History of the Crusades (The Birth of the Crusades)
The Crusades The times when the European Catholic Christians and the Pope's request, made between 1095 and 1272, have organized to make military and political control over the sacred lands of Muslims on various promises.
The Church's Interests, in other words "CROSS SPIRIT"
After 1071 Malazgirt victory, Seljuk Turks entered Anatolia and in 1075 seized Iznik and tried to make it the center of the state. The entry of Turks into Anatolia disturbed all the European states, especially Byzantium. The reason for this is that Byzantium is in danger of occupation, it means to organize raids on Europe because of the opening of the Turks. With the Crusades, the idea of European countries conquered Jerusalem, which was in the hands of the Fatimans, and the idea of expelling Muslims from the Middle East.
When we look at Europe in the 11th century, problems such as hunger, poverty, epidemic diseases and increasing population rate caused by severe drought started. On the other hand, people who are fed up with the looting of their cities have been concerned about the safety of life and property. This has been a major factor in the great interest of the Crusades with the imagination of people reaching riches of nature. At the same time, there was a period of great chaos in Europe where feudal families fought each other and the knights almost terrorized. This led to the idea that the primary goal for the counties and dukes to attend the Crusades at that time was to have material interest and to have new lands. These conditions were sufficient reason for making East a paradise in the eyes of the West and seeing East as a treasure.
The Birth of the Crusades
The Crusades were born at the beginning of the 'Reconqista' movement, originally launched for Spain and for the removal of Muslims from Portugal. Muslims in this period have established dominance in Spain and Sicily. This movement was initiated to take the cities of the Muslims, who became the common enemies of Christians and the Kingdoms in the Iberian half-way, and continued from the 9th to the late 15th century. Due to the attacks on the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine emperor Ile aux Kommones, known for his political success, sought the Pope's help against the Turks. The Pope has not turned down this request of the Byzantine emperor for help. But the Pope's aim was to seize the eastern lands and Jerusalem rather than the help of Byzantium. The Pope wants to keep the "heretic" Eastern Christians out of their own opinions and to get rid of the European crisis.
At the Clermont Council in 1095, the Pope invited the Holy War (Crusader Spirit) to be carried out for the capture of Jerusalem and Eastern lands, especially the "Holy Land" in the hands of Muslims. The Pope has found many promises to the world and the people who will join the war. At that time, it was a point to be noticed that the church was not only a religious institution in an attempt to persuade the people to join the Crusades, but at the same time it wanted to be the manager of the large territories and to be a political authority.
The First Crusade (1095-1099)
It is the first of the Crusades launched to liberate Jerusalem, that is, to take the Holy Land from the dominion of Muslims. The First Crusade is considered to be the most important crusade because of the number of troops participating in the troops of 600,000. It is recognized that the First Crusade was initiated by the Pope 2nd Urban (Urbanus) and Pierre L'Ermite, a fanatic pastor, in the Church Council, which was assembled in Clermont in 1095. However, the gathering of Crusader troops and propaganda throughout Europe by Christians to join this ritual lasted more than a year. In this two-phase crusade, the first group troops participating in the chieftain were usually people from different classes who were fighting for just love of religion. The second group, on the contrary of the first group, was formed from professional associations chosen by very regular noble people. It is generally accepted that the first Crusade consists of two phases of the beginning.
1) - The first crusades were called "peasant crusaders" or "people's crusades". Most of those who participated in this crusade were gathered by people who were bound to the church, who had been fighting for the religion. Nobility and professional associations have not preferred to join these first crusades. The first military crusader army, headed by the fanatic priest 'Pierre L'Eermite', appeared on 1st August 1096. The union formed by men, children and young women who are not generally experienced in war were destroyed by the Seljuk army around Yalova.
2) - The second group is called "Barons Crusade". The second group consists of heavy armored knights commanded by nobles and professional soldiers. This group of knights and nobles consisted of between 30,000 and 70,000 soldiers and about 30,000 soldiers, according to the custom of the Crusader army. From the troops that will participate in the Crusader army, a great army of this magnificent army of southern Italian norms, Loraine and French knights was created. While these armies were gathering in the agreed areas of Europe, a great execution propaganda was launched for Jews especially in Germany.
