298 Crusades Lecture 19 April 11 Flashcards
24a. Start April 11
Coup in Constantinople
Isaac II Comnenus had lost throne in 1195 to his brother. Blinded, imprisoned.
New emperor: Alexius III, evil uncle of Alexius Angelus
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24b. Young Alexius sends envoys to crusaders.
Deal with crusaders; sail to Constantinople and take the city and restore me. And I will supply you for mission to holy land. And I will restore the Greek church to the Latin church and recognize papal supremacy.
Alexius would even join the crusade personally
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24c. Most crusaders dislike this.
Leaders realize they need money for crusade to be successful
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24d. Get to Constantinople.
Despite A’s promises, people do not rise up to overthrow evil uncle.
Mooned crusaders instead
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24e. July 1203
northern suburb unsuccessfully attacked.
Starts fire, though. Large.
Alexius III flees with gold
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24f. Isaac restored by the people. Alexius co-emperor.
Mission accomplished?
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24g. Alexius pays half of what he promised immeidately.
Cannot pay more without becoming more unpopular than he already is.
Due to letting barbarians stay and feeding their gold lust.
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24h.Alexius asked crusaders to winter to consolidate his power. Fears being overthrone. Would give him time to get money together.
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24i. Relations begin to sour. Crusaders start some fires in teh city.
One of hte biggest urban fires in human history. Center of city.
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24j. Crusaders angry that they’ve not been paid what they’ve been promised.
Demand payment –> run out of town
“pay themselves”: raiding the surrounding area
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24k. Isaac dies in winter 1203
Alexius unable to stop raids
City enraged. Finds champion. Alexius “Mourtzouphlos”
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24l.Champion leads a coup in Feb 1204
Strangles Alexius IV
Becomes Alexius V
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24m. People happy.
Crusaders appalled
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24n. Crusaders in a bind.
Clergy steps in: Byz failure to accept primacy of Rome and the murder of hte emperor means the city was a legitimate target of crusade.
Complete opposite of wishes of Innocent
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24o. April 8 attack on Northern harbor. Fails.
April 12 same place attacked, More successful.
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24p. Small group of knights find walled up gate.
Warrior priest first through, brother trying to hold him back.
Big guy.
Roars
Soldiers run away.
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24q. Priest opens a gate.
Crusaders rush in.
Soldiers run. Most not cityfolk.
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24r. Alexius tries to rally the people to counter-attack.
They don’t.
City hasn’t, can’t fall. It will just be a new emperor.
So very very wrong
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24s. 3 days of pillaging. Most profitable sacking of a city in history, one of.
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24t. Innocent at first delighted that Constantionple in Catholic hands.
Learns of sacking: enraged
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24z. Crusaders stuck in Zara. What to do?
Egypt: no provisions while fighting
Syria: burden
Enter conspiracy theorists.
Coup in Constantinople.
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- 1204 to 1261. Latin Empire Of Byz. Emperor Baldwin of Flanders
Raided and pillaged the empire rather mercilessly.
Hope of Christian Unity. Nope
Hope of help to holy land. Nope
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- Innocent not pleased. Excommunicated a second time.
Crusader vow broken. Unconscionable.
Crusade effectively ended with the second excommunication.
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- New wave of propaganda over who is to blame.
Villehardouin. One of the military commanders of the 4th crusade.
Very detailed chronicle. Determined to show that the leaders had had no other options.
Look to Alexius and the Greeks or the Venetians for a bad guy.
Venetians probably had this all planned from the start. Doge must have plotted with Alexius from the start.
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- Innocent never let up on the crusaders.
In the holy land; the catholic archbishop in Jerusalem had raced up to C. supposedly to help restore C to Catholicism.
Innocent excommunicated him for abandoning his flock to line your pockets and has a long list of how the anchbishop had enriched himself, supplied by an informant.
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- Innocent wanted another crusade and then a third crusade to unseat the crusaders in C. Second called (Cathars); third not.
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31.The Fifth Crusade
1213-21, and then some 1217-1229
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- Innocent III trying to finish what he’d started with the fourth crusade.
Destruction of Ayyubid Egypt
Recovery of Jerusalem
Spiritual renewal of Christendom
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- Crusading permeated the medieval worldview
had become part of civic society
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34a. Towns would collectively commit to the crusade, even if only financially and through rituals of prayer and support.
Taking the cross was witnessed by the congregation
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34b. Emergence of terms that give us “crusade”/”crusader”
cucesignati
croisier (lange d’oil)
crrozeia (langue d’oc)
crozada (langue d’oc)
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34c. Described crusading as the negotium crucis (business of the cross) or negotium crucifixi (business of the crucified)
Song of Antioch: Jesus on Cross preaching crusade
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- 1212 The Children’s Crusade a demonstration of how deeply crusade ideation had penetrated
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- Some background context
Fighting a new wave of Almohads out of North Africa in Spain
Albigensian Crusade
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- In winter and spring of 1211-1212, Innocent was focused on these two
Intensive recruiting campaign for the Languedoc war in the Rhineland and northern France
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- Almohad victories in 1211
Innocent appealed for Europe to help Christian Spain
Series of special penitential processions
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- Impression of heightened crisis
Stimulated unlicensed popular response
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- Spring, Summer 1212
Crowds of penitents in the Low Countries, Rhineland, northern France
Called for a liberation of the Holy Land
Some crossed the Alps to Italy looking for passage to Outremer
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- Striking feature: most marches led by “pueri” literally children.
Ranged in age from 6 to maturity
Other accounts indicate old people among them
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- Whatever their age, they came from outside traditional power hierarchies: youths, girls, the unmarried, shepherds, ploughmen, carters, etc.
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- Despite some anti-clericalism and lack of eccls leadership, no church condemnation
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- The accounts conflict a bit, so it’s hard to piece together what happened
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- Seem to have been two principal groups: Rhineland and Northern France
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- Rhineland group led by Nicholas, a youth from the surrounding countryside
Tau Cross, associated with Francis of Assisi and his brand of poverty and humility
4th crusade to be redeemed by the innocent, pure, humble
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- French leader: Stephen from Cloyes, a shepherd
powerfully symbolic profession
Led a group of boys, girls, youths and old men to St Denis
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- French group seems to have melted away
german group melts away once it reaches Italy
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49 various lurid stories circulated, but all rumor
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- Calling the Fifth Crusade
In 1212, Almohads destroyed.
Most of the Toulousain secured by end of 1211. Crusade suspended in 1213
Excellent time for Innocent to turn his attention east
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- There was a truce between teh Franks and Sultan al-Adil of Egypt, renewed in 1211, expiring in 1217
But Christians quite weak, penned up in northern Syria
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- Casus belli
Mu ‘azzam, al-Adil’s son, had fortified Mt Tabor in western Galilee.
Threat to Acre
Place where Christ had revealed a vision of his future glory to his disciples
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- Western leaders amenable.
Crusading had long become a way of settling disputes
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- German succession currently in dispute.
Dispossed nobles in southern France
England under interdict since 1208. King John eager to reconcile
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- Innocent placed the resolution of civil conflict at the heart of the preaching of the new crusade.
Ecclesiastical arbitration on material as well as spiritual problems.
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- Plenitudo Potestatis.
Fulness of Power
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- As believers, we all believe in judgment day.
Responsible primarily for ourselves.
But priest responsible for his flock to a degree.
Since this is the case, this is why priest can speak out about what you should and should not do for every aspect of your that has a moral component.
Priest has a right to be heard.
Then scale this up.
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- Fifth Crusade was a not dominated by the French, as had been true of the other cruades
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- Problem, though: exquisitely planned, called for crusaders from all across Europe
no leader
Frederick II supposed to be leader, but he doesn’t get around to the Holy Land until after he’s been excommunicated for not going.
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- Piecemeal departures
Stay in Holy Land at most 1 year
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- Focus on Egypt.
Damietta
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- Francis of Assisi came to Egypt to try to convert al-Kamil.
No accomodation: eradication
but in the crusader camp and Europe more generally, desire to convert, not exterminate, the Muslims.
part of this a growing appreciation of the size, racial, and religious diversity of hte world
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- Twice al-Kamil offered to hand over Jerusalem in crusaders would leave Egypt
Twice he is refused
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- How to understand rejection?
Propehtic documents supposedly claiming capture of Damietta and fall of Egypt
fits into crusade mentality
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- To ignore prophecy in favor of naked, short-term interests of King John de Brienne of Jerusalem would have been treasonous to God’s purpose
prophecies worked within a cosmology wending its way toward Judgment Day
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- Also, not strategically viable as al-Kamil would not give up Transjordan
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In-class writing
List 3 ways crusading has become part of medieval life
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