CHAPTER III.
SECOND CRUSADE.
The policy of Christian seamstresses in the East pursued a false goal—the destruction of Byzantine rule in Asia and weakening of that element that naturally had to be counted on in the destruction of Muslims. This policy led to the fact that the Muslims, weakened and pushed into Asia as a result of the first crusade, strengthened again and began to threaten Christian possessions from Mesopotamia. One of the most powerful Muslim emirs, the emir of Mossul-Imad-ed-din Zengi, began to seriously threaten the advanced principalities. In 1144, Zengi made a strong onslaught, which ended with the capture of Edessa and the fall of the Principality of Edessa. This dealt a very sensitive blow to all of Eastern Christianity: the Principality of Edessa constituted an outpost against which the waves of Muslim tides broke; in the Principality of Odessa there was a stronghold that protected the entire Christian world. At the time when Edessa fell under the blows of the Muslims, other Christian principalities were either in a cramped position or were busy with issues of a purely selfish nature and therefore, just as they could not give help to the Principality of Ephesus, they were not able to replace its importance for Christians. In Jerusalem, not long before, King Fudko died, the same one who united the interests of the Jerusalem principality with the interests of his French possessions. After his death, the widow, Queen Melisinda, guardian of Baldwin III, became the head of the kingdom; the disobedience of the vassal princes deprived her of every opportunity and means even to defend her own possessions—Jerusalem
was in danger and could not provide help to Edessa. As for Antioch, Prince Raymond started an unfortunate war with Byzantium, which ended in complete failure for him - and thus also could not provide help to Edessa.
The rumor of the attack of Edessa made a strong impression in the West, And especially in France. France throughout the period of the Crusades was distinguished by its responsiveness to the interests of Christians in the East; and in France, most of the knights went to the East; France more than others European countries felt connections with the East, for there were princes of French origin in Edessa, Jerusalem, and Tripoli.
And yet, conditions did not seem favorable for raising a new crusade in Western Europe. First of all, at the head of the Roman church there was a person who was far from equal to a contemporary of the first campaign. By 1144, Eugenius sat on the Roman throne III, a person who was not distinguished by either great willpower, energy, or intelligence, who did not have broad political views. Eugene ΙΙΙ would have had to, taking advantage of the powerful position of the church, to take under his own hand the cause of protecting the East Asian principalities, but by this time the position of the pope, even in Italy itself, was far from powerful; the Roman throne was a victim of the party. Eugene III had recently defeated the antipope, needed the help of the German king and urgently called him to Italy. In addition, he was threatened by a new direction in Rome, which would ultimately overthrow his authority. In Rome there was a preacher, a representative of the philosophical and political school, Arnold of Brescian, a student of Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. Both Arnold of Brescian and his famous teacher came from the famous monastic congregation of the monasteries of Cluny and were exponents of the ideas disseminated by this monastery. Arnold was a political philosopher as long as And preacher. His political views were based on democratic principles. He fought with all the strength of his eloquence and influence against secular power popes and against the abuses that have crept into
church system of that time. Arnold was followed by a number of monastic preachers who spread those same ideas. Arnold's sermon raised a storm against the pope. By the same time, the urban movement, with its democratic character, was particularly energetic in Italy. At the head of the cities are not the archbishop, not secular feudal lords and nobles, but the people; the ancient form of government—the Senate and the people—was resurrected, even the ancient term was resurrected"senatus populusque Romanus". In place of the outdated system, instead of vassalage and suzerainty, communes are put forward, which are extremely unfavorable towards spiritual princes. The German king Conrad III was also placed in difficult circumstances by the struggle against the Welfs; he, in turn, waited for support from Rome, hoping that the pope would send him a crown and thereby strengthen his precarious position on the throne. Thus it could not be hoped that the pope or the king would take the initiative for the second crusade. This initiative had to be found elsewhere.
After the defeat of Edessa, a significant part of secular and clergy came from the East to Italy and France; here they outlined the state of affairs in the East and excited the masses with their stories. In France, the king was Louis VII; a knight at heart, he felt connected to the East And was inclined to take crusade. The king, like all his contemporaries, was strongly influenced by the literary movement that deeply penetrated all of France and spread even throughout Germany. The literary movement implied here constitutes an extensive cycle of poetic tales contained in the songs of knights and nobility. This oral literature, extensive and varied, glorified the exploits of the fighters of Christianity, clothed them with fantastic images, narrated the disasters of Christians in the East, kept the people in an excited state and inflamed their passions. The upper strata—ecclesiastical and secular princes—were not alien to its influence. Louis VII, before deciding on such important step how to go to the Holy Land, asked Abbot Suger for his opinion,
his tutor and adviser, who, without dissuading the king from his good intentions, advised him to take all measures to ensure due success of the enterprise. Louis wanted to know the mood of the people and the clergy. Spiritual clearing XII table. was in the hands of St. Bernard, abbot of the newly founded monastery of Clairvaux. Bernard's personality is highly imposing and authoritative. A majestic figure, a gaunt face, an ardent fiery speech - all this gave him invincible strength and enormous influence, which no one could resist. Bernard was already well known throughout Europe; He was more than once in Rome the decider of the case of one or another pope. He had already been offered episcopal and archbishop's places more than once, but he always refused promotions and thereby gained even more in the heads of his time; he was Abelard's most strident opponent, and was unfavorable towards the sermons and actions of his student Arnold of Brescia. The French king turned to this authority, as a moral force, asking Bernard to take part in raising Europe to the crusade: Bernard did not take on such an important matter; he gave advice to contact nala. Eugene ΙΙΙ approved the king's plan and instructed St. Bernard preached a sermon on the crusade, providing it with an appeal to the French people. In 1146 St. Bernard attended a state meeting in Burgundy (Vézelay), he sat next to King Louis, put a cross on him and made a speech in which he invited him to arm himself in defense of the Holy Sepulcher against the infidels. Thus, from 1146 the question of the crusade was resolved from the point of view of the French. Southern and central France moved a large army, which was quite sufficient to repel the Muslims;
A fatal step and a big mistake on the part of St. Bernard was that he, intoxicated by the success he had in France, decided to take the matter further, to arouse the idea of a crusade outside France - in Germany. The movement itself reached the Rhine, where it expressed itself in extremely harsh formats
specifically in the anti-Semitic movement. Rumors about this reached St. Bernard and were very unpleasant for him and required, in his opinion, his personal presence in this country. Appearing beyond the Rhine, St. Bernard severely condemned clergy who did not restrain the passions of the people with their authority; but he did not stop there and went further. He planned to attract Germany to the crusade, which could introduce new elements into this movement that were not in harmony with those that were in France. Conrad III before the arrival of St. Bernard showed no inclination to rise to the defense of St. places Abbot Clairvaux knew Conrad's mood and set out to convert him.
