CRUSADES

Series of Religious wars Christians launched the crusades between 1096 and 1291 The purpose was to gain control of Palestine The spiritual heart of Palestine was the city of Jerusalem

City of Jerusalem Jerusalem was sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims To Christians, it was the place where Jesus was crucified and ascended to heaven To Muslims, it was the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven To Jews, it was the site of the ancient temple built by Solomon

Events leading to the crusades The European Christians began the religious wars They were threatened by the Seljuks In 1095 the Seljuks had advanced within 100 miles of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople The emperor appealed to Pope Urban II for help!!

The First Crusade Four European nobles led the first crusade. 30,000 crusaders fought their way through Anatolia and headed for Palestine Crusaders took over Antioch in Syria Crusaders established kingdoms in Palestine, Syria, and modern day Lebanon, and Turkey

Second Crusade Muslims joined together and were able to fight back In 1144 they captured Edessa, the capital of the northernmost Crusader Kingdom Christians started the second Crusade The Second Crusade ended in failure The Muslims beat the crusaders

Third Crusade It was led by Richard I, King of England He was also called the lionheart In 1180, Saladdin had formed the largest Muslim empire since the Seljuks Saladdin took back most of Palestine The loss of Jerusalem shocked the Europeans and sparked the third Crusade Richard’s Army kept control of the chain of cities along the coast of Palestine Muslims agreed to let the Christian Pilgrims enter Jerusalem

Later Crusades Continued for another 100 years Some Crusades were popular movements of poor people 1212 thousands of peasant children from France and Germany marched in the children’s Crusades Some of them returned home, some disappeared without a trace, some were sold as slaves, and very few made it to the holy land None of the Crusaders captured Jerusalem In 1291 Muslims took Acre, the last of the Crusader city, ending 200 years of Christian Kingdom in the holy lands

Reconquista Means “ reconquest” in Spanish Christians launched these series of wars to retake the “ Iberian Peninsula” from muslims It includes Spain and Portugal Muslims gave up more and more territory 1039, Portugal became an independdent Christian Kingdom 1248 only Granada in Spain remained in Muslim hands

Inquisition Roman Catholic Court Established against Muslims and Jews who claimed to have converted to Christianity Queen Isabelle and King Ferdinand wanted to unite Spain as a Catholic Country by using the Inquisition The Spanish Inquisition was harsh Judges used torture to find out if people who converted to Christianity still practiced their old religions

In the year 1492….. Jews were ordered to become Catholics or leave the country. Over 170,000 Jews left their homes forever Some took refuge in Muslim lands including Constantinople (Present day Istanbul)

Impact of Crusades on Christians Positive Economic Changes: increases use of money as Crusaders need to pay for supplies Knights perform banking by giving loans Monarchs started taxes Christians learn about food and goods and returned home with: Melons, Apricots, Sesame Seeds, Spices They make profit by trading them Negative Monarchs become powerful as nobles and knights have gone to fight Some Crusaders were fighting for personal gain, wealth, glory Some were looting People suffered under heavy taxes

Impact of Crusades on Muslims Positive Exposure to weapons and military ideas Merchants made profit This money funded projects like building mosques and schools Negative Many lost lives in battles and conquests Crusaders destroyed property Muslims were advanced and did not learn much from the Crusaders

Impact of Crusades on Jews Negative Some were forced to convert to Christianity Anti-Semitism or hostility towards Jews spread amongst non crusaders as well 1290 England Expelled all Jews Segregation spread throughout Europe in 14 th and 15 th centuries Negative Jews suffered during the Crusades During First Crusade suffered Persecutuions- they were murdered Holy books and synagogues were destroyed

Mongols 1n 1200 Muslims were threatened by the Mongols from China Under their leader Genghis Khan their empire spread across Asia They started converting people to Islam After the decline of the Mongols, Islam continued to spread The Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 The Mughal Empire Spreads in Indi in 1526