst a revivalist enthusiasm and a spirit of prophetic elation. The '' Austrian Rhymed Chronicle'' added prophetic elements of mytho-history to the Children's Crusade. In 1213, Innocent III called for the
Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by Al-Adil I, al-Adil, brothe ...
by announcing the days of Islam were over: ''The sway of the beast in Revelations will last 666 years of which already nearly six hundred have passed.'' The Church also condemned and suppressed heretics. For recruitment purposes, popes initiated each crusade by public preaching its aims, spiritual value, and justification. Preaching could be both authorized and unofficial. The Church transmitted news through its hierarchy via papal bulls. This system was not always dependable because of conflict among clerics, local political concerns, and lack of education. From the 12thcentury, the Cistercian Order provided propaganda for campaigns; the Dominicans and Franciscans followed in the 13thcentury. Mendicant friars and papal legates targeted different geographies. This sophisticated propaganda system was a prerequisite for the success of multiple concurrent crusades. The message varied, but the aim of papal control of crusading remained. Preachers called for Holy Land crusades across Europe, but only preached smaller ventures such as the Northern and Italian crusades locally to avoid tension in recruitment. Papal authority was critical for the effectiveness of the indulgence and the validity of vow redemption. Aristocratic culture, family networks, and feudal hierarchies spread informal propaganda, often by word of mouth. Courts and tournaments were arenas where the population shared stories, songs, poems, news, and information about crusades. Songs about the crusades became increasingly popular, although
troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...
s were hostile after the Albigensian Crusade. Chivalric virtues were heroism, leadership, martial prowess, and religious fervour. Visual representations in books, churches, and palaces served the same purpose. Themes were expanded in church art and architecture via murals, stained glass windows, and sculptures, such as the windows at the
abbey of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...
, many churches modelled after the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, or the murals commissioned by Henry III of England. There are more than fifty texts in
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
and
Middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtually ...
from around 1225 to 1500 with crusading themes. Performers delivered these to an audience, as opposed to the audience reading them, for entertainment and as propaganda for political and religious identity, differentiating the Christian "us" and the non-Christian "other." The works include romances, travelogues such as Mandeville's Travels, poems such as William Langland's Piers Plowman and
John Gower John Gower (; c. 1330 – October 1408) was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works, the '' Mirour de l'Omme'', '' Vo ...
's Confessio Amantis, the Hereford Map and the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. That writers wrote these after crusading fervour had diminished, demonstrates an ongoing interest. The producers depicted chivalric Christendom as victorious and superior, holding the spiritual and moral high ground. They originate from translated French originals and adaptations. Some, like Guy of Warwick used the portrayal of Muslim leaders as analogies to critique contemporary politics. Popular motifs include chivalrous Christian knights seeking adventure and fighting Muslim giants or a king travelling in disguise such as
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
in the Scots Taill of Rauf Coilyear. Crusading literature represented legendary figures with military and moral authority. Charlemagne was portrayed as a role model, famed for his victories over the pagan
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...
, his religious fervour marked by forced conversions. The entertainment aspect played a vital role in encouraging an element of "Saracen bashing". The literature demonstrates populist religious hatred and bigotry, in part because Muslims and Christians were economic, political, military, and religious rivals while exhibiting a popular curiosity about and fascination with the "Saracens". Innocent III was elected pope in 1198, and he reshaped the ideology and practice of crusading. This was done by creating a new executive office to organize the Fourth Crusade, appointing executors in each province of the Church, and freelancers preaching, such as