This second group of crusaders, who came to Istanbul in 1097, began to suffer great damage to the settlements on their routes to meet their own needs and the food of animals. Only because of the damages they have had in Hungary, the administrative forces there have begun to resist these Crusaders. Later, to meet the needs of the Crusader army, the Byzantine army, made up of most mercenary Pecenek Turks, began to accompany these units. The commanders of the great Crusaders, reaching Constantinople, had loyal to the Byzantine Emperor Aleksios Komnenos. At the same time, this army also vowed to return to the Byzantine territories of the former Byzantine land, and they entered the Anatolian lands. During the last weeks of June, the Crusader army planned to arrive in Jerusalem in five weeks, but this time lasted for exactly 2 years.
This crusader army first encompassed Iznik, the center of the Anatolian Seljuks. The 1st Kılıç Arslan, the ruler of the Anatolian Seljuks, retreated, unable to stand the siege of the Crusader army any longer. Although the center of Iznik resisted the siege for five weeks, it was surrendered to the Byzantine empire on 17 June 1097. Kılıç Arslan withdrew to Anatolia, Danişment Gazi and the Emir of Kayseri allied with Hasan and allies attacked the crusader army in Eskişehir. This war was carried out by the Crusaders "1. Dorileon Battle ". Army 1st Kılıç Arslan, who met the military group formed from Normanlar at the front, retreated with his armies, realizing that he could not withstand arrows, swords and light armored weapons against this union of armored knights. And because of this withdrawal, Christian historians speak of pride in this Crusader military group. 1. Kılıç Arslan, who understands that the advance of the Crusader armies can not be prevented and can not be stopped by challenge battles, has considered many tactics. The Crusader Army developed a strategy on the transit route from the Anatolian territory, and most of the soldiers were deactivated by sudden raids like cold war tactics. He destroyed the water wells on the transit routes, unloaded the villagers, applied the tactics on the roads to tear them down, depriving the Crusaders of water and animal feed by mowing large flocks of sheep on their paths.
The Antichrist siege of the Crusaders
The crusader army on their way crossed Taurus and entered the Çukurova region, which was under Armenian rule, and Antakya advanced to the front. There is Boemonda, commander of this army of heavy armor, Taranto princes. At the beginning of Antakya, Türk Yağsıyan and his men defended the city for 9 months by ditching the city. However, the crusader forces captured a nemesis due to the betrayal of the Christian ahalin in the region to Yaþsiyan. Yağsıyan, who thinks that the city is falling, has left kalayeyi with his 30 guards. However, the Crusader Army, which seized the Antakya fortress, murdered the Muslim people there.
Crusader Army Jammed at Antakya
Mosul Emir, who learned that the Crusader Army captured Antakya Kales, encompassed the Antakya fortress with the troops he collected. This union was made up of a part of the Crusader troops and was not attacked in the first place because of the cowardly attitude of the Kuroboga. The Crusader army, which had been under siege for 12 days in Antakya Castle, suffered hunger, and nobles and knights cut their own horses and ate them. Other soldiers have eaten whatever they find alive and have begun to feed their bellies and even eat grass and tree bark. In this hunger and poverty, the Marseille monk claimed that Pierre Barthelemy had a dream with the religious influence of the Antioch cathedral. In his Barthelemy vision, he said that the sacred spear of which Jesus was killed after the cross was buried was buried under Antakya Cathedral. This was followed by excavations and the "Sacred Spear" was found at the end of the excavation. With the spear found, the Archbishop Le Puy of the Crusader's army embarked on the spiritual excitement and spirit of the Holy Spear and came out of Antakya and the armed forces of the Mosul Emir were hesitant and dismissed. As a result of the withdrawal of the cumulative departures, the army of the krboğa took a heavy defeat and was defeated without siege.
The Crusaders stayed in the city for the supply of horses, food, and shelter after a while after taking Antioch. Even when providing these guarantees, Maarrattun Numan Kalesi, an Arabic settlement, was besieged. In this encirclement, the crusaders were slaughtered by 20,000 people and a terrible massacre was committed. According to the Christian sources, it is said that the twisted Crusader army, even the bodies of the deceased, have been fed.
Jerusalem's Siege and Massacre
After completing its needs around Antakya, the Crusader army crossed Lebanon, West Syria and Palestine territories and reached the city walls of Jerusalem on July 5, The city of Jerusalem is highly protected by the military commander of the Fatimids, İftikar El-Devle and his military forces. The Crusader Army has failed in the attacks on the walls of the castles since 5 July and they have always been repelled.
