sAja McElhiney
November 11, 2012 In 1095 the launch of the crusades took place in Clermont, France at what is known as the Council of Clermont. It was here that Pope Urban II addressed a large group of warriors from Europe to recapture Holy Land from the Muslims. “He preached to the crowd about the dangers of the "infidel" Turks. Not only had they conquered Jerusalem, but they were threatening Constantinople as well. Urban II called for a crusade, or "holy war," to recover the Holy Land” The Holy Land, also known as Jerusalem is situated on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in modern day Israel and is considered the Holy Land for Christians, Muslims and Jews. The Holy Land at the time of the crusades in 1095 was controlled by the Muslims and Christians wanted to gain control. In previous years despite Muslim control Christians were still allowed to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was in the eleventh century that the Seljuk Turks took control over Jerusalem and stopped the allowance of Christian Pilgrimages. The crusades were a series of at least generally un-successful attacks on the Muslims. The only semi-successful attack was the first crusade. Urban offered the men at the Council of Clermont that “…. papal Indulgence, which promised the immediate remission of all sins of any who participated in the expedition.” The first crusade began in 1096 when a group of about 30,000 Christian men from Western Europe began the trek to Jerusalem in accordance with Pope Urban II’s wishes. “Four armies of Crusaders were formed from troops of different Western European regions, led by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois and Bohemond of Taranto.” In their travels to Jerusalem they attacked and conquered significant cities including Nicea, Edessa and Antioch. After conquering these cities the armies decided to wait out the summer heat and then continue on to Jerusalem. The crusaders reached Jerusalem in 1099 and seized control on July 15th. After gaining control they “…then proceeded to extend their conquests and carve conquered territories into Christian states.”2 Despite gaining control of the Holy Land power did not last long. Partially the reason why the Christian were so easily able to gain control was due to the lack of preparation of the Turks and political fragmentation. “The crusaders success, however, encouraged Turks, Egyptians, and other Muslims to settle their differences, at least temporarily, in the interest of expelling European Christians from the eastern Mediterranean. This was going to make Crusades two through eight not nearly as simple. The second crusade was called for due to the loss of one of the recently established Crusader States formed after the first crusade. There were four Crusader States formed in Jerusalem , Ednessa, Antioch and Tripoli giving the Crusaders an upper hand in the area until 1130. It was in 1130 “when Muslim forces began gaining ground in their own holy war (or jihad) against the Christians, whom they called "Franks." In 1144, the Seljuk general Zangi, governor of Mosul, captured Edessa, leading to the loss of the northernmost Crusader state. “This new is what sparked the beginning of the second crusade. This crusade began in 1147 and was led by King Louis VII and King Conrad III of Germany. The two kings attacked Damascus but failed miserably due to the combined effort of Damscus’ ruler and the ruler of Mosul. Not soon after the second crusade failed miserably began the third crusade. This third crusade began due to the battle of Hattin where Saladins forces defeated the Christians. Saladin began expanding control and eventually fully encircled Jerusalem by enemy control. The battle of Hattin was led by two Christian men known as Guy and Raymond. Guy and Raymond did not work very well together, as they each had different treaty’s signed with Saladin and the other was breaking them. Saladin eventually became fed up and attacked. His plan was to