In the 11th century the Christian Byzantine Greeks of the Byzantine Empire were under pressure from the forces of the Seljuk Turks. Pope Urban II, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, called for a great expedition to help relieve that pressure and liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The subsequent crusades over the next 200 years changed the face of the Holy Land forever, and ruined any goodwill in the relationships between Christians and Muslims, and between Roman Catholic Christians and Greek Orthodox Christians. In the All About History Book of the Crusades you will discover the historical and religious background to the crusades, the dramatic battles and political intrigue and what everyday life was like in Outremer. Uncover the true stories of crusading heroes and their rivalries, such as King Richard the Lionheart and Sultan Saladin. This is the perfect handbook for anyone on a quest for knowledge about this tumultuous period of history.
Welcome to CRUSADES
The Crusades • Sanctioned by popes, the crusades were at heart religious and idealistic undertakings, though the prospect of power and money was ever present
The World of the Crusades
The Holy Land • Shining bright in the consciousness of Christians, the Holy Land attracted swathes of armed pilgrims intent on conquest – crusaders
Holy Relics
Sunnis, Shiites and Muslim Dynasties
“God Wills It!” • Cries of “Deus le Volt!” (“God wills it!”) rose from the crowds gathered outside the city walls in response to Pope Urban II’s call to arms
Hell, Heaven & Purgatory
The Jewish Massacres
Baldwin: Count of Edessa
At the Gates of Damascus • Damascus was one of the greatest Muslim cities of the Near East and having it in Frankish hands would have been a strategic boon if their 50,000 troops had managed to take it
Hospitallers and Templars
St Bernard of Clairvaux
The Great Adversaries • The meeting of Sultan Salah al-Din Yusuf, and King Richard I, the Lionheart, was a battlefield clash of charismatic heroes
The Assassins
The Teutonic Knights
Saladin’s Battle for Jerusalem • Battle-hardened after two decades of warfare in the Near East, the Kurdish-born Ayubid sultan led a mighty army to total victory against the Franks in 1187
Ayubid Warriors • The Muslim Ayubids blended Turkic, Persian, and Egyptian influences, and in many respects their warriors were a mirror image of their Latin Crusader foes
5 Key Battles • Saladin had a chequered record fighting the Crusaders before his great victory at Hattin. His strategy varied between sieges, raids, and pitched battles
Taking the Holy City • Saladin’s siege of Jerusalem lasted two long weeks, but it paid off
Lionheart’s Quest for the Holy Land • Born to royalty but educated in the charnel gutter of war, King Richard brought the religious fanaticism of the Christian West on the Muslim East in a quest to claim the fabled Holy Land
Crusaders
Battle of Arsuf • A major battle in the Third Crusade, Arsuf saw Richard and Saladin face off
Muslims
Lionheart’s crusade • The Third Crusade faced challenges even before reaching the Holy Land
Anatomy of a Templar knight • The key kit and weapons carried by the most elite of Christian warriors
Know thy enemy: Saladin • The main features and kit of the most respected Muslim warrior of all
Crusading king or bloody murderer? • Historian Douglas Boyd gives his verdict on the Lionheart
Why was Jerusalem so sought after?
Striking at the Empire • The death of Saladin made the Muslim empire seem like a vulnerable target, but somehow the Fourth Crusade ended with Christian killing Christian
The Albigensian Crusade
Venice: the Most Serene...