But the aid from the sea to the Crusader Army was in favor of the crusaders. The Genoese who anchored the Palestinian coasts landed their ships. The Genoese have made big towers by approaching the walls with the boards they have provided. These two towers, which they had built, were brought before the 14th of July night and stretched over the city walls. On the 15th of July, the Knights of Flanders settled for the first time in front of the northeastern gate of the castle. Later, other commanders and soldiers started to enter the city. However, despite the fact that the other player was treated with the same tactic, he could not progress. The Crusader Army, on the other hand, promised that his army and army would be removed from the city if Raymond Saint Gillies, his commander, surrendered to İftikar El-Devle, the Fatimi fortress commander. As a result
The Crusader army surrendered the palace and stood in his words, allowing the Fatimid fortress commander and the army to leave the city. The Fatimid commander and the army took refuge in Ashkalon Kalesine, so Jerusalem officially passed over to the Crusaders. Although the Fatimid commander and his soldiers were released, the crusader army was found in massacres and massacres of Muslims and Jews in the middle. Even the women and children who took refuge in the mansions were sworded, they found the streets of the city with blood and body.
After Jerusalem, the noble commanders of the Crusader joined together in the Holy Sepulcher Church to establish a "Kingdom of Jerusalem" to administer other occupied lands. Godfrei De Bouillon was the first King of this kingdom. The Crusaders waged war against the Fatimid army, which they later released. In this battle known as the Battle of Askalon, the Crusader Army took a bad defeat of the Fatimid army and took Jerusalem completely under control.
Consequences of the Crusades
These crusades, carried out by nobles, barons and high clans, were found to be very successful by modern historians. The purchase of Jerusalem by the Crusader Army, which is often Frank-era, means reaching the goal of the First Crusade.
With the successful conclusion of the Crusades made in 1099, nobles who returned to their countries spoke with great exaggeration over the riches of nature. Upon this, Pope Paschalis again called for the Crusade, and soon three large armies were formed. Pope 2. Paschalis had no support from them for his disagreements with the European Kingdoms, the Holy Roman and the Germanic Empires. This rebuilt Crusader Army is made up of barons and nobles who are fascinated by their dream of becoming rich. This time, the third branch of the First Crusades, was actually created to help the crusader army settling in Jerusalem. This time, it was predicted that the three armies that reached Konstantinopolis one after another intermittently entered Anatolia, and that the total presence of the Orders consisted of a military unit of about 300,000 people.
The first army consisted of the Lombards, the French and the Germans, the second army consisted of the French, and the third army consisted of the Germans. The army in the first group attacked with around 20,000 people around Ankara and entered the battlefield of the army with the Danişment Gazi and the 1st Kılıç Arslan troops in Merzifon. The children and women of this first Crusader group, who suffered a great disservice, were captured by the Turks. Another group of crusaders came from Ankara, Konya and Ereğli routes in Anatolia under a command of count, and they later realized that this was a mistake. But the advancing Crusader army had difficulty in finding food, shelter, and animal feed as they followed the route the previous Crusader had gone, and they were miserably exhausted. Meanwhile, sultan 1. Kılıç Arslan and Danişment Gazi cavalrymen who followed the crusader army that came over from Ankara and Konya and murdered them in the vicinity of Ereğli, disappeared all around the army by destroying the Crusaders around Merzifon. Very few soldiers surviving in battle have taken refuge in the Taurus Mountains.
Within a week after the development of the second group, the third Crusader army moved to Anatolia. This last group, which has gone from the route where almost no other food and water source is exploited by the other two groups, has reached to Ereğli in the same way as thirsty and exhausted. They drank water from Akgöl, a tea source there. But there is something that the Crusader Army does not add to the account that this lake's waters are poisoned by 1st Kılıç Arslan. The army, which was tainted by water and starvation, was well surrendered by the poisoning and some of the survivors were taken prisoner, although many died from poisoning by water. The commander of this Crusader army, Baverya Duke Wolf, has escaped to Antakya and still maintains his mystery if he has taken refuge.
The commanders of the Crusades, built in 1101, united only to Jerusalem. The fears of the established armies against the Anatolian Seljukid State and Danişment Gazi ally in separate groups have in fact caused European historians to almost completely forget the 1101 Crusades. But it was not possible to forget these great victories that Kılıç Arslan and Danişment Gazin had against the Crusaders. Anatolian Seljuks and Danişment Gazi's armies won these victories after the Anatolian Turkish nation as a precise judge was caused to occur.