Fulk of Neuilly Fulk of Neuilly (also appearing in the forms "Fulke," "Foulque," "Foulques," "Fulco," "Folco," ''etc''., and as "de Neuilly") (died 1201) was a French preacher of the twelfth century, and priest of Neuilly-sur-Marne. His preaching encouraged the F ...
. This system developed further in time for the Fifth Crusade with executive boards established in each province that held Legatine power. Delegates in
diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
s and archdioceses reported to these bodies on promotional policy while the papacy codified preaching. Political circumstances meant that more pragmatic and ad-hoc approaches followed, but the coherence of local promotion remained greater than before. Under Innocent III he papacy introduced taxation to fund the campaigns and encouraged donations. In 1199, he was the first pope to deploy the conceptual and legal apparatus developed for crusading to enforce papal rights. From the 1220s, crusader privileges were regularly granted to those who fought against heretics, schismatics or Christians the papacy considered non-conformist. Part of the tradition of outbreaks of popular crusading enthusiasm that lasted from 1096 until the 1514 Hungarian Peasants' Crusade, the 1212 Children's Crusade was the first independent popular crusade, beginning amongst the preaching for the Albigensian Crusade and parades seeking God's assistance for Iberian crusades. All crusades not authorized by the Church were illicit and unaccompanied by papal representation. Crusades of this type were atypical, and their participants were unconventional crusaders. However, those who took part perceived themselves as authentic crusaders, using pilgrimage and crusade emblems, including the cross. Historians describe these events variously as people's crusades, peasants' crusades, shepherds' crusades, and crusades of the poor. Despite a broad range of research topics, it is difficult for historians to identify common features. There is evidence of charismatic leadership until the 14thcentury. Eschatology led to antisemitic Judaic violence and trends of self-determination amongst the involuntary poor. Popular crusades were diverse but shared historical circumstances with official crusades. These events demonstrate the power of crusading ideas, and that non-noble believers were engaged in the momentous events of Latin Christendom. The focus on the activity of clerics and warrior knights underestimates the movement's importance. Cardinal Hugo Ugolino of Segni led a preaching team in
Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...
and northern Italy as papal legate between 1217 and 1221. At this time: * He negotiated the end of various conflicts in
Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...
, Pisa, Pistola, the Republic of Genoa,
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
and the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
. * Used the clerical twentieth. * Paid mercenaries to join the Fifth Crusade delayed by Frederick II's repeatedly postponed embarkation. * Provided grants to In this way, the development of more lax rules on church funding and crusade recruitment is evidenced. Ugolino became pope in 1227, taking the name
Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
and excommunicated Frederick for his prevarication. Frederick finally arrived in the Holy Land where he negotiated Christian access to Jerusalem, but his claim to the crown through marriage and excommunicate status created political conflict in the kingdom. The settlement was decried by Gregory, but he used the resulting peace to further develop the wider movement: * The poor orders organized inquisitions into heretics * The Church expanded crusade recruitment. * Missionaries evangelized * Negotiations opened with the Greek Church * The Dominican Order channelled support to the Teutonic Order. Gregory was the first pope to deploy the full range of crusading mechanisms such as indulgences, privileges, and taxes against the emperor and extended commutation of crusader vows from expeditions to Outremer to theatres. These measures and the use of clerical income tax in the conflict with the emperor formed the foundations for political crusades by Gregory's successor, Innocent IV. In 1241, after the conflict in Lombardy and
