THE CRUSADES (part-1)

POPE URBAN-2 AT CLERMOUNT CATHEDRAL

"What were the crusades? " asked my cousin harsh.He is a student of 10th standard studying under the C.B.S.E board and i realised instantaneously that what had caused this great curiosity in his mind for i was once standing in his place trying to explore this almost mythical fanatisicm.I begin with a never ending explanation for none exists.I stated "The crusades my dear brother were the Holy Wars that were fought between two prominent religious groups of that time namely the Christians and the Muslims.".As i was about to utter a few more words of knowledge he stopped me and enquired "Brother" he exclaimed "how can a war be holy? wars are always a cause of destruction .A symbol of death and despair.Do gods fight in these holy wars?Did Christ fought Muhhamed ???".I pacified the vast ocean of inquisitiveness which was already making waves and once again had started to affect my concious as it did once long ago.I continued "Dear ,had god alone seen the build up to these wars he would have prevented them.When something as tragic as these wars occured then one questions if god exists or not.Listen carefully for what i am about to tell you is not something which will be helpful for you to fill in the sheets while writing your history paper but will enlighten you to a world that existed and that helped in shaping up the world which live in now.About a thousand years ago the year 1096A.D to be precise the first crusade took place.Never a war so huge in its scale was seen on the face of this world.At that time the state of jerusalem the place which was both sacred to christians and muslims was ruled by muslims.Most of the european states were christian states and had little to fight among themselves.Pope Urban -ii was the soul behind the first and the only succesful crusade.The words of the pope were "God Wills It!".I know not brother if god even has a will to see his people fighting and dying but for once i can assure you that this happened.A great army of the christian states of france,itlay and germany was untied under one banner.The Princes' Crusade, also known as the Barons' Crusade, set out later in 1096 in a more orderly manner, led by various nobles with bands of knights from different regions of Europe.I refer to the Princes Crusade as diffrent from the first crusade because in the earlier part of crusade there were many peasants from the various country sides with little or no millitary skill that took part in the war.Most of them were masaccared and the effect they had was very little.Getting back to my point the key feature which led to the success of the crusade apart from the untiy of christian states among themselves was the lack of unanimity between the muslims at that time.The battle started with the seige of Anitoch and finally ended my a brutal massacare in Jerusalem".
THE BATTLE OF ANITOCH
The crusader army, meanwhile, marched on to Antioch, which lay about half way between Constantinople and Jerusalem. They arrived in October, 1097 and set it to a siege which lasted almost 8 months. Antioch was so large that the crusaders did not have enough troops to fully surround it, and thus it was able to stay partially supplied. As the siege dragged on, it was clear that Bohemund wanted the city for himself. In May 1098 Kerbogha of Mosul approached Antioch to relieve the siege. Bohemund bribed the Armenian guard of the city to open the gates, and in June the crusaders entered the city and killed most of the inhabitants. However, only a few days later the Muslims arrived, laying siege to the former besiegers. At this point a minor monk by the name of Peter Bartholomew claimed to have discovered the Holy Lance in the city, and although some were skeptical, this was seen as a sign that they would be victorious. On June 28 the crusaders defeated Kerbogha in a pitched battle outside the city, as Kerbogha was unable to organize the different factions in his army. While the crusaders were marching towards the Muslims, the Fatimid section of the army deserted the Turkish contingent, as they feared Kerbogah would become too powerful if he were to defeat the Crusaders. According to legend, an army of Christian saints came to the aid of the crusaders during the battle.

Bohemund argued that Alexius had deserted the crusade and thus invalidated all of their oaths to him. Bohemund asserted his claim to Antioch, but not everyone agreed, and the crusade was delayed for the rest of the year while the nobles argued amongst themselves. It is a common historiography|historiographical assumption that the Franks of northern France, the Provencals of southern France, and the Normans of southern Italy considered themselves separate "nations" and that each wanted to increase its status. This may have had something to do with the disputes, but personal ambition is more likely to blame.

Meanwhile a plague (perhaps typhus) broke out, killing many, including the legate Adhemar. There were now even fewer horses than before, and Muslim peasants refused to give them food. In December, the capture of the Arab town of Ma'arrat al-Numan took place, and with it the first known incident of cannibalism by the crusaders. The minor knights and soldiers became restless and threatened to continue to Jerusalem without their squabbling leaders. Finally, at the beginning of 1099 the march was renewed, leaving Bohemund behind as the first Principality of Antioch|Prince of Antioch.
THE SEIGE OF JERUSALEM

Proceeding down the coast of the meditararien,the crusaders encountered little resistance, as local rulers preferred to make peace with them and give them supplies rather than fight. OnMay7 the crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuks by theFatimds of Egypt only the year before. Many Crusaders wept on seeing the city they had journeyed so long to reach.

As with Antioch the crusaders put the city to a lengthy siege, in which the crusaders themselves suffered many casualties, due to the lack of food and water around Jerusalem. Of the estimated 7,000 knights who took part in the Princes' Crusade, only about 1,500 remained. Faced with a seemingly impossible task, their morale was raised when a priest claimed to have had a divine vision instructing them to fast and then march in a barefoot procession around the city walls, after which the city would fall in nine days .

Over the course of that afternoon, evening and next morning, the crusaders murdered almost every inhabitant of Jerusalem. Muslims, Jews, and even eastern Christians were all massacred. Although many Muslims sought shelter in Solomon's temple, the crusaders spared few lives. . Tancred claimed the Temple quater for himself and offered protection to some of the Muslims there, but he was unable to prevent their deaths at the hands of his fellow crusaders. According to Fulcher of Chartres: "Indeed, if you had been there you would have seen our feet coloured to our ankles with the blood of the slain. But what more shall I relate? None of them were left alive; neither women nor children were spared."
In the days following the massacre, Godfrey of Bouillon was made Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri , refusing to be named king in the city where Christ had died. In the last action of the crusade, he led an army which defeated an invading Fatimid army at the battle of Ascalon .Godfrey died in July1100, and was succeeded by his brother,baldwin of Edessa, who took the title of king of Jerusalem.