The Crusades were a series of military campaigns launched by the papacy between 1095 and 1291 against Muslim rulers for the recovery and defence of the Holy Land, as part of a wider crusading movement. The First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in November 1095—a call to arms for Christians to reconquer Jerusalem from the Muslims, with promises of spiritual reward. By this time, the papacy's position as head of the Catholic Church had strengthened, and earlier conflicts with secular rulers and wars on the frontiers of Western Christendom had prepared it for the direction of armed force in religious causes. The successes of the First Crusade led to the establishment of four Crusader states in the Levant, whose defence required further expeditions from Catholic Europe. The organisation of such large-scale campaigns demanded complex religious, social, and economic institutions, including crusade indulgences, military orders, and the taxation of clerical income. Over time, the crusading movement expanded to include campaigns against pagans, Christian dissidents, and other enemies of the papacy, promoted with similar spiritual rewards and continuing into the 18th century. The Crusade of 1101, the earliest papally sanctioned expedition inspired by the First Crusade, ended in disastrous defeats. For several decades thereafter, only smaller expeditions reached the Holy Land, yet their role in consolidating and expanding the Crusader states was pivotal. The fall of Edessa, the capital of the first Crusader state, prompted the Second Crusade, which failed in 1148. Its failure reduced support for crusading across Latin Christendom, leaving the Crusader states unable to resist Saladin's expansion. Having united Egypt and Muslim Syria under his rule, Saladin destroyed their combined armies at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. The Crusader states survived largely owing to the Third Crusade, a major campaign against Saladin, though Jerusalem remained under Muslim control. Initially directed against Egypt, the Fourth Crusade was diverted to the Byzantine Empire, culminating in the Sack of Constantinople and the establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204. The Fifth Crusade again targeted Egypt but failed to conquer it in 1219–21. By this period, crusade indulgences could also be obtained through other campaigns—such as the Iberian, Albigensian, and Northern Crusades—thereby diminishing enthusiasm for expeditions in the eastern Mediterranean. Jerusalem was regained through negotiation during the Sixth Crusade in 1229, and in 1239–41 the Barons' Crusade restored much of the territory the Crusader states had lost. However, the Sack of Jerusalem by Muslim freebooters soon ended Crusader rule in the Holy City. Louis IX of France launched two major campaigns—the Seventh Crusade against Egypt in 1248–51 and the Eighth Crusade against Tunis in 1270—both of which ended in failure. In place of the large-scale passagium generale, the smaller passagium particulare became the predominant form of crusading campaigns in the late 13th century. The Crusader states, however, were unable to withstand the advance of the Mamluks. Having reunited Egypt and Muslim Syria by 1260, they went on to attack the Crusader states, capturing the Crusaders' last mainland strongholds in 1291. Although plans for the reconquest of the Holy Land continued to be made in the following decades, only the Alexandrian Crusade briefly revived crusading activity in the region in 1365.
Terminology
The Crusades were military campaigns undertaken by Western Christians to reclaim the Holy Land, or Palestine, from Muslim control between the 11th and 13th centuries. Launched by the papacy with promises of spiritual reward, they were occasionally accompanied by unauthorised movements—driven by popular zeal—commonly referred to as popular crusades. In scholarly usage, the term is frequently applied more broadly to include papally authorised conflicts in other regions, conducted within the wider framework of the crusading movement, including the Iberian, Northern and Albigensian Crusades. Terminology evolved gradually, primarily reflecting the close association between the Crusades and Christian pilgrimage. Early usage favoured terms denoting mobility—iter ('journey'), expeditio ('expedition'), passagium ('passage')—typically accompanied by references to the intended destination, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Other early expressions invoked the cross (crux), and by around 1250, canon lawyers were distinguishing between campaigns in the Holy Land—crux transmarina ('the cross overseas')—and those within Europe—crux cismarina ('the cross this side of the sea'). Participants, who traditionally sewed a cross onto their garments, came to be known as crucesignati ('those signed with the cross'). Vernacular terminology reflected the ritual of "taking the cross". The earliest attested form, crozada, appeared in Spain in 1212. The Middle English croiserie, derived from Old French, emerged in the 13th–14th centuries, later supplanted by forms such as croisade and crusado, both influenced by Spanish through French. The modern term crusade was established by 1706. The medievalist Thomas Asbridge notes that the term's conventional use by historians imposes "a somewhat misleading aura of coherence and conformity" on the earliest crusading efforts.