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, Frederick II's army threatened Rome. Gregory IX responded with crusading terminology.
Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
rationalized crusading ideology based on the Christians' right to ownership. He acknowledged Muslims' land ownership but emphasised that this was subject to Christ's authority. Rainald of Segni, who became pope in December 1254 taking the name Alexander IV, continued the policies of Gregory IX and Innocent IV. This meant supporting crusades against the Staufen dynasty, the North African Moors, and pagans in Finland and the Baltic region. He attempted to gift Sicily to
Edmund Crouchback Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and Earl of Leicester (16 January 12455 June 1296) nicknamed Edmund Crouchback was a member of the House of Plantagenet. He was the second surviving son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. In his chi ...
, son of King Henry III, in return for a campaign to win it from
Manfred, King of Sicily Manfred ( scn, Manfredi di Sicilia; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the ...
, son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor but this was logistically impossible, and the campaigns were unsuccessful. Alexander failed to form a league to confront the
Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
in the East or the invasion of Poland and Lithuania. Frequent crusade calls to fight in eastern Europe (1253–1254, 1259) and Outremer (1260–1261) prompted small forces but his death prevented a general passage. At the
Second Council of Lyons :''The First Council of Lyon, the Thirteenth Ecumenical Council, took place in 1245.'' The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arl ...
in 1274, Bruno von Schauenburg, Humbert,
Guibert of Tournai Guibert of Tournai (Latin: ''Guibertus'' or ''Gilbertus Tournacensis''; c. 1200 – 1284) was a French Franciscan friar, known for his sermons and other writings. Life Guibert was born near Tournai around 1200. He attended the University of Pari ...
and William of Tripoli produced treatises articulating the change required for success. Despite criticism, crusading appears to have maintained popular appeal with recruits continuing to take the cross from a wide geographical area. There is evidence of early criticism of crusading and the behaviour of crusaders. Although few challenged the concept in the 12thand13thcenturies, there were vociferous objections to crusades against heretics and Christian lay powers. The Fourth Crusade's attack on Constantinople and the use of resources against enemies of the Church in Europe, such as the Albigensian heretics and
Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
, were all denounced. Troubadours were critical of expeditions in southern France, noting with regret the neglect of the Holy Land. The behaviour of combatants was regarded as inconsistent with that expected in a holy war. Chroniclers and preachers complained of sexual promiscuity, avarice, and overconfidence. Western Europeans blamed failures the First Crusade, the defeat of the kingdom of Jerusalem at Hattin by Saladin, and entire campaigns on human sin. Gerhoh of Reichersberg connected that of the Second Crusade to the coming of the Antichrist. Remediation included ceremonial marches, reformation requests, prohibitions of gambling and luxuries, and limits on the number of women involved. The Würzburg Annals condemned the behaviour of the crusaders and suggested it was the devil's work. LouisIX of France's defeat at the Battle of Mansurah provoked doubt and challenge to crusading in sermons and treatises, such as Humbert of Romans's (The preaching of the cross). The cost of armies led to taxation, an idea attacked as an unwelcome precedent by Roger Wendover,
Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
; and
Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170c. 1230) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs (" Sprüche") in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundr ...
. Critics raised concerns about Franciscan and Dominican friars abusing the system of vow redemption for financial gain. The peaceful conversion of Muslims was an option, but there is no evidence that this represented public opinion, and the continuation of crusading indicates the opposite.


