BDIADM 



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wren other bright*. Th German Knight* of the Crow we of later 



; 



[ Onaad*. Though the Frank* had extended thrir poaseadoM 

 from the mountain* of Armenia to the very boundaries of Egypt, 

 their strength wa. too feeble to prevent (under the gorernment of 

 Baldwin III., 1144) the Atabek of Moeul from taking Edeasa. The 

 Aubelu were goTernon of the dynarty of the Beljuka. One of the 

 Atabeks, named Emad-eddin Zenghi, from Mosul, baring made himself 

 independent, transmitted the kingdom to hia ion, Nureddin the Great, 

 who fixed hi* rojidaioci in Aleppo, and became an object of terror both 

 to the Christian* and to the Fatemide*. In the mean time the king- 

 dom of Egypt had passed into the hands of Selaheddin (Saladin the 

 Great), an event which took place under the following circumstances : 

 In order to settle a contention about the succession, Nureddin sent a 

 Kurd, named Shirkuh, into Egypt. The peace-maker usurped the 

 government for himself, and bequeathed it to his brother Ayub's son, 

 who after the death of the bat of the Fatemides seated himself on the 

 throne of these rival caliphs, and conquered Egypt, nominally for the 

 caliphat of Bagdad. This son of Ayub was called Saladin ; and the 

 dynasty of which he became the founder is in history known by 

 the name of the Ayubide*. After Nureddin's death, Saladin conquered 

 almost all Asia Minor, in addition to Tripoli* and Tunis, and destroyed 

 the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem. 



After the conquest of Edeasa, Bernard of Clairraux took upon him- 

 gelf the office of Peter the Hermit, and preached a second crusade, in 

 consequence of which two of the greatest Christian chiefs, the German 

 emperor Conrad III., and Louis VII., king of Prance, were induced to 

 take the cross (1147). For this undertaking Western Europe armed 

 140,000 knights and near a million of foot soldiers, and yet in spite 

 of their mighty force the expedition failed. The changes which 

 had taken place in the East had raised up a new enemy against the 

 Crusaders in the emperors of Constantinople, who were less afraid of 

 the peaceful governments of the Turks in Asia Minor and Egypt, than 

 of the depredation and ravage which the passage of a disorderly army, 

 such as that of the Crusaders, would cause to then- possessions. Hence 

 the artifice and treachery of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus prepared 

 the way for the destruction of the Christian armies. The German 

 emperor, misled by treacherous scouts, lost in the denies of Taurus the 

 bravest of his soldiers ; the relics of his army were almost destroyed 

 at the siege of the fortress of Iconinm. The troops of the French were 

 also defeated by the Sultan of Room, and annihilated before Damascus, 

 a town which the Christians had in rain attempted to take by storm. 

 The relics of the two armies united in one body (1149). Thus the 

 expedition of the Crusaders hi the East was a complete failure. Tin- 

 only successful result of this undertaking was the retaking of Lisbon 

 from the Moors, which was effected by the Christian navy. 



iiion oftheEatt after the Second Onaade. Baldwin III., how- 

 ever, did not give up bis plans in despair. " HU army was at intervals 

 increased by small bodies of Crusaders, who came to his assistance 

 from Europe. Nnreddin the Great felt more than once the power of 

 the Christian warriors. Yet all these advantages were frustrated by 

 the discord of the Crusaders, fomented by the rivalship of the Tem- 

 plars and the Knights of Jerusalem. Baldwin was succeeded by 

 Almeric, called also Amauri, who was followed by Baldwin IV., who 

 died likewise soon after the battle of Ramla. After his death Guido 

 of Lusignano was completely defeated at the battle of Tiberias ; he 

 was taken prisoner, together with the grand master of the Tempi n -. 

 and many noble knights (1187). Saladin took possession of all the 

 important places in Palestine, together with Jerusalem and its environs, 

 and put an end to the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, which had 

 existed a century. But Saladiu showed himself a generous conqueror ; 

 he granted to the Christians the possession of the Sepulchre of Christ, 

 and allowed the prisoners to return home. The patriarch Heraclius, 

 the clergy, the knights, and many soldiers returned to their homes, or 

 withdrew to the few towns which the Christians still possessed on the 

 coast of Palestine. 



Third Crutade. Bishop William of Tyre brought this bad news to 

 Rome, which it is said caused the premature death of Pope Urban IV. 

 The youth of Europe were again summoned to appear under the 

 banner of the cross, not to defend the right of vaulting the Holy 

 Sepulchre, for Saladin had already granted this privilege to the 

 Christians ; but the lives of the bravest knight* of Europe were to 1 > 

 thrown away on the insane project of again conquering the kingdom of 

 Jerusalem. Europe obeyed the summons. The German emperor, 

 Frederick Barbarossa, Philip Augustus, king of France, and Hi'-h-n d 

 Ocur de Lion, king of England, and several Gorman princes, enlisted 

 themselves a* Crusaders. The Italians appeared in arms un<l> r il> 

 bishops of Ravenna and Pisa, The Knights Templar*, and those of 

 Jerusalem, who were scattered about Europe, collected themselves 

 again in strong bodies, and nailed for the Holy Land. Fifty vessels 

 lift the harbours of Denmark and Friesland, and thirty-seven those of 

 Flanders, for Palestine. The expenses of the war were supplied by a 

 tithe, called SaladinV tithe, which the pope ordered all Christians, 

 including evi.n the clergy, to pay. The Emperor Frederick 1 

 of ability and experience, had found means to compel the Emperor of 

 Constantinople to favour the undertaking. He was also engaged in 

 negotiations with the Sultan of Iconium, who however betrayed him. 