Background
Sites linked to Jesus's ministry became popular pilgrimage destinations in Roman Palestine. Christian emperors built churches at these locations, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, marking Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem. In 395, the Roman Empire split into eastern and western halves. The Western Roman Empire had fragmented into smaller kingdoms by 476, while the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire persisted, though it lost vast territories to the rising Islamic Caliphate in the 7th century. Jerusalem fell to Caliph Umar in 638. Islamic expansion, motivated by jihad (holy war), reached Western Europe with the Muslim conquest of much of the Iberian Peninsula after 711. Christians under Muslim rule were dhimmi—legally protected but socially subordinate. Islam's ideological unity fractured over disputes about leadership. The Shi'a believed authority belonged to the descendants of Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, while the Sunni majority rejected the Alids' hereditary claim. By the mid-10th century, three rival caliphates had emerged: the Umayyads in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), the Shi'ite Fatimids in Egypt, and the Abbasids in the Middle East. To Muslim observers, such as Ibn Khordadbeh, the remote and less developed Western Europe was merely a source of slaves and raw materials. However, between c. 950 and c. 1070, drought and cold spells across North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia led to famine and migration. Interfaith tensions escalated, culminating in the temporary destruction of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. From the 1040s, nomadic Turkomans disrupted the Middle East. In 1055, their leader Tughril I of the Seljuk clan assumed authority within the Abbasid Caliphate with Caliph Al-Qa'im's consent. Tughril's nephew Alp Arslan crushed the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, opening Anatolia to Turkoman migration. The Seljuk Empire emerged as a loose federation of provinces ruled by Seljuk princes, Turkoman warlords and Arab emirs. As Byzantine control collapsed, Armenian and Greek strongmen took over frontier cities and fortresses.
From the mid-9th century, central authority in Western Europe weakened, and local lords gained power, commanding heavily armoured knights and holding castles. Their territorial disputes made warfare a regular feature across regions. To protect church property and unarmed groups, church leaders launched the Peace of God movement, threatening offenders with excommunication. As sins permeated daily life, Christians feared damnation. Sinners were expected to confess and undertake priestly prescribed penance. Thousands made the penitential journey to Jerusalem, though attacks on pilgrims became increasingly frequent. From c. 1000, the Medieval Warm Period favoured Western Europe, spurring economic and population growth. Within a century, Italian merchants supplanted their Muslim and Jewish rivals as the leading force in Mediterranean trade. In 1031, al-Andalus fragmented into taifas—smaller kingdoms—that could not resist the Reconquista—the expansion of the northern Christian states—prompting intervention by the radical Almoravids from the Maghreb. In southern Italy, Norman warriors from northern France founded principalities and completed the conquest of Muslim Sicily by 1091. In the mid-11th century, clerics promoting the "liberty of the Church" rose to power in Rome, banning simony and clerical marriage. The popes, regarded as successors to Saint Peter in Rome, claimed supremacy over Christendom, but Eastern Christian leaders rejected this. Combined with long-standing liturgical and theological differences, this led to mutual excommunications in 1054 and ultimately the division between the Catholic West and Orthodox East. Reformist clerics' rejection of lay control triggered the Investiture Controversy with secular powers. Popes had already courted allies by offering spiritual rewards, and the Controversy revived interest in the theology of just war, first articulated by Augustine in the 5th century. Theologians, under Pope Gregory VII's auspices, concluded that dying in a just war equated to martyrdom. Still, the idea of penitential warfare drew sharp criticism from anti-papal figures like Sigebert of Gembloux.
First Crusade
By the late 11th century, the development of Christian just war theory, increasing aristocratic piety, and the popularity of penitential journeys to the Holy Land created a context for armed pilgrimages. Strengthened by the church reforms, the papacy was well positioned to channel anxiety over sin and hopes of remission into a papally orchestrated war. In 1074, Gregory VII was the first pope to plan a campaign against the Turkomans, though it was never launched. In March 1095, his successor, Urban II, received envoys from Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who requested military aid at the Council of Piacenza. By this time, the Seljuk Empire had descended into civil war following the deaths of Vizier Nizam al-Mulk and Sultan Malik-Shah I in 1092. Malik-Shah's brother Tutush I contested the succession of Malik-Shah's son Berkyaruq. Although Tutush was killed in battle in 1095, his sons Ridwan and Duqaq, seized control of the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus, respectively, while Tutush's former mamluk (slave soldier), Yaghi-Siyan, maintained his rule over Antioch. In Anatolia, the breakaway Seljuk prince Kilij Arslan I founded the independent Sultanate of Rum, while an autonomous Turkoman clan, the Danishmendids, seized control of the north. Meanwhile, Fatimid Egypt faced its own succession crisis after the deaths of Caliph al-Mustansir and his vizier al-Jamali. Al-Jamali's son and successor al-Afdal Shahanshah installed al-Mustansir's youngest son al-Musta'li as caliph bypassing the eldest son Nizar. Although Nizar was murdered, his supporters rejected al-Musta'li's legitimacy and established a new branch of radical Shi'a Islam—the Nizaris, also known as the Assassins.