Conrad's conversion took place in a picture setting. On the eve of 1147, Bernard was invited to celebrate New Year's Day with Conrad. After the solemn mass, Bernard delivered a speech that had such power and influence on the minds that for the listeners it seemed like a word coming from the lips of the Savior Himself. Having outlined in extremely vivid colors the plight of Christians in the East, he, on behalf of the Savior Himself, addressed the following speech to Conrad: “O man! I gave you everything I could give: power, authority, all the fullness of spiritual and physical strength; What use have you made of all these gifts to serve Me? you don't even protect the place where I died, where I gave salvation to your soul; soon the pagans will spread throughout the world, saying where their God is» .-"Enough! cried the king, shedding tears: “I will serve Him who redeemed me.” Bernard's victory was decisive over the intractability of the Germans, over Conrad's indecisiveness.
Conrad III's decision participation in the second crusade resonated very vividly throughout the entire German nation. Since 1147, the same animated general movement began in Germany as in France. It goes without saying that this business was extremely tempting for Bernard’s personal glory; throughout Germany there were stories of strength and influence of the word him, about his decisive victory over the king, increasing the glory of his exploits
gov, raising his authority in the eyes of his contemporaries. But the involvement of the Germans in the second crusade was extremely harmful to the outcome of the second crusade. The participation of the Germans “changed the further course of the whole matter and led to the sad results that ended the second crusade.
In the XII table. great importance For the success of all foreign political enterprises, states had alliances, sympathies or antipathies. The French nation, led by its king, fielded significant forces. Both King Louis VII himself and the feudal French princes showed much sympathy for the cause of the second crusade; a detachment of up to 70 thousand gathered. The goal that the second crusade was to achieve was clearly outlined and strictly defined. His task was to weaken the Emir of Mosul Zengi and take Edessa from him. This task could have been successfully completed by a single French army, consisting of a well-armed army, which along the way was doubly enlarged by the arrival of volunteers. If the crusader militia of 1147 had consisted only of the French, it would have taken a different route, shorter and safer than the one it took under the influence of the Germans. The French in the political system of that era represented a completely isolated nation, which with its immediate interests leaned toward Italy. Sicilian King Roger II and the French king were on close terms. As a result, it was most natural for the French king to “take the route through Italy, from where he could, using the Norman fleet and also the fleet of trading cities, which, as we saw earlier, were such energetic helpers in the first crusade, conveniently and quickly arrive in Syria. This path seemed shorter and more convenient already because it led the crusaders not to the hostile possessions of the Muslims, but to those lands of Syria and Palestine that already belonged to Christians; this path, therefore, not only would not have required any sacrifices from the crusader militia, but likewise
Tivpromised him quite favorable results. In addition, the route through southern Italy also had the advantage that the Sicilian king could also join the militia. Louis VII, having communicated with Roger II, was ready to move to Italy.
The German king was the bearer of completely opposite political ideas. The constant desire of the German nation to take possession of southern Italy forced each German king to consider his task unfinished until he visited Italy and Rome, received the imperial crown from the pope, and the oath of allegiance from the Italian population. From this side, the aspirations of the German kings directly threatened the interests of the Norman element in Southern Italy and, at this moment, the interests of the Sicilian king Roger II. The strength of the Sicilian king was due to the weak influence of the German emperor in Italy. Naturally, Roger II was far from on favorable terms with the emperor; There could be no union between the two nationalities, Germanic and Norman. But in the era under review, things were much worse. Conrad least of all set out to enter into alliances with Western European powers; on the contrary, shortly before, he concluded an alliance with Byzantium. The alliance of the German king with the Byzantine emperor concealed the implementation of the task that Alexei Komnenos tried to accomplish during the first crusade: the German king and the Byzantine king had the full opportunity to take the crusader movement into their own hands and lead it to the implementation of their tasks. The participation of the French king in the second crusade complicated and complicated the solution of this problem; but nevertheless, Conkras ΙΙΙ and Manuel Komnenos still had every opportunity to jointly direct the movement towards a common Christian goal and play the main leading role in this movement.
When the question of the route and means of movement arose, the German king proposed choosing the path that the first German crusaders followed—to Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Thrace and Macedonia. The Germans insisted that
the French king moved this way, motivating his proposal by the fact that it is better to avoid a division of forces, that the movement of the wombs of the possession of an allied and even related sovereign with the German king is completely protected from all kinds of accidents and surprises, and that negotiations on this issue have begun with the Byzantine king, in a favorable the result of which Conrad had no doubt.
Summer 1147 movement began through Hungary; Conrad led the way, and a month later Louis followed.
Roger of Sicily, who had not previously declared his intention to participate in the second crusade, but who, however, could not remain indifferent to its outcome, demanded that Louis fulfill the agreement concluded between them - to direct the route through Italy. Louis hesitated for a long time, but yielded to an alliance with the German king. Roger realized that if he now took part in the campaign, his position would be completely isolated. He equipped ships and armed himself, but not in order to assist the general movement; he began to act at his own peril in accordance with the Norman policy regarding the East; The Sicilian fleet began to plunder the islands and coastal lands belonging to Byzantium, the shores of Illyria, Dalmatia and southern Greece. Devastating the Byzantine possessions, the Sicilian king took possession of the island of Corfu and at the same time, in order to successfully continue his naval operations against Byzantium and to secure himself from African Muslims, he concluded an alliance with the latter.
Thus, the crusading movement was placed in the most unfavorable position at the very beginning. The Western king, on the one hand, attacks the Byzantine possessions at the very time when the crusaders were approaching Constantinople; on the other hand, an alliance was formed between the Christian king and the Muslims, an alliance directly hostile to the success of the Crusades. The policy of the Norman king immediately resonated in the distant east. A lot of people took part in the crusade militia who did not want to obey the German and French kings,
not recognizing any authority over oneself. No matter how much the kings wanted to bring their army safely to Constantinople, without arousing murmuring in the native population with robberies and violence, it was difficult for them to maintain order and discipline in their army: the volunteers who joined the militia, separating from the army, robbed, inflicted insults and violence on the inhabitants . This could not help but sow misunderstandings between the Byzantine king and the German king, and mutual displeasure and reproaches for non-fulfillment of treaties and conventions began. In Thrace it even came to open clashes. The crusaders complained that food supplies and fodder were delivered to them untimely; The Byzantines accused the crusaders of robbery. Although the Byzantine king was confident in Conrad’s favor, the lack of discipline in the crusade army and the weak authority of the king were no secret to him. Tsar Manuel was afraid that Conrad would not be able to curb the violent and unruly crowd, that this crowd, greedy for profit, could begin robberies and violence in the sight of Constantinople and cause serious unrest in the capital. Ponto Manuel tried to remove the crusader militia from Constantinople and advised Conrad to cross to the Asian coast near Gallipoli. This would really be better, because it would prevent many different misunderstandings and clashes. But the crusaders made their way to Constantinople by force, accompanying their path with robberies and violence. In September 1147, the danger to Byzantium from the crusaders was serious: irritated Germans stood at the walls of Constantinople, betraying everything to plunder; in two or three weeks it was necessary to expect the arrival of the French crusaders; the combined forces of both could threaten Constantinople with serious troubles. At the same time, news reached the Byzantine king about the capture of Corfu, about the attacks of the Norman king on the coastal Byzantine possessions, about the alliance of Roger II with Egyptian Muslims.
Under the influence of the danger threatening on all sides, Manuel took a step that radically undermined the tasks and goals assumed by the second crusade, he
made an alliance With Seljuk Turks; True, this was not an offensive alliance, it was intended to secure the empire and threaten the Latins in case the latter decided to threaten Constantinople. But, nevertheless, this alliance was very important in the sense that it made it clear to the Seljuks that they would have to reckon with only one Western militia. By concluding this alliance with the Iconian Sultan, Manuel made it clear that he did not view the Seljuks as enemies. Protecting his personal interests, he washed his hands, allowing the crusaders to act at their own risk with their own forces and means. Thus, two Christian-Muslim alliances were formed against the crusade militia; one—directly hostile to the crusader militia—is Roger's alliance II with the Egyptian sultan, another alliance of the Byzantine king with the Iconian sultan was not in the interests of the crusade. All ego was the cause of the failures that ended the second crusade.
Manuel hastened to satisfy Conrad and transported the Germans to the opposite bank of the Bosphorus. It is unlikely that at this time the Byzantine king could ensure the further course of affairs on Asian territory. The Crusaders gave themselves their first rest in Nicaea, where serious misunderstandings had already occurred. The 15,000-strong detachment separated from the German militia and, at its own peril, headed along the seaside route to Palestine. Conrad and the rest of the army chose the path taken by the first crusader militia - through Dorylaeum, Iconium, Heraclea. In the first clash (October 26, 1147), which took place in Cappadocia, near Dorylaeum, the German army, taken by surprise, was completely defeated, most of the militia died or were captured, very few returned with the king to Nicaea, where Conrad began to wait for the French. Almost at the same time that Conrad suffered a terrible defeat, Louis VII was approaching Constantinople. The usual clashes took place between the French army and the Byzantine government. Knowing the sympathy between Louis VII and Roger II,
Manuel did not consider it safe for the French to remain in Constantinople for a long time. In order to quickly get rid of them and force the knights to take the feudal oath, Tsar Manuel used a trick. A rumor was spread among the French that the Germans, who had crossed over to Asia, were quickly moving forward, winning brilliant victories step by step, so that the French would have nothing to do in Asia. The competition of the French was excited; they demanded that they be transported as quickly as possible across the Bosphorus. Here, on the Asian coast, the French learned about the unfortunate fate German troops; In Nicaea, both kings, Louis and Conrad, met and decided to continue their journey together, in a faithful alliance.
Since the path from Nicaea to Dorylaeum was covered with corpses and drenched in Christian blood, both kings wanted to spare the army from a difficult spectacle and therefore headed in a roundabout way, to Adramytium, Pergamon and Smyrna. This path was extremely difficult, slowing down the movement of the army; By choosing this path, the king hoped to meet here with less danger from the Muslims. Their hopes, however, were not justified: the Turkish riders kept the crusader army in constant tension, slowed down the journey, robbed, repulsed people and convoys. In addition, the lack of food supplies and fodder forced Louis to abandon a lot of pack animals and luggage. The French king, not foreseeing all these difficulties, took with him a large retinue; his train, in which his wife Eleanor also participated, was extremely brilliant, magnificent, not corresponding to the importance of the enterprise, connected with such difficulties and dangers. The crusader militia moved very slowly, losing a lot of people, pack animals and luggage along the way.
At the beginning of 1148, both kings arrived in Ephesus with pitiful remnants of the army, while when crossing the militia across the Bosphorus, the Byzantines, of course exaggeratedly, numbered it up to 90 thousand. In Ephesus, the kings received a letter from the Byzantine emperor, in which the latter invited them to Con-
Staninople to rest. Conrad went by sea to Constantinople, and Louis, with great difficulty reaching the seaside city of Attachia, begged ships from the Byzantine government and arrived in Antioch with the remnants of the army in March 1148. The events described, one might say, exhaust the entire result of the second crusade; the huge armies of kings melted under the blows of the Muslims; and the French and German kings, united for one goal, soon diverged and began to pursue opposing goals.
Raymond of Antioch received the French very cordially: a series of festivities and celebrations followed, in which the French queen Eleonara played a leading role. Intrigue was not slow to appear, which did not remain without influence on the general course of affairs; Eleanor entered into a relationship with Raymond. It goes without saying that Louis felt insulted, humiliated, he lost energy, inspiration and desire to carry out the work he had begun. But there were circumstances that had an even worse impact on the Second Crusade. Conrad's stay III in Constantinople in the winter of 1147-1148 was accompanied by a cooling between him and the Byzantine emperor. In the spring of 1148, Conrad set off from Constantinople to Asia Minor, but not to Antioch to join the French king, but straight to Jerusalem. For both Raymond and Louis, the news was extremely unpleasant that Conrad had abandoned the task of the crusade and devoted himself to the interests of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin III , the king of Jerusalem, prompted Conrad to become the head of an army, which the Kingdom of Jerusalem could field up to 50 thousand, and undertake a campaign against Damascus. This enterprise should be considered extremely incorrect and erroneous, and it was not part of the 2nd Crusade. The movement against Damascus in the interests of the Principality of Jerusalem ended with very sad results. In Damascus, however, there was a rather formidable force; but the whole center of gravity Muslim East, all the power and danger for Christians was concentrated at this time not in Da-
mask, and in Mosul. Emir of Mossul Zengi, and not another who conquered Edessa and threatened the rest of the Christian possessions. After the death of Zengi, his son Nuredin (Nur-ed-din) sat in Mossul, who acquired very large, albeit sad, fame in the Eastern Christian chronicles as the most implacable and formidable enemy of Antioch and Tripoli. It goes without saying that if he was not weakened in 1148, he could subsequently become a formidable, fatal force for all of Eastern Christianity. In Jerusalem they did not understand this. The German king became the head of a 50 thousand army and headed against Damascus. This caused an anti-Christian coalition; The emir of Damascus entered into an alliance with Nuredin. The policy of Christians in the east at this time, when they did not have significant military forces, had to be very careful; when entering into a fight with any Muslim center, there should have been Christians, probably, so as not to raise coalitions against them on the part of Muslims. Meanwhile, Conrad and Baldwin ΙΙΙ walked with their eyes closed and did not bother to familiarize themselves with the local conditions. Damascus found itself fortified with strong walls and protected by a significant garrison; the siege of Damascus required a long time and significant effort. The Christian army directed its forces against that part of the city that seemed more weak. Meanwhile, rumors spread in the camp that from the north on Damascus's proceeds go to Nuredin. Conrad with a handful Germans did not lose hope for the surrender of Damascus. But in the Christian camp there has been treason, which, however, is not yet enough found out although it is mentioned by many chroniclers. As if Jerusalem king, patriarch and knights bribed gold Muslims spread rumors that Damascus was invincible with that the side from which the crusaders approached him. Due to After this, the besiegers moved to the other side of the city, which was truly unapproachable. After spending quite a long time in a useless siege, threatened from the north by Nuredin, the Christians had to retreat from Damascus without achieving anything. This failure is hard
recall the knightly king Conrad and the entire army. There was no desire to continue the work of the second crusade, that is, to go further north and, in alliance with Antioch, wage war against the main enemy, the emir of Mosul. Conrad's energy and knightly enthusiasm weakened, and he decided to return to his homeland. In the fall of 1148, he arrived in Constantinople on Byzantine ships, and from there at the beginning of 1149 he returned to Germany, having essentially done nothing for the cause of Christians in the east, but, on the contrary, disgraced himself and the German nation.
Louis VII, as a young man, with great knightly enthusiasm, did not dare, like Conrad, to abandon the work he had begun so quickly. But at the same time, given the difficult situation, he did not dare to take energetic measures. In his retinue there were people who did not consider the task of the crusade to be completed, and considering returning back a demeaning matter for knightly honor, they advised him to remain in Antioch and wait for reinforcements, that is, the arrival of new forces from the West to rescue Edessa. But there were also those who, pointing to the example of Conrad, persuaded the king to return to his homeland; Louis VII succumbed to the influence of the latter and decided to return. At the beginning of 1149, he crossed to southern Italy on Norman ships, where he had a meeting with the Norman king and arrived in France in the fall of 1149.
Thus, the second crusade, which seemed so brilliant and promised so much at the beginning, was accompanied by completely insignificant results. The Muslims not only were not weakened, but on the contrary, inflicting one defeat after another on the Christians, destroying entire crusading armies, they gained greater confidence in their own strengths, their energy increased, and they began to have hopes of destroying the Christian element in Asia Minor. In the East there were sharp clashes between the German and Romanesque elements. German army; in the eyes of other nations was diminished by its fatal failures. After Conrad's defeat III , the Germans were the subject of ridicule for the French; therefore, the second
the move showed that joint actions of the French and Germans in the future were impossible. This campaign also revealed discord between Palestinian and European Christians. For Eastern Christians, the 50-year stay among the Muslim element did not pass without cultural consequences. Thus, between those who settled in Asia Europeans and new crusaders arriving here from Europe revealed fundamental discord; they mutually began to misunderstand each other. Mercantile character, bribery, licentiousness, debauchery have become distinctive feature morals of Palestinian Christians.
The failure of the second crusade had a strong impact on the French nation, in whose memory the echo of this failure remains for a long time. It should have been a stain on the honor of the church; in particular, it undermined the authority of St. Bernard, as well as the pope: Bernard raised the masses of the people, he called the crusade a matter pleasing to God, and predicted a good outcome. After the shameful failures, a strong murmur arose against Bernard: Bernard was not a prophet, they said, but a false prophet; and the pope who gave his blessing is not a representative of the church, but the Antichrist. The pope blamed all the responsibility on Bernard, the latter said that he acted on the orders of the pope.
An extremely interesting trend was emerging by this time among the Romance peoples: they began to weigh, especially the French, the circumstances of the first and second campaigns, they began to look for what were the shortcomings of their organization and the reasons for the failure. The conclusion was simple: it was impossible to reach the goal of the campaigns because the schismatic Byzantine kingdom stood on the road; this obstacle must first be destroyed. This trend, which emerged in the middle of the 12th century, then gained more and more supporters in the West. Thanks to the gradual spread of this idea among the masses of the people, the fourth crusade, in which the Venetians, Normans and partly the French took part, is sent not directly to the East, but to Constantinople and achieves a brilliant result; it ended with the capture of Constantinople and the subjugation of Byzantium to the Latin element.
The result of the second campaign was especially upset by the young Louis VII. Returning to his homeland, Louis came to the realization of the need to correct his mistake, to wash away the stain from his name. A council was convened, at which the issue of a new campaign was again discussed and, very surprisingly, there were again a mass of people who, overwhelmed with religious enthusiasm, were again ready to go to the Holy Land. Something even more amazing happened: St. Bernard began to say that the upcoming campaign would be successful. Voices began to be heard at the cathedral that the recent campaign was unsuccessful because St. Bernard. A proposal was made to entrust him with leading a new campaign. Dad received the news unsympathetically. He called Bernard himself a madman, and in an official document he characterized such an attitude towards the matter as stupidity. After this, Louis also cooled somewhat towards the planned campaign.
Of the detailed features, it is necessary to point out two more points related to the second crusade, which show that in 1149 the religious idea of the campaign completely receded into the background. If during the first crusade religious enthusiasm was still visible in some princes, now it completely declines. The era of the second crusade includes two campaigns that are completely separate from the main movement. When the movement to the Holy Land began for the second time, some North German princes, like Heinrich the Lion, Albrecht the Bear and other princes, realized that they did not need to look for a fight with the infidels in the distant East, that next to them there were a mass of Wends, pagans peoples of Slavic origin, who until now have not accepted Christian preachers. The North German princes communicated with Rome, and the pope allowed them to direct their weapons against the Slavs. The closest persons were Heinrich the Lion and Albrecht the Bear, local counts, princes of Saxony. The task of the Saxon tribe, starting with Charlemagne, was to fight culturally and religiously with the Slavic element, sitting
shimbetween Elbe and Oder. It is difficult to say that this struggle, directed for the Elbe and Oder, was carried out exclusively in the interests of religious ones. She also had in mind goals of a purely economic nature; Saxon princes sought to acquire new lands for colonization and thereby contribute to the spread of the German element in the East. Once the land is conquered, the ruler of the region - the margrave - appears, missionaries and colonists appear. Albrecht the Bear was the Margrave of Brandenburg, which arose in Slavic lands. For the campaign against the Slavs, an army was formed, reaching up to 100 thousand people. The representative of the Vendian Slavs at that time was Prince Bodrichi Niklot, who was able to offer only weak resistance to the Germans. The result of the campaign, approved by the church, accompanied by terrible cruelties, murders and robbery, was that the Germans acquired an even stronger position in the Slavic lands. The second point we mentioned is this. Some of the Norman, French and English knights were carried by a storm to Spain. Here they offered their services to Alfonso, King of Portugal, against the Muslims and captured Lisbon in 1148. Many of these crusaders remained forever in Spain, and only a very small part went to the Holy Land, where they took part in the unsuccessful campaign against Damascus.
