At Crusades they were military expeditions organized from the call of the Catholic Church to regain control of Jerusalem and other places in the Holy Land (Palestine). The First Crusade, organized between 1096 and 1099, resulted in the conquest of the city of Jerusalem and the foundation of Christian kingdoms in Palestine.
Crusade Summons
The first Crusade was called by the Pope Urban II, in 1095, during the Council of Clermont. The reports tell that Urban II's speech was carried out with great fervor and emphasis and guaranteed to all who participated in the Crusade the remission of sins and the promise of salvation and prosperity.
The summoning of the Crusade by Pope Urban II was part of the medieval conception of Saint war, that is, a war justified for the defense of Christendom. It was an answer by Urbano II to the request for help from Alexios I, Byzantine emperor who requested the assistance of the Christian kingdoms of Western Europe in the fight against the advance of the Seljuk Turks.
Pope Urban II saw in the summoning of the Crusades a factor of interest and aimed at two objectives:
Divert the violence of the European nobility to a common enemy and to another region;
Resume relations between the Western Church and the Eastern Church, which had been broken since the Great Schism in 1054.
The response to Urbano II's summons was extremely positive, and reports say that, after his speech, the audience in attendance shouted “big god” (which means “God wills” in Latin). The First Crusade, in addition to the great popular support, had many Christian nobles.
First Crusade
The Crusade officially began in the year 1096 and was also known as Nobles Crusade, due to the great adhesion of the European nobility to the summons of Urban II. Altogether, the First Crusade mobilized about 35,000 soldiers, who departed from various regions of Europe towards Constantinople. From there they would depart for Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Among the main nobles of the time who participated in the First Crusade, we can mention Godofredo de Bulhão, Raimundo IV of Toulouse and Boemundo. Crusader armies and Byzantine forces went towards the Holy Land and conquered numerous places that were under the control of the Turks: Antioch, Nicaea, etc.
The siege of the city of Jerusalem began in late 1098 and ended in July 1099. The reports tell about the great violence practiced by the crossed armies, which massacred the local population, which had Muslims, Jews and even Christians. Regarding the violence of Christians after the conquest of Jerusalem, follows the account of historian Steven Runciman:
The crusaders, insane for such a victory after so much suffering, ran through the streets and invaded houses and mosques, killing everyone they encountered – men, women and children. The massacre continued throughout the afternoon and night. […] When Raimundo de Aguilers, […] went to the Temple area, he had to fight his way through corpses and blood that reached his knees.
The Jews of Jerusalem all took refuge in its main synagogue. But since they were thought to have helped the Muslims, the Crusaders had no mercy on them. The building was set on fire and everyone burned to death inside.
The carnage in Jerusalem made a deep impression all over the world. […] It was this bloodthirsty proof of Christian fanaticism that rekindled Islamic intolerance|1|.
The crossed victory allowed the foundation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, in addition to other Christian kingdoms in the region. With this, the Christians managed to open a safe way for the arrival of pilgrims who were going to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Sepulcher and guaranteed the arrival of orders that came to the Holy Land to assist in the fight of some form. Christian rule, however, did not last long as, in 1187, Muslims led by Saladin reconquered the city.
|1| RUNCIMAN, Steven. History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Crusade and the Founding of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Rio de Janeiro: Imago, 2002, p. 257-258.
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