Council of Clermont and its aftermath
In July 1095, Pope Urban began a tour of France, negotiating with local elites, and ending with the Council of Clermont. Here, on 27 November, he announced a military campaign against the Turkomans. According to most accounts, he urged military support for eastern Christians, promising spiritual rewards, and condemning knightly violence. Accounts differ on whether he promised reduced penance or full remission of sin. Urban's appeal reportedly prompted the crowd to cry Deus vult! ('God wills it!'). The ritual of "taking the cross" was introduced on the spot, with Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy setting the precedent. He was soon appointed papal legate. Urban held further councils in France, and set 15 August—two weeks after the harvest began—as the campaign's start date. His message spread mainly through those present at Clermont, leaving much of Western Europe unaware of the crusade. He also urged Catalan counts not to join, granting them equal spiritual rewards for fighting the Almoravids, marking an early instance of crusading in Iberia.
People's Crusade
Pope Urban sought to restrict enlistment to trained warriors, but popular enthusiasm proved uncontrollable. The charismatic Peter the Hermit preached in regions Urban had avoided, reportedly bearing a heavenly letter urging the expulsion of "pagans" from the Holy Land. He attracted thousands of peasants and townsfolk, alongside some nobles such as Walter Sans Avoir. In Germany, the preachers Folkmar and Gottschalk assembled similar groups. Several contingents departed before the harvest, from March 1096. Walter and Peter each led forces of 10,000–15,000. While travelling, Peter threatened Jewish communities in pursuit of provisions. King Coloman of Hungary granted market access, but during their passage the host, by then c. 20,000 people, plundered the border town of Zemun. Entering Byzantine territory in June, their continued looting provoked imperial raids, causing severe losses. Meanwhile, Folkmar and Gottschalk's 15,000-strong host was destroyed by Coloman on Hungary's western frontier in July. A parallel rising under the Swabian count Emicho launched the anti-Jewish Rhineland massacres in western Germany, beginning at Speyer on 3 May 1096. Despite episcopal efforts at protection, his force spread anti-semitic violence until Hungarian troops dispersed it in mid-July. Walter reached Constantinople on 20 July, Peter on 1 August. Distrustful of their disorder, Emperor Alexios shipped them across the Bosporus to Anatolia. Germans captured the Seljuk fortress of Xerigordos, but it was retaken by the Turkomans on 29 September. Kilij Arslan destroyed the crusaders at Civetot on 21 October; Peter survived with a few followers.
Princes' Crusade
No crowned ruler joined the First Crusade, largely because of tensions with the Church. The first major noble to depart was Hugh of Vermandois, brother of King Philip I of France. Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, set off in August 1096, followed by Bohemond of Taranto, a veteran of anti-Byzantine campaigns, in October, and Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse, who led the largest force. Other leaders included Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy; Stephen of Blois; and Robert II of Flanders. Their armies, as the historian Thomas Madden notes, were "a curious mix of rich and poor, saints and sinners", motivated by both faith and gain. As a knight's participation could cost four years' income, it was often financed through loans or donations; the less wealthy joined noble retinues. At Constantinople, tensions with the Byzantines resulted in skirmishes. Emperor Alexios demanded oaths from the crusader leaders to return former Byzantine lands before allowing passage into Anatolia. The crusading host numbered 60,000–100,000, including 30,000 non-combatants and up to 7,000 knights. Exploiting Seljuk distractions, the crusaders and Byzantines captured Nicaea in June 1097 and advanced toward Antioch, once a Byzantine provincial capital in Syria. They repelled Kilij Arslan's lightly armoured cavalry at the Battle of Dorylaeum. After a gruelling march, c. 40,000 crusaders reached Antioch and began the city's prolonged siege in October 1097. During this time, Baldwin of Boulogne—Godfrey's brother—left with 100 knights and, with Armenian support, seized fortresses and the city of Edessa, founding the first Crusader state, the County of Edessa, in March 1098. The Seljuk general Kerbogha assembled a 40,000-strong army in Iraq, but arrived in June after Bohemond had secured Antioch through collusion with a guard. The crusaders massacred the Muslim inhabitants and some of the native Christians. Despite famine, disease, and desertion, they—encouraged by the mystic Peter Bartholomew—defeated Kerbogha at the Battle of Antioch on 28 June 1098. The march on Jerusalem was halted due to intense summer heat and a plague that claimed Adhemar of Le Puy's life. In the Byzantines' absence, Bohemond persuaded the other leaders to recognise his rule over Antioch, establishing a new Crusader state, the Principality of Antioch. The crusade resumed under pressure from the common soldiers in November. After massacring the defenders of Ma'arra, the crusaders were granted safe passage by local Muslim rulers. They reached Jerusalem, then held by a Fatimid governor, on 7 June 1099. The siege stalled until Genoese craftsmen arrived with supplies. Their siege towers enabled the crusaders to conquer the city on 15 July. Over the next two days, they slaughtered the population and looted the city. Godfrey was elected Jerusalem's first Western ruler, while Arnulf of Chocques, a Norman priest, was named the first Latin patriarch. Meanwhile, al-Afdal mobilised c. 20,000 Egyptian troops to retake the city, but the crusaders—roughly 9,000 infantry and 1,200 knights—defeated his army at the Battle of Ascalon on 12 August. With their vow fulfilled, most crusaders returned home, leaving Godfrey with just 300 knights and 2,000 foot soldiers.
