Prompts About the Results of the Crusades: Essay Prompt 1: Write an essay of one to two pages that explains how the concept of violence evolved among Christians during the First Crusade. The crusades were an attempt to re-establish usurped nations back to their former state. After Rome fell the Middle East became a free for all. After the Crusades, there was an increased interest in learning, travel and the spreading of new ideas, which laid roots for the Renaissance. The Crusades also led to the Europeans' new knowledge of sea travel and increased interest in trade and other cultures, which opened up opportunities for explorers, such as Marco Polo and Columbus.

By Kenneth W. Harl, Ph.D., Tulane University

What were (3) results of the Crusades? What was the Magna Carta? Does the Roman Emperor Augustus and others deserve to be considered “enlightened?” 4. As for persecution of Christians, was a consistent set policy? Identify (3) components of the Charlemagne’s renaissance. Bonus: (3) points. But not physician.

The Third Crusade is perhaps the most memorable Crusade, even more so than the First Crusade, because it included the three great kings of Europe—the kings of England, France, and Germany—as actual participants.

First there was Richard I the Lion-hearted who is associated with Robin Hood and all sorts of legends that still live today on both the screen and in novels. Second, Philip II Augustus of France, the son of Louis VII, the previous Crusader king of the Second Crusade. And last, but not least, Frederick Barbarossa, the great Holy Roman Emperor, who is still revered as a national hero (all for the wrong reasons, usually) by Germans today.

The Call for a New Crusade

All three of these kings led great armies east to fight Saladin, whose reputation now, by 1190, when this Crusade set out, was that of the greatest conqueror of the Islamic world. For well over a generation, Western Europeans really had very little inkling that there was a crisis brewing in the Near East. The news of Saladin’s victory at Hattin in July 1187 hit them like a thunderbolt. According to some reports, Pope Gregory VIII died instantly of a heart attack. He was ailing, and the news of Jerusalem’s surrender just did him in. The new pope, Clement III, was immediately committed to preaching a new Crusade. It was just absolutely unquestioned. Jerusalem had to be retaken. It had been in Christian hands for nearly 100 years. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the most holy spot in the Christian world, and the King of Jerusalem, Guy, was in captivity—probably the best option of what to do with King Guy. Nonetheless, this humiliation could not be left unavenged.

This is a transcript from the video series The Era of the Crusades. Watch it now, on The Great Courses.

The English and French Kings Respond to the Call for Crusade

Immediately, Henry II pledged to go on the Third Crusade, but he died in early 1189, and his son Richard the Lionheart took his place. Richard was the successor to a whole Crusader tradition in the family. He was seen as the perfect knight, a brilliant general, a charismatic figure, and a great king. He ruled 60 percent of the French kingdom as his vassals. He was a vassal of King Philip II. He was a bold and powerful warrior, a magnificent figure in battle, a handsome man. He ruled England, which was the source of his revenues. He clearly was a great king.

At the same time, Philip II, his overlord, the King of France (who ruled essentially just Paris and its environs) had to go on Crusade in part to remove the stigma of his father Louis VII, who had done so poorly. And, in part, he couldn’t afford not to go on Crusade if Richard was on Crusade.

So the two kings agreed to put aside their differences, raise the money, tax their clergy, tax their populations, and equip great armies. These armies may have been on the order of 15,000 men apiece, as far as we can tell. They were very impressive, well-equipped armies that left from Vezelay and made it to the ports of southern France and were going to take passage by ship (through Genoese and Spanish and Italian ships) to get to Palestine and relieve the hard-pressed cities.

Learn more about the Fourth Crusade and the Crusader States

The Holy Roman Empire Gathers its Forces for the Crusade

The other important monarch in Western Europe who was eager to go on Crusade was Frederick Barbarossa, who may have been close to 70 years old at this point. Frederick, the Holy Roman emperor, was regarded as one of the greatest warriors of all time. With him went the armies of Germany and Italy, including many seasoned veterans. This army was dangerous to Saladin. This was probably the best force that was on the road.

So all three of these kings together may have pitted forces of as much as 45,000 men, or three times the army of King Guy, and probably together twice the size of the army of Saladin (or at least Saladin’s field army). The problem was delivering all that force to the Holy Land. These forces had to depart separately. There were the arduous journeys. There was the problem of financing and equipping the fleets. As a result, the Third Crusade wasn’t a single Crusade that arrived, but it came piecemeal.

Learn more about the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a young queen and her experience of the Second Crusade

The Germans Launch their Crusade and Barbarossa Dies

The first Crusade to depart was that of Frederick Barbarossa. He mobilized his armies quickly. This army was extremely disciplined. It was large. It was very large. It departed from Regensburg in 1189, marched down the Danube to the city of Constantinople. Maybe it was 50,000 people, including all the pilgrims and soldiers. There were the usual problems with the Byzantines. The then-reigning emperor, Isaac II, who was one of the most feckless emperors on the throne, had made an alliance with Saladin against the Seljuk Turks. He was also fearful for his throne, because he was a usurper. He didn’t trust the German army.

Frederick came close to taking Constantinople. Frederick decided against it, but he did bully Isaac into providing guides, providing money and supplies, and assisting the transport of the German crusaders to Asia Minor. In the spring and summer of 1190, Frederick’s Crusading army marched through Asia Minor. It swept aside all Turkish resistance, but just before reaching the city of Seleucia, Frederick gets drowned at a rather difficult gorge. The army was reluctant to cross the river, and what Frederick did was to splash across the river and apparently was swept away. Later legend said he was in the Hartz Mountains, where he waited to be reawakened to reunite the German nation.

With the death of Frederick, the German army broke up. Frederick, the younger son of the emperor, led a force into Palestine along with Leopold of Austria. But the majority of the Germans went back, essentially to fight round number whatever it was in the civil war between Welfs and Hohenstaufens. So the great Crusade, the most impressive army from Western Europe, the one that Saladin probably worried about the most, never showed up.

Learn more about the Crusade against the Cathars

The English and French Forces Depart for the Crusades

The other two Crusading kings, Richard and Philip, departed almost a year later, after Frederick’s army was well on the way. Richard was clearly the greater of the two monarchs. Everyone could see it from the start. Philip Augustus was about as glum as his father, Louis VII. Unlike his father, though, Philip was not a pious man. Philip was a cynic at birth. He had a disability in that he was blind in one eye. He was not particularly impressive to look at. But as a king, as a diplomat, as a politician, as an administrator, he made the French monarchy an effective kingdom by the time he died in 1223. These, of course, were events in the future. But from the start, he saw Richard as a dangerous rival, and he understood that. He did everything in his power to advance the interests of his monarchy, rather than his own reputation. Richard, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. This is what he was made for—to go out on Crusade and win great victories. He was generous. He had the money to spread around.

Philip sailed first and arrived in Acre the Spring of 1191. Meanwhile, Richard was stalled. He was too busy having a good time in the Sicilian ports, especially gambling and pursuing other types of events like jousts and festivals. But when his forces sailed it was an impressive fleet. En route, part of his fleet got shipwrecked off the island of Cyprus.

Richard I Seizes Cyprus

The island of Cyprus at this point, which was technically a Byzantine possession, was in the hands of a rogue Byzantine governor named Isaac Comnenus. When a couple of Richard’s ships got shipwrecked, he immediately arrested the survivors. He tried to lure Joanna, Richard’s sister, and Berengaria of Navarre, Richard’s wife into his power so that he could capture and extort them for some sort of advantage. It was a very ill-conceived notion. Richard got wind of this. He landed on Cyprus and immediately marched to the main castle. There wasn’t even a contest. The Byzantines were just wiped off the field. Richard and his knights seized the island.