14th century

At the end of the 13thcentury, the impending Mamluks victory in the Holy Land left the movement in crisis. Success in Spain,
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
, and Italy did not compensate for losing the Holy Land. This was a crisis of faith as well as a military strategy that the Second Council of Lyon considered religiously shameful. Notable criticism includes Matthew Paris in and the dean of Lincoln at the council. The military orders were disparaged for pride, avarice, devoting their wealth to lives of ease and luxury, and not maintaining large enough forces in the Holy Landparticularly the Teutonic Order. Armed conflict between the Templars and Hospitallers and between Christians in the Baltic hindered cooperation. The Church deemed military action in the East less effective because of the independence of the orders and their perceived reluctance to fight the Muslims with whom their critics considered they were on overly friendly terms. Although a minority view held by
Roger Bacon Roger Bacon (; la, Rogerus or ', also '' Rogerus''; ), also known by the scholastic accolade ''Doctor Mirabilis'', was a medieval English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empiri ...
and others was that aggression, particularly in the Baltic, impeded conversion. The crisis did not end with the final fall of the Outremer in 1291 as general opinion did not consider that final. It was only when the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
began in 1337 that recovery hopes faded. However, ideas, and the consolidation of methods of organisation and finance following the Council and spanning the decades around 1300 demonstrated qualities of engagement, resilience, and adaptability which in part enabled the movement's survival for generations. One of
Pope Gregory X Pope Gregory X ( la, Gregorius X;  – 10 January 1276), born Teobaldo Visconti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1271 to his death and was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. He was ...
's objectives was the reunification of the Greek and Latin Churches, which he viewed as essential for a new crusade and the Outremer's protection. At the Second Council of Lyon council beginning in May 1274, he demanded the Orthodox delegation accept all Latin teaching. In return, Gregory offered a reversal of papal support for
Charles I of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the Capetian House of Anjou, second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and County of Fo ...
, king of Sicily to meet the Byzantines' primary motivation of the cessation of Western attacks. However, there was little interest from European monarchs, who focussed on their own conflicts. Gregory created a complex tax gathering system for the funding of crusading, dividing Christendom in 1274 into twenty-six collectorates. Each of these was under the direction of a general collector who further delegated the assessment of tax liability to reduce fraud. The vast amounts raised by this system led to clerical criticism of obligatory taxation. Even then there were more than twenty treatises on the recovery of the Holy Land between the councils of Lyon in 1274 and
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
in 1314 prompted by Gregory X and his successors following the example of Innocent III in requesting advice. This advice led to plans for a blockade of the Mamluks, a that provided a
bridgehead In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...
followed by a using a professional army. Writers debated details through the prism of
Capetian The Capetian dynasty (; french: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Franks, Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest dynasty, royal houses in Europe and the world, and cons ...
and Aragonese dynastic politics. Short-lived popular crusading broke out every decade, such as those prompted by the Mongol victory over the Mamluks at
Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
and popular crusades in France and Germany. The papacy's institutionalisation of taxation to pay for professional crusading armies on a contractual basis was an extraordinary achievement despite numerous challenges, including a six-year tithe, levied on clerical incomes. The 1320 of the Second Shepherds' Crusade was the first time that the papacy decried a popular crusade. Beginning in 1304 and lasting the entire 14thcentury, the
Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
used the privileges Innocent IV had granted in 1245 to recruit crusaders in the absence of any formal crusade authority for warfare in Prussia and
Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
. Knightly volunteers from every Catholic state in western Europe flocked to take part in campaigns known as , or journeys, as part of a chivalric cult. Commencing in 1332 the numerous Holy Leagues were a new manifestation of the movement in the form of temporary alliances between interested Christian powers. Successful campaigns included the capture of Smyrna in 1344, the
Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
in 1571 and the recovery of territory in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
between 1684 and 1697. After the
Treaty of Brétigny The Treaty of Brétigny was a treaty, drafted on 8 May 1360 and ratified on 24 October 1360, between Kings Edward III of England and John II of France. In retrospect, it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' ...
between England and France, the anarchic political situation in Italy prompted the
curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
to begin issuing indulgences for those who would fight the
Routiers Routiers () were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (''rutta'' or ''routes''). The term is first used in the 12th century but is partic ...
threatening the Pope and his court at
Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. In 1378, the Western Schism split the papacy into two and then three, with rival Popes declaring crusades against each other. The growing threat from the
Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
provided a welcome distraction that would unite the papacy and divert the violence to another front. By the end of the century, the Teutonic Order's had declined into obsolescence. Commoners had limited interaction with crusading beyond the preaching of indulgences, the success of which depended on the preacher's ability, local powers' attitudes, and the extent of promotion. However, there is no evidence that the failure to organize anti-Turkish crusading was due to popular apathy or hostility rather than finance and politics.


