00:00:02
[Music]
00:00:25
now that our men had possession of the
00:00:27
walls and Towers wonderful sights were
00:00:30
to be seen some of our men cut off the
00:00:33
heads of their enemies others shot them
00:00:36
with arrows others tortured them longer
00:00:39
by casting them into the Flames piles of
00:00:42
heads hands and feet were to be seen in
00:00:45
the streets of the city it was necessary
00:00:47
to pick one's way over the bodies of men
00:00:49
and horses but these were small matters
00:00:53
compared to what happened at the Temple
00:00:55
of Solomon where men rode in blood up to
00:00:58
their knees and Bridal Reigns
00:01:00
indeed it was a just and Splendid
00:01:03
Judgment of God that this place should
00:01:05
be filled with the blood of the
00:01:07
unbelievers since it had suffered so
00:01:09
long from their
00:01:11
blasphemies welcome to the
00:01:15
Crusades this rather Grizzly citation
00:01:20
was written by an eyewitness to the
00:01:22
capture or fall depending on your view
00:01:25
of Jerusalem which took place on the
00:01:27
15th of July 10:19
00:01:30
9 the date marks the effective end of
00:01:33
the First Crusade which had the stated
00:01:36
aim of recovering Jerusalem from Muslim
00:01:40
occupiers in the nearly 1,000 years
00:01:42
since the Crusades remain probably the
00:01:45
most evocative or perhaps provocative
00:01:48
period in Christian Muslim relations
00:01:51
from the dawn of Islam to the present
00:01:53
day there are many reasons for this one
00:01:56
of which is the appeal of a seemingly
00:01:59
straightforward holy war narrative where
00:02:02
we can imagine things as black and white
00:02:04
on the one side Noble God-fearing
00:02:06
Christian Crusaders on the other
00:02:09
barbaric Heathen Muslims or sarens as
00:02:12
they were then
00:02:13
called a romantic and sometimes non too
00:02:17
realistic literature slowly grew out of
00:02:19
these events the chalc idea that
00:02:23
dominated much European thinking during
00:02:25
the late medieval period emerged
00:02:28
directly from these encounters between
00:02:30
East and West the chav valeric Motif and
00:02:34
heroes such as Richard the lionhart
00:02:36
remain popular to this day as do
00:02:39
offshoots that deal with the social
00:02:41
upheaval brought about by the Crusades
00:02:44
most famously in the tales of Robin Hood
00:02:46
and his merry
00:02:48
men in this lecture we're going to start
00:02:52
by looking at the political situation in
00:02:54
Europe and the Middle East when the
00:02:56
First Crusade began and some of the
00:02:58
reasons for it
00:03:00
then we'll examine the Crusade itself
00:03:03
from The Call to Arms to the final
00:03:05
assault against the holy city of
00:03:08
Jerusalem we'll conclude by assessing
00:03:10
the immediate aftermath and longer term
00:03:13
outcomes but before we get to the meat
00:03:16
of our story let's briefly consider the
00:03:19
city and the setting for the climax to
00:03:22
our
00:03:23
story Jerusalem is one of the oldest
00:03:26
Urban centers on Earth with evidence of
00:03:29
it first being settled more than 5,000
00:03:32
years ago Israel's Central Bureau of
00:03:35
Statistics pegged Jerusalem's recent
00:03:38
population at about 800,000 people of
00:03:41
whom 62% were Jewish 35% Muslim and 2%
00:03:47
Christian 1% chose to be identified not
00:03:50
by
00:03:51
religion its name is said to mean city
00:03:54
of peace or according to a number of
00:03:57
Latin authors vision of peace
00:04:00
in our story alas it was anything
00:04:04
but during its long history Jerusalem
00:04:07
has been destroyed at least twice
00:04:09
besieged on at least two dozen occasions
00:04:12
attacked more than 50 times and been
00:04:14
captured and recaptured 44 times in
00:04:18
recorded history alone according to the
00:04:21
Jewish historian Josephus when Jerusalem
00:04:23
was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD the
00:04:27
city was so thoroughly raised to the
00:04:30
ground that nothing was left that could
00:04:32
ever persuade visitors that it had once
00:04:35
been a place of
00:04:37
habitation and yet rebuilt it was once