== Conquest, consolidation and defence == The historian Malcolm Barber notes that the Crusader states' creation "committed western Europeans to crusading for the foreseeable future". In the century after the First Crusade, the resurgence of Muslim unity shaped Middle Eastern history. During the first half of this period, the Franks sought Western military aid only four times; between 1149 and 1186, they made at least sixteen such appeals.
Aftermath of the First Crusade
The Italian merchant republics pledged naval aid for the crusade but needed time to prepare. The Pisan fleet of 120 ships arrived under Archbishop Daimbert in September 1099. As papal legate, he deposed Arnulf and was installed patriarch on Christmas Day, with Godfrey and Bohemond doing homage to him. Meanwhile, Tancred, Bohemond's nephew, completed the conquest of Galilee. Vitale I Michiel, Doge of Venice, soon arrived with over 200 ships. After Godfrey's unexpected death on 18 July 1100, the Venetians helped Tancred take Haifa. Daimbert, seeking to make Jerusalem an ecclesiastical lordship, lost support when Bohemond was captured by the Danishmendid Gazi Gümüshtigin in August. Meanwhile, Godfrey's followers invited Baldwin of Boulogne to succeed him. Before going to Jerusalem, Baldwin granted Edessa to his cousin Baldwin of Bourcq, then seized Jerusalem and forced Daimbert to crown him king on Christmas Day. Within nine months, he captured Arsuf and Caesarea with Genoese aid, and defeated a superior Egyptian force at the First Battle of Ramla.
Crusade of 1101
After Antioch's capture, crusader leaders wrote to senior Catholic clerics urging them to rally oath-breakers. In December 1100, Pope Urban's successor Paschal II launched a new crusade. Nicknamed the "Crusade of the Faint-Hearted", it included deserters such as Stephen of Blois and Hugh of Vermandois. The first contingent, led by Anselm, Archbishop of Milan and Albert of Biandrate, left Lombardy in September 1100. The Lombards reportedly aimed at Baghdad or Egypt, and even attacked the Blachernae Palace in Constantinople before being ferried to Anatolia in early 1101. They were soon joined by French and German forces led by William IX of Aquitaine, William II of Nevers, Welf I of Bavaria, the widowed Marchioness Ida of Austria, and Archbishop Thiemo of Salzburg. Reaching Constantinople in June, they met Raymond of Saint-Gilles. Ignoring his and Stephen's warnings, the Lombards pressed to free Bohemond. Joined by other crusaders, they advanced into eastern Anatolia, but were crushed at the Battle of Mersivan in August by a coalition of Turkoman rulers. William of Nevers' army, heading south, was almost destroyed at Heraclea, where a third mainly German force was also routed. Ida vanished, later giving rise to tales she became mother of the powerful Turkoman ruler Zengi. The failure of the 1101 Crusade shattered crusader invincibility, with Westerners chiefly blaming Byzantines. Few survived. William of Aquitaine, Welf, and Stephen regrouped at Antioch, aiding Raymond and Genoese allies in capturing Tortosa. Some, including Stephen, reached the Holy Land, where he died at the Second Battle of Ramla on 17 May 1102. On that occasion Egyptians caught the crusaders by surprise, but survivors redeemed themselves at the Battle of Jaffa ten days later.
Bohemond's crusade
Bohemond of Antioch secured his release by ransom, exploiting Danishmendid–Seljuk conflict. He supported Baldwin II of Edessa in an attack on Harran, but in May 1104, Jikirmish, atabeg (governor) of Mosul, defeated them at the Battle of Harran. Jikirmish's victory allowed Ridwan to retake border fortresses, while the Byzantines expelled Antiochene garrisons from Cilicia. Seeking support in the West, Bohemond left Tancred in charge of Antioch in autumn 1104. Pope Paschal named Bishop Bruno of Segni as papal legate to promote a crusade for Jerusalem in France. Though highly regarded, Bohemond drew only lesser nobles like Hugh of Le Puiset and Robert of Vieux-Pont to take the cross. He then chose to invade the Byzantine Empire from Italy, accusing the Byzantines of heresy. In October 1107, he besieged the fortress of Dyrrachium, but Alexios had reinforced its defences, allied with Venetians, and, with Turkoman mercenaries, blockaded Bohemond's army. Bohemond had to withdraw and accept Byzantine suzerainty over Antioch in the 1108 Treaty of Devol, but Tancred did not implement the treaty.
