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2nd Crusade. Start of the hike

In the 12th century, alliances, sympathies or antipathies of states were of great importance for the success of all external political enterprises. 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 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, which, as we saw earlier, were such energetic assistants in the First Crusade, conveniently and quickly arrive in Syria. This path seemed shorter and more convenient simply 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, would not only not require any sacrifices from the crusader militia, but, on the contrary, would promise it completely favorable results. 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.

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 Norman influence in southern Italy and, at the 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 nations, 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 Comnenus 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 task; but nevertheless, Conrad III and Manuel Comnenus still had every opportunity to jointly direct the movement towards a common Christian goal and play a major 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 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, movement through Hungary began; Conrad led the way, followed a month later by Louis. 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. On the one hand, the Western king attacked 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 mass of people who did not want to obey the German and French kings and did not recognize any authority over themselves took part in the crusade militia. No matter how much the kings wanted to safely bring their army 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 separated from the army, robbed, insulted and committed violence residents. This could not but create 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 down to open clashes. The crusaders complained that food supplies and fodder were delivered to them late; 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 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. 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 the Egyptian Muslims.

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.

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. A detachment of fifteen thousand separated from the German militia and, at their 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 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 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.

It turned out to be enough to create a number of Christian states in Syria, but their position was very fragile. The Muslims, driven out of the coastal strip, retained dominance in the interior of the country, and the Christians were left with only a tiny number of warriors. Only new reinforcements from Europe could enable them to maintain their gains. Indeed, the first crusade was followed by a number of others. Eight trips are usually counted, but this number is imprecise; it did not include the campaigns of 1101, 1172, 1179, 1197, 1239 and 1240. Therefore, the numbers that indicate this or that campaign are arbitrary; nevertheless, we will adhere to them, since they have already come into general use.

During the first half of the 12th century. The crusaders crossed to the East in small detachments and helped the Frankish princes complete the conquest. Soon they faced a dangerous enemy. The Mohammedan atabek of Mosul, Imadeddin Zangi, having already conquered many of the Muslim principalities of Syria, decided to destroy the Christian states. The county of Edessa, being the closest to the Muslims, was the first to be attacked. The Turks suddenly appeared in front of the city, undermined the walls, propped up the tunnels with logs and set the latter on fire; when the wall collapsed as a result, they entered the city through the gap and killed the inhabitants (1144). The remaining crusader states did not have time to provide assistance to Edessa.

Crusader states in 1140

This misfortune plunged the Christian world into despondency. The famous preacher Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, before whom the whole West bowed at that time, undertook to unite all Christians into one great army, headed by the clergy. The King of France, Louis VII, had already vowed to undertake a crusade to atone for his offense (in 1143, after taking the Champagne city of Vitry, he burned a church in which about a thousand people were locked). The barons and prelates, meeting at Bourges with the king, could not come to an agreement regarding the second crusade. Closest advisor to Louis VII Suger, dissuaded the king from this enterprise. They invited Saint Bernard, and he advised to contact the pope in Rome. Pope Eugene III, in his response, praised the courage of the French, urged them to avenge the Savior on his enemies and promised absolution and the patronage of the church to everyone who took up the cross. At the same time, he instructed St. Bernard to preach the second crusade.

Bernard of Clairvaux. Painting by G. A. Wasshuber, 1700

At Easter 1146 an assembly was called at Vezelay, in Burgundy. A platform was erected in the middle of the field. Bernard appeared on it along with the king, whose dress was already decorated with a cross; he read the pope's letter and delivered a sermon in which he invited all the faithful sons of the church to help their brothers and go on a crusade. As once in Clermont, the crowd responded with joyful shouts and surrounded the platform, demanding crosses. At St. Bernard did not have enough ready-made crosses, and he tore his dress to make new ones. Even Louis VII's wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, expressed a desire to take the cross; Some court ladies followed her example.

After traveling through much of France, Bernard went to campaign for the Second Crusade in Germany, where he was greeted everywhere as a saint. He appeared at the council convened in Speyer on Christmas Day 1146. German Emperor ConradIII refused to take part in the campaign, saying that he must consult with his dignitaries. He was present at the service in the cathedral. St. Bernard asked permission to preach a sermon; he spoke about the dangers threatening the church, about the merits of the crusaders; then, turning to Conrad, he asked him what he would answer to Christ on the day of the Last Judgment. Conrad, shocked, with tears in his eyes, immediately took the cross offered to him by St. Bernard. Bernard later, speaking of this scene, called it “a miracle of miracles.” The Diet of Regensburg (February 1147) increased the number of crusaders of the second campaign.

Thus, two armies were formed for the second crusade: French and German. Each was headed by a king and a papal legate; each had up to 70 thousand knights, not counting the huge mass of infantry. The Greeks estimated the total number of crusaders at 900 thousand people (a figure no doubt exaggerated). Both armies followed the path of the first crusade, through the Danube region and Thrace.

The Germans, who set out on the second crusade in June 1147, devastated the valleys of Thrace and plundered the outskirts of Constantinople. They were in such a hurry to start a war with the infidels that they decided to go through Asia Minor by the shortest route, through Nicaea and Iconium; but this undisciplined horde moved forward extremely slowly. Turkish horsemen on their light horses constantly harassed the German crusaders, and the heavily armed knights were exhausted pursuing them. Exhausted, dying of thirst and having lost all hope of success, they turned towards the coast to join the French. Most of them were killed or died from hardships during the journey; the rest came to Nicaea and found the French there. The latter had just left Constantinople; emperor ManuelI, in order to quickly get rid of them, informed them that the Germans had already captured Iconium.

King Louis VII of France sails on the Second Crusade. Miniature from the 14th century

Avoiding the road on which the Germans died, the French army in the Second Crusade bypassed Asia Minor along the coast, through Smyrna, Ephesus and Laodicea. They had to cross the mountains along narrow rocky paths; the army was separated and attacked by the Turks; One day King Louis VII himself, hiding on a rock, was forced to defend himself alone against many enemies. Only the Templar detachment that was with the army showed the crusaders an example of correct movement in a column; they finally reached Attalia, a small port on the rocky coast of Pamphylia. Here they found supplies for the people, but there was nothing to feed the horses. The crusaders decided to cross to Syria by sea and sent to ask the Greeks for ships; the latter sent so few ships that only knights could fit on them. The remaining crusaders declared that they would continue the campaign by land; they almost all died.

Of the two huge armies that went on the second crusade, only a few detachments of knights arrived in Palestine with both kings (1148). The Jerusalem knights united with them and convinced them to go to the conquest of Damascus. The latter, one of the richest cities of the East, is located at the exit from the mountains in a well-watered valley, covered with fresh greenery, in the middle of a sultry desert. The suburbs consisted of walled gardens, with small village houses scattered here and there. The crusaders of the second campaign occupied these gardens and dispersed in them to plunder. Thus, the emir had the opportunity to strengthen the city. At this time, news spread that a Muslim army sent by the atabek was coming from the north to the rescue of Damascus. The Jerusalem knights had no desire to continue the siege: they preferred to see Damascus in the hands of the emir than under the rule of the atabek. They persuaded the crusaders to attack Damascus from the southeast in order to avoid the gardens, where no protection could be found from the scorching rays of the sun; the area was waterless and devoid of vegetation. The Crusaders could not stay here; they were forced to retreat and soon returned to Europe.

The Second Crusade did not bring any benefit, and this surprised the Christians so much that some of them wondered for what sins this failure had befallen them, while others attributed it to the trickery of the Greeks and the treason of Eastern Christians. They said that the Jerusalem Christians were bribed by the Damascus emir, from whom they received 250 thousand gold; but the emir allegedly deceived them and gave them gilded copper coins.

The Crusades are an armed movement of the peoples of the Christian West to the Muslim East, expressed in a number of campaigns over the course of two centuries (from the end of the 11th to the end of the 13th) with the goal of conquering Palestine and liberating the Holy Sepulcher from the hands of infidels; it is a powerful reaction of Christianity against the strengthening power of Islam at that time (under the caliphs) and a grandiose attempt not only to take possession of the once Christian regions, but also to generally broadly expand the limits of the rule of the cross, this symbol of the Christian idea. The participants of these trips crusaders, wore a red image on the right shoulder cross with a saying from Holy Scripture (Luke 14:27), thanks to which the campaigns received the name crusades.

Causes of the Crusades (briefly)

Performance in was scheduled for August 15, 1096. But before preparations for it were completed, crowds of common people, led by Peter the Hermit and the French knight Walter Golyak, set off on a campaign through Germany and Hungary without money or supplies. Indulging in robbery and all sorts of outrages along the way, they were partly exterminated by the Hungarians and Bulgarians, and partly reached the Greek empire. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios Comnenus hastened to transport them across the Bosphorus to Asia, where they were finally killed by the Turks at the Battle of Nicaea (October 1096). The first disorderly crowd was followed by others: thus, 15,000 Germans and Lorraineers, under the leadership of the priest Gottschalk, went through Hungary and, having engaged in the beating of Jews in the Rhine and Danube cities, were exterminated by the Hungarians.

The Crusaders set out on the First Crusade. Miniature from a manuscript by Guillaume of Tire, 13th century.

The real militia set out on the First Crusade only in the autumn of 1096, in the form of 300,000 well-armed and superbly disciplined warriors, led by the most valiant and noble knights of the time: next to Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, the main leader, and his brothers Baldwin and Eustache (Estache), shone; Count Hugo of Vermandois, brother of the French king Philip I, Duke Robert of Normandy (brother of the English king), Count Robert of Flanders, Raymond of Toulouse and Stephen of Chartres, Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum, Tancred of Apulia and others. Bishop Adhémar of Monteillo accompanied the army as papal viceroy and legate.

The participants of the First Crusade arrived by different routes to Constantinople, where the Greek emperor Alexei forced them to take a feudal oath and promise to recognize him as feudal lord of future conquests. At the beginning of June 1097, the army of the crusaders appeared before Nicaea, the capital of the Seljuk sultan, and after the capture of the latter they were subjected to extreme difficulties and hardships. However, he took Antioch, Edessa (1098) and, finally, on June 15, 1099, Jerusalem, which was at that time in the hands of the Egyptian sultan, who unsuccessfully tried to restore his power and was completely defeated at Ascalon.

Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099. Miniature from the 14th or 15th centuries.

Under the influence of the news of the conquest of Palestine in 1101, a new army of crusaders, led by Duke Welf of Bavaria from Germany and two others, from Italy and France, moved to Asia Minor, forming a total army of 260,000 people and exterminated by the Seljuks.

Second Crusade (briefly)

The Second Crusade - briefly, Bernard of Clairvaux - short biography

In 1144, Edessa was taken by the Turks, after which Pope Eugene III declared Second Crusade(1147–1149), freeing all the crusaders not only from their sins, but at the same time from their duties regarding their feudal masters. The dreamy preacher Bernard of Clairvaux managed, thanks to his irresistible eloquence, to attract King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Hohenstaufen to the Second Crusade. Two troops, which in total, according to Western chroniclers, amounted to about 140,000 armored horsemen and a million infantry, set out in 1147 and headed through Hungary and Constantinople and Asia Minor. Due to a lack of food, diseases in the troops and after several major defeats, the reconquest plan Edessa was abandoned, and an attempt to attack Damascus failed. Both sovereigns returned to their possessions, and the Second Crusade ended in complete failure

Crusader states in the East

Third Crusade (briefly)

The reason for Third Crusade(1189–1192) was the conquest of Jerusalem on October 2, 1187 by the powerful Egyptian Sultan Saladin (see the article Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin). Three European sovereigns took part in this campaign: Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus and the English Richard the Lionheart. Frederick was the first to set out on the Third Crusade, whose army along the way increased to 100,000 people; he chose the path along the Danube, on the way he had to overcome the machinations of the incredulous Greek emperor Isaac Angel, who was only prompted by the capture of Adrianople to give free passage to the crusaders and help them cross to Asia Minor. Here Frederick defeated the Turkish troops in two battles, but soon after that he drowned while crossing the Kalikadn (Salef) River. His son, Frederick, led the army further through Antioch to Acre, where he found other crusaders, but soon died. The city of Akka in 1191 surrendered to the French and English kings, but the discord that opened between them forced the French king to return to his homeland. Richard remained to continue the Third Crusade, but, despairing of the hope of conquering Jerusalem, in 1192 he concluded a truce with Saladin for three years and three months, according to which Jerusalem remained in the possession of the Sultan, and Christians received the coastal strip from Tire to Jaffa, as well as the right to free visiting the Holy Sepulchre.

Frederick Barbarossa - Crusader

Fourth Crusade (briefly)

For more details, see the separate articles Fourth Crusade, Fourth Crusade - briefly and Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders

Fourth Crusade(1202–1204) was originally aimed at Egypt, but its participants agreed to assist the exiled emperor Isaac Angelos in his quest to re-assume the Byzantine throne, which was crowned with success. Isaac soon died, and the crusaders, deviating from their goal, continued the war and took Constantinople, after which the leader of the Fourth Crusade, Count Baldwin of Flanders, was elected emperor of the new Latin Empire, which lasted, however, only 57 years (1204-1261).

Participants of the Fourth Crusade near Constantinople. Miniature for the Venetian manuscript of Villehardouin's History, c. 1330

Fifth Crusade (briefly)

Without taking into account the strange Cross children's hike in 1212, caused by the desire to experience the reality of God's will, Fifth Crusade can be called the campaign of King Andrew II of Hungary and Duke Leopold VI of Austria in Syria (1217–1221). At first he went sluggishly, but after the arrival of new reinforcements from the West, the crusaders moved to Egypt and took the key to access this country from the sea - the city of Damietta. However, the attempt to capture the major Egyptian center of Mansur was unsuccessful. The knights left Egypt, and the Fifth Crusade ended with the restoration of the former borders.

The assault of the Crusaders of the Fifth Campaign on the tower of Damietta. Artist Cornelis Claes van Wieringen, c. 1625

Sixth Crusade (briefly)

Sixth Crusade(1228–1229) was committed by the German Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. For the long delays in starting the campaign, the pope excommunicated Frederick from the church (1227). The following year, the emperor nevertheless went to the East. Taking advantage of the discord among the local Muslim rulers, Frederick began negotiations with the Egyptian Sultan al-Kamil on the peaceful return of Jerusalem to Christians. To support their demands by threat, the emperor and the Palestinian knights besieged and took Jaffa. Threatened by the Sultan of Damascus, al-Kamil signed a ten-year truce with Frederick, returning Jerusalem and almost all the lands that Saladin had once taken from them to the Christians. At the end of the Sixth Crusade, Frederick II was crowned in the Holy Land with the crown of Jerusalem.

Emperor Frederick II and Sultan al-Kamil. Miniature from the 14th century

The violation of the truce by some pilgrims led a few years later to a renewal of the struggle for Jerusalem and to its final loss by Christians in 1244. Jerusalem was taken from the Crusaders by the Turkic tribe of Khorezmians, driven out of the Caspian regions by the Mongols during the latter’s movement to Europe.

The Seventh Crusade (briefly)

The fall of Jerusalem caused Seventh Crusade(1248–1254) Louis IX of France, who, during a serious illness, vowed to fight for the Holy Sepulcher. In August 1248, the French crusaders sailed to the East and spent the winter in Cyprus. In the spring of 1249, the army of Saint Louis landed in the Nile Delta. Due to the indecisiveness of the Egyptian commander Fakhreddin, she took Damietta almost without difficulty. After staying there for several months waiting for reinforcements, the crusaders moved to Cairo at the end of the year. But near the city of Mansura, the Saracen army blocked their path. After hard efforts, the participants of the Seventh Crusade were able to cross the Nile branch and even break into Mansura for a while, but the Muslims, taking advantage of the separation of the Christian troops, inflicted great damage on them.

The crusaders should have retreated to Damietta, but due to false concepts of knightly honor, they were in no hurry to do so. They were soon surrounded by large Saracen forces. Having lost many soldiers from disease and hunger, the participants of the Seventh Crusade (almost 20 thousand people) were forced to surrender. Another 30 thousand of their comrades died. Christian captives (including the king himself) were released only for a huge ransom. Damietta had to be returned to the Egyptians. Having sailed from Egypt to Palestine, Saint Louis spent about 4 more years in Acre, where he was engaged in securing Christian possessions in Palestine, until the death of his mother Blanche (regent of France) recalled him to his homeland.

Eighth Crusade (briefly)

Due to the complete ineffectiveness of the Seventh Crusade and the constant attacks on the Christians of Palestine by the new Egyptian (Mamluk) Sultan Baybars the same king of France, Louis IX the Saint, undertook in 1270 Eighth(And last) crusade hike. At first the Crusaders again thought of landing in Egypt, but Louis's brother, king of Naples and Sicily Charles of Anjou, persuaded them to sail to Tunisia, which was an important trading competitor of southern Italy. Coming ashore in Tunisia, the French participants in the Eighth Crusade began to wait for the arrival of Charles's army. A plague began in their cramped camp, from which Saint Louis himself died. The pestilence caused such losses to the crusader army that Charles of Anjou, who arrived shortly after the death of his brother, chose to stop the campaign on the terms of the ruler of Tunisia paying an indemnity and releasing Christian captives.

Death of Saint Louis in Tunisia during the Eighth Crusade. Artist Jean Fouquet, c. 1455-1465

End of the Crusades

In 1286, Antioch went to Turkey, in 1289 - Tripoli of Lebanon, and in 1291 - Akka, the last major possession of Christians in Palestine, after which they were forced to give up the rest of their possessions, and the entire Holy Land was united again in the hands of the Mohammedans. Thus ended the Crusades, which cost Christians so many losses and did not achieve their originally intended goal.

Results and consequences of the Crusades (briefly)

But they did not remain without a profound influence on the entire structure of the social and economic life of Western European peoples. The consequence of the Crusades can be considered the strengthening of the power and importance of the popes, as their main instigators, further - the rise of royal power due to the death of many feudal lords, the emergence of independence of urban communities, which, thanks to the impoverishment of the nobility, received the opportunity to buy benefits from their feudal rulers; introduction in Europe of crafts and arts borrowed from eastern peoples. The results of the Crusades were an increase in the class of free farmers in the West, thanks to the liberation of the peasants who participated in the campaigns from serfdom. The Crusades contributed to the success of trade, opening up new routes to the East; favored the development of geographical knowledge; Having expanded the sphere of mental and moral interests, they enriched poetry with new subjects. Another important result of the Crusades was the emergence onto the historical stage of the secular knightly class, which constituted an ennobling element of medieval life; their consequence was also the emergence of spiritual knightly orders (Johannites, Templars and Teutons), which played an important role in history. (For more details, see separate articles

Second crusade under the leadership of the French king Louis VII and the German Emperor Conrad III took place in 1147-1149.
Let us consider the prerequisites, reasons, goals and results of this campaign for Holy land.
In 1137 Byzantine emperor John II attacked and conquered Antioch. States crusaders on holy land They were in such discord among themselves that they did not even help Antioch.
At the end of 1143, the strong Muslim emir Imad ad-din Zengi attacked the county Edessa and snatched it from crusaders. A loss Edessa caused anger and upset both in Europe and in holy land, because there was a fear that now Muslim states will oppose on a broad front crusaders.
During the time when Edessa fell under blows Muslims, other principalities holy land were either in a cramped position, or were busy with issues of a purely selfish nature, and therefore, just as they could not provide assistance to the Principality of Edessa, they were not able to replace Christian its meanings. 4
In Jerusalem, not long before, King Fulk died, the same one who united the interests of the Principality of Jerusalem with the interests of his French possessions.

After his death, the widow, Queen Melisinde, 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 a war with Byzantium, which ended in complete failure for him, and thus also could not provide help to Edessa. 4

In 1144 he sat on the Roman throne pope Eugene III was a man who was not distinguished by great willpower, energy, or intelligence, and also did not have broad political views. He would have to take advantage of the powerful position of the church to take over the defense of the East Asian principalities in holy land, 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 movement, which was led by 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 monastery of Cluny and were exponents of the ideas disseminated by this monastery. Arnold was as much a political philosopher as a preacher. His political views were based on democratic principles. He fought with all the forces of his eloquence and influence against the temporal power of the pope and against the abuses that had crept into the church system of that time.
Arnold was followed by a number of monastic preachers who spread the 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 was not the archbishop, not secular feudal lords and nobles, but the people; The ancient form of government – the Senate and the people – was also resurrected, even the ancient term “senatus populuaque Romanus” was resurrected. Instead of the outdated system, instead of vassalage and suzerainty, communes were put forward, which were extremely unfavorable towards spiritual princes. 4
German king was also placed in difficult circumstances by the fight with the Welves and, 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.
It was impossible to hope that the Pope or the king would take the initiative of the Second crusade . 3
King of France Louis VII before deciding to take such an important step as going to Holy land, asked the opinion of Abbot Suger, his tutor 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.
At the request of the King of Jerusalem, Pope Eugene III again called for crusade. The abbot took charge of organizing it. Bernard of Clairvaux, who enjoyed great authority.
On March 31, 1146, in front of the newly erected Church of St. Magdalene at Vezel, in Burgundy, he exhorted his listeners in fiery terms to take part in crusade :
“Look, brothers, here it is, the desired time, here are the blessed days!
Countries will tremble and tremble, for the Lord in heaven has begun to lose his land. I repeat: his land, for there He taught the word of His Father, there for more than thirty years He wandered among people. (...)
And only our sins are to blame for the fact that the enemies of the cross in that land again began to raise their wicked head: with the edge of their sword they devastate the Promised Land. (...)
Oh you brave one knight, O you, warlike man, before you is a battle that is not fraught with danger, for victory in it brings glory, and death brings gain.
But since you are a seeker of profit, I promise you an immense market, and hurry up so that it does not elude you.” 2
Shouts: “God wants it! God wants it that way!” covered this call, as they once did in Clermont. Excited by the enthusiasm of the crowd, the speaker predicted the success of the campaign Holy land and threatened with divine wrath those who would not stain their sword with the blood of infidels in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amid the general excitement, King Louis VII of France fell at Bernard's feet and asked him for a cross, after which he repeated the call, urging all believers to accompany him to the East. Eleanor of Aquitaine, following her husband, received the sign of the cross from the hands of the Abbot of Clairvaux, she was followed by the counts of Toulouse, Champagne, Flanders, Nevers, Archambault de Bourbon, Engeran de Coucy, Hugh de Lusignan, many barons, knights and clergy.

Since there were not enough crosses for everyone, Bernard tore his cassock to make new ones, and many prelates followed his example.
In his further messages, the abbot called for a campaign in Holy land and promised absolution to all participants.
He was asked to lead this crusade. But, remembering the example of Peter the Hermit, Bernard declined this honor and, since the calls were persistent, even turned to the protection of the pope. Overall, his preaching in France was such a success that, in his words, “villages and cities were depopulated.” 6
True, here and there voices were heard that instead of the infidels in the East, it would be better to expel the wicked Slavs from Prussia or the Muslims from Spain. Some North German princes, such as Heinrich the Lion, Albrecht the Bear and others, realized that they did not need to seek a fight against the infidels in the distant East, that next to them there were a mass of Wends, pagan peoples of Slavic origin, who had not yet accepted Christians. preachers and turned to Rome with this wish.