00:04:41
again becoming a thriving City in the
00:04:43
heart of the Middle
00:04:45
East in religious terms Jerusalem is of
00:04:49
enormous importance to the three great
00:04:52
abrahamic religions Judaism Christianity
00:04:55
and
00:04:56
Islam when Muhammad experienced his
00:04:59
first re ation in
00:05:01
610 it was in the direction of Jerusalem
00:05:04
that he and the first Muslims prayed
00:05:07
this practice continued during the
00:05:09
course of Islam's first 14
00:05:12
years having been alternately in Persian
00:05:15
or Byzantine hands for centuries
00:05:18
Jerusalem was conquered by a Muslim Army
00:05:20
in
00:05:21
637 and ruled by various rival Muslim
00:05:24
dynasties up until the time our Story
00:05:28
begins so let's begin with the political
00:05:31
situation in Europe and the Middle East
00:05:33
at the time and some possible reasons
00:05:36
why the First Crusade was a call to
00:05:39
Arms before the 16th century few if any
00:05:43
European sources talk about Islam or
00:05:45
Muslims instead the religion was
00:05:48
erroneously referred to as
00:05:55
muhammadislam and the faithful were
00:05:57
typically called sarens a term that
00:06:00
refers to Nomads of the Syrian and
00:06:02
Arabian Deserts at the time of the Roman
00:06:05
Empire likewise Arabic authors refer to
00:06:10
All European foreigners as Franks after
00:06:13
the Germanic tribes whose domains
00:06:15
covered modern
00:06:17
France one Arabic word for foreigners
00:06:19
still in use fange also comes from the
00:06:23
Franks and thanks to Muslim Traders is
00:06:27
used in such distant settings as
00:06:29
Ethiopia and
00:06:32
Thailand my point is that although there
00:06:35
were ties between Europe and the Middle
00:06:37
East at the time there was far greater
00:06:39
ignorance of one another and there's no
00:06:42
doubt that ignorance lends itself more
00:06:45
readily to fear than to sympathy or
00:06:49
understanding on the eastern and
00:06:51
Southwestern fringes of Europe where
00:06:53
Muslim and non-muslim Realms abutted the
00:06:56
ties were obviously stronger on the
00:06:59
Iberian Peninsula the Christian
00:07:02
Reconquista was in full swing at this
00:07:04
time I.E at the end of the 11th
00:07:07
century although not seen as a crusade
00:07:10
per se religious imagery and language
00:07:14
were important in the military campaigns
00:07:16
between Christian and Muslim Kingdoms in
00:07:18
Spain and
00:07:19
Portugal and with the incursion of
00:07:21
French and other non-local Knights
00:07:24
traveling to fight against Muslim
00:07:26
Kingdoms in modern day Spain it can be
00:07:29
seen with with hindsight as a training
00:07:31
ground that would later Inspire others
00:07:33
to take part in the
00:07:36
Crusades only a century earlier many of
00:07:39
the Saxon Hungarian and Viking tribes
00:07:43
that covered great sedes of Europe had
00:07:45
been properly
00:07:47
christianized but what had been a
00:07:48
relatively stable heart of Europe the
00:07:51
carolingian Empire named after Charles
00:07:53
Martell and reaching its height under
00:07:55
his grandson Charlamagne was now falling
00:07:58
apart
00:08:00
the warrior class that had recently been
00:08:02
employed and constrained by ties of
00:08:05
kinship was now unemployed and at a
00:08:08
loose end the freelance fighting
00:08:12
undertaken by this warrior class was
00:08:15
responsible for a great deal of Mayhem
00:08:17
across the so-called Holy Roman Empire
00:08:21
the church regularly condemned these
00:08:23
Troublesome soldiers and tried to
00:08:25
Institute some sense of order in the
00:08:28
Anarchy of fudal
00:08:31
Europe the peace and truth of God was a
00:08:35
movement instituted by the Catholic
00:08:37
church at this time it was an attempt to
00:08:40
draw up battle lines including the
00:08:42
protection of non-combatants church
00:08:45
property and setting limits on when
00:08:47
fighting could or could not take
00:08:50
place in
00:08:52
1054 the great schism occurred this was
00:08:55
the moment when Christianity in Europe
00:08:57
became divided between Roman Catholic
00:09:00
Western Europe on the one hand and the