=== Coastal towns === King Baldwin I of Jerusalem expanded his realm to secure defence and attract knights with rewards. Naval aid for coastal conquests came from Pisans, Genoese, and Venetians, compensated with trade privileges. He captured Acre in 1104 and Beirut and Sidon in 1110. Sigurd I of Norway, the first crowned monarch on crusade, assisted at Sidon. Baldwin's position was strengthened by Duqaq of Damascus's death. Though Duqaq's successor, Toghtekin joined an Egyptian invasion, the Muslim coalition was defeated at the Third Battle of Ramla in 1105. Around the same time, the Damascene scholar Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami urged Muslim unity in jihad against the Franks. Raymond of Saint Gilles began the Siege of Tripoli in 1103 but died within two years. A dispute between his son Bertrand of Toulouse and cousin William Jordan was resolved by King Baldwin at the Council of Tripoli. Soon after, Frankish forces with Genoese aid seized the city in July 1109. William Jordan was killed, leaving Bertrand sole ruler of the County of Tripoli. Tripoli's fall alarmed the Muslim world. The Seljuk sultan Muhammad I Tapar ordered Mawdud, atabeg of Mosul to invade, but his campaigns of 1110–13 failed amid desertions. In 1115 his successor Aqsunqur also failed at Edessa. That year Toghtekin sheltered his kinsman Ilghazi, angering the Sultan. Toghtekin allied with Tancred's successor in Antioch, Roger, who defeated the Sultan's army at the Battle of Sarmin on 14 September 1115. Meanwhile, Ridwan's death in 1113 sparked a succession crisis in Aleppo, enabling Roger to exact tribute from the city.
Venetian Crusade
Baldwin I of Jerusalem died of illness during a campaign against Egypt on 2 April 1118. He was succeeded by Baldwin of Bourcq, who ceded Edessa to his kinsman Joscelin I. Facing Roger of Antioch's repeated demands for tribute, the Aleppans appealed to Ilghazi, who with Toghtekin's aid invaded Antiochene lands. They defeated Roger at the Battle of the Field of Blood on 28 June 1119, where some 700 knights and 3,000 infantry perished along with Roger. Antioch was saved by Baldwin II of Jerusalem, who became regent for the absent Bohemond II, son of Bohemond I. Amid famine and military disaster, Jerusalem's leaders met at the Council of Nablus in 1120, issuing decrees against sexual offences such as sodomy and relations with Muslims. Patriarch Warmund approved Hugues de Payens' knightly confraternity, whose members vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and protection of pilgrims. This marked the birth of the military orders. Baldwin II installed them in the former Al-Aqsa Mosque, identified by the Franks as Solomon's Temple, whence their name Knights Templar. Seeking aid, Baldwin II sent envoys to the West. Pope Paschal urged the Venetian doge Domenico Michiel to lead a naval expedition. As regent Baldwin prioritised Antioch's defence, though it was unpopular in Jerusalem. After Ilghazi's death, his nephew Belek Ghazi captured Joscelin and, in April 1123, Baldwin himself. In his absence Patriarch Warmund concluded the Pactum Warmundi with Venice, securing the conquest of Tyre on 7 July 1124. Baldwin returned to Jerusalem in April 1125.
Crusade of 1129
Aqsunqur united Aleppo and Mosul, recovering much territory from the Franks before his assassination in 1126. That year Bohemond II assumed power in Antioch, but his conflict with Joscelin I of Edessa prevented him from exploiting unrest in Aleppo. In 1127 the Turkoman commander Zengi became atabeg of Mosul. In preparation for a major offensive against Damascus, Baldwin II of Jerusalem sent envoys to Europe to raise troops and arrange the marriage of his heir, Melisende. Her betrothal to Fulk V of Anjou included the promise of joint succession. In May 1128 Toghtekin of Damascus died, succeeded by his son Buri, while Zengi reunited Aleppo with Mosul. Fulk arrived in May 1129 and married Melisende. Though lacking papal sanction, the Crusade of 1129 drew some 60,000 warriors. The Franks invaded Damascene territory in November, but a sortie routed their foragers. On hearing of this, the main force withdrew, perhaps also driven by a violent storm.
Internal conflicts
In February 1130 Bohemond II of Antioch was killed in a skirmish. His widow Alice—daughter of Baldwin II of Jerusalem—sought power with Zengi's support, but Baldwin assumed the regency for her daughter by Bohemond, Constance. When Baldwin died on 21 August 1131, Fulk and Melisende succeeded him in Jerusalem, while Fulk secured the regency in Antioch by defeating Alice's allies Pons of Tripoli and Joscelin II of Edessa. Muslim pressure mounted: Zengi plundered Antioch and Edessa, and Buri's successor, Ismail of Damascus raided Jerusalemite and Tripolitan lands, causing Pons's death. In 1136, Fulk arranged Constance's marriage to the French Raymond of Poitiers. The next year Raymond did homage to Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos, but John's campaigns against Aleppo and Shaizar failed. Zengi took Homs, but his assault on Damascus was repelled by the city's new ruler Unur allied with Fulk. Fulk died in a hunting accident on 10 November 1143. His reign saw the Hospitallers evolve from a nursing confraternity into a military order. The widowed Melisende resisted sharing power with their son Baldwin III.
