The Crusades Notes & Document Analysis

Richard I
Richard the Lionheart
King of England, 1189-1199
Experienced Warrior, Took over
with his fathers plan.
Leader in the 3rd Crusades
Made crusades a priority as
a monarch
Turning points.

Salah al-Din ibn Ayyub

aka Saladin
Sultan
Reigned 1174-1193
Rose through military
Begins reclaiming cities as part of the
counter-crusade.
Saladin declares Jihad against Crusader
states
The Battle of Hattin, 1187
June 26: Saladin invades kingdom of
Jerusalem
Turning Point in Crusades

The Knights of Templar

Wealthy western Christian military order

Controlled money flow in crusader states
Built Fortifications
After the first crusade controlled
Jerusalem

The Pilgrims & Crusaders

Growth of tourism
Hard journey
For knights, this was a chance to use their
fighting skills, something they enjoyed
and did well. They were delighted to have
such a worthy battle to fight.
For peasants, this was a chance to escape
from their dreary life in the feudal system.
The pope promised that if they died while
fighting a holy crusade, they would
automatically be welcomed into heaven.
For others, it was a chance to have an
adventure, and perhaps even to get rich.

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Saladin Documents
This is an excerpt of Saladins reply to a letter from Frederick I threatening Saladin.
Saladin wrote this letter after he recaptured Jerusalem from the Christian Crusaders.
Whenever your armies are assembled we will meet you with the power of God. We will
not be satisfied with the land on the seacoast, but we will cross over with Gods good
pleasure and take from you all your lands in the strength of the Lord . . . And when the
Lord shall have given us victory over you, nothing will remain for us to do but freely to
take your lands by His power and pleasure. By the virtue and power of God we have
taken possession of Jerusalem; and of the three cities that still remain in the hands of the
Christians . . . we shall occupy them also.
This is an excerpt from Baha ad-Dins Life of Saladin. He was a historian who also
worked for Saladin for a time and his works offer many personal details about Saladin
and the way he ruled.
Saladin may God be merciful to him! truly believed in the doctrines of the faith, and
often recited prayers in praise of God. He had accepted the dogmas of religion upon
demonstrable proofs. And, of a truth, the sultan entertained an ardent passion for the
holy war; his mind was always filled with itWith him to wage war in Gods name was
a veritable passion; his whole heart was filled with it, and he gave body and soul to the
cause.
Richard Documents
This is an excerpt from a compilation of firsthand accounts of the crusades put together
by a 13th century English history. He included account of Templar witnesses and French
writers who wrote at the time of the crusades.
King Richard beheld and counted all their army, and when he arrived I port, the king of
France and a whole army of natives, and the princes, chiefs and nobles, came forth to
meet him and welcome him, with joy and exultation, for they had eagerly longed for his
arrivalKing Richard was not yet fully recovered from a sickness; nevertheless, anxious
for action, and strenuously intent upon taking the city, he made arrangements that his men
should assault the city, in hope that under divine providence he should succeed.
This is excerpt from an account Richard of Devizes an English historian who wrote about
the crusades in the 12th century.
[After being told about his soldiers defecting] The king, greatly enraged, even raving
opened his lips as follows: O God! said he, O God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? For whom have me foolish Christians, for whom have we English come hither from
the furthest parts of the earth to bear our arms? Is it not for the God of the
Christians?...How good art thou to us thy people, who now are for thy name given up to
the sword.

The Pilgrims & Crusaders Documents

This is the account of a Christian bishop, William of Tyre, as he drew upon eyewitness
accounts of the capture of Jerusalem by Crusaders.
It was impossible to look upon the vast numbers of the slain without horror; everywhere
lay fragments of human bodies, and the very ground was covered with the blood of the
slain. It was not alone the spectacle of headless bodies and mutilated limbs strewn in all
directions that roused horror in all who looked upon them. Still more dreadful was it to
gaze upon the victors themselves, dripping with blood from head to foot, an ominous
sight that brought terror to all who met them. It is reported that within the Temple
enclosure alone about ten thousand infidels were slaughtered, in addition to those who lay
slain everywhere throughout the city in the streets and squares, the number of whom was
estimated as no less.
This is the account of Fulcher of Chartres (1095-1127) who wrote A History of the
Expedition to Jerusalem.
We who were Occidentals have become Orientals, He who was a Roman or a Frank has
in this land become a Galilean or a Palestinian, He who came from Rheims or Chartres
has now become a citizen of Tyre or Antioch. We have already forgotten the places of our
birth; they are unknown to us unmentioned by names.