00:09:03
Eastern Orthodox faith that covered the
00:09:05
Eastern Roman Empire the Byzantine
00:09:08
Empire some historians have suggested
00:09:11
that the desire of Rome to impose
00:09:14
authority over Eastern Orthodoxy was one
00:09:17
reason for the First
00:09:19
Crusade however there's no mention of
00:09:22
this in any papal correspondence that
00:09:24
survives from the period so it's
00:09:27
impossible to say for certain
00:09:30
it's true that Byzantium by which I'm
00:09:32
referring to the Empire and its capital
00:09:35
had Catholic Norman enemies to its West
00:09:38
in modern Italy as well as the Muslim
00:09:40
turkic selic empire to its east in
00:09:43
Central Asia and modern turkey by
00:09:47
1095 the Byzantine Empire would find
00:09:50
itself confined to the Balkans and
00:09:52
Northwestern Anatolia in modern turkey
00:09:56
and seemingly set to lose more territory
00:09:58
very soon to explain why let's look at
00:10:03
the Historical political situation in
00:10:05
the Muslim neara and Middle
00:10:08
East an Arab Muslim Army first conquered
00:10:12
the Byzantine city of Jerusalem in 637
00:10:15
just 5 years after the death of
00:10:18
Muhammad an earlier Roman Emperor known
00:10:21
as hadrien had instituted a Prohibition
00:10:25
on Jews entering Jerusalem some 500
00:10:28
years earlier in
00:10:30
136 a following an unsuccessful Jewish
00:10:34
Rebellion against Roman
00:10:36
rule but following this recent Victory
00:10:40
the Arab Muslim ruler allowed Jews to
00:10:43
return to the
00:10:44
city Muslim order showed a high degree
00:10:47
of religious tolerance all the more
00:10:49
remarkable considering that 9 years
00:10:51
earlier bantine forces had massacred
00:10:55
local Jewish
00:10:58
populations Islamic rulers did not
00:11:00
permit Christians to build new churches
00:11:02
in the city but pilgrims were allowed to
00:11:04
visit its holy sites and so the
00:11:07
situation remained under the rashidun
00:11:10
umad and Abbasid khalifat for the next
00:11:13
400 years until the arrival of a new
00:11:16
Islamic conquering Force the seljuk
00:11:20
Turks the seljuk Turks when they
00:11:23
eventually came storming into the Middle
00:11:25
East from their Central Asian Homeland
00:11:27
were a new power to be reckoned with
00:11:29
they overran everything in their path
00:11:32
taking control of the Abid capital of
00:11:34
Baghdad in 1055 and invading the
00:11:37
Byzantine Empire a decade later as the
00:11:41
sunny seljuk Turks swept into the region
00:11:44
from the north defeating their fellow
00:11:46
Sunni Muslim abids and the Orthodox
00:11:50
byzantines there's yet another Regional
00:11:52
power we have to take note of the
00:11:54
ismaeli Shia
00:11:57
fmds much of North Africa Africa and
00:11:59
Syria had been in the hands of the Shia
00:12:01
fatimids ever since they declared a Shia
00:12:04
khalifat in
00:12:06
909 and taken Jerusalem in
00:12:10
969 now fighting between seljuks and
00:12:13
fatimids in the region became Fierce
00:12:16
with the seljuks eventually winning
00:12:17
Jerusalem from the fatimids in
00:12:20
1073 but seljuk rule of the holy city
00:12:23
was not a happy time where once
00:12:27
tolerance had prevailed in tolerance now
00:12:30
reigned Christian and Jewish pilgrims
00:12:33
and residents alike were attacked robbed
00:12:36
and
00:12:37
killed kidnapping for ransom became
00:12:40
commonplace as did the want and
00:12:42
destruction of non-muslim holy sites to
00:12:45
the horror of Jews Christians and non
00:12:48
seljuk Muslims alike terrified refugees
00:12:52
made their way to Europe bringing with
00:12:55
them Tales of misery and Mayhem calls
00:12:58
were soon heard for something to be done
00:13:01
about the hardships endured by
00:13:03
Christians in the Holy
00:13:04
Land however even as the Crusaders set
00:13:08
off for Jerusalem in 1098 the fatimids
00:13:11
retook Jerusalem from the
00:13:14
seljuks to try and highlight the
00:13:17
political
00:13:18
complexities we can say that Crusader
00:13:20
victories against seljuk forces in
00:13:23
Anatolia or modern day Turkey delighted
00:13:26
many fmid
00:13:28