Second Crusade
In the early 1140s Zengi sought dominance over Muslim rivals, notably the Artuqids in Iraq. Kara Arslan, an Artuqid prince, sought aid from Joscelin II of Edessa, offering land in exchange. Joscelin accepted, provoking Zengi to besiege Edessa. When the city fell on 26 December 1144, most of its Frankish population was killed or enslaved. Zengi was assassinated in 1146, but when Joscelin briefly regained Edessa, Zengi's son Nur al-Din expelled him and the Turkomans massacred fleeing Christians. Nur al-Din destroyed the city's fortifications, making its reconquest futile. He secured a marriage alliance with Unur of Damascus. News of Edessa's fall reached Pope Eugenius III through Bishop Hugh of Jabala and Armenian clergy. He responded with the bull Quantum praedecessores on 1 December 1145, granting remission of sins, protection of property, and debt suspension to those who took the cross—establishing the model for later crusade bulls. Louis VII of France, troubled by guilt over a massacre in a church, declared his intention to lead a crusade. At Vézelay in 1146 the Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux persuaded many French nobles to join. Bernard went on preaching across France and Germany. In the Rhineland, anti-semitic pogroms incited by the monk Radulf ended only after Bernard recalled him. In a Christmas sermon Bernard persuaded Conrad III of Germany to take the cross at Speyer. When Saxon lords resisted abandoning war against the pagan Wends, he convinced Pope Eugenius to issue the bull Divina dispensatione in April 1147, extending crusade indulgences to the Wendish campaign, later seen as the first Northern Crusade. The Pope also named Iberia as a crusading target. A critic to the Wendish campaign, Helmold of Bosau later described the Second Crusade as fought in three theatres—the Holy Land, the Baltic and Iberia. Despite leadership by nobles such as the Saxon duke Henry the Lion, the crusaders failed against the Wendish prince Niklot. The crusaders departed for the Holy Land in May and June 1147. A distinctive feature was the prominent presence of women: Louis VII was joined by his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and her household, while regulations for the crusader fleet mention wives. The fleet of 150 ships carried about 10,000 crusaders from northwestern Europe. They aided Afonso I of Portugal in his successful Siege of Lisbon in October 1147 and Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in capturing Tortosa in December 1148, but only a small contingent reached the Holy Land.
The German army, with many pilgrims, retraced the First Crusade's route through Hungary and the Balkans. Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, fearing attack, made peace with Mesud I, Sultan of Rum. Roger II of Sicily invaded the Balkans, heightening Byzantine suspicion of a coordinated western action. After clashes at Constantinople, the Germans crossed into Anatolia without waiting for the French. On 25 October 1147 Mesud's forces crushed them at the Battle of Dorylaeum; many died, but Conrad, wounded, escaped into Byzantine territory. The French reached Constantinople in October 1147. Clashes followed, and Bishop Godefroy of Langres urged Louis VII to seize the city, but he advanced into Anatolia. The crusaders endured shortages, desertions and raids while wintering at Ephesus. At Antalya Louis and his knights sailed for Syria on Byzantine ships; most left behind perished, deserted or were enslaved. Louis reached Antioch on 19 March 1148. Raymond of Poitiers urged an attack on Aleppo and Shaizar, but Louis pressed on to Jerusalem, despite Eleanor—Raymond's niece—supporting her uncle. At Acre he joined Conrad, who had arrived by sea from Constantinople. The Council of Acre resolved to besiege Damascus, beginning on 24 July. Though Conrad repelled attacks, Damascene raids and news of Nur al-Din's approaching reinforcements soon forced the crusaders to abandon the siege. A plan to attack Ascalon, the last Fatimid port, also collapsed, and the crusaders withdrew from the Holy Land. The failure gravely weakened crusading fervour in Europe. Conrad blamed Jerusalem's leaders, while others, including Bernard of Clairvaux, accused the Byzantines.
