Literature.—Michaud, The Crusades; Stubbs, Mediaeval and Modern History; Mombert, Great Lives (see Godfrey); Myers, Mediaeval and Modern History; Guizot, History of Civilization; Lord, Beacon Lights; Archer and Kingsford, The Crusaders; White, Eighteen Christian Centuries; Andrews, Institutes of General History; Ridpath, Library of Universal History (article on the Crusades).

Among the most remarkable movements that took place during the Middle Ages were the crusades. The Saracens had overrun and conquered the Holy Land, and the Christian nations of the west attempted to recover from the hands of the infidels the soil made sacred by the life and death of Christ. For a long time the pilgrims who made journeys to the tomb of the Savior were undisturbed, as their pilgrimages were a source of profit to the Saracens. But when the Turks gained possession of Jerusalem, they began to persecute both the native Christians and those who came from abroad. Peter the Hermit, who had suffered from these cruelties at Jerusalem, returned to Europe, and by his crude eloquence and earnestness stirred the people almost to a frenzy. Obtaining the sanction of the Pope, he gathered an immense crowd of men, women, and children, and started for the Holy Land.

They encountered great hardships, many died of hunger, disease, and the hostility of the people through whose countries they passed, and the remnant who reached the Bosporus, were totally destroyed by Turkish soldiers.The first successful crusade was organized by the feudal lords, who gathered an army of six hundred thousand men under the leadership of Godfrey of Bouillon. They had connected with their army one hundred thousand splendidly mounted men. After untold losses and horrors, which reduced their forces to sixty thousand men, they succeeded in taking Jerusalem. They established a Latin kingdom with Godfrey at the head, and thus accomplished the purpose for which they had set out. This crusade lasted from 1096 to 1099.

For about fifty years the Latin kingdom held its own; but it was constantly harassed by the Mohammedans, until it became necessary to organize a second crusade. The leaders in this were Conrad III. of Germany and Louis VII. of France. Jealousies soon arose between the rival leaders, who cared more for personal glory than for the purpose of the crusade. As a result, only a small portion of the three hundred thousand soldiers ever reached the Holy Land; and this crusade, which lasted from 1147 to 1149, resulted in failure.

Forty years later Saladin, a Mohammedan ruler, having captured Jerusalem, a third crusade was organized. This was led by Richard the Lion-Hearted of England, Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, and Philip Augustus of France. Barbarossa went overland, but Richard and Philip, profiting by past experiences, made the journey by water, thus accomplishing it with greater ease and fewer losses. The rivalries between the different nationalities engaged prevented successful warfare; but a truce was made with the humane Saladin,[43] whereby he guaranteed protection to the Christians, and thus the crusade came to an end. This crusade lasted from 1189 to 1192.Other crusades followed from time to time for several centuries, with but little advantage gained over the conditions granted by Saladin.

Results of the Crusades.—This, in brief, is a historical account of the crusades.[44] It remains for us to note their educational value.

1. They drew various nations together by one common purpose.

2. They increased the knowledge of the manners, customs, culture, products, and civilization of the East.

3. They stirred up commerce, especially that of the Mediterranean, making Venice and Genoa great commercial centers.

4. They broke up the power of feudalism. Lord and vassal together entered upon enterprises of danger and suffering, which were great levelers of class distinction. In the enthusiasm of the holy cause, many feudal lords disposed of all their worldly possessions, and became as poor as their vassals. This broke up the feudal estates.

5. They widened the horizon of thought, made Europeans more liberal, and prepared the way for an intellectual and religious revival.

6. They emancipated philosophy from theology. As a result of movements inaugurated by the crusades, the university of Paris established the faculty of philosophy separate from that of theology.

7. G. W. Cox says, "By rolling back the tide of Mohammedan conquest from Constantinople for upward of four centuries they probably saved Europe from horrors the recital of which might even now make one's ears tingle."

FOOTNOTES: