The Crusades
Storyboard Text
- The city of Constantinople was being invaded by the Turks. So the Byzantine emperor asked Pope Urban ll for help. The Pope called for a crusade to free Constantinople.
- King Louis Vll of France and the German emperor led the second crusade. King Louis wife, Eleanor, also joined the crusade. However, despite its powerful backing, the second crusade failed. This is because the leaders argued a lot and didn't get along. Also, they could not get local support.
- We must free the Holy Land!
- Yes sir! God wills it!
- About 150,000 people hurried to join the crusade. Some people believed that by joining the crusade, they could atone for their sins. Despite the First crusades setbacks, it was a military success.
- Let's go save Constantinople!
- Let's defeat the Turks!
- Crusader states were always on edge, cautious. In 1144, the Muslims conquered the Crusader state of Edessa. This made the Pope so nervous that he called for a second crusade.
- Sir! What do we do now?
- We call for another crusade, to defeat the Muslims.
- The third crusade was caused by the fall of Jerusalem. Because it was organized by rulers from all different countries, it was called the Crusade of the Kings. Richard 1 of England was the leader of this crusade. Saladin and Richard signed a truce that ended the crusade. Christians were free to travel and Saladin agreed to respect crusader lands, but Jerusalem stayed in Muslim hands.
- The fourth crusade was an embarrassment to the pope who had launched it. They never reached the Holy Land. Instead, they tried to fund their crusade by looting Christian cities. In 1204, the crusaders looted the rich Christian city of Constantinople. For 3 days, they looted and destroyed many things. The pope was very angry about this.
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