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Plan
Introduction
1 Prerequisites
2 Beginning of the hike
3 Passage through Byzantine Empire
4 Failure of the campaign
5 Results of the Second Crusade
Second Crusade
Introduction
The Second Crusade took place in 1147-1149.
1. Prerequisites
The policy of Christian rulers in the East pursued a false goal - the destruction of Byzantine rule in Asia and the weakening of the Greek element, which naturally had to be counted on in the destruction of Muslims.
This policy led to the fact that the Muslims, weakened and pushed into Asia as a result of the First Crusade, strengthened again and began to threaten Christian possessions from Mesopotamia.
One of the most powerful Muslim emirs, the Emir of Mosul Imad-ed-Din Zengi, began to seriously threaten the advanced principalities. In 1144, Zengi made a strong onslaught, which ended with the capture of Edessa and the fall of the Principality of Edessa.
This dealt a very sensitive blow to all of Eastern Christianity: the Principality of Edessa constituted an outpost against which waves of Muslim raids were broken; in the Principality of Edessa there was a stronghold that protected the entire Christian world.
At the time when Edessa fell under the blows of the Muslims, other Christian principalities were either in a cramped position or were busy with issues of a purely selfish nature and therefore, just as they could not give help to the Principality of Edessa, they were not able to replace its importance for Christians.
In Jerusalem, not long before, King Fulk died, the same one who united the interests of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with the interests of his French possessions.
After his death, the widow, Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, guardian of Baudouin III, became the head of the kingdom; the disobedience of the vassal princes deprived her of every opportunity and means even to protect her own possessions - Jerusalem was in danger and could not give help to Edessa. As for Antioch, Prince Raymond started an unfortunate war with Byzantium, which ended in complete failure for him, and thus also could not provide help to Edessa.
And yet, to raise a new crusade in Western Europe there were no favorable conditions. In 1144, Pope Eugene III sat on the Roman throne. He would have had to, taking advantage of the powerful position of the church, to take over the protection of the East Asian principalities, but by this time the position of the pope, even in Italy itself, was far from powerful: the Roman throne was a victim of parties, and the authority of the church was threatened by the new democratic trend , which was led by Arnold of Brescia, who fought against the temporal power of the Pope. The German king Conrad III was also put in difficult circumstances by the fight against the Welfs. It was impossible to hope that the Pope or the King would take the initiative for the Second Crusade.
In France, the king was Louis VII; a knight at heart, he felt connected to the East and was inclined to undertake a crusade. The king, like all his contemporaries, was strongly influenced by the literary movement that deeply penetrated all of France and spread even throughout Germany. Louis VII, before deciding to take such an important step as a trip to the Holy Land, asked the opinion of Abbot Suger, his educator and adviser, who, without dissuading the king from his good intentions, advised him to take all measures to ensure the proper success of the enterprise. Louis VII wanted to know the mood of the people and the clergy. Eugene III approved the king's plan and entrusted Saint Bernard with preaching about the crusade, providing him with an appeal to the French people.
In 1146, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux attended a state assembly in Vézelay (Burgundy). He sat down next to King Louis, put a cross on him and made a speech in which he invited him to arm himself in defense of the Holy Sepulcher against the infidels. Thus, from 1146 the question of the crusade was resolved from the point of view of the French. Southern and central France moved a large army, which was quite sufficient to repel the Muslims.
The ideas of the Second Crusade reached not only France, but also spread spontaneously to Germany, which caused a wave of anti-Semitic sentiment. Bernard of Clairvaux had to appear in person across the Rhine to reproach the clergy who allowed such sentiments to arise. During his visit to Germany, on the eve of 1147, Conrad III invites Bernard to celebrate New Year's Day. After the solemn mass, the Pope makes a speech that convinces the German Emperor to take part in the Second Crusade.
The decision of Conrad III to participate in the Second Crusade resonated very vividly throughout the entire German nation. Since 1147, the same animated general movement began in Germany as in France.
2. Start of the hike
The French nation, led by its king, fielded significant forces. Both King Louis VII himself and the feudal French princes showed much sympathy for the cause of the Second Crusade; a detachment of up to 70 thousand gathered. The goal that the Second Crusade was to achieve was clearly outlined and strictly defined. His task was to weaken the Musul emir Zengi and take Edessa from him. This task could have been successfully completed by a single French army, consisting of a well-armed army, which along the way was doubly enlarged by the arrival of volunteers. If the crusader militia of 1147 had consisted only of the French, it would have taken a different route, shorter and safer than the one it chose under the influence of the Germans.
The French, in the political system of that era, represented a completely isolated nation, whose immediate interests were inclined towards Italy. The Sicilian king Roger II and the French king were on close terms. As a result, it was most natural for the French king to choose the route through Italy, from where he could, using the Norman fleet and also the fleet of the trading cities that were such energetic assistants in the First Crusade, conveniently and quickly arrive in Syria. In addition, the route through southern Italy also had the advantage that the Sicilian king could join the militia. Louis VII, having communicated with Roger II, was ready to move through Italy.
When the question of the route and means of movement arose, the German king proposed choosing the path that the first German crusaders followed - to Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Thrace and Macedonia. The Germans insisted that the French king also move this way, motivating their proposal by the fact that it was better to avoid a division of forces, that the movement through the possessions of an allied and even related sovereign with the German king was completely protected from all kinds of accidents and surprises, and that with the Byzantine king they had begun negotiations on this issue, the favorable outcome of which Conrad had no doubt.
In the summer of 1147, the Crusaders began moving through Hungary; Conrad III led the way, followed a month later by Louis.
Roger II of Sicily, who had not previously declared his intention to participate in the Second Crusade, but who, however, could not remain indifferent to its outcome, demanded that Louis fulfill the agreement concluded between them - to direct the route through Italy. Louis hesitated for a long time, but yielded to an alliance with the German king. Roger II realized that if he now did not take part in the campaign, his position would become isolated. He equipped ships and armed himself, but not in order to assist the general movement. He began to act in accordance with the Norman policy regarding the East: the Sicilian fleet began to plunder the islands and coastal lands belonging to Byzantium, the shores of Illyria, Dalmatia and southern Greece. Devastating the Byzantine possessions, the Sicilian king took possession of the island of Corfu and at the same time, in order to successfully continue his naval operations against Byzantium and to secure himself from African Muslims, he concluded an alliance with the latter.
As they moved to the Holy Land, the crusaders plundered the territories that lay on their way and attacked local residents. The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos was afraid that Conrad III would not be able to curb the violent and rebellious crowd, that this crowd, greedy for profit, could begin robberies and violence in the sight of Constantinople and cause serious unrest in the capital. Therefore, Manuel tried to remove the crusader militia from Constantinople and advised Conrad to cross to the Asian coast of Gallipoli. But the crusaders made their way to Constantinople by force, accompanying their path with robberies and violence. In September 1147, the danger to Byzantium from the crusaders was serious: irritated Germans stood at the walls of Constantinople, betraying everything to robbery; in two or three weeks it was necessary to expect the arrival of the French crusaders; the combined forces of both could threaten Constantinople with serious troubles. At the same time, news reached the Byzantine king about the capture of Corfu, about the attacks of the Norman king on the coastal Byzantine possessions, about the alliance of Roger II with the Egyptian Muslims.