15th century

The Venetian, Gabriel Condulmaro, succeeded Pope MartinV as Eugenius IV in 1431 and developed the policy of ecumenical negotiation with the Byzantines. Emperor
John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...
visited him with a large delegation for talks which led to the proclaimtion the union of the Latin, Greek Orthodox,
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
,
Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...
, and Cypriot Maronite Churches. The Byzantine reward was military support. Between 1440 and 1444, Eugenius co-ordinated the defence of Constantinople from the Turks by crusading movements through the Balkan Christians (especially the Hungarian commander
John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...
), the Venetian navy, the papacy, and other western rulers. This policy failed with the Balkan powers' disastrous defeat at the
Battle of Varna The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II (who did not actually rule the sultanate at the time) defeated the Hungarian–Polish and Wallachian armies commanded by ...
in November 1444. Opponents deposed Eugenius at the Council of Basel in 1439 in favour of Felix V, but they lost support and he was able to continue his policies until his death in 1447. In 1453,
Mehmed II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
took Constantinople, ushering in twenty-eight years of the sultanate's expansion.
Humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
Enea Silvio became
Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...
in 1458. Constantinople had fallen to the Ottomans in 1453, and its recovery was the primary focus of his pontificate. The
Congress of Mantua The Council of Mantua of 1459, or Congress of Mantua, was a religious meeting convoked by Pope Pius II, who had been elected to the Papacy in the previous year and was engaged in planning war against the Ottoman Turks, who had taken Constantinople ...
was an unsuccessful blending of crusading with humanist thought to create a European alliance, even though Pius promised to personally participate in the expedition. His famous Latin letters and speeches at
Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
at the Diets of
Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
and
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
became models of their genre-blending humanist styles and thought with Pope Urban II's sermon at Clermont, the First Crusade, the chronicle of Robert of Rheims, and Bernard of Clairvaux's letter of exhortation. Besides this, he also advised the conqueror of Constantinople to convert to Christianity and become a second Constantine. Pope Pius II came close to organizing an anti-Turkish crusade in 1464 but failed. During his pontificate, and those of his immediate successors, funds and military supplies raised were inadequate, mistimed, or misdirected. This was despite: * The commissioning of advisory tracts reconsidering the political, financial, and military issues. * Exiled rulers who toured Christendom's courts seeking assistance. * Individuals, such as the
Cardinal Bessarion Bessarion ( el, Βησσαρίων; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the so-called great revival of letters ...
, and, dedicating themselves to the crusading movement. * The continued levying of church taxes and preaching of indulgences. Warfare was now more professional and costly. There was disillusionment and suspicion of how practical the objectives of the movements were. Lay sovereigns were more independent and prioritized their own objectives. The political authority of the papacy was reduced by the Great Schism, so popes such as Pius II and
Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII ( la, Innocentius VIII; it, Innocenzo VIII; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death in July 1492. Son of th ...
found their congresses ignored. Politics and self-interest wrecked any plans. All of Europe acknowledged the need for a crusade to combat the Ottoman Empire, but effectively all blocked its formation. Popular feeling is difficult to judge: actual crusading had long since become distant from most commoners’ lives. One example from 1488 saw
Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many t ...
parishioners influenced by their priest's criticism of crusading to such a degree they refused to allow the collectors to take away donations. This contrasts with chronicle accounts of successful preaching in
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
at the same time and the extraordinary response for a crusade to relieve Belgrade in 1456. Rodrigo Borja, who became
Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
in 1492, attempted to reignite crusading to counter the threat of the Ottoman Empire, but his secular ambitions for his son
Cesare Cesare, the Italian language, Italian version of the given name Caesar (title), Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel ...
and objective to prevent King
Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (french: l'Affable; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.Paul Murray Kendall, ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider'' (Ne ...
from conquering Naples were paramount. The sale of indulgences gained large sums but there was opposition to the clerical tithes and other fundraising efforts to support mercenary crusading armies. The grounds for this were that the papacy used these in Italy and that secular rulers misappropriated funds. Charles VIII's invasion plans prevented the organization of a crusade by Hungary, Bohemia, and Maximilian in 1493 leading instead to Italo-Turkish alliances.
Marino Sanuto the Younger Marin Sanudo, italianised as Marino Sanuto or Sanuto the Younger (May 22, 1466 – 1536), was a Venetian historian and diarist. His most significant work is his ''Diarii'', which he had intended to write up into a history of Venice. Biography ...
, Stephen Teglatius and Alexander himself in ''
Inter caetera ''Inter caetera'' ('Among other orks) was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on the 4 May () 1493, which granted to the Catholic Monarchs King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile all lands to the "west and south" o ...
'' wrote of the continued commitment to crusading, the organisational issues, theory, the impact of the Spanish Reconquista completed with the capture of Granada in 1492, the defence and expansion of the faith, and partitioning northern Africa and the Americas between Portugal and Spain the conquest of which he granted crusading privileges and funding. Around the end of the 15thcentury, the military orders were transformed. Castile nationalized its orders between 1487 and 1499. In 1523, the Hospitallers retreated from Rhodes and the
State of the Teutonic Order The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Centr ...
became the hereditary
Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the Prussia (region), region of P ...
when the last Prussian master, Albert, Duke of Prussia, Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach, converted to Lutheranism and became the first duke under oath to his uncle the Sigismund I the Old, Polish king.