Unlike First trip, now from the very beginning there was more organization and order: the participation of two powerful sovereigns could not but affect the very nature of the expedition crusaders on Holy land. This time the barons and knights They did not take with them either dogs or hunting falcons, but they stocked up not only with weapons, but also with the tools necessary for building bridges and laying roads.
The goal that the Second had to achieve crusade, was clearly outlined and strictly defined: to weaken Emir Zengi and take Edessa from him.
French crusaders were supposed to unite in Metz, the Germans - in Regensburg.
The example of France and Germany was followed by England, Flanders and Italy. From the Alpine foothills, from Lombardy and Piedmont they moved warriors of the cross under the leadership of the Marquis of Montferrat and the Count of Maurienne, uncle of the French king. English crusaders departed on ships from the English Channel harbors, heading towards Spain. The Flemings were led by their Count Thierry, who had already been there in holy land and became famous. 6
Germanic crusaders, having suffered few losses in skirmishes with the Hungarians, passed through Hungary and entered the Byzantine lands.
Here, as soon as food supplies began to run out, the Germans crusaders started looting. Byzantine emperor Manuel I was so outraged by the shameful behavior crusaders that he even refused to accept King Conrad.
Under the influence of danger threatening on all sides, Manuel took a step that fundamentally undermined the assumptions of the Second crusade tasks and goals - 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 look at the Seljuks as enemies: protecting his personal interests, he washed his hands of giving crusaders act at your own risk using your own resources and resources. 3
When army of the cross passed through Anatolia, on October 26, 1147, it was attacked by the Seljuks near Dorileum. The German army suffered heavy losses, King Conrad managed to escape, he returned to Nicaea, where he waited for the approach of the French forces.
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.
To quickly get rid of them and force knights French troops took the fief oath, Emperor Manuel used cunning. 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.
French crusaders, who took all the rumors at face value, demanded that they be transported as quickly as possible across the Bosphorus. And already on the Asian coast the French learned about the unfortunate fate of the German army; In Nicaea, both kings met - Louis and Conrad, who decided to continue their journey together, in a faithful alliance. 3
Since the path from Nicaea to Dorileum was covered with corpses and drenched Christian blood, both kings wanted to save the army from a difficult spectacle and therefore went in a roundabout way, to Adramytium, Pergamon and Smyrna.
This path was extremely difficult, slowing down the movement crusaders; By choosing this path, the kings hoped to encounter less dangers from Muslims. However, their hopes were not justified: the Turkish riders kept them in constant suspense crusading army, slowed down the journey, robbed, repelled 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 was also present, was extremely brilliant, magnificent, not corresponding to the importance of the enterprise associated with such difficulties and dangers...
Crusader The militia moved very slowly, losing a lot of people, pack animals and luggage along the way. 3
Meanwhile , Louis VII, the patriarch and king of Jerusalem held a secret council at which they revised the goals of their crusade and decided to seize Damascus with all available forces, which promised them rich booty. But with this decision they only pushed the Syrian ruler into the arms of the Seljuk prince from Aleppo, who was advancing with a large army and with whom Syria’s relations had previously been hostile. 2
It soon became clear that the second crusade will not achieve its goal - to return the lost Edessa...
Army crusaders headed to Damascus, at the beginning of June, with the joining knights of the Temple and the Johannites, she crossed the Lebanese ridge and set up camp near the town of Dari, from where Damascus was visible. This ancient city, “a home of pleasure and luxury,” changed hands several times until, during the time of Muhammad, the Muslims finally took it from the Christians.
Damascus found itself fortified with strong walls and protected by a significant garrison; the siege of Damascus required a long time and considerable effort. the army directed its forces against that part of the city that seemed weaker: there were only gardens and groves, separated by fences and embankments with small turrets.
Despite the clouds of arrows with which they were greeted by the enemies holed up in the turrets, the siege was successful, and soon warriors of the cross, chasing the Muslims, came close to the city.
Here Emperor Conrad glorified himself with an amazing feat that made him forget his past failures for a moment. While Baldwin's warriors, who had repeatedly tried to break through the enemy's ranks, were about to retreat, he and a handful of his warriors suddenly attacked the Muslims. The Turks fell under his blows when a Saracen of gigantic stature, clad in iron, rode out and challenged him to battle. The emperor accepted the challenge, and both troops stopped, looking at this fight with interest. The fight, however, was short-lived.
Conrad, repeating the feat of Gopirrid, with one blow of his sword cut the giant in half, from the shoulder to the saddle. This amazing blow decided the outcome of the battle: the Muslims left the battlefield in horror and took refuge in the city. 6