rulers when the Crusaders pressed on
00:13:31
into Syrian territory however the
00:13:33
fatimids opinion
00:13:35
shifted while the Crusaders were
00:13:37
besieging the ancient Greek city of
00:13:39
Antioch they received Fatimid emissaries
00:13:42
who suggested an alliance against the
00:13:44
seljuks and
00:13:46
abids temporary alliances between Franks
00:13:49
and sarasin against other Muslims were
00:13:51
commonplace during this period as were
00:13:54
unions between Crusaders and Muslim
00:13:56
forces against fellow Crusaders
00:13:59
so far from being a black and white
00:14:02
State of Affairs the political situation
00:14:04
in Europe and the Middle East was a mass
00:14:07
of complexity with numerous competing
00:14:09
interests at
00:14:11
work all of which brings us to the
00:14:14
causes of the First Crusade and the
00:14:17
Crusades in
00:14:19
general this is a subject that has
00:14:21
excited controversy and dispute almost
00:14:24
since 1095 when Pope Urban II called for
00:14:28
a military campaign driven by religious
00:14:31
sentiment to retake
00:14:33
Jerusalem anyone hoping to find one
00:14:36
simple answer to a complex set of
00:14:39
questions should turn away now what
00:14:42
seems like an obvious answer to one
00:14:44
generation of historians is often
00:14:46
overturned by the next the best we can
00:14:48
do here is briefly mention some of the
00:14:51
most compelling and persistant answers
00:14:54
to the
00:14:56
questions among the most seemingly
00:14:58
obvious causes is religious fervor after
00:15:02
all a crusade is by definition surely
00:15:04
related to a holy war however one
00:15:07
defines such a thing yes and no the term
00:15:11
Crusade is relatively new in this
00:15:13
context and was never used by those who
00:15:16
traveled to the holy land during the
00:15:18
11th century in fact the term was first
00:15:21
used to refer to these historical events
00:15:25
in French at the end of the 17th
00:15:27
century but while there's no doubt that
00:15:30
Pope Urban II envisioned a religious war
00:15:34
is that why Knights and others responded
00:15:37
in some cases undoubtedly
00:15:40
yes was that also true in the majority
00:15:43
of cases it's impossible to
00:15:46
say Pope Urban II in making his call for
00:15:50
a war against the sarens might have been
00:15:53
offering a heartfelt response to Tales
00:15:55
of Christian pilgrims suffering at the
00:15:57
hands of the s
00:15:59
Turks on the other hand he would also
00:16:02
have been interested to learn about the
00:16:05
political disunity in the
00:16:07
region the scores of small squabbling
00:16:10
Thoms could be easy pickings for
00:16:13
Christian
00:16:14
Knights meanwhile an appeal to Pope
00:16:17
Urban II for help made by the Byzantine
00:16:20
emperor alexios I must have seemed
00:16:23
tempting cynically a weakened Byzantium
00:16:27
might allow for Terror territorial
00:16:29
expansion by the bishop of Rome his
00:16:31
allies or
00:16:34
proxies another important factor some
00:16:37
historians highlight is the disruption
00:16:40
in European Society caused by a restless
00:16:43
and underemployed warrior
00:16:46
class sending these young men abroad
00:16:49
would eliminate a lot of local
00:16:51
unrest and with the promise of Salvation
00:16:54
and a place in heaven in the next life
00:16:58
as well as a Venture and the possibility
00:17:00
of Untold riches in this world what
00:17:03
could be
00:17:04
finer other factors suggested as playing
00:17:07
a role in the crusading moment include
00:17:10
poor harvests in some areas
00:17:12
overpopulation in others and a more
00:17:14
General tendency towards colonization on
00:17:17
Europe's Frontiers especially where they
00:17:20
appeared to be weak or
00:17:23
troubled on the 27th of November
00:17:27
1095 at the council of claron in south
00:17:30
central France Pope Urban II made his
00:17:33
fateful Call to
00:17:35
Arms while there are six accounts of
00:17:38
what the pope said only one of these was
00:17:41
written by an actual eyewitness fure of
00:17:44
shatra the others were composed later
00:17:47
and were done so to fit with later
00:17:50