This is an interesting precedent. To be sure, Richard had been provoked. But here’s a case of a Crusader king now seizing a Byzantine possession, just one step in reasoning to the taking of Constantinople itself. Richard has a windfall. Cyprus is a very wealthy and rich island and provides him with the money and resources necessary for a campaign.

Richard then sailed for Acre and showed up in the summer of 1191. Philip had arrived earlier, and immediately there were disputes between the two kings. The result was a political battle and a lack of cooperation.

Learn more about how Gibbon’s account of the Crusades focused on the way religion was used to rationalize European military and territorial aggression

Richard vs Saladin

Through Richard’s audacious generalship, the Crusaders stormed in and took Acre on July 21, 1192. It was an impressive triumph. Richard clearly got credit for it. And it alienated King Philip, who shortly afterward sailed back home to France and conspired with Richard’s dear brother, John, to raise rebellions in England and in Richard’s French domains. This meant that Richard from the start knew that he didn’t have much time in Palestine. Maybe he had another year to go before he was going to have to get back to his Plantagenet realm.

Furthermore, Richard made the serious mistake of offending Leopold of Austria, who claimed to represent what was left of the German Crusade. He tried to style himself as an equal with France and England, and planted his banner next to Richard’s in Acre. Richard showed his contempt for this by taking the banner and throwing it down. Leopold was offended, and eventually he and his Crusaders went home, and it’s actually into Leopold’s dear hands that Richard later falls.

Richard at this point is in charge of the Crusade. He impresses Saladin. From Acre, he marches his army down the coast and begins to recapture the cities. His main objective is to take the port of Jaffa, which is the traditional port that communicates with Jerusalem. His army marches in strict discipline. Saladin is helpless. He can’t draw Richard into ill-conceived battles. At Arsuf, on the route towards Jaffa, Saladin commits himself to a premature battle. Richard’s forces, marching in column, with perfect-timing crossbowmen, archers, and timing the cavalry charges, hands a very humiliating defeat to Saladin.

Learn more about what led to the brutal attack and looting of the city of Constantinople, a supposed ally of the Crusaders and the seat of the Greek Orthodox branch of Christianity

A Treaty is Signed between Richard and Saladin

Saladin quickly realizes that he has got to negotiate, that this king is too powerful. From the start, by the end of 1191, it’s clear to both Saladin and Richard that the only way out of this war is by negotiation. Each had political interests to do so. In that winter, of 1191–1192, there’s a lot of exchanges. These exchanges are extremely important—Richard and Saladin admired each other, and respected each other as great kings.

Saladin, who had treated many of the Christian prisoners quite magnanimously after the Battle of Hattin and who was a generous man, comes to be regarded in the Christian tradition as the perfect chivalrous knight. And in later literature of the 12th and 13th centuries, Saladin is even extolled over most Christian knights as the embodiment of Christian chivalry. He acquires this reputation in Western literature as an incredibly generous conqueror. Richard himself contributes to this. What better way to magnify Richard’s brilliance than to magnify the opponent he fought? There are various deals that are proposed. One is to marry Joanna to Saladin’s brother. That never comes off. But by early 1192, it’s clear that there must be a treaty.

What Saladin recognizes is the ceding of all of the old ports back to the Christians. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, these cities are open to Christians. They must come as unarmed pilgrims, but he guarantees the safety of all pilgrims going to Jerusalem. There’s a truce, effective for a number of years.

Richard is Captured and Held for Ransom During the Third Crusade

Richard has to accept this treaty because he’s got to get back to Europe. And he does. He sails prematurely, gets wrecked on the coast of Italy, near Venice. He tries to make his way across Germany and is captured by Leopold’s people, held for ransom and eventually is sold off to the Holy Roman Emperor, to be ransomed by none other than his brother John.

It’s really very dubious to be languishing in a jail to be ransomed by your relatives in the Middle Ages. John had no incentive to do so. Eventually the ransom is negotiated, and in 1194 Richard goes back to England, and John is exiled. Richard then gets killed storming a castle in France over some silly dispute—typical Richard.