3. Passage through the Byzantine Empire
Under the influence of the danger threatening on all sides, Manuel took a step that fundamentally undermined the tasks and goals proposed by the Second Crusade - he entered into an alliance with the Seljuk Turks; True, this was not an offensive alliance, it had the goal of securing the empire and threatening the Latins in case the latter decided to threaten Constantinople. Nevertheless, this alliance was very important in the sense that it made it clear to the Seljuks that they would have to reckon with only one Western militia. By concluding this alliance with the Iconian Sultan, Manuel made it clear that he did not view the Seljuks as enemies. Protecting his personal interests, he washed his hands, allowing the crusaders to act at their own risk with their own forces and means. Thus, two Christian-Muslim alliances were formed against the crusader militia: one - directly hostile to the crusader militia - is the alliance of Roger II with the Egyptian Sultan; the other - the alliance of the Byzantine king with the Iconian sultan - was not in the interests of the crusade. All this was the reason for the failures that ended the Second Crusade.
Principality of Antioch
Kingdom of Jerusalem
Second Crusade took place in 1147-1149.
Prerequisites
Asia Minor and the Crusader states, around 1140
The policy of Christian rulers in the East pursued a false goal - the destruction of Byzantine rule in Asia and the weakening of the Greek element, which naturally had to be counted on in the destruction of Muslims.
This policy led to the fact that the Muslims, weakened and pushed into Asia as a result of the First Crusade, again strengthened and began to threaten Christian possessions from Mesopotamia.
One of the most powerful Muslim emirs, Emir of Mosul Imad ad-Din Zangi, began to seriously threaten the advanced principalities. In 1144, Zangi made a strong onslaught, which ended with the capture of Edessa and the fall of the Principality of Edessa.
This dealt a very sensitive blow to all of Eastern Christianity: the Principality of Edessa constituted an outpost against which waves of Muslim raids were broken; in the Principality of Edessa there was a stronghold that protected the entire Christian world.
At the time when Edessa fell under the blows of the Muslims, other Christian principalities were either in a cramped position or were busy with issues of a purely selfish nature and therefore, just as they could not give help to the Principality of Edessa, they were not able to replace its importance for Christians.
The ideas of the Second Crusade reached not only France, but also spread spontaneously to Germany, which caused a wave of anti-Semitic sentiment. Bernard of Clairvaux had to appear in person across the Rhine to reproach the clergy who allowed such sentiments to arise. During his visit to Germany, on the eve of 1147, Conrad III invites Bernard to celebrate New Year's Day. After the solemn mass, the Pope gives a speech that convinces the German Emperor to take part in the Second Crusade.
In the first battle (October 26, 1147), which took place in Cappadocia, near Dorylaeum, the German army, taken by surprise, was completely defeated, most of the militia died or were captured, very few returned with the king to Nicaea, where Conrad began to wait for the French .
Almost at the same time that Conrad suffered a terrible defeat, Louis VII was approaching Constantinople. The usual clashes took place between the French army and the Byzantine government. Knowing the sympathies between Louis VII and Roger II, Manuel did not consider it safe for the French to remain in Constantinople for a long time. In order to quickly get rid of them and force the knights to take the feudal oath, Tsar Manuel used a trick. A rumor was spread among the French that the Germans, who had crossed into Asia, were rapidly moving forward, step by step winning brilliant victories; so the French will have nothing to do in Asia. The competition of the French was excited; they demanded that they be transported as quickly as possible across the Bosphorus. Here already, on the Asian coast, the French learned about the unfortunate fate of the German army; In Nicaea, both kings met, Louis and Conrad, and decided to continue their journey together, in a faithful alliance.
Thus, the results of this campaign can be considered insignificant. The Muslims not only were not weakened, but, on the contrary, inflicting one defeat after another on the Christians, destroying entire crusader armies, they gained greater confidence in their own strengths, their energy increased, and hopes arose for the destruction of Christianity in Asia Minor.
The German army was humiliated in the eyes of other nations by its failures.
Bernard suffered disgraceful failures; the latter said that he acted on the orders of the pope.
Also, there was a growing feeling among European powers that main reason failure is the Byzantine state standing in the way of the crusaders. The idea arose about the destruction of this empire, which would fully manifest itself during IV crusade (which will be written about below).
Third Crusade
Prerequisites. Loss of Jerusalem
Saladin (actually Salah ad-din Yusuf ibn Ayyub) after the death of the caliph ruled the country unlimitedly, recognizing only nominally the supreme power of atabek Nur ad-Din. After the death of the latter ( 1174 ) he subjugated Damascus, all of Muslim Syria, most of Mesopotamia and took the title of sultan.
At this time, the young king Baldwin ruled in Jerusalem. IV. Despite a serious illness - leprosy - he managed to show himself as a wise and far-sighted commander and diplomat. Under him, some balance was established between Jerusalem and Damascus. Both Baldwin and Saladin tried to avoid decisive battles. However, foreseeing the imminent death of the king, the intrigues of powerful barons grew at Baldwin’s court, the most influential of whom were Guy de Lusignan and Renaud de Chatillon. They represented a radical party that absolutely demanded an end to Saladin.
IN 1185 Baldwin died. Guy de Lusignan married his sister Sibylla and became king of Jerusalem. Now, with the assistance of Renaud de Chatillon, he began to openly provoke Saladin into a general battle. Reno's attack on the caravan in which Saladin's sister was located became the reason for the Muslims to protest.
In July 1187 Saladin took Tiberias and inflicted a terrible defeat on the Christians who occupied the heights of Hattin (near Tiberias).
King of Jerusalem Guy de Lusignan, his brother Amaury, Renaud de Chatillon and many knights were captured. Then Saladin captured Acre, Beirut, Sidon, Caesarea, Ascalon and other cities. 2 October 1187 years his troops entered Jerusalem.
Only Tire, Tripoli and Antioch remained in the power of the crusaders. Meanwhile, King Guy, freed from captivity, moved to conquer Acre. Saladin's successes sparked a new movement in the West, leading to the 3rd Crusade. The fleets of the Lombards, Tuscans and Genoese moved first. Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa led the big
army. There were hostilities between the crusaders and the Greeks: the Greeks entered into an alliance with Saladin.
Preparing for the hike
News of the capture of Jerusalem did not reach the West immediately, until 1188 For a year now, no reaction has been observed in the Christian camp. Italy was the first to learn about this. The Pope could not put up with such a loss. Therefore, despite any difficulties and obstacles, the pope supported the idea of a new crusade.