Towards Muslim unity in the Levant
Muslim forces pressed the northern Crusader states. Raymond of Poitiers was killed at the Battle of Inab on 29 June 1149; Nur al-Din seized Antiochene fortresses and destroyed Tortosa, while the Artuqids and Seljuks of Rum attacked the ruined County of Edessa. Joscelin II of Edessa was captured, and in 1150 his wife Beatrice sold the remnants of his county to Byzantium. Unur's death ended the Aleppo–Damascus alliance, as his successor Abaq allied with the Franks. In 1151 Assassins murdered Raymond II of Tripoli and his son Raymond III succeeded him. The following year, Baldwin III of Jerusalem deposed his mother Melisende. He captured Ascalon in 1153, completing the conquest of the coast. He arranged the marriage of the French crusader Raynald of Châtillon to Constance of Antioch. Between 1154 and 1157, Nur al-Din blockaded Damascus, forced Abaq to withdraw, and took Shaizar, uniting Muslim Syria. The Franks failed to retake Shaizar despite the support of Thierry of Flanders, a veteran of the Second Crusade. In 1159 Emperor Manuel I invaded Syria, halting Nur al-Din's advance, but Raynald was captured by Turkomans in 1160/61. The childless Baldwin III died of illness on 10 February 1163. His brother Amalric's succession was made conditional on the annulment of his marriage to Agnes of Courtenay. Their children, Sibylla and Baldwin, nevertheless were recognised as legitimate. In Antioch, Bohemond III, son of Constance and Raymond of Poitiers, took power and expelled his mother. Under Amalric, the wealthy but divided Egypt became the main battleground with Nur al-Din. Between 1163 and 1169, Amalric launched five campaigns, but Nur al-Din's forces blocked his conquest. In early 1169, the Fatimid caliph al-Adid appointed Nur al-Din's Kurdish general Shirkuh as vizier; on his death, his nephew Saladin succeeded him. Amalric renewed the Byzantine alliance, but their joint invasion of Egypt failed. In September 1171, Saladin abolished the Fatimid caliphate, but soon quarrelled with Nur al-Din. In response to Amalric's appeals, Louis VII of France imposed a levy—one penny on every pound of property and income—for the Holy Land over five years. His initiative was soon matched by Henry II of England. In 1174, Nur al-Din and Amalric both died, leaving underage heirs: as-Salih and the leper Baldwin IV. In his final years, Nur al-Din had made the conquest of Jerusalem the chief aim of jihad, inspiring a new Muslim literary genre, the Merits of Jerusalem. The struggle for his legacy was won by Saladin, who took Damascus in 1174, Aleppo in 1183, and compelled the Zengid ruler of Mosul, Izz al-Din, to submit in 1186. As early as 1176, the Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi urged Saladin to renew the jihad against the Franks, but he instead fought his Muslim rivals. Once he secured much of the Near East, however, he needed a new target to furnish his troops with plunder. Jerusalem's leaders sought Western support by marrying Baldwin's heir Sibylla to William of Montferrat, a kinsman of German and French royalty, but he died in 1177. That year Philip I of Flanders led a futile armed pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and a Byzantine–Frankish invasion of Egypt failed amid disputes over its future. Before his death Baldwin designated Sibylla's posthumous son by William, Baldwin V his successor. On the child's death in 1186, Sibylla and her second husband Guy of Lusignan seized power with the support of leading figures, including Raynald of Châtillon, by then lord of Transjordan. Their rival, Raymond III, allied with Saladin, granting his troops free passage through Galilee.
== Fall and recovery == Disillusioned by the failure of the Second Crusade, Western rulers were unwilling to launch another expedition to the Holy Land, despite the threat from Saladin. Criticism of crusading intensified, recorded in the 1187 Military Affairs by the historian Ralph Niger, who questioned the efficacy of crusading indulgences without corresponding spiritual renewal. In this climate only a major defeat in the East could revive crusading zeal. The Byzantine Empire, a traditional ally of Jerusalem, was destabilised by coups in 1183 and 1185, while the massacre of Italian merchants deepened its isolation from the West. In 1185 Emperor Isaac II Angelos concluded an anti-Seljuk alliance with Saladin, recognising his claim to Syria except Antioch.
Third Crusade
Despite a truce signed in 1185 still in force, Raynald of Châtillon attacked a Muslim caravan in Transjordan in early 1187, prompting Saladin to muster troops across his empire. Guy of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli were reconciled, but the Jerusalemite field army, exhausted by a long march, was crushed at the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187. Raymond fled while others were killed or captured. Saladin executed Raynald, the Templars and Hospitallers, but spared other leaders including Guy. The kingdom lay defenceless—after a 12-day siege the city of Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin on 2 October. Tyre resisted under the newly arrived crusader Conrad of Montferrat, who sent Archbishop Joscius west for aid. Saladin's siege of Tyre was lifted on 1 January 1188. The first reports of the disaster reached Italy through Genoese merchants. William II of Sicily dispatched c. 50 ships and 200 knights, and his fleet's support strengthened the defence of Antioch, Tripoli, and Tyre. Raymond III died of illness, and the County of Tripoli was seized by Bohemond IV, son of Bohemond III of Antioch. Pope Gregory VIII launched the new crusade with the bull Audita tremendi on 29 October 1187. The English prince Richard was the first to take the cross. Pope Gregory appointed Joscius of Tyre to preach in France and Henry of Albano in Germany. On 22 January 1189 Joscius reconciled Philip II of France and Henry II of England at Gisors, where both kings and many nobles took the cross. Troubadours such as Conon of Béthune also spread the message of the bull. To fund the crusade, the "Saladin tithe"—a levy of 10% on income and movable goods—was imposed in England and France. On 27 March 1188 Emperor Frederick I swore his oath at the Curia Christi ('Court of Christ') in Mainz. The English, French, and part of the German host chose the sea route, but Frederick resolved to march overland.