The Third Crusade Remembered

Richard died, remembered as a great Crusader, as a great warrior, as a brilliant general, probably on a par with Bohemond, not, however, a particularly brilliant king. He certainly sacrificed the interests of his kingdom in this quest for Crusader glory and his sense of piety for Jerusalem.

Philip Augustus came out of this Crusade with a tarnished reputation, and he’s still remembered through the generations as yet another Capetian king who ran away. And yet, he capitalized on the dissension between Richard and John, eventually to conquer much of the Plantagenet domains, especially Normandy in 1204, and go on to make the French monarchy. So in that sense, Philip Augustus was by far the greater king.

Learn more about the four most critical Crusades; their objectives, varied outcomes, and ultimate failure in both political and religious terms

The Third Crusade in some ways was not only anticlimactic but also disappointing. The three greatest kings of Europe had marched off and what did they get? They get a truce and they get access to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Italian city-states, however, did very well, especially the Venetians and the Genoese. Those ports were now back under Christian control.

However, there were some important lessons that were learned. One is that sending kings on Crusade may not be such a great idea. It’s clear that strategy was marred, that Richard and Philip could not agree. There were enough difficulties on the Second Crusade. The Third Crusade really showed that now these monarchs were so powerful that their political rivalries, personal motives, and personal clashes would affect any kind of coherent strategy in a Crusading campaign. There were, in effect, too many kings, too many leaders.

Common Questions About the Third Crusade

The Third Crusade’s only battle resulted in Richard I winning against Saladin.

The Third Crusade was called the “King’s Crusade” as it involved Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany as well as Ayyubid sultan Saladin.

The Third Crusade was started when Saladin made himself sultan of Egypt, united the Moslems, and advanced upon Jerusalem. This is when the Christians fought back and the Crusade began.

The Third Crusade mostly happened in four places: Near East, Levant, Israel and Anatolia.

The Crusades

This article was updated on 12/28/2019

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Effects of the Crusades

The effects of the crusades influenced:

• The role, wealth and power of the Catholic Church
• Political effects
• Effects of the Crusades on Commerce
• Effects of the Crusades on Feudalism
• Social development
• Intellectual development
• Social Effects of the Crusades
• Effects of the Crusades - Intellectual Development
• Effects of the Crusades - Material Development
• Effects of the Crusades - Voyages of Discovery

Effects of the Crusades on the Catholic Church
The Crusades contributed to increase the wealth of the Church and the power of the Papacy. Thus the prominent part which the Popes took in the enterprises naturally fostered their authority and influence, by placing in their hands, the armies and resources of Christendom, and accustoming the people to look to them as guides and leaders.

As to the wealth of the churches and monasteries, this was augmented enormously by the sale to them, often for a mere fraction of their actual value, of the estates of those preparing for the expeditions, or by the out and out gift of the lands of such in return for prayers and pious benedictions.

Thousands of the crusaders, returning broken in spirits and in health, sought an asylum in cloistral retreats, and endowed the establishments that they entered with all their worldly goods

Besides all this, the stream of the ordinary gifts of piety was swollen by the extraordinary fervor of religious enthusiasm which characterized the period into enormous proportions. In all these ways, the power of the Papacy and the wealth of the Church were vastly augmented.

Effects of the Crusades on Commerce
One of the most important effects of the crusades was on commerce. They created a constant demand for the transportation of men and supplies, encouraged ship-building, and extended the market for eastern wares in Europe. The products of Damascus, Mosul, Alexandria, Cairo, and other great cities were carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports, whence they found their way into all European lands. The elegance of the Orient, with its silks, tapestries, precious stones, perfumes, spices, pearls, and ivory, was so enchanting that an enthusiastic crusader called it 'the vestibule of Paradise.'