In order to attract as many warriors as possible from all classes, he made an order to stop internal wars, the sale of fiefs was made easier for the knights, the collection of debts was postponed, and it was announced that any assistance in the liberation of the Christian East would be accompanied by the remission of sins.
Three crowned heads took part in it - German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, French King Philip II August and English - Richard the Lionheart.
The tax introduced in England and France called “Saladin's tithe,” which also applied to the clergy, was surprisingly quite successfully collected and provided significant funds for the campaign.
Marching performance
IN 1190 year the kings set out on a campaign.
Having reached Sicily, the Anglo-French army spent the autumn and winter in Sicily until the spring of 1191 (since it was extremely difficult to transport such an army by sea due to weather conditions).
Further, Richard's fleet, which included his sister, was caught in a storm and washed up on the shores of Cyprus. The local usurper Isaac Komnenos took the girl prisoner and plundered her luxurious luggage. Richard declared war on Comnenus and quickly gained the upper hand. Soon the titular king (he was not actually a king - he had no lands) of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, arrived there. Richard, realizing that he could not hold Cyprus for long (too far from England), sold him this island.
Encouraged by Guy de Lusignan, Richard sailed from Cyprus and joined the siege of Acre. The very idea of besieging Acre was highly impractical and downright useless. The siege of Acre constitutes a fatal mistake on the part of the leaders of the Third Crusade: having such coastal cities as Antioch, Tripoli and Tyre, which could provide them with communication with the West, they fought, wasted time and effort over a small piece of land, essentially useless to anyone , useless, which they wanted to reward Guy de Lusignan.
German offensive by Friedrich Barbarossa
Having learned about the state of affairs in the East, Frederick I began to prepare for the crusade. He sent embassies to the Byzantine emperor, to the Iconian sultan and to Saladin himself. Favorable responses were received from everywhere, vouching for the success of the enterprise. If Frederick Barbarossa had participated in the siege of Acre, the mistake on the part of the Christians would have been eliminated by him. The fact is that Saladin had an excellent fleet, which delivered all supplies to him from Egypt, and troops came to him from Mesopotamia. Under such conditions, Saladin could successfully withstand the longest siege of a seaside city. That is why all the structures of Western engineers, towers and battering rams, turned out to be useless in the siege of Acre. Obviously, the war had to be waged inside Asia, weakening Saladin’s forces within the country, depriving him of sources of replenishment of manpower and resources.
24 May 1189 Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa entered Hungary. Five weeks later, the crusaders were already on the border of the possessions of the Byzantine emperor.
The Crusaders' crossing of the Bosphorus began March 25, 1190 of the year. Frederick's path passed through the western regions of Asia Minor, partly devastated as a result of wars with the Seljuks, partly occupied by these latter. Turkic troops harassed the crusaders and forced them to be constantly on guard. The main problem of the German army - the lack of provisions and food for pack animals - was soon solved - in May they approached Iconium and won a significant victory over the Seljuks, receiving a lot of booty, including provisions. But in Cilicia, the German army suffered a misfortune that put an end to the entire further campaign. . the 9th of June, while crossing the mountain river Salef, Frederick was carried away by the stream and choked.
Part of the German detachment refused to continue the campaign and returned by sea to Europe, part, under the leadership of Duke Frederick of Swabia, entered the Principality of Antioch and autumn 1190 years, these pitiful remnants united with the Christian army near Acre, where they did not have to play an important role.
Siege of Acre
Disagreements in the camp of Christian leaders (who were joined by Leopold V Duke of Austria) led to the fact that a huge and well-trained united army could not take the city. Only in July was Acre brought to the point of exhaustion, and the garrison began to negotiate surrender. On the part of Christians, too harsh conditions were proposed: Christians demanded the surrender of Acre, the Muslim garrison of the city
will receive freedom only when Jerusalem and other areas conquered by Saladin are returned to Christians. Saladin also had to hand over 2 thousand hostages from noble Muslims. Saladin apparently agreed to all these conditions.
12 July 1191 Acre was handed over to Christians. Duke Leopold of Austria V Having taken possession of one of the walls of the city, he put up an Austrian banner: Richard ordered it to be torn down and replaced with his own. From that moment on, Richard acquired for himself in the person of Leopold V implacable enemy.
During the siege of Acre, the Bremen and Lübeck merchants, following the example of other military-religious orders that arose during the First Crusade, established a brotherhood at their own expense, which aimed to help the poor and sick Germans. Duke Frederick of Swabia took this brotherhood under his protection and sought a papal charter in its favor. This institution subsequently acquired a militarized character and is known under the name of the Teutonic Order.
Attack on Jerusalem
After a long journey through the desert, without water, in heavy sun-hot armor, the crusader army was extremely exhausted. The long siege of Jerusalem produced ridiculous results - only part of the city was in the hands of Christians. Richard understood that they did not have enough strength and asked for a truce, to which Saladin refused. He agreed to only one condition - the European armies leave and pilgrims are allowed to visit the Holy Sepulcher.
End of the hike
Richard, remaining in Acre, expected Saladin to fulfill the remaining points of the peace treaty. Saladin refused to return Jerusalem, did not release captives and did not pay military costs. Then Richard ordered the slaughter of up to 2 thousand noble Muslims who were in his hands as hostages. Saladin was not slow to respond in kind.
Showing himself to be more of a dreamy knight than a talented commander, not daring to march on Jerusalem and simply standing waiting with his army, the English king acquired a bad reputation in the East. By remaining further in Asia, he risked losing his crown and therefore concluded 1 September 1192 year treaty with Saladin. This peace, shameful for Richard’s honor, left for Christians a small coastal strip from Jaffa to Tire, Jerusalem remained in the power of Muslims, the Holy Cross was not returned. Saladin granted peace to Christians for three years. At this time, they could freely come to worship holy places. Three years later, Christians pledged to enter into new agreements with Saladin, which,
It goes without saying that they should have been worse than the previous ones.
IN October 1192 Richard left Syria. After much hesitation, he decided to land in Italy, from where he planned to get to England. But in Europe, the enemies he had made during the campaign were already waiting for him. In the Duchy of Austria he was recognized, captured and imprisoned by Duke Leopold V to prison, where he was held for about two years. Only under the influence of the Pope and the strong excitement of the English nation did he gain freedom. England paid Leopold for his freedom V before 23 tons silver
Fourth Crusade
Prerequisites/preparation
IN 1198 Christians made several unsuccessful attempts to recapture Jerusalem. Pope Innocent III wanted to lead the Crusade and thereby restore the authority of Rome. Having sent legates to all Catholic countries with a demand to give a fortieth part of the property for a new campaign, he began collecting funds.
In his message, the pope promised all knights who would participate in the war for the Holy Land, exemption from tax duties, cancellation of all debts, safety and inviolability of property. It attracted a huge number of poor people and debtors who planned to improve their situation through the campaign.
