Not to be deterred, Pope Innocent III called for another crusade to Egypt in 1213. It was believed that the Christians couldn't hold Jerusalem until Egypt was captured. The pope died before the Fifth Crusade departed in 1217, without proper leadership. King John Lackland of England and Frederick II of Germany never actually went on the crusade. In 1218, papal control over the crusade was asserted through Pelagius of Albano, who successfully captured Damietta in 1219 but failed to advance further. By the end of 1221, the Fifth Crusade had retreated from Egypt. Because of his failure to appear in the Fifth Crusade, Frederick II of Germany was facing excommunication in 1225, so he swore new crusading vows and agreed to set sail in 1227. After the death of his wife in 1228 he became the regent King of Jerusalem- and was open to the idea of a truce with al-Kamil, the Egyptian Sultan.

In 1229 the two rulers signed a 10-year truce which brought Jerusalem under Christian rule. This would be the only success of the Sixth Crusade, and King Frederick II abandoned Jerusalem by the end of 1229. Jerusalem would change hands twice before falling again under Muslim rule until World War I. In response to the capture of Jerusalem by Egyptian forces in 1244, the Seventh Crusade was called. King Louis IX of France took up the cross before the Pope's crusading bull in 1245 and raised a substantial army before marching in 1248. He obtained Damietta easily in 1249, but impatience by his brother, Robert of Artois, resulted in a failed attack on Mansurah in 1250. The Seventh Crusaders surrendered and agreed to pay a ransom for their release and returned Damietta to Turan Shah, the Egyptian Sultan. (Daileader, Lecture 15) Despite the loss, King Louis IX began another Crusade in 1267.

 The Eighth Crusade drew Edward Longshanks, future king of England, and King James of Aragon into its ranks. In 1269 James' fleet ran into a storm and he was killed, and without warning, Louis IX changed their destination from Egypt to North Africa. His death in 1270 left his brother in charge. Charles of Anjou secured tribute Tunis and cut the Eighth Crusade short, ending the last major crusade quickly. The Eastern Crusades ended in 1291, when Sultan Qalawun of the Malmuks conquered the remaining crusader states and Outremer ceased to exist. (Daileader, Lecture 17) While most people would group all Medieval crusades as against Muslims in the East and a fight for the Holy Land, it is not the case. 3 crusades were led in Europe against religions that were not Muslim, often as a territorial expansion over a religious cause. The same man responsible for motivating the Second Crusade's departure  Bernard of Clairvaux  also organized another, less well-known expedition to Northern Europe. He called upon Pope Eugenius III to sanction a crusade along the Elbe River in Eastern Germany. Many potential German crusaders in 1147 had hesitated to fight Muslims in the far East with a pagan threat' on their border. Bernard's push to convert or destroy set a tone of brutality for all northern crusades. The Wendish Crusade only lasted two weeks in 1147, with Wendish leaders renouncing their baptismal conversions soon after the crusaders left.

However, by the end of the 12th century, the Wends had fallen to Saxon and Danish rule, effectively absorbing them into Christendom. Following the Wendish Crusade in 1147, and with the new Bishop Albert of Livonia's appointment in 1199, the Northern Crusades picked up momentum. Between 1199 and Albert's death in 1229, he led annual crusades against Baltic pagans and established a military order for the region: The Livonian Sword Brethren. Teutonic Knights eventually absorbed them. By 1230 effort of the Baltic Crusade had turned towards Prussia, and by 1300 the Teutonic Knights had conquered it. In 1245, the Teutonic Knights and all who joined them were granted plenary indulgence, leading to two centuries of crusades in central and eastern Europe. Having been ignored by the Fourth Crusaders in 1204, and King Phillip II of France on multiple occasions, Pope Innocent III directly addressed the Nobility of Northern France in 1208. He called on them to crusade against the Cather heretics in southern France, in response to a papal assassination  blamed on the Cathars and their protectors', namely Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. Initial hesitation by the people to fight their relatives and neighbors was soon overrun with the promise of keeping captured lands, and later  plenary indulgences for 40 days of crusading. In 1209 after killing indiscriminately in the city of Beziers the crusades infamous quote: Kill them all. God will know his own. emerged. (Daileader, Lecture 13)