Frederick set out in May 1189 with c. 15,000 troops. By then Frankish control was reduced to Tyre, Antioch, Tripoli, and the fortresses of Beaufort, Margat, and Krak des Chevaliers. Saladin had freed Guy in May 1188, but Conrad barred him from Tyre. Gathering c. 9,000 men, Guy laid siege to Acre in August 1189 with Pisan naval support, his army reinforced by arriving western contingents. Fearing a German–Seljuk alliance, Emperor Isaac II denied Frederick safe passage. Frederick retaliated by attacking Byzantine towns, forcing Isaac in March 1190 to allow transport into Anatolia on Genoese and Pisan ships. Despite Turkoman raids and scarce supplies, the Germans briefly took Konya, capital of Rum, but the crusade collapsed when Frederick drowned in the river Saleph on 10 June 1190. His son Frederick of Swabia failed to sustain morale: many deserted or died, and only remnants reached Acre in October. Franco-English tensions persisted until Henry II's death in July 1189. Richard I succeeded and swiftly prepared for the crusade, raising further funds by exacting a taillage from the Jews. He met with Philip II at Vézelay on 4 July 1190 before departing. Richard's host numbered c. 17,000, while the French force was smaller, as many had already left under Henry II of Champagne. Richard hired ships in Marseille, Philip in Genoa, and both sailed to Sicily. There Richard seized Messina, compelling the new Sicilian king Tancred of Lecce to pay a substantial sum. From Sicily the French sailed directly to Acre, arriving on 20 April. A storm drove several English ships onto Cyprus, where the local Byzantine ruler Isaac Komnenos seized the wrecks and captives. Richard conquered the island before reaching Acre on 6 June 1191.
Meanwhile, the long siege caused a deadly plague at Acre, killing Queen Sibylla. As Guy's kingship relied on her, her death voided his claim. Supported by French and German crusaders and the papal legate Ubaldo of Pisa, Conrad married Sibylla's half-sister Isabella on 24 November 1190. Guy refused to abdicate and sought Richard's backing. The siege intensified with the arrival of two royal armies, and on 12 July 1191 the defenders surrendered without Saladin's approval, under safe-conduct terms. Richard's and Philip's banners rose on Acre's walls, but when Leopold V of Austria raised his flag, Richard tore it down. Stricken by illness, Philip II soon withdrew from the crusade. Acre's surrender required Saladin to free 1,600 Frankish prisoners and return the True Cross within a month; when he failed, Richard ordered 2,700–3,000 Muslim captives executed. From Acre, Richard advanced south, defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf, and secured Jaffa. News that Richard's brother John was attempting to seize England reached the Holy Land, prompting Richard to plan his return. On 20 April 1192 he recognised Conrad's claim to the remnant Kingdom of Jerusalem and granted Cyprus to Guy as compensation. Conrad was assassinated eight days later, and his pregnant widow Isabella soon married Henry of Champagne, a kinsman of both the French and English kings. In June Richard advanced towards Jerusalem, but the crusaders halted at Bayt Nuba, 13 miles (21 km) away, fearing defeat, and withdrew to the coast. Saladin counterattacked at Jaffa, but Richard relieved the town. Peace talks begun the previous year led to the Treaty of Jaffa on 2 September, a three-year truce confirming Frankish control of the coast between Tyre and Jaffa and allowing Christian pilgrims access to the holy sites of Palestine. Richard left Palestine on 9 October 1192 but was captured in Austria by Leopold V. In 1193 he was handed to Emperor Henry VI, who freed him for a ransom of 100,000 marks.
Crusade of 1197
Saladin died of illness on 4 March 1193. His empire soon collapsed, as his eldest son and designated heir, al-Afdal, proved unable to restrain the ambitions of his many Ayyubid kinsmen. Of these, Saladin's brother al-Adil was the most astute, securing control of Damascus in 1196. The Third Crusade, with its heavy naval use, set a model for later expeditions: sea travel limited non-combatants and eased army supply. Though no campaign matched its scale, new plans arose. Emperor Henry VI, after taking the Kingdom of Sicily from Tancred, revived Norman ambitions in the eastern Mediterranean. He took the cross in April 1195, and Pope Celestine III authorised preaching a new crusade in Germany. By then Leo I of Cilician Armenia and Aimery of Lusignan, Guy's successor in Cyprus, had recognised Henry's suzerainty. Henry planned to recruit 3,000 mercenaries and demanded tribute from the new Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos to fund the venture. Alexios levied the heavy Alamanikon ('German tax'), raising over 7,000 pounds of silver, but payment ended when Henry died of illness on 28 September 1197. Earlier, the ailing emperor had named his marshal Henry of Kalden, and the imperial chancellor Bishop Conrad of Hildesheim to lead the crusade. German forces sailed from southern Italian ports between March and September. That same month al-Adil captured Jaffa, but the crusaders took Botrun, Sidon and Beirut before abandoning the campaign when Henry's death reached Palestine in February 1198. During the crusade, Aimery of Cyprus and Leo I of Cilicia Armenia were crowned kings by imperial envoys. After marrying the widowed Isabella I of Jerusalem, Aimery was also crowned king of Jerusalem in January 1198. He soon prolonged the truce with the Ayyubids until 1204. The same year the German nursing confraternity that had run a hospital at Acre since the Third Crusade assumed military functions, forming the Teutonic Knights.