Failures of the Crusades

One of the biggest failures of the Crusades was very obvious in my opinion. If you have to recapture a city, or try to, shoots up a giant warning of failures to come. After the First Crusade, the Second Crusade began to recapture the city of Edessa. This is just one of the failures shown throughout the Crusades.

The Second Crusade began to recapture the city of Edessa in 1147. It was called for by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and led by two kings. Louis VII, King of France, and Conrad III, the German Emperor, led this crusade. They so poorly managed this crusade that nothing at all was accomplished.

During the Third Crusade Saladin, the Muslim leader, recaptured Jerusalem. This led to the German Emperor Frederick I, called "Barbarossa" {Red Beard}; Philip Augustus, King of France; and King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England to become leaders of the Third Crusade. This Crusade also ended in failure.

So I guess one could say another event that showed the failures was the fact that more than one crusade was needed. The First Crusade was the only Crusade that actually succeeded. After that there were only failures and this led to even more failures and many more deaths.

In conclusion, one of the biggest events, that led to failures, was the fact that they had recapture city's so many times. After the First Crusade failures were unstoppable. Nothing truly was accomplished after this and many lives were lost.

McKitterick, Rosamond. Times Medieval World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and the Second Crusade

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was born in the year 1090 and died August 20 1153. He was a French monk during the Crusades who's father was a knight and his mother was a daughter of nobility. Bernard sought to reform Cistercian monastic order.

Saint Bernard was the main force for the Second Crusade. He was a Cistercian monk who had a great passion for the Second Crusade which was ultimately a failure. In 1115 he founded a new Cistercian Abbey at Clairvaux, which at its largest, had 700 monks. 68 other houses had become due to this Abbey at Clairvaux.

Bernard preached of the Second Crusade and many, thousands, of men became crusaders. Due to the loss of Edessa, to the Muslims, Bernard was very enthusiastic about the Second Crusade. His enthusiasm caught on and for the first time western Monarchs, including King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany came to the east to see for themselves.

King Louis and King Conrad led the Second Crusade after hearing of Saint Bernard. Nothing was accomplished in this Crusade although many still went on into Asia Minor. Although nothing was achieved during this Crusade, many things came from Saint Bernard's success.

Saint Bernard died August 20, 1153, in Clairvaux, Champagne, France. He was a remarkable speaker and a very driven Monk. The Second Crusade was mainly a result of his perseverance. Saint Bernard made a great impact upon Cistercian Monasticism.


McKitterick, Rosamond. Times Medieval World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001.

The First Crusade

The First Crusade was first launched by Pope Urban in 1096 when Alexius called on him for help. The Crusade was created in order to regain Jerusalem from the infidels, or the Muslims, who had captured it from the Eastern Christians. The idea was to free the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule, but it turned into much more.

In 1095 Pope Urban made a very convincing speech at Clermont, France. He urged the common people to join them in theCrusade and to fight to regain their holy city. He obviously made a very convincing speech because almost everyone left for the crusade right away. One of the reasons for this was that the Pope told them that they would be given immunization for any past, present, and future sins if they fought for the Lord.

One issue came into play. The Crusaders were killing people who they thought were the infidel but really Christians whop spoke different language. They stopped in Nicaea and decided they were going to try to capture it. This presented a problem. Some of the Crusaders went off on their own and ended up getting themselves killed. Most of the commoners were killed in this part of the Crusade and one would think the crusade was over but not yet.

After this people's part of the Crusade the knights were finally arriving. These Crusaders had 3 main goals, the first was to conquer Nicaea, the next was to conquer Antioch, and last was their final and most important goal, Jerusalem. Nicaea fell easily to the Crusaders, but what was ahead took a lot longer to accomplish. Antioch took seven months to fall, but the next target was what was going to take the longest of all.

They finally reached Jerusalem,and the attack began in the summer of 1099. Jerusalem was very well defended by very tall walls and fortresses. They Crusaders were short many materials, but when the materials arrived they were very ready to siege the city. Some of the crusaders got inside the city and let the rest of them in. They killed whoever they wished and the Muslims that were spared had to dispose of the dead bodies because of the smell. The Muslims later claimed that 70'000 were killed and the Crusaders took whatever they pleased from the Dome of the Rock.

In conclusion ,the First crusade was successful in regaining Jerusalem from the Muslims. They created the kingdom of Jerusalem and the first King they crowned was
Godfrey of Bouillon. He passed away in 1100 and his brother succeeded him. This gain led the Crusaders to want more and that led to many more crusades in the future, but this crusade was very successful.