Effects of the Crusades on Feudalism
The crusades could not fail to affect in many ways the life of western Europe. For instance, they helped to undermine feudalism. Thousands of barons and knights mortgaged or sold their lands in order to raise money for a crusading expedition. Thousands more perished in Syria and their estates, through failure of heirs, reverted to the crown. Moreover, private warfare, which was rife during the Middle Ages, also tended to die out with the departure for the Holy Land of so many turbulent feudal lords. Their decline in both numbers and influence, and the corresponding growth of the royal authority, may best be traced in the changes that came about in France, the original home of the crusading movement.

Political Effects of the Crusades
As to the political effects of the Crusades, they helped to break down the power of the feudal aristocracy, and to give prominence to the kings and the people.

Many of the nobles who set out on the expeditions never returned, and their estates, through failure of heirs, escheated to the Crown; while many more wasted their fortunes in meeting the expenses of their undertaking.

At the same time, the cities also gained many political advantages at the expense of the crusading barons and princes. Ready money in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was largely in the hands of the burgher class, and in return for the contributions and loans they made to their overlords, or suzerains, they received charters conferring special and valuable privileges.

And the other political effects of the Crusades was that in checking the advance of the Turks the fall of Constantinople was postponed for three centuries or more. This gave the early Christian civilization of Germany time to acquire sufficient strength to roll back the returning tide of Mohammedan invasion when it broke upon Europe in the fifteenth century.

Social Effects of the Crusades
The Social effects of the Crusades upon the social life of the Western nations were marked and important. The Crusades afforded an opportunity for romantic adventure. The Crusades were therefore one of the principal fostering influences of Chivalry. Contact with the culture of the East provided a general refining influence.

Effects of the Crusades - Intellectual Development
The influence of the Crusades upon the intellectual development of Europe can hardly be overestimated. Above all, they liberalized the minds of the crusaders. The East at the time of the Middle Ages surpassed the West in civilization. The crusaders enjoyed the advantages which come from travel in strange lands and among unfamiliar peoples. They went out from their castles or villages to see great cities, marble palaces, superb dresses, and elegant manners; they returned with finer tastes, broader ideas, and wider sympathies. The crusades opened up a new world. Furthermore, the knowledge of the science and learning of the East gained by the crusaders through their expeditions, greatly stimulated the Latin intellect, and helped to awaken in Western Europe that mental activity which resulted finally in the great intellectual outburst known as the Revival of Learning and the period of the Renaissance.

Effects of the Crusades - Material Development
Among the effects of the Holy Wars upon the material development of Europe must be mentioned the spur they gave to commercial enterprise, especially to the trade and commerce of the Italian cities.

Effects Of The Crusades

During this period, Venice, Pisa, and Genoa acquired great wealth and reputation through the fostering of their trade by the needs of the crusaders, and the opening up of the East. The Mediterranean was whitened with the sails of their transport ships, which were constantly plying between the various ports of Europe and the towns of the Syrian coast.

In addition to the effects of the crusades on material development various arts, manufactures, and inventions before unknown in Europe, were introduced from Asia. This enrichment of the civilization of the West with the 'spoils of the East' can be seen in the artefacts displayed in modern European museums.

Effects of the Crusades - Voyages of Discovery
Finally, the incentive given to geographical discovery led various travellers, such as the celebrated Italian, Marco Polo, and the scarcely less noted Englishman, Sir John Mandeville, to explore the most remote countries of Asia. Even that spirit of maritime enterprise and adventure which rendered illustrious the fifteenth century, inspiring the voyages of Columbus, Vasco de Gama, and Magellan, may be traced back to that lively interest in geographical matters awakened by the expeditions of the crusaders.

Please visit the following website for facts, information and biography details of all the great explorers in the Age of Exploration

Effects of the Crusades
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Effects of the Crusades

Negative Results Of The Crusades

• Middle Ages era, period, life, age and times
• Effects of the Crusades on the Catholic Church
• Political Effects of the Crusades
• Social Effects of the Crusades

• Intellectual Development

• Effects of the Crusades - Material Development

• Effects of the Crusades - Voyages of Discovery