Third Crusades (1189-1192)
When Selahattin Eyyubi captured Jerusalem again, German Emperor Barbarossa entered Anatolia with an army of 100,000 people. King of France II. Filip and the king of England, the lion-headed Richard, came to Akka via the Mediterranean with a navy and surrounded the city. Although the lion-headed British tried to seize Jerusalem many times, Selahattin Eyyubi's successful tactics proved to the whole world that these attacks were inconclusive, and that Selahattin Eyyubi, especially in Jerusalem's stay in the Muslims, was a brilliant commander and a great leader.
The German army, who had received great help from King Bela in the Hungarian lands during the Third Crusade, began to experience problems when he crossed the Danube and entered the Byzantine lands. The Byzantine life of their own internal turmoil, their dealing with the intrigues, and the Turkish resistance in Anatolia caused the Byzantine emperor to hesitate from this Crusader unity of Germans. The Crusader Army, consisting of the Germans, continued on the Byzantine route until the Miryokefalon site.
The Crusaders, II. Although Kılıç supports Arslan, this intelligent commander wanted to wear off the German army a bit and did not prevent small conflicts from happening. Hunger, thirst and the arrows of the Turks began to consume the Germans slowly and slowly. Although the Sultan's son Kutbeddin exhibited a resistance to the crusaders in the city of Konya, which was evacuated on the route of the Germans, the crusaders succeeded in conquering Konya. Barbarosso and the German army, who rested a bit in the Meramda district, continued their way from Toros to Silifke. News about the Crusader army's progress was heard from Armammites in the vicinity of Çukurova to Selahattin Eyyubi. On June 10, 1190, the Crusaders who entered the Silifke plain suffered great catastrophes, and according to some reports, the commander of the German army, Barbarosso, drowned in the river he entered to cool off.
England and France to join the Crusades
Since Britain and France had been fighting for years, they had no chance to participate in the crusades. In 1818, Gisors around Normandy had a peace treaty, and Archbishop Josias arrived there and promised to join the Crusades in two states thanks to his effective talks. But it was decided that the two states should go out of commission because of their distrust of each other. This army wanted to separate the states from the French red, the English white and the Flemish troops to the green cross carriages. After the decision of the expedition, the taxpayer who is not in military service to meet the financial direction of the expedition was given a tax called "Selahattin öşrü".
Fourth Crusades (1202-1204)
It began with the call that the Crusades were done by Pope Innocentius III to rescue Jerusalem. The armies gathered in Europe were commanded by the Italian Bonifacio. The main purpose of the army was to take possession of Jerusalem first to reach Egypt. The Venetians of the Crusader Army agreed to move them for a fee; but the Crusaders were not able to pay this fee, and some of the army did not loose Constantinople, who was heading towards Byzantium, who had been in battle with the throne.
The difference of the Fourth Crusader group from the other groups is that the army is ruled from one hand. But some of the units were directed by the Duke of Venice to occupy the city of Constantinople. During this occupation, a large part of the city was burned down and valuable works of art were taken to Europe. Even if the Catholic Christian Latin empire was established in place of the Byzantine, the Orthodox Christian, this Latin empire was not very long-lived. The most profitable state of the Fourth Crusade is Venice. Because the crusaders, who can not pay the transportation fee, have handed over some of the ports and islands of the Aegean Sea to Venice for shutting down.
Children's Crusades
In 1212, a crusader force was formed, which was composed entirely of children and whose reason for establishment was unknown. Since this historical event, one of the spots in the history of medieval Europe, was attempted to be closed by westerners, there is not much documentation of these associations.
These children's forces, which eventually joined Europe's provocation, were established in Stephen, France, led by young people named Nicholas in Germany. These child forces consisted of approximately 37,000 children and planned to arrive in Jerusalem. According to the belief, in the city of Genova in Italy, the sea will be divided into two, and the children will walk from here to Jerusalem. But it was not expected and there were great frustrations.
Although this child has even seen support and subsidies in the settlements where the army has been established, it has resulted in these children dying in many ways on hunger, disease and freezing. Some returned to their families, some settled near Christian families in Anatolia, and some were sold as slaves to Egypt by Venetian merchants.
Regrettably, it is a saddening part of this union that the western civilizations, Germany, sent 20,000 and 30,000 children of France to death with their own hands. After the unsuccessful results of the crusades that even adults have embarked on, the Papan had organized such a tragic event that it caused the children to die by their own hands. The sermons of the children's leaders and the adults in their surroundings have been granted by the Pope in his hands.