Since major knighthood and kings were busy local wars, had to rely mainly on small feudal lords. To do this, the church sent priests to knightly tournaments and meetings, who convinced the soldiers to help liberate the Holy Land. As a result, they managed to attract 200,000 soldiers to the campaign and collected huge amounts of money.
Capture of Constantinople
The organizers of the Fourth Crusade put a lot of effort into strengthening the religious fervor of the crusaders, reminding them of their historical mission to liberate the Holy Land. Innocent III sent a message to the Byzantine emperor in which he encouraged him to participate in the campaign and reminded him of the need to restore the church union, which meant the end of the independent existence of the Greek church. The emperor rejected the pope's proposals, and relations between them became extremely tense.
Even then, plans began to mature to turn Byzantium into the main goal of the campaign. Gradually, an ideological justification for such a campaign emerged. Among the leaders of the crusaders, there was more and more persistent talk that their failures were explained by the actions of Byzantium.
The main arguments were rumors about the countless spoils that the capture of the capital promised, and accusations that the Byzantines were concluding alliances with the rulers of the Seljuk Turks of Asia Minor directed against the crusader states.
The original plan of the Fourth Crusade, which included organizing a naval expedition on Venetian ships to Egypt, was changed: the crusader army was to move to the capital of Byzantium. The reason for the attack was a request for help from Alexei, the son of Emperor Isaac. II from the dynasty of Angels. As a result of the coup, he was blinded and thrown into prison. For a generous reward, the crusaders were ready to fulfill the role of such “fighters for justice”, in the person of the legitimate ruler.
Concluding in 1187 g. alliance with Venice, the Byzantine emperors reduced their military forces at sea to a minimum, relying on their allies. Therefore, when in June 1203 ships with crusaders approached the Byzantine capital, the city was deprived of its main defensive force. All that remained was to rely only on the fortress walls.
July 17th Alexei's troops III(brother of the deposed Isaac II) practically capitulated to the crusaders after they captured two dozen towers on the fortress walls. This was followed by the flight of Alexius III from Constantinople. The joint reign of father and son continued for 5 months (the crusaders insisted on the latter’s candidacy due to his financial obligations). Trying to collect the promised money, Alexey imposed exorbitant taxes on the population.
The situation in the capital became increasingly tense. There were signs of a brewing rebellion. IN January 1204 the people began to demand the election of a new emperor. Isaac II turned to the crusaders for help, but his intentions were revealed to the people by one of the dignitaries, Alexey Murzufl. A riot began in the city, which ended with the election of Alexei Murzufla as emperor.
At first spring 1204 g., the leaders of the crusaders and representatives of Venice entered into an agreement on the division of the territories of Byzantium, which also provided for the capture of Constantinople.
The crusaders decided to storm the city from the Golden Horn, near the Blachernae Palace. Catholic priests who served with the Crusader troops did their best to support their fighting spirit. They instilled in the soldiers thoughts about the godliness of the upcoming enterprise and absolved sins.
April 9 The crusaders managed to break into Constantinople. However, they were unable to gain a foothold in the city, and 12th of April the attack resumed. Some of the attackers broke into the city through a gap in one of the sections of the wall, while others, climbing ladders onto the walls, began to break down the city gates from the inside. A fire broke out in the city, destroying two-thirds of the buildings. The resistance of the Byzantines was broken, Alexey Murzufl
Causes of defeat
One of the participants in the campaign, the Frenchman Geoffroy de Villehardouin, author of “The History of the Capture of Constantinople,” believed that the ratio of the forces of the besiegers and the besieged was 1 To 200 . He expressed surprise at the victory of the crusaders, emphasizing that “ Never before had a handful of warriors besieged a city with so many defenders" The ease with which the crusaders captured the huge, well-fortified city was the result of the acute socio-political crisis that the Byzantine Empire was experiencing at that moment.
In addition, part of the Byzantine aristocracy and merchants were simply interested in trade relations with the Latins.
He was busy with the war with Byzantium, and Jerusalem was ruled by the widow of the king Fulk Melisende, whose power was fragile.
In Western Europe there were also no favorable conditions for raising a new crusade. In 1144, Pope Eugenius III sat on the Roman throne. He would have had to, taking advantage of the powerful position of the church, to take over the protection of the East Asian principalities, but by this time the position of the pope, even in Italy itself, was far from powerful: the Roman throne was a victim of parties, and the authority of the church was threatened by the new democratic trend , which was led by Arnold of Brescia, who fought against the temporal power of the Pope. The German king Conrad III was also put in difficult circumstances by the fight against the Welfs. It was impossible to hope that the Pope or the King would take the initiative for the Second Crusade.
The ideas of the Second Crusade reached not only France, but also spread spontaneously to Germany, which caused a wave of anti-Semitic sentiment. Bernard of Clairvaux had to appear in person across the Rhine to reproach the clergy who allowed such sentiments to arise. During his visit to Germany, on the eve of 1147, Conrad III invites Bernard to celebrate New Year's Day. After the solemn mass, the Pope gives a speech that convinces the German Emperor to take part in the Second Crusade.
In the first battle (October 26, 1147), which took place in Cappadocia, near Dorylaeum, the German army, taken by surprise, was completely defeated, most of the militia died or were captured, very few returned with the king to Nicaea, where Conrad began to wait for the French .
Almost at the same time that Conrad suffered a terrible defeat, Louis VII was approaching Constantinople. The usual clashes took place between the French army and the Byzantine government. Knowing the sympathies between Louis VII and Roger II, Manuel did not consider it safe for the French to remain in Constantinople for a long time. In order to quickly get rid of them and force the knights to take the feudal oath, Tsar Manuel used a trick. A rumor was spread among the French that the Germans, who had crossed into Asia, were rapidly moving forward, step by step winning brilliant victories; so the French will have nothing to do in Asia. The competition of the French was excited; they demanded that they be transported as quickly as possible across the Bosphorus. Here already, on the Asian coast, the French learned about the unfortunate fate of the German army; In Nicaea, both kings met, Louis and Conrad, and decided to continue their journey together, in a faithful alliance.
Albrecht the Bear was the Margrave of Brandenburg, which arose in Slavic lands. For the campaign against the Slavs, an army was formed, reaching up to 100 thousand people. The representative of the Vendian Slavs at that time was the Bodrichi prince Niklot, who could offer only weak resistance to the Germans. The result of the campaign, approved by the church, accompanied by terrible cruelties, murders and robbery, was that the Germans acquired an even stronger position in the Slavic lands. The second point we mentioned is this. Some of the Norman, French and English knights were carried by a storm to Spain. Here they offered their services to Alfonso, the Portuguese king, against the Muslims and captured Lisbon in 1147. Many of these crusaders remained forever in Spain, and only a very small part went to the Holy Land, where they took part in the unsuccessful campaign against Damascus.