16th century

In the 16thcentury, the rivalry between Catholic monarchs prevented anti-Protestant crusades but individual military actions were rewarded with crusader privileges, including Irish Catholic Second Desmond Rebellion, rebellions against English Reformation, English Protestant rule and the Spanish Armada's attack on England under Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I. In 1562, Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany became the hereditary Grand Master of the Order of Saint Stephen, a Tuscan military order he founded modelled on the knights of Malta. The Hospitallers remained the only independent military order with a positive strategy. Other orders continued as aristocratic corporations while lay powers absorbed local orders, outposts, and priories. Political concerns provoked self-interested polemics that mixed the legendary and historical past. Humanist scholarship and theological hostility created independent historiography. The rise of the Ottomans, the French Wars of Religion, and the Protestant Reformation encouraged the study of crusading. Some Roman Catholic writers considered the crusades gave precedents for dealing with heretics. It was thought that the crusaders were sincere, but there was increasing uneasiness with considering war as a religious exercise as opposed to having a territorial objective.


17th century and later

Crusading continued in the 17thcentury, mainly associated with the Hapsburgs and Spanish national identity. Crusade indulgences and taxation were used in support of the Cretan War (1645–1669), the Battle of Vienna and the Holy League (1684). Although the Hospitallers continued the military orders in the 18thcentury, the crusading movement soon ended in terms of acquiescence, popularity, and support. The French Revolution resulted in widespread confiscations from the military orders who were now largely irrelevant, apart from minor effects in the Hapsburg Empire. The Hospitallers continued acting as a military order from its territory in Malta until the island was conquered by Napoleon in 1798. In 1809, Napoleon went on to suppress the Order of St Stephen, and the Teutonic Order was stripped of its German possessions before relocating to Vienna. At this point, its identity as a military order ended.