The Albigensian Crusades would last another two decades and see the death of two kings. By 1229 Count Raymond VI surrendered, leaving his lands to his daughter  who would marry a French Royal. The Cathar sect survived at least another century afterwards, though they lost the protection of French nobleman because of the crusade. As the Albigensian Crusades were on the rise, a smaller non-papal crusade was gaining momentum in Chartres, France. It was led by a shepherd named Steven of Cloyes, rumored to be 12-15 years old. The Children's Crusade was composed of youths ages 6-14. In early 1212, King Phillip II of France ordered them to disperse after they arrived outside his palace. Instead, they headed to Germany, where they picked up additional travelers, intent on delivering Jerusalem through miraculous means. (Daileader, Lecture 13)

Various accounts of what happened to the Children's Crusade differ. They never reached the Holy Land, and their efforts were likely halted after failing to book passage across the sea. Later, edited accounts added increasingly brutal ends to the Children's Crusade, also trying to bury the clergy's initial hostility towards the movement. It survived as long as it did with the support of the people, though it had faded out by the end of 1212 with most of the children returning home. 300 years before the first crusade to the Holy Land, the Iberian Peninsula had been divided into a small Christian North and a large Muslim South. During the First Crusade, Spanish Crusaders were encouraged to stay and defend newly gained Christian territory. Along with Germany and France, Spanish Christians were called to crusade in 1145 by Pope Eugenius III. Crusades in Spain were vastly different from crusades in the Holy Land. With established Christian royals, their territorial claims were backed by their ideological views. In 1147, while their fellow Christians failed in the Second Crusade, the Spanish Reconquista saw a string of lasting victories on their way to capture the Moor city of Lisbon. The Reconquista lasted from 718 to 1492. During the Crusades, Spanish view on the treatment of Muslims often put them at odds with other European Christians. The Christian vs. Muslim conflict outlived the Crusades for the Holy Land by more than 500 years. One of the more unsettling aspects of the Christian Reconquista was the fact that, in Medieval Spain, war bred tolerance, and peace bred intolerance. (Daileader, Lecture 11)

With the 1291 end of the Holy Land Crusades, Spain had seen a partial expulsion of Muslims from their territory. In 1311 the Council of Vienne prohibited Muslim prayers, and by 1492 Spain had expelled all remaining Muslims and Jews. This long-lasting conflict is largely misrepresented or ignored in modern discussion of the crusades. The loudest motivator for the crusades was a religious one, but ultimately, they were attempts to gain territory and power  or to maintain it. When Christian crusaders fought their way to Jerusalem at the heart of the Muslim world, the flow of civilization was the other way. (DK, p 75) Though the Crusaders did not win the Holy Land, they did result in cultural curiosity and exchange. (Daileader, Lecture 21) The Dominance of two mutually hostile monotheistic religions was the most distinctive characteristic of [The Middle Ages] across much of Eurasia. (Grant, p 74)

The failures of the crusades East outshine the successes of the crusades in Europe  though the European crusades had a longer lasting impact in history. The Catholic Church and Christianity maintained a strong hold in the civilizations that developed after the Middle Ages. In retrospect, it has been surmised that The Crusades were The most signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation. (Hume, circa 1778) Modern views that the Crusades somehow triumphed over Islam conveniently ignore that the territory fell to Mongols, not the West. Although the Crusades accomplished little of lasting value, they exposed Europeans to the larger world and encouraged them to unite under strong leaders. (Kagan, p 161) In researching The Crusades, I noticed a trend of biased inaccuracies. Several of the books I read had conflicting information, from how The Children's Crusade ended to important dates, even the names of various rulers.

What I know of the Crusades now is still minimal and guessing at what brought on the madness is futile. What I can be sure of is the pattern of humanity where opportunities to grow are continually missed. Americans look at the Middle Ages today with lenses colored by chivalry-biased propaganda; ignoring the hubris in civil disdain and turning our noses from what stinks'. War is not pretty, it is rarely an advantage for the people and it always benefits someone higher up the food chain  no matter the structure of government. The Crusades failed at expanding Western control in the East, but it did succeed in the near erasure and continual persecution of anyone who did not adhere to Catholic expectation or control for centuries afterwards.

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Latin Christians had been among the first theologians, philosophers, and apologists for the Christian faith. They produced volumes of works on the then-budding faith long before it grew to be the world's most popular religion. Muslims practice Islam religion and, during the time of the crusades, had been referred to as Moors. Muslims refer to the Qur'an as their religious book from God as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and followed teachings of Muhammad as recorded in the hadiths. The Crusades started by the Latin Church occurred during the medieval time as a series of religious wars and had been more rampant in the Eastern Mediterranean. These wars focused on recovering sacred land acquired during Muslim rule. Muslim communities ultimately fought back. During the Crusades, relations between Christians and Muslims were mixed. While Christians and Muslims fought each other, they were willing to try cooperation and collaboration on certain occasions. While Christian-Muslim relations and interactions were overall more undesirable than constructive, they were not completely clear-cut. There had been instances of partial peace, coexistence, political compromise, mixed marriages, trade, and scientific exchange . On many occasions, the Muslims and Christians worked together toward a common goal.

When the Crusades began, distinct geographical boundaries in the Islamic societies had been marked. Territories under the Islamic authority and Law and subject to the Muslim leaders occupied much land as compared to the land ruled by the Latin Christians in the West. Some Christians involved in the Crusade had been prepared to work with Muslims in order to attempt to attain their goals. An instance of attempted Christian-Muslim collaboration in 1139 in Damascus can be viewed. In this challenge, the Zengi, Imad al-Din Atabeg, sent messages to the prince in order to secure the surrender of the city. His goal had been to conquer without bloodshed, however, this was avoidable. The Muslim rulers of Damascus collaborated with the Franks, or Christians, to drive off the Zengi and prevent him from securing Damascus for himself, but to no avail. Damascus fell into the hands of the son of Imad al-Din in June of 1139.

The main accomplishment during and after the crusades was that Muslims actively engaged in science and philosophy creatively and began to rethink existing ideas. Muslim scholars borrowed a lot from Latin Christians. This based the inter-cultural exchange between the two religious worlds and provided a rich urbanization tradition. As a result, the Islamic world became more urbanized and grew to be much bigger. On the other hand, through trade the west created wealth, leading ethnic and linguistic diversity. In addition, cities in the west and the east had significant population increase. In both the Middle East and in Spain, Christians and Crusaders were often willing to unite with Muslims in order to help in the development of various comforts of their own. During and after the First Crusade, some Seljuq Turkish Muslim rulers in the Middle East decided to become patrons of the Crusaders in exchange for things such as safety and the improvement of their own political careers. In fact, the Christians of northern Spain had grown so rich on the offering they extracted from their Muslim neighbors, Christian sovereigns of Leon-Castile had been disinclined to overtake their weakening Islamic opponents for fear of losing treasured profits. Renaissance at the end suggested that Theology could not discard the Renaissance as an empty vessel. 

There is a strong resemblance between Crusades and Jihad. Both religions are a monotheist, in that there is only one God. They offered martyrdom and promised a better after-life to those who died. However, while Jihad focused on the rescuing of souls, the Crusades were aimed at the liberating what they term to be sacred land. The Crusaders did not always require the Muslims to convert to Christianity once they claimed a territory. While the Crusaders did not always insist Muslims convert to Christianity in order to form agreements with them, Muslim rulers did offer to convert to Christianity in order to help advance their own ambitions. Many times, a Muslim ruler would offer their conversion if the Crusaders would help them defeat an enemy. King Richard, the Lionheart, succeeded in negotiating a truce between the Christians and Saffadin, brother of Saladin, in regard to the ownership of Ascalon. Neither would inhabit the land, however, the Christians would maintain their fields that pertained to the land. As a result, the Bishop of Salisbury and a group of men were granted access to the Holy Land of Jerusalem to worship in the place where Christ stood.

In addition to Christian and Muslim respect and collaboration, there were also abundant cases of Christian-Muslim aggression, conflict, and cruelty. Not only had there been massacres at Antioch and Jerusalem during the First Crusade, King Richard massacred roughly 2,700 Muslim prisoners at Acre during the Third Crusade. The ultimate fall of Acre to the Muslim Egyptian Mamluks in 1291 was trailed by Muslim violence against Acre's inhabitants.4 Countless soldiers and civilians had been sold into slavery or slaughtered. After the fall of Arce, a renewed vigor in the fight against Islam prevailed. Christians had now become determined and believed it was their responsibility to crush the Muslims so Christianity could thrive. In fact, once Spain had been reconquered in 1492, Christian rulers of Spain ejected the Muslim populaces of Spain who declined to adopt Christianity. The Crusades still lead to massive harm to Muslim-Christian interreligious relations due to two centuries of on-and-off struggle between Muslims and Christians over holy locations in the Middle East.

The history and impact of the Crusades in the Muslim and Christian world had been quite significant. Christian-Muslim interactions during the Crusades had been positive and negative. The Crusaders were pragmatic and tried to pursue treaties with various Middle Eastern Muslims in order to help reach their own goals. Crusaders also pursued ruthless policies which ended up hurting them. A threat could be viewed on cultural undermine or physiological colonialism. The Crusades are still relevant because in order to search for neutral ground where one can advocate for inter-religion unity there has to be a reference of the differences that divided the two sides and also borrow on ideas that united the two especially on science, trade, and urbanization.

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The Crusades were a series of treks to the Middle East in an attempt to free the Holy Lands from Muslim control.  Although most of them were failures, they did stop the spread of Muslim control through all of Europe.  They also had a significant effect on the feudal system and the church.  These were the two main aspects that affected the lives of people during the Middle Ages.  

During the Clermont Council in 1095 AD, Pope Urban II received a letter from The Eastern Orthodox Church calling for soldiers to capture take up the cross and recapture the Holy Land out of the hands of Muslim control.  Although these first crusaders left in 1096, significant fighting did not begin until 1099 when accomplished their goal of taking over the temple in Jerusalem.  

Not long after the First Crusade, the Muslims captured Edessa, a major city in the Holy Land.  St. Bernard of Clairvaux had  traveled throughout Europe, telling peasants and nobles alike after receiving a vision from God to take up the cross and follow him to push the Muslims completely out of the Holy Land.  Unfortunately, the Second Crusade was an utter failure because they had no clear leadership of any kind, no well thought out, strategical plan, or no goal of what they wanted to accomplish.  They did not even bring enough food or supplies for the magnitude of the trip they are taking.  This crusade was marked by the irrationally of St. Bernard and the followers he had amassed.

In 1189 AD , the Third Crusade was launched against the Holy Land and the Muslim leader, Saladin.  Saladin was a powerful, wise, cruel leader who had re-conquered Jerusalem from the weak hold of the Crusaders.  Although there was a huge army of Crusaders gathered to fight, the  Third Crusade was also  very unsuccessful.  A crowning event of that Crusade was Richard the Lionhearted of England recapturing several cities that had preciously been captured, but he wisely understood that he had lost too much life and did not have the resources to launch a full scale siege on Jerusalem.  He did however make a peace treaty or agreement with Saladin to allow Christian pilgrims, Catholics, or any other religions along those line to enter Jerusalem without harassment or danger.

The Fourth Crusade began in 1202 A.D and again very much like the second, it had no clear direction or strong leadership.  During this Fourth Crusade, on the way to the Holy Land, a disagreement arose between the Crusaders, namely the Orthodox Christians and the Catholics.  Turning on one another they fought without even making an attempt to take Jerusalem . This conflict between themselves destroyed any unity or trust among the Crusaders causing the crusade to fail  

In 1217, yet another crusade took place.  This Fifth Crusade was led by Andrew II and Leopold VI.  This crusade was successful in capturing two major Muslim cities.  The Muslims, eager to get back those cities, made a deal to exchange those two cities for Jerusalem.  The Crusaders declared that they would not be handed Jerusalem.  Ironically, they ended up losing control of those cities soon after. 

Unlike the other five Crusades, the Sixth Crusade ended in peace.  Launched in 1228 A.D, Roman Emporer Frederick II arrived in the Holy Lands with his armies.  He managed when he arrived at the forefront to win back Jerusalem from Muslim control through diplomacy rather than through blood shed.  Making a treaty with Muslim leaders, he achieved his goal to restore Jerusalem to "back to God"  by a peaceful approach, not like the others.