 By these means, and with a force of 600,000 armed men, thin expe- 



dition might have succeeded ; bat the Crusader* did not carry on their 

 military ojierations in one body. Several troops of Italian, Greek, and 

 German adventurers, who advanced before the great army to place 

 themselves under Conrad of Montferrat, lord of Tyre, and Guido f 

 Lusignano, made an uiuucceasful attempt to take PtnK-m.il* (St. Jean 

 d'Acre). Frederick I. met with a premature death by bathing in the 

 waters of the river Cydnus, 1190. His son, Frederick of Swabia, who 

 died soon after, put himself at the head of the relics of the imperial 

 army, but was not able to give a favourable turn to the siege of Acre. 

 At length Philip Augustus and Richard (Vur <! Lion appeared on the 

 battle-field. Richard had already taken and sold to Ouldo of Lusig- 

 nano the inland of Cyprus. The kings joined then- armies before 

 Ptolemais, and their united force* at last succeeded in taking this 

 single fortress, after three yean 1 siege and nine battle*. 



In consequence of these long and sanguinary struggle*, the On 

 army was so reduced, that the kings, despairing of success, thought of 

 returning to Europe. Philip Augustus left Palestine soon aft 

 capture of Ptolemais. Richard Coeur dc Lion followed him 

 short struggle with Saladin, with whom he made truce, and left him in 



eonon of Jerusalem (1192). In the mean time Philip Augustus 



rt made an inroad into Richard's dominions of Normandy. The 

 mild, benevolent, and generous Saladin the Great died 1195, in Damas- 

 cus, in his fifty-seventh year. During this crusade there arose a new 

 military order, called the German Cross Knight*, whose first grand 

 master was Henry Walpode. 



''urn of the Kntt after the Third Onaadt. Conrad of Tyre had 

 married the sister of Baldwin II., and thus acquired a claim upon the 

 throne of Jerusalem. Ouido of Lusignano, however, had . 

 assumed this title. Conrad died by the hand of assassins. II- 

 widow afterwards married Guide's brother, and the two brother* 

 assumed the title of kings of Jerusalem. One of th.-m, named 

 Almeric, died likewise, and the imaginary crown of Jerusalem was the 

 inheritance of John of Rrienne, the husband of the daughter of Con- 

 rad king of Tyre (1210). 



Fourth Crutadf. Isaac Angelos, the Emperor of Greece, was robbed 

 of bis throne and deprived of his eyes by his own brother (111)4). His 

 eon Alexius fled to Venice to ask for assistance (1203). In the mean 

 time the enthusiast Fulk of Nt-uilly and Pope Innocent III. had pre- 

 pared for a new crusade, which was headed by several Italian and 

 French noblemen, such as Thiebauld of Champagne, Count Boniface of 

 Montferrat, Count Baldwin of Flanders, and Simon of Montfort. The 

 Doge of Venice, Arrigo Dandolo, induced the crusaders to take the 

 town of Zara in Dalmatia for the republic of Venice. The Crusaders, 

 probably at the instigation of Dandolo, instead of waging war against 

 the infidels, took an active part in the affairs of Greece, conquered Con- 

 stantinople, and after having elevated to the throne or deposed .- 

 emperors, at length put the imperial crown upon the head of Ilaldn in 

 of Flanders, giving him the fourth part of the empire, and dividing 

 the rest among themselves. 



This behaviour drew upon them the popish interdict, which, bow- 

 ever, was of no long duration : Pope Innocent absolved them. Thus 

 the chief of the Franks ruled for about fifty yeare over the em; 

 the East, around which arose three new Greek principalities, Nieiea, 

 Trebizond, and the despot.it of .-Etolia. This crusade was a con 

 failure. 



Situation of the Eat after the Fourth. Crittade, After the insignifieant 

 crusade of Andrew, king of Hungary (1217), John, king of Jerusalem, 

 led his army against Egypt (a plan which was certainly calculated to 

 ensure the conquest of the Holy Land), and took Damietta. The 

 sultan, Melek Kamel, fearing the consequence* of a war, proposed 

 peace and an exchange of Jerusalem for Damietta. The prom I con- 

 queror refused the offer, and proceeded without caution along the 

 Nile towards Cairo. The sultan ordered the dikes of the Nile to 

 be opened ; the waters destroyed a large part of the Christian 

 freed Damietta, and secured cessation from war for eight years, and 

 the retreat of the relics of the Crusaders i ' 



Fifth Crutade. Frederick II. of HolK-nstanffen, the greatest of the 

 German emperors, the husband of Yolanta the daughter of John . >f 

 Jerusalem, had pledged himself at his coronation (1215) to a crusade. 

 The affairs of the state, however, retarded for twelve years the fulfil- 

 ment of hia promises. At length, yielding to the pressing invr 



Gregory IX., he sailed from Brindiai for Palestine. But after 

 a few days' voyage, sickness compelled him to return to Otranto. This 

 drew upon him the anger of the pontiff, who laid him un.l 

 interdict. Perhaps this was but a plausible pretext for hun 

 the hated house of Hohenstauffen. Though under the pop, . in 

 the emperor again appeared next year in arms in the Holy I. ml, whii !> 

 gave the pope an opportunity of allowing his enemies to invade the 

 emperor's Italian dominion*. Kven John of Jcnixil. m was faithless 

 and aiidaeiou, eunuch to occupy l>y force the kingdom of Naples. 

 The Milt-in, .Melek Kamel, set no great value upon the possec- 

 Jeruaalem, and was willing to exchange it for an alliance wit 

 against his em my the Sultan of Damascus. Frederick, pressed l>y his 

 Italian affairs, profited by the good intention* of the sultan, a < 

 tained from him the poaesaion of the capital of Palestine, 

 putting upon hia head the crown, he marched homewards v> i : 

 army, and his approach to the Vatican was enough to detenu i 

 pope to take away the interdict. 