Meanwhile, rumors spread in the camp that Nuredin was coming from the north to the rescue of Damascus. Conrad and a handful of Germans did not lose hope of the surrender of Damascus, but rumors spread in the camp about treason, which is mentioned by many chroniclers.
The point is that the supposedly Jerusalem king, patriarch and knights, bribed by Muslims with gold, spread rumors that Damascus was invincible from the side from which they approached it crusaders. Consequently crusaders crossed to the other side of the city, which was truly impregnable...
According to other sources, as has often happened before, victory crusaders disrupted their internal strife. When it became clear that Damascus would fall, disputes began over whose banner would fly over the defeated city. And then the line dividing the two groups became clearly visible. armies of Christ: princes and barons of the East on the one hand, and aliens from the West under the leadership of the king and emperor - on the other.
Among those seeking power over the city, Thierry, Count of Flanders, was especially zealous. It would seem that his reputation was tarnished: he was one of two military leaders who cowardly fled from Atalia, where the king, leaving for Antioch, appointed them to lead the remaining crusaders.
But now Thierry showed great persistence and efficiency. Motivating that he had already visited the East twice and left his possessions in Europe to relatives, he demanded the Principality of Damascus as compensation for his exploits and losses.
The French king agreed with these arguments. This preference aroused the envy and malice of the other princes, especially the princes of Syria and Palestine, who considered that each of them had a greater right to any new accession than any of these new arrivals. No longer seeing any personal benefit for themselves, they lost interest in the enterprise that had recently excited their enthusiasm.
The besieged were sensitive to this mood and tried to strengthen it: they convinced the Syrian barons not to believe the newcomers from the West who had come to rob them and profit from their lands on holy land.
These speeches fell on fertile ground. Military operations have stalled... 6
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 weighed heavily on the king. Conrade and throughout the army crusaders: hunters to continue the work of the Second crusade gone...
Energy and knightly enthusiasm Conrad 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. 3
Louis VII didn't decide, like Conrad, to abandon the work he had started so quickly, but at the same time, given the difficult situation, he did not dare to take energetic measures. There were people in his retinue who did not consider the task completed crusade and, considering returning back a humiliating matter for knightly honor, advised him to stay in Antioch and wait for reinforcements, that is, the arrival of new forces soldiers of Christ from the West to help Edessa.
But there were also those who, pointing to the example 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.
Throughout the 12th century holy land three emerged knightly orders: Johannites (1113), Templars (1119) and the Teutonic Order. They set themselves the goal of caring for the sick and infirm pilgrims and crusaders on holy land, provide them with spiritual support and protect them, if necessary, by force of arms. These were the so-called spiritual knightly orders and their members sought to combine knightly lifestyle with monastic.
2nd Crusade led by the French king Louis VII and Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III on Holy land failed because the Franks could not plan and coordinate your actions.
After the defeat Conrad III near Dorilea, the Germans were the subject of ridicule for the French; hence the Second crusade showed that joint actions of the French and Germans in the future are impossible.
This campaign also revealed discord between Palestinian and European Christians. For Eastern Christians, fifty years of being surrounded by Muslim influence holy land did not pass without a trace culturally.
Thus, between the Europeans who settled in Asia and the new ones who arrived here from Europe crusaders fundamental differences emerged; they mutually began to misunderstand each other. Mercantile character, bribery, licentiousness, debauchery have become a distinctive feature of the morals of Palestinian Christians. 3
The failure of the campaign was a stain on the honor of the church; in particular, it undermined the authority of St. Bernard, and also the pope: Bernard raised the masses of the people, he called crusade a deed pleasing to God 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. 3
The result of the Second crusade on Holy land was upset especially the young one Louis VII. Returning to my homeland, Louis I came to the realization of the need to correct my mistake, to wash away the stain from my 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 on Holy land.
Something even more amazing happened: Saint Bernard appeared at the council and began to say that the upcoming campaign would be successful. Voices began to be heard at the cathedral that the Second crusade was unsuccessful because they did not put St. at its head. Bernard. A proposal was made to entrust him with leading a new campaign.
Dad accepted the news of this without sympathy. He called Bernard himself a madman, and in an official document he characterized such an attitude towards the matter as stupidity.
After this and Louis VII lost some interest in the planned trip to Holy land...