events according to fure of chat's
00:17:52
account while the Pope's speech urged
00:17:56
men to go and fight in the Holy Land he
00:17:58
was also also very concerned with the
00:18:00
violent Anarchy then afflicting
00:18:04
Europe fure quotes Pope Urban as
00:18:08
saying let those who have been
00:18:11
accustomed unjustly to wage private
00:18:13
Warfare against the faithful now go
00:18:16
against the infidels and end with
00:18:18
Victory this war which should have been
00:18:21
begun long ago let those who for a Time
00:18:25
have been robbers now become Knights let
00:18:28
those who have been fighting against
00:18:29
their brothers and relatives now fight
00:18:32
in a proper way Against The Barbarians
00:18:35
let those who have been serving as
00:18:36
mercenaries for small pay now obtain the
00:18:40
Eternal
00:18:41
reward according to this account the
00:18:44
pope never mentioned Jerusalem by
00:18:48
name recruitment was initially brisk so
00:18:52
that in August 1096 when the first wave
00:18:55
of Crusader armies headed east they
00:18:58
numbered roughly 5,000 Knights and as
00:19:01
many as 30,000 foot
00:19:03
soldiers the vast majority were French
00:19:05
or Norman although there were also
00:19:07
German and Southern Italian
00:19:10
contingents as they passed through
00:19:12
modern day Germany bands of Crusaders
00:19:15
attacked local Jewish populations
00:19:17
killing hundreds perhaps thousands in
00:19:20
spite of attempts by local churchmen to
00:19:22
stop
00:19:23
them as each Force traveled towards
00:19:26
their destination they attracted Ed more
00:19:29
followers mostly untrained and
00:19:31
ill-prepared peasants by some estimates
00:19:35
this peasant army or mob would number as
00:19:38
many as a 100,000 although few such
00:19:41
Crusaders ever reached
00:19:43
Jerusalem the princes and knights
00:19:46
eventually met up in Constantinople
00:19:48
where they expected help if not the
00:19:50
leadership of the Byzantine emperor
00:19:53
alexio I it was his appeal for help
00:19:56
after all that was supposed to have
00:19:59
prompted the pope to call for a
00:20:01
crusade but the emperor showed no
00:20:04
inclination to lead the knights anywhere
00:20:06
except across the Bosphorus and out of
00:20:09
his territory as quickly as possible
00:20:12
this is not as surprising as it might
00:20:16
sound among the Crusaders were any
00:20:19
number of princes who'd previously
00:20:22
invaded Byzantium and waged war against
00:20:25
the
00:20:26
emperor he was naturally wary of their
00:20:28
intentions
00:20:30
now as the European Christians inched
00:20:33
closer to the Holy Land the Fatimid
00:20:36
Muslim governor made preparations to
00:20:38
defend the city for one thing he
00:20:41
expelled its Orthodox Christian
00:20:43
population believing they'd fight
00:20:45
against him once the Crusaders
00:20:48
approached in the interim the Crusaders
00:20:51
were delayed by an ultimately successful
00:20:53
8-month Siege of Antioch 500 miles to
00:20:56
the north and so they rested for 6
00:20:59
months before marching
00:21:01
on they first laid eyes on Jerusalem on
00:21:05
the 7th of June
00:21:07
1099 by all accounts many of the
00:21:11
Crusaders wept at the
00:21:14
site the original Force had been
00:21:17
massively depleted by death in battle
00:21:19
and disease as well as by
00:21:22
desertion by the time they prepared to
00:21:24
assault the city the Crusader Army had
00:21:26
been reduced to a force of about 12,000
00:21:30
including 1,500 mounted
00:21:33
Knights one of the best eyewitness
00:21:35
accounts of the short Siege and fall of
00:21:37
Jerusalem is the guesta francorum or
00:21:40
deeds of the
00:21:42
Franks initially criticized for its lack
00:21:45
of literary finesse we're very lucky to
00:21:48
have such an account by an ordinary
00:21:50
Anonymous soldier who writes about the
00:21:53
day-to-day activity and privations of an
00:21:55
Army on the March there's never enough
00:21:58
food or shelter and once they reach
00:22:01
Jerusalem a shortage of water causes
00:22:03
real problems it's one important reason
00:22:07
why the Crusaders attacked after just a
00:22:09
