Participants of the Third Crusade, goal, results

Crusades as a military-religious phenomenon arose during the reign of the Roman Pope Gregory the Seventh and were aimed at the liberation from the "infidels" of Palestine and Jerusalem, where the coffin of the Lord was located, as well as the spread of Christianity by military means among pagans, Muslims, residents of Orthodox states and heretical movements . In the following centuries, the crusades were conducted mainly for the sake of Christianization of the Baltic population, the suppression of heretical manifestations in a number of European countries or for the solution of some personal tasks of persons who headed the throne in the Vatican.

In total there were nine military campaigns. What did the main participants of the Third Crusade aspire to ? The table roughly reflects their claims in a specific campaign in general terms as follows:

Who went to the crusades?

Ordinary participants of the Third Crusade in their composition were not very different from the contingent who took part in such actions earlier. For example, the first campaign was attended by numerous French grandees of the time who, with their druzhinami and adjoining monks and townsfolk (there were even children who were ready to go to the "infidels" in the name of the pardon promised by the pope for all sins) came to Constantinople in various ways In 1097 the Bosporus crossed.

Three hundred thousand Crusaders participated in one of the campaigns

The total number of crusaders reached about a third of a million people. Two years later, they fought their way to Jerusalem, cutting out a large part of the Muslim population who lived here. Then the knights with their troops waged wars with both Muslims and Greeks, Byzantines, etc. They founded several Christian states on the territory of Lebanon that controlled trade between Europe, China and India until new ways were opened to Asian Land through Eastern Rus. Trade through the Russian lands also tried to control with the help of the Crusaders, so supporters of this military-religious movement lasted longest in the Baltic States.

Ancient Edessa as an occasion for war

Participants in the Third Crusade (1147-1149) were actually involved in the second crusade. This event also began with the arrival in Constantinople of the German king Conrad with his troops in 1147. Prerequisites for the second wave of military operations on the Sacred Land was the fact that the Muslim civilization was activated and began to return to the lands that had been repulsed from it earlier. In particular, Edessa was captured, King Fulk died in Jerusalem, who also had possessions in France, and his daughter could not provide adequate protection of interests due to the mutiny of the vassals.

Saint Bernard blessed the Germans and the French on a campaign

Participants in the third crusade (actually the second, in the middle of the 12th century) were preparing for more than one year. It was assumed that the Pope Eugene the Third would actively speak for him, which, however, at that time was weakened as an authority by democratic currents in Italy (under the leadership of Arnold Brescian). French ruler Louis Seventh, a knight in spirit, also underwent some hesitation until he was blessed by the Pope in the person of Saint Bernard, who read the sermon on the need to liberate the Holy Sepulcher in 1146, inspiring the population of central and southern France. Participants in the 3rd Crusade (historians consider it to be the second) left France with a total of about 70,000 people, to which along the way the same number of pilgrims joined. A year later Saint Bernard caused the same wave of popular movement among the German population when he arrived on a visit to King Conrad.

Crossing the Bosporus, the Germans of King Conrad faced such resistance of the Seljuks that they could not go deeper into the country and eventually returned to their homeland (including Conrad and King Ludwig Seventh). The French went along the coasts of Asia Minor, and the most notable of them sailed to Syria in 1148. Land forces almost in full force died during the transition. Edessa, defeated by the Crusaders from the "infidels", was again conquered by Muslims, Nur ad Din seized the lands near Antioch, Kurds led by Shirk captured Egypt, in which later the famous Saladin reigned, who also subdued Muslim Syria, Damascus and part of Mesopotamia.

The aggravation of relations in the East after the death of Baldwin the Fourth

In those years in Jerusalem, the heavily leprous Balduin Four, who was a good diplomat and successfully maintained neutrality between Jerusalem and Damascus, ruled. However, after his death, a certain Guy de Lusignan married with his sister Baldwin, proclaimed himself the king of Jerusalem and began to provoke Saladin to hostilities, in which the latter more than succeeded, having conquered almost all the lands from the Crusaders.

Saladin's military success led to the emergence of potential participants in the third crusade in Europe who wanted to take revenge on him. The new military operation in the east with the blessing of the Pope was headed by Friedrich Barbarossa, King Philip Augustus the Second (French) and Richard the Lionheart - the King of England of that time. It is worth noting that Philip and Richard clearly disliked each other. This was due to the fact that Philip was a master of intrigue (including with Richard's brother, John Landless, who led England in the absence of the main ruler) that did not distinguish his English opponent. The latter, however, suffered a lot, not deploying the military power of its state.

Friedrich Barbarossa was a cautious military leader

Such relations were with each other heads of state - participants of the Third Crusade. Friedrich the First, as some historians believe, was far from such squabbles and was preparing very carefully for his enterprise in the East. There is some evidence that before the campaign he held talks with Byzantium, and with the Ikonian sultan, and possibly with the Sultan Saladin himself. Under the agreement with the Byzantine emperor, the participants in the 3rd Crusade received free passage through the lands and supply of provisions at predetermined prices. The Hungarian King Bel, who did not participate in the campaign, conducted the army of Barbarossa through his territory in the best way. But on the way to the Germans, gangs of bandits began to attack. The number of crusaders began to include local residents, dissatisfied with their rulers, which increased the number of fighting clashes.

What difficulties did the German participants in the Third Crusade face? Friedrich 1 did not consider that after the crossing of the Bosphorus in March, 1190, his already exhausted troops would have to walk through Asia Minor, previously devastated by wars with the Seljuks, where they would have problems with pack animals and provisions. The King of Germany won a major victory at Iconium, but in Cilicia, when crossing the mountain stream of Salef, Friedrich choked and died. This ruined the success of the whole enterprise, as part of the Crusaders had to return to Europe by sea, and part that reached Agra (the main goal of the campaign) under the leadership of the Duke of Swabia participated in the battles along with the rest of the Christians.

Richard and Philip went by sea

Other high-ranking participants of the Third Crusade (1189-1192) arrived for the siege of Agra with their troops in the spring of 1190. On the way, Richard managed to capture Cyprus. But Agra, mainly because of the contradictions between Richard and Philip, lasted until the summer of 1191, almost two years. Part of the French knights then sailed to their homeland under the leadership of their king. But some, like Henry of Champagne, Hugo of Burgundy and others, were left to fight in Syria, where they defeated Saladin at Arsuf, but could not return Jerusalem. In September 1192 the participants of the Third Crusade signed a peace treaty with the Sultan, according to which Christians could only visit the Holy City. Richard the Lionheart after that returned to his homeland. Approximately at the same time, the Teutonic Knights' Order appeared, which resulted in the transformation of the German hospital brotherhood of St. Mary, organized during the invasion of the East.

Results of the Crusades

What were the results of the states participating in the Third Crusade? The table shows that the Europeans and the peoples of the East, rather, lost more from these historical events. But it should be noted that the Crusades as a result had not only the death of a large number of people, the weakening of medieval forms of government, but also contributed to the rapprochement between classes, different nationalities and peoples, contributed to the development of navigation and trade, the spread of Christianity, the mutual penetration of the cultural values of the East And the West.