Rise of Islam in the South In the year 628, the Muslim prophet Muhammad and his followers marched to Mecca. The large group was on a pilgrimage. *Remember, a pilgrimage is a religious journey. When they arrived to Mecca, their entrance to the city was denied by a rival tribe –The Quraysh

After a skirmish, the two groups agreed on a treaty that would grant Muslims access to Mecca In 630, the Quraysh violated the treaty and slaughtered a group of Muslims Muhammad and his 10,000 followers marched on the city

The Qurayish leaders concluded that victory was impossible and surrendered the city over to Muhammad. Muhammad made Mecca the holiest site in Islam –Muhammad destroyed the previous inhabitants’ religious icons –Declared that non-Muslims should not enter the city

Mecca greatly aided the spread of Islam across the Middle East –Mecca was a major trading city in the Middle East Many other trading routes ran through the Arabian Peninsula  Mecca was on the peninsula –Arabian Peninsula: A peninsula that branches off of southwest Asia

–The Arabian Peninsula served as a land- bridge between three continents Africa, Asia, and Europe EUROPE ASIA AFRICA

During the middle ages, the majority of the European population worshipped Christianity The majority of southwest Asia’s and the Middle East’s population was Muslim

As we talked about before, Muslim armies traveled and conquered much of: –North Africa –Middle East –Southeast Asia

The First Crusade In the year 1093, an army of Muslim Turks were threatening to conquer Constantinople. –Constantinople was the capital city of the Byzantine Emperor –The Byzantine Empire was a Christian state

The Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus sent a message to Robert, Count of Flanders Robert then sent the plea message to Pope Urban II –The pope issued a call for a “holy war” –A “Crusade”

Sending assistance to Constantinople wasn’t the only reason why Pope Urban called for a crusade. The Muslims controlled Palestine. –Both religions considered Palestine a sacred land –Both religions had ties to the Palestine

The cities of Antioch and Jerusalem were located in Palestine. –Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Empire is 637 –Antioch was conquered by Muslim Turks in 1085 –Both cities were Christian states before they were conquered

Rashidun Empire- The first four leaders of the Islamic Empire after Muhammad’s death. –The Rashidun Caliphate split in the year 661, but Muslims stayed in control of the area(s)

The First Crusade Send reinforcements to the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus Pope Urban II wanted to reclaim the city of Jerusalem –In order to push his cause, a lot of knights were needed –The Pope guaranteed that every knight who fought for the cause, automatically earned a place in heaven.

The majority of the crusaders were French, but Englishmen, Germans, Italians and Spaniards came as well.

The crusaders reached Constantinople in 1097, but were ultimately unprepared for this battle –They knew little about the geography or climate –They also had no grand strategy to capture Jerusalem

The nobles argued among themselves and couldn’t decide on a sole leader. Finally, an army of 12,000 (less than ¼ the size of the original crusade army) besieged Jerusalem. The battle lasted for over a month –Only July 15, 1099 the crusaders successfully recaptured the city of Jerusalem.

After two years of battling, all that the Christian crusaders won was a 650 mile strip of land from the Christian city of Edessa to Jerusalem.

Because the cities were so far away from Europe, the cities were vulnerable for Muslim re-takeovers In 1144, Edessa was re-conquered by the Turks

The Second Crusade The Second Crusade was organized to march down to Edessa and reclaim the city. –The four year battle ( ) was a decisive Muslim victory Muslims still held control of the city –Jerusalem was re-conquered by Muslim forces in 1187

Jerusalem’s second conquering was lead by the Kurdish warrior and Muslim leader Saladin. –Saladin was one of the most famous Muslim leader of the 1100’s

The Third Crusade The Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem was led by three powerful monarchs –German Emperor Frederick I –Philip II of France –King of England, Richard the Lion-Hearted

The three European forces set out for Palestine in –The crusade was a disaster from the start All three monarchs took separate routes

Philip and Richard argued from the start  Philip returned to France Frederick drowned in a river near Antioch *Legend- Went to drink water/bathe in river and his armor was too heavy. Richard was the only European leader left to fight the crusade.

Richard and Saladin fought many battles over four years  Both were very strategic generals. The two forces agreed on a truce in 1192

The Truce Jerusalem remained a Muslim state Saladin promised that unarmed Christians could freely visit the city and other holy places in the area without being harmed

In 1204, a fourth Crusade to capture Jerusalem failed just like the third. The knights never reached the holy land. –Instead, they knights looted and took over the declining city of Constantinople (another Christian state)

There were several more Christian attempts to re-conquer the Holy Land in the Middle East –None of these crusades reached that goal –The Middle East today is still predominately Muslim

Effects of the Crusade: 1.European merchants who lived in the Crusader states expanded trade between Europe and Southwest Asia. –Goods from southwest Asia included spices, fruits, and cloth –This benefited both European Christians and Middle Eastern Muslims –More business = More income

2. The failure of the Crusades lessened the power of the pope and increased the power of kings. – Many knights and soldiers lost their lives in battle –Remember the Crusades were battles for a religious causes –Kings displayed poise and leadership during battle –Kings fought  Popes did not

3. Religious tensions in the holy lands. –Christians intolerance against the Muslims during the Crusades –Christian and Jews living in Muslim controlled states under Muslim laws – Jews living in Europe were also persecuted during the Crusades