little over a month as men and animals
00:22:13
were literally dying of
00:22:15
thirst added to this the fatimids were
00:22:19
known to have sent a relief force from
00:22:21
Cairo while the Crusaders thousands of
00:22:24
miles from home and alone in enemy
00:22:26
territory had no such chance of of
00:22:29
reinforcements in order to attack
00:22:31
Jerusalem's defensive walls the
00:22:33
Crusaders needed to build Siege Towers
00:22:37
the guest of francorum talks about the
00:22:39
construction of two 50ft Siege towers
00:22:42
with wood brought from miles around as
00:22:45
well as from the cannibalization of two
00:22:47
genoise galys recently arrived at the
00:22:50
Port of
00:22:52
Jaffa The Crusade military leaders
00:22:55
decided to launch a two-pronged attack
00:22:57
against the city
00:22:59
walls apart from it being more difficult
00:23:02
for the Defenders to repel such an
00:23:03
attack rivalries and divisions among the
00:23:06
Crusaders meant that many of them
00:23:09
refused to work alongside one
00:23:12
another before the final assault on the
00:23:15
night of the 14th of July the guest of
00:23:18
francorum Paints the following Vivid
00:23:21
picture the Bishops and Priests
00:23:23
persuaded all by exalting and preaching
00:23:27
to honor the Lord by marching around
00:23:29
Jerusalem in a great procession and to
00:23:32
prepare for battle by prayer fasting and
00:23:35
arms giving it
00:23:37
continues we attacked the city on all
00:23:40
sides one of our Knights named lethal
00:23:43
clambered up the wall of the city and no
00:23:46
sooner had he ascended than the
00:23:48
Defenders fled from the walls and
00:23:50
through the city our Men followed
00:23:53
killing and slaying even to the Temple
00:23:55
of Solomon where the slaughter was so
00:23:58
great that our men wed in blood up to
00:24:01
their
00:24:02
ankles afterward the Army scattered
00:24:04
throughout the city and took possession
00:24:06
of the gold and silver the horses and
00:24:09
mules and the houses filled with Goods
00:24:12
of all
00:24:15
kinds the Carnage that befell the
00:24:18
Defenders and citizens of Jerusalem was
00:24:20
indeed
00:24:22
awful while mass killings were common
00:24:24
practice after cities were taken in
00:24:27
medieval warfare what took place in
00:24:29
Jerusalem was by all accounts Beyond The
00:24:31
Common Place the city's Jews having
00:24:35
fought side by side with the Muslim
00:24:37
Defenders were put to the sword just as
00:24:40
readily while Crusaders did Slaughter
00:24:43
Orthodox Christians at other times
00:24:45
notably during The Fourth Crusade
00:24:47
between 1202 and 1204 that didn't take
00:24:50
place in Jerusalem in
00:24:52
1099 for one thing as I mentioned the
00:24:55
Fatimid governor of Jerusalem had
00:24:57
already EX spelled
00:24:59
them much of what we read in the guesta
00:25:03
is echoed in some of the earliest Arabic
00:25:05
sources which lends Credence to our
00:25:08
Anonymous Christian
00:25:09
chronicler one famous 12th century Arab
00:25:13
historian iban Al mentions the two Siege
00:25:16
towers and the destruction of one by
00:25:18
fire as reported in the
00:25:21
guesta in addition IB Al offers a
00:25:25
largely accurate explanation for the
00:25:27
Crusaders victory
00:25:29
which we can take as a postcript to the
00:25:32
battle for Jerusalem he writes
00:25:35
wistfully it was Discord between the
00:25:38
Muslim princes that enabled the Franks
00:25:40
to overrun the
00:25:43
country now let's assess the aftermath
00:25:47
of the fall of Jerusalem and the
00:25:49
effective end of the First
00:25:51
Crusade we are not going to limit
00:25:54
ourselves to the immediate results
00:25:56
because in some very important ways the
00:25:58
First Crusade was a turning point in the
00:26:00
history of the Middle East that just
00:26:02
keeps
00:26:03
turning in simple housekeeping terms the
00:26:07
most pressing concern for the Crusaders
00:26:10
after installing themselves as
00:26:12
Jerusalem's rulers was to clean up the
00:26:15
city while it's impossible to establish
00:26:18
anything like an accurate number of dead
00:26:20
it was thousands possibly 10,000 though