Legacy

Some historians have maintained that the Kingdom of Jerusalem was the first experiment in western European colonialism, setting up the Outremer as a "Europe Overseas". Certainly by the mid-19thcentury, the crusader states that had existed in the East were both a nationalism, nationalist rallying point and emblematic of History of colonialism, European colonialism. This is a contentious issue, as others maintain that the accepted definitions of a colony do not fit the Latin settlements in the Levantthat is territory politically directed by or economically exploited for the benefit of, a homeland, or subject to migration. Writers at the time did refer to colonists and migration, this means that academics find the concept of a religious colony useful, defined as territory captured and settled for religious reasons whose inhabitants maintain contact with their homelands due to a shared faith, and the need for financial and military assistance. That said, the crusading movement led directly to the occupation of the Byzantine Empire by western colonists after the Fourth Crusade. In Frankokratia, Venetian Greece, the relationship with Venice and the political and economic direction the city provided matches the more conventional definition of colonialism. In fact, its prosperity and relative safety drained settlers from the Latin East and which weakened the ''religious colonies'' of the Levant. The raising, transportation, and supply of large armies led to a flourishing Trade route, trade between Europe and the Outremer. The Italian city-states of Republic of Genoa, Genoa and Venice flourished, planting profitable trading colonies in the eastern Mediterranean. The crusades consolidated the papal leadership of the Latin Church, reinforcing the link between the Catholic Church, feudalism, militarism, and increased the tolerance of the clergy for violence. Muslim libraries contained classical Greek and Roman texts that allowed Europe to rediscover pre-Christian philosophy, science, and medicine. The growth of the system of indulgences became a catalyst for the Reformation in the early 16thcentury. The crusades also had a role in the formation and institutionalisation of the military and the Dominican orders as well as of the Medieval Inquisition. The behaviour of the crusaders in the eastern Mediterranean area appalled the Greeks and Muslims, creating a lasting barrier between the Latin world and the Islamic and Orthodox religions. This became an obstacle to the reunification of the Christian Church and fostered a perception of Westerners as defeated aggressors. Many historians argue that the interaction between the western Christian and Islamic cultures played a ultimately positive part in the development of European civilization and the Renaissance. Relations between Europeans and the Islamic world stretched across the entire length of the Mediterranean Sea, leading to an improved perception of Islamic culture in the West. But this broad area of interaction also makes it difficult for historians to identify the specific sources of cultural cross-fertilisation. Historical parallelism and the tradition of drawing inspiration from the Middle Ages, have become keystones of political Islam encouraging ideas of modern jihad and long struggle, while secular Arab nationalism highlights the role of Western imperialism. Muslim thinkers, politicians and historians have drawn parallels between the crusades and modern political developments such as the League of Nations French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, mandates to govern Syria, Lebanon, and Mandatory Palestine, Palestine then the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Right-wing circles in the Western world have drawn opposing parallels, considering Christianity to be under an Islamic religious and demographic threat that is analogous to the situation at the time of the crusades. Advocates present crusader symbols and Criticism of Islam, anti-Islamic rhetoric as an appropriate response, even if only for propaganda. These symbols and rhetoric are used to provide a religious justification and inspiration for a struggle against a religious enemy. Some historians, like Thomas F. Madden, argue that modern tensions result from a constructed view of the crusades created by colonial powers in the 19thcentury and transmitted into Arab nationalism. For him, the crusades are a medieval phenomenon in which the crusaders were engaged in a defensive war on behalf of their co-religionists. In 1936, the Spanish Catholic Church supported the coup of Francisco Franco, declaring a crusade against Marxism and atheism. Thirty-six years of National Catholicism followed during which the idea of Reconquista as a foundation of historical memory, celebration, and Spanish national identity became entrenched in conservative circles. Reconquista lost its historiographical hegemony when Spain restored democracy in 1978, but it remains a fundamental definition of the medieval period within conservative sectors of academia, politics, and the media because of its strong ideological connotations.


