The Crusades: Part 3

Byzantium Calls for Aid

In 1071, Islamic Turks defeated the Byzantine army and captured the emperor, threatening Constantinople and the most extensive collection of Christian relics. In 1074, Gregory VII called for a Crusade to help Byzantium and the Christians suffering tyranny and being murdered in the thousands at the hands of the Turks. He quoted the Gospels, saying Christians ought to lay down their lives as Christ did to help them.  Later, in 1095, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested aid from the Pope due to their desperate situation, having recently lost most of their former lands. The emperor sent word to Pope Urban that if help was not received, thousands more Christians would be raped, tortured, and murdered, and relics, which meant so much to medieval Christendom, would be lost. The formerly vast and mighty Byzantine empire was on the brink of destruction before, in desperation, aid was sought from the West, and they responded.

It’s easy for modern Christians to feel morally superior to Christians of the past when they are safe and a long distance from being forced to convert, when their friends and family are not being kidnapped, tortured, raped, robbed, or murdered while visiting the Holy Land. Yet many of these modern Christians will with as much religious fervor run off to wars in distant lands to protect “freedom,” “democracy,” or “America.” They defend a secular government and society, even if it is tyrannical and discriminating against Christianity,^[1] with the same intensity as the Crusaders of old, not for the love of Christ or of a persecuted brother, but for “patriotism.”

Religious Motivators

In the first two articles of this series, we looked at the primary motivators that led to the Crusades, the self-preservation of Christendom that was under assault from the expansionist Islamic world, to provide safe travel for Pilgrims traveling to the Holy Lands, to liberate Eastern Christians suffering persecution, and finally in response to Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos’s call for aid (touched above). However, more purely “religious” causes, such as restoring the Holy Land and especially the Holy Sepulcher to Christian rule, the protection of relics, and personal devotion to God played a role. We will take a look at these now.

Liberating the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Land

“Considering how many are my sins and the love, clemency, and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, because when he was rich he became poor for our sake, I have determined to repay him in some measure for everything he has given me freely, although I am unworthy. and so I have decided to go to Jerusalem, where God was seen as a man and spoke with men, and to adore the place where his feet trod.”

Stephen of Neublan’s Quote in Rodney Stark, God’s Battalions

A primary objective of the Crusading effort was to free holy places, lands, churches, shrines, and relics from non-Christian control.^[2] The medieval Church was obsessed with returning to a purer form of Catholicism from the time of the apostles; likewise, politically and theologically, the importance and permanence of the Old Testament in its application to law and politics arose, driving a desire for Latin Christendom to learn more from and be closer to the events of the Old Testament and the life of Jesus.^[3] The increasing focus on the Holy Land was evident