The Seventh Crusade was led by French King Louis IX,  who was not satisfied with just Jerusalem, but wanted Egypt too.  Both cities were then in Muslim control again.  In the Seventh Crusade, Louis also tried to recaptured the cites that Andrew II and Leopold Vi had not wanted to trade for Jerusalem.  However, his army was routed and he was captured., but he was determined to keep his vows to take back the Holy Lands so he launched the Eighth Crusade. 

The Eighth Crusade which was again led by French King Louis IX was in 1290 AD.  Louis IX planned to capture Tunis from where he could then attack Egypt.  From that position, he knew he negotiate for or attack key cities in the Holy Land including Jerusalem.  Before he could act out this plan, he was struck with illness which took his life.  This immobilized his army and his soldiers soon abandoned this crusade.

The Ninth Crusade was led by Edward I in a last attempt to defeat the Muslims.  When King Edward arrived at Tunis, he realized the attack had been called off.  So he and his forces continue to Acre, the last crusader outpost.  They win several victories, but after receiving the news of his father's death and other pressing matters in England, Edward left, abandoning the crusade.  Seven weeks later, the crusaders are driven out of the Holy Land.        

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 History on Crusades

        The Crusades was a strict military expedition, the main reason for this event was for the Christians to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims who had control over it from the 11th century. This event was a product from the old medieval world that would eventually shape the fundamental way that we are living in today. There are positives and also negatives that come out of this event which I will outline in this paper, I will also be determining if this event brought the world out of the Dark Ages and whether or not these Crusades were justified.

        When you break down such an event as the Crusades it comes down to two different outcomes that are very serious, and the way they effect the life in Europe is all of the issues like politically, economically and social. One positive outcome that came out of this historic event is that it was the end of feudalism society that had been in place all around Western Europe, Monarchs gained strength when knights were going to fight in the Middle East to attack the Muslims, because of increased power these Monarchs got because feudal lords left to fight in the crusades it helped end the feudalism.  Positives outcomes from this event are the goods that were brought back from foreign lands, for example, spices, cloths but this also presented itself to have more demand for items such as these. Crusaders brought back the Roman and Greek classical views and some works of their culture back to influence their own culture from the expedition. 

        Some other effects that came out of this event is that it was the senseless violence and wars that were the product of recovering the holy land at all costs. Each side thought the ultimatum was worth any cause towards recovering that piece of land which they each though they deserved. There was also the undermining of the church's authority over the people, the distrust of Christians that were persecuted Jews that had destroyed the Muslims that stood in their path towards the Middle East region. With the paths of each region, Western Europe and the Middle East this would eventually open up the path for the future Muslims to start conquests of European countries. For this big event there was also a presented an opportunity to recognize the Asian world, in many aspects' historians said that Asia was way more advanced that Europe at the time and that this would help in the making of the cosmopolitan influence on Europe that would spread fast and become something we see in today's world.

        I don't think that this event alone brought Europe out of the Dark ages, but if definitely influenced it for sure. For example, like I mentioned before when this event was happening there was an influence from the Greek and Roman classical views of civilization, later with Asian influences and goods being introduced to the European world. The only reason I say that it didn't entirely get Europe out of the dark ages it because there are some negative effects that were quite wrong when we see all that happened during this time of war and loss over religious concepts. When it comes to understanding or the taking of sides on whether or not the Crusades that lasted many years was justified, because either side could argue that they were doing the best for their people that they believed was their duty. I don't want to condone the killing of people as justification, so I will say that these action events in history were acceptable because I don't believe that they were.

        To close, I think that the Crusades really did affect today's world in many different ways that I know I didn't even realize until I looked into the different outcomes and the material that we have been studying so far in this class. I think that the main things that took from the influences of this event was that the old Middle Age world was changed and sort of adapted to the Greek, Roman, and Asian influences because it showed that there were different civilizations that existed, and you could learn or adapt to their culture, goods and other things of that nature. There are always going to be two different sides to a story and that also comes along with pros and cons that are produced but I think that despite this event full of war, loss and societal change it obviously impacted the world as we know it today which if you really think about it is pretty awesome.

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