Godfrey of Bouillon leading his men to the Crusade

 

 

 

Questions

 

1. The Causes : read the first two paragraphs of this page and explain why it suddenly became urgent to deliver Jerusalem.

 

2. Pope Urban's appeal : (summary)

“Christians, hasten to help your brothers in the East, for they are being attacked. Arm for the rescue of Jerusalem. Christ himself will be your leader ... Wear his cross as your badge. If you are killed your sins will be pardoned ... Let those who have been fighting against their own brothers now fight lawfully against the barbarians.”

a. Who was Urban referring to when he said “your brothers in the East” ?
b. Which arguments was he using to motivate people ?
c. What were his possible motives ? What results was he looking for ? (be patient if the page takes a long time to load!)

 

3. The First Crusade :

Read this page and answer the following questions :
a. Was Urban's appeal successfull ?
b. What were the motivations of the Crusaders ?
c. Why was it hard for the Crusaders to get to the Middle East ?
d. Which two cities did they take before they arrived to Jerusalem ?
e. When was Jerusalem finally captured ?

 

4. The capture of Jerusalem :

“Some of our men [...] cut off the heads of their enemies; [...] others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. [...] But these were small matters compared with what happened in the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are normally chanted. What happened there? [...] men rode in blood up to their knees [...] Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgement of God that this place should be filled with the blood of the unbelievers, since it had suffered so long from their blasphemies. The city was filled with corpses and blood.”

Source: Raymond d'Aguilers, Historia Francorum qui ceprint Jerusalem.

a. What did the Crusaders do when they took Jerusalem ?
b. Which sentence in the document shows that the author was a Crusader ?
c. What is the judgment of the author on the attitude of the Crusaders ? Justify your answer.
d. (optional) You can read this description of the fall of Jerusalem by a muslim author of the time, Ibn Al-Athir, and compare it with the one you have just studied.

 

5. The crusader states :

a. List the states which were founded by the Crusaders. How long did each of them last ?
b. Which modern countries exist now where these states were located ? (see this modern map of the region).
c. Look at this chronology to see what happened after 1099 : which other cities did the Crusaders take ? Which event led to the Second Crusade ? Was it a success ?

 

6. The third Crusade : Saladin and Richard

a. What was the extent of Saladin's state and why was it threatening the crusader states ?
b. Which event led to the Third Crusade ? When did it start ?
c. Look at the map : what is an important difference between the First and the Third Crusade ?
d. Scroll down this page to read about king Richard of England's adventures : did he succeed in taking Jerusalem ?

 

7. What went wrong in 1204 ?
Look at this map of the Fourth Crusade : where did it stop and how did it end ?