Historiography

The description and interpretation of crusading began with accounts of the First Crusade. The image and morality of earlier expeditions served as propaganda for new campaigns. The understanding of the crusades was based on a limited set of interrelated texts. or ''Exploits of the Franks'' created a papist, northern French, and Benedictines, Benedictine template for later works that contained a degree of martial advocacy that attributed both success and failure to God's will. This clerical view was challenged by vernacular adventure stories based on the work of Albert of Aachen. William of Tyre expanded Albert's writing in his ''Historia'', which was completed by 1200. His work described the warrior state the Crusader States, Outremer became as a result of the tension between the wikt:providential, providential and the worldly. Medieval crusade historiography predominately remained interested in moralistic lessons, extolling the crusades as moral and cultural norms. Academic crusade historian Paul Chevedden argued that these accounts are Anachronism, anachronistic, in that they were aware of the success of the First Crusade. He argues that to understand the state of the crusading movement in the 11thcentury it is better to examine the works of Urban II who died unaware of the outcome. Independent historiography emerged in the 15thcentury linked with humanism and theological hostility. This grew in popularity in the 16thcentury, encouraged by events such as the rise of the Ottoman Turks, the French Wars of Religion, and the Protestant Reformation. Traditional crusading provided exemplars of redemptive solutions that were, in turn, disparaged as papal idolatry and superstition. War against the infidel was laudable, but crusading movement doctrines were not. Popes persisted in issuing crusade bulls for generations, but international laws of war that discounted religion as a cause were developed. A nationalist view developed providing a cultural bridge between the papist past and Protestant future based on two dominant themes for crusade historiography: firstly, intellectual, or religious disdain; and secondly, national, or cultural admiration. Crusading now had only a technical impact on contemporary wars but provided imagery of noble and lost causes. Opinions of crusading moved beyond the judgment of religion and increasingly depicted crusades as models of the distant past which were edifying or repulsive. 18thcentury Age of Enlightenment philosopher historians narrowed the chronological and geographical scope to the Levant and the Outremer between 1095 and 1291. There were attempts to number crusades at eight while others counted five large expeditions that reached the eastern Mediterranean1096–1099, 1147–1149, 1189–1192, 1217–1229, and 1248–1254. In the absence of an Ottoman threat, influential writers considered crusading in terms of anticlericalism, viewing crusading with disdain for its apparent ignorance, fanaticism, and violence. By the 19thcentury, crusade enthusiasts disagreed with this view as being unnecessarily hostile and ignorant. Increasingly positive views of the Middle Ages developed in the 19thcentury. A fascination with chivalry developed to support the moral, religious, and cultural mores of the establishment. In a world of unsettling change and rapid industrialization, nostalgic escapist apologists and popular historians developed a positive view of crusading. Jonathan Riley-Smith considers that much of the popular understanding of the crusades derives from the 19thcentury novels of Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott and the French histories by Joseph François Michaud. Michaud married admiration of supremacist triumphalism supporting the nascent European commercial and political colonialism of the Middle East to the point where the Outremer were "Christian colonies". Franco-Syrian society in Outremer became seen as benevolent, an attractive idea during the French mandates in Syria and Lebanon. In 1953, Jean Richard (historian), Jean Richard described the kingdom of Jerusalem as "the first attempt by the Franks of the West to found colonies". In the absence of widespread warfare, 19thcentury Europe created a cult of war based on the crusades, linked to political polemic and national identities. After World War I crusading no longer received the same positive responses; war was now sometimes necessary but not good, sanctified, or redemptive. Michaud's viewpoint provoked Muslim attitudes. The crusades had aroused little interest among Islamic and Arabic scholars until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the penetration of European power. Jonathan Riley-Smith straddles the two schools on the actions and motives of early crusaders. The definition of a crusade remains contentious. Historians accept Riley-Smith's view that ''everyone accepted that the crusades to the East were the most prestigious and provided the scale against which the others were measured''. There is disagreement whether only those campaigns launched to recover or protect Jerusalem were proper crusades or whether those wars to which popes applied temporal and spiritual authority were equally legitimate. Today, crusade historians study the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and even the Atlantic, and crusading's position in, and derivation, from host and victim societies. Chronological horizons have crusades existing into the early modern world e.g., the survival of the Order of St. John on Malta until 1798. Academic study of crusading in the West has integrated into mainstream theology, the Church, law, popular religion, aristocratic society and values, and politics. The Muslim context now receives attention from Islamicists. Academics have replaced disdain with attempts to situate crusading within its social, cultural, intellectual, economic, and political context. Historians employ a wide range of evidence, including charters, archaeology, and the visual arts, to supplement chronicles and letters. Local studies have lent precision as well as diversity.


See also

* History of the Jews and the Crusades * List of principal crusaders * List of Crusader castles * Women in the Crusades * Criticism of crusading


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * {{Short description, Series of religious wars in late medieval times Crusades,