00:26:24
nothing like the exaggerated claims of
00:26:26
later
00:26:27
writers these overexcited accounts
00:26:31
sometimes written centuries after the
00:26:32
event saw the death toll Rising
00:26:35
dramatically from 20,000 to 30,000
00:26:38
70,000 and eventually
00:26:42
100,000 regardless of the actual number
00:26:44
of casualties the corpses had to be
00:26:47
disposed of quickly in order to prevent
00:26:50
the spread of disease let alone the
00:26:52
stench that soon hung over the
00:26:55
city leadership of the city and the new
00:26:58
newly created kingdom of Jerusalem was
00:27:00
handed to Godfrey of bulam one of the
00:27:03
leading Crusader Knights Who as a second
00:27:06
son joined the Crusade seeking
00:27:09
opportunities that were not available to
00:27:12
him in his native
00:27:14
France in surrounding conquered
00:27:16
territories the other three Crusader
00:27:18
States established at this time were the
00:27:20
principality of Antioch the county of
00:27:23
Tripoli and the county of
00:27:26
adessa godfre
00:27:28
one of the leading Lights of the Crusade
00:27:31
and the final assault refused to be
00:27:33
called
00:27:34
King he believed it would be wrong to
00:27:37
wear a crown of gold in the city where
00:27:39
as he said my savior was forced to wear
00:27:43
a crown of
00:27:44
thorns instead he became the defender
00:27:46
and advocate of the Holy Seiler which is
00:27:49
said to stand on the sight of Christ's
00:27:54
crucifixion between taking Jerusalem and
00:27:57
his death the following year Godfrey
00:28:00
successfully defended his new realm
00:28:02
against an attack by the fatimids as
00:28:04
well as another challenge from the Latin
00:28:07
patriarch of Jerusalem who wanted
00:28:09
Jerusalem under the direct control of
00:28:12
Rome Rome was to be
00:28:15
disappointed after Godfrey's death
00:28:17
possibly in battle possibly poisoned his
00:28:20
younger brother Baldwin took power and
00:28:23
was happy to be crowned first king of
00:28:25
the kingdom of Jerusalem on Christmas
00:28:27
Day
00:28:29
1100 although Godfrey's Reign was short
00:28:33
he became a legendary
00:28:36
figure in later medieval literature of
00:28:39
the 14th century Godfrey was named one
00:28:41
of the nine worthies individuals from
00:28:45
history who personified Valor and
00:28:48
chivalry the nine worthies consisted of
00:28:51
three good pagans Julius Caesar and
00:28:54
Alexander the Great among them three
00:28:56
good Jews and three good Christians with
00:28:59
Godfrey rubbing shoulders for all
00:29:01
eternity with King Arthur and
00:29:05
Charlamagne as a turning point in the
00:29:07
history of the Middle East it's perhaps
00:29:09
ironic that the greatest long-term
00:29:12
impact of the First Crusade was felt in
00:29:15
the
00:29:17
west ever since Pope Urban II uttered
00:29:20
his rallying cry to reclaim Jerusalem
00:29:23
historians have been unable even to
00:29:25
agree on how many crusades there were
00:29:27
with some saying seven others nine in
00:29:30
addition to numerous smaller unnumbered
00:29:32
crusading
00:29:34
events and since they envisaged
00:29:36
different aims besides retaking
00:29:38
Jerusalem they shouldn't be lumped
00:29:41
together although in the popular
00:29:43
imagination that's exactly what
00:29:46
happen medieval Arab chroniclers saw the
00:29:50
European Invaders as cruel ignorant
00:29:52
Savages who represented an altogether
00:29:55
inferior culture to their own the great
00:29:58
English scholar of the Crusades Steven
00:30:00
runman tended to
00:30:03
agree in establishing Crusader kingdoms
00:30:06
however Western European cities such as
00:30:09
genua and Venice began to flourish as
00:30:12
trade with the Middle East was opened
00:30:15
up I hope I'm not spoiling the story
00:30:18
when I say that the kingdom of Jerusalem
00:30:20
didn't survive in
00:30:23
perpetuity this success initially lasted
00:30:26
for less than a century at least from
00:30:28
the Viewpoint of the Crusaders and the
00:30:31
church in Western
00:30:32
Europe the dream of Christian rule over
00:30:35
the holy city came to an end in
00:30:43
1187