Information sources:
1. " Crusades"(magazine "Tree of Knowledge" No. 21/2002)
2. Wazold M. " Crusaders»
3. Wikipedia website
4. Uspensky F. “History crusades »
5. “All the wars of world history” (according to Harper Dupuy’s Encyclopedia of Military History)
6. Michaud J.-F. "Story

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, 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 attack, 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 his interests with the interests of his French possessions.

After his death, the widow, queen, guardian 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, conditions did not seem favorable for raising a new crusade in Western Europe.

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 gives 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.

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.

Passage through the Byzantine Empire

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.

Manuel hastened to satisfy Conrad and transported the Germans to the opposite bank of the Bosphorus. 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 and Heraclea.

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 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.

Since the path from Nicaea to Dorylaeum was covered with corpses and drenched in Christian blood, both kings wanted to spare the army from the painful spectacle and therefore went around the route to Adramytium, Pergamon and Smyrna. This path was extremely difficult, slowing down the movement of the army; By choosing this path, the kings hoped to encounter less danger from the Muslims here. Their hopes, however, were not justified: the Turkish riders kept the crusader army in constant tension, slowed down the journey, robbed, and 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.

Failure of the campaign

At the beginning of 1148, both kings arrived in Ephesus with pitiful remnants of the army, while when the militia crossed the Bosphorus, the Byzantines, obviously exaggerated, numbered it up to 90 thousand.

In Ephesus, the kings received a letter from the Byzantine emperor, in which the latter invited them to Constantinople to rest. Conrad went by sea to Constantinople, and Louis, with great difficulty reaching the seaside city of Antalya, begged ships from the Byzantine government and arrived in Antioch with the remnants of the army in March 1148.

As a result, the huge armies of the kings melted under the blows of the Muslims; and the kings, French and German, 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 Eleanor of Aquitaine played a leading role.

An intrigue was not slow to emerge, 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. Stay of Conrad III in Constantinople in the winter of 1147/48. 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 tasks 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 included in the scope of the second crusade.

The movement against Damascus in the interests of the Kingdom of Jerusalem ended with very sad results. In Damascus, it is true, there was a rather formidable force, but the entire center of gravity of the Muslim East, all the power and danger for Christians, was concentrated at that time not in Damascus, but in Mosul.

It was the emir of Mosul, Zengi, and no one else who conquered Edessa and threatened the rest of the Christian possessions. After the death of Zengi, his son Nur ad-Din Mahmud sat in Mosul, 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 50,000-strong army and headed against Damascus.

This caused an anti-Christian coalition: the emir of Damascus entered into an alliance with Nur ad-Din. 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, Christians had to strike for sure, so as not to raise coalitions against themselves from Muslims .

Meanwhile, Conrad and Baldwin III 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 considerable effort. The Christian army directed its forces against that part of the city that seemed weaker.

Meanwhile, rumors spread in the camp that Nur ad-Din was coming from the north to the rescue of Damascus. Conrad and a handful of Germans did not lose hope of the surrender of Damascus. But in the Christian camp there was treason, which, however, has not yet been sufficiently clarified, although it is mentioned by many chroniclers.

As if the king of Jerusalem, the patriarch and the knights, bribed with Muslim gold, spread rumors that Damascus was invincible from the side from which the crusaders approached it. As a result, the besiegers moved to the other side of the city, which was truly impregnable. After spending quite a long time in a useless siege, threatened from the north by Nur ad-Din, the Christians had to retreat from Damascus without achieving anything.

This failure had a heavy impact on 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 vigorous measures.

In his retinue there were people who did not consider the task of the crusade completed and, considering returning back a demeaning act for knightly honor, 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.

Photo gallery

In the East there were sharp clashes between the Germans and the French.

The German army was humiliated in the eyes of other nations by its fatal failures. Even after the defeat of Conrad III, the Germans were the subject of ridicule for the French; therefore, the Second Campaign showed that joint actions of the French and Germans in the future are impossible.

This campaign also revealed discord between Palestinian and European Christians.

For Eastern Christians, 50 years of exposure to Muslim influence did not pass without cultural consequences.

Thus, fundamental discord emerged between the Europeans who settled in Asia and the new crusaders arriving here from Europe; they mutually began to misunderstand each other. Mercantile character, bribery, licentiousness, debauchery have become a distinctive feature of the 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.

A highly 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, and began to find out what were the shortcomings of their organization and the reasons for their failure.

The conclusion was simple: it was impossible to achieve 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, went not directly to the East, but to Constantinople and achieved a brilliant result: it ended with the capture of Constantinople and the transformation of Byzantium into a Latin empire.

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: Saint Bernard appeared at the council and 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 accepted the news of this without sympathy. 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 indicate 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 is completely falling. 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 Henry the Lion, Albrecht the Bear and others, 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, pagan peoples of Slavic origin, who until now have not accepted Christian preachers.

The North German princes turned to Rome, and the pope allowed them to direct their weapons against the Slavs. The closest persons, Henry the Lion and Albrecht the Bear, were local counts, princes of Saxony. The task of the Saxon tribe, starting with Charlemagne, was cultural and religious expansion into the Slavic tribes, between the Elbe and the Oder.

It is difficult to say that this struggle was carried out exclusively in the interests of religious ones. She also had in mind goals of a purely economic nature: the 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 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 in 1147 captured Lisbon.

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.