McKitterick, Rosamond. Times Medieval World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001.

William the Conqueror

William 1 of England (better known as William the Conqueror) led a very interesting life. He was born the only son of Robert 1, Duke of Normandy, and Herleva of Falaise. He was an illegitimate son due to the fact that his parents were never married. He was also known as William the Bastard due to the fact that his parents were never married. When his father passed, William inherited his father's name but none of his riches because he was and illegitimate son.

William was born 1028 in Falaise. William was given the title of Duke of Normady in 1035 at the very young age of 7 years. In 1052 William married Matlida of Flanders. They had 10 children together, 6 daughters and 4 sons.

In 1066 many important events occured. In the spring of 1066 the Normans went to Rome to ask for papal support during the Norman invasion. In July William prepares his fleet and in september the invasion begins against King Harold of the Saxons. During September and October many fights occur during the Norman invasion. On December 25 William is finally crowned king of england in the Westminster Abbey in London.(Guy, 25)

On September 19, 1087, 21 years after he was crowned King of England, William died in France. His reign was magnificent and glorious. Even though he was not able to inherit his fathers riches he still became very rich and was a great leader. "William of Normandy conquered England with warriors from all over Northern France." (Mc Kitterick, 122)

In conclusion, King William conquered King Harold of the Saxons, and many other groups. He was eventually crowned king of England and was a great leader. He was a good husband and a great leader. He got far in his career and even though he was an
illegitimate son he was a great leader.

McKitterick, Rosamond. Times Medieval World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001.

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Charlemagne

Charlemagne was born in 742 into a already imperial family. His father was Pepin the Short who at the time was a great controller of most of the European land. His brother also controlled a large chunk of land. With the death of both his family members Charlemagne was left a large land to rule. This is how we came to know him as emperor. "The empire created by Charlemagne extended over most of what is not regarded as western Europe."(McKitterick 38)

Charlemagne begins his imperial role with many accomplishments. In 722 Charlemagne begins many conquests against the Saxons. This drags on for a little more than 30 years, and finally thirty years later the were conquered. In 774 he conquers the Lombards of Italy.

In 778 Charlemagne moves into attack Pamplona through Spain.
In 782 Charlemagne was attacked by the Saxons in a surprise attempt against his men. In response Charlemagne killed 4'500 Saxon prisoners. In 800 A.D. a "first time in history" moment occurs.

Pope Leo crowns Charlemagne Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, this is the only time in papal history where a pope bows to a king that's not Jesus. In 802 Charlemagne establishes his court at Aachen and attempts to create a non-discriminate school for students in his empire. The problem with this is the fact that his empire was far to large. His dream was never accomplished. (Guy 8)

The Byzantine empire began with Charlemagne and he ruled for a total of 13 years. He had such an amazing empire thanks to the help of his father and brother. He accomplished many things and attacked and conquered territories. Charlemagne was truly one of the greats.


McKitterick, Rosamond. Times Medieval World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001.

Justinian I

Justinian was emperor from 527 A.D. until he died. The time period of his rule is known as the golden age of Byzantium. He was a ruthless ruler and was known for doing whatever it took for him to succeed. During his rule the plague struck his empire and his body.

Justinian I was born in Tauresium in Illyria 482 A.D. He was born a Slavic peasant and the nephew of Justin I. Justinian studied in Byzantium and when his uncle died he was crowned the new emperor of Byzantium along with his wife Theodora.


During his rule he accomplished the Byzantine Reconquest. This was due to the fact that in 532 A.D. he made peace with Khusrho of the Sassanids. This allowed him to to take back Italy from the Ostrogoths, Africa from the Vandals, and Spain from the Visigoths. After he passed the land he had reconquered was slowly lost to invaders.

Another great accomplishment during his reign was the building of the Hagia Sophia. This magnificent church was built in Byzantium and means Church of the Holy wisdom. It is dome structured but far taller and wider then the dome shaped buildings during this time. This is clearly one of the most beautiful churches of the time period.(Hallam 82)

During Justinian's time period the first introduction to the bubonic plague. This is one of the most deadliest types of plagues, known to kill 40 to 70 percent of its victims. Not only did the plague strike them but so did earthquakes and floods. Justinian's great empire came crumbling down due to these three disasters.(Guy 19)

Justinian is most interesting to me because he dealt with so many things. He dealt with the plague and many destruction's to his empire. He was so interesting in the way that he dealt with things so extremely. He was a very extreme leader and many will remember him in years to come.

Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001.

Hallam, Henry. The Middle Ages:History of Europe. New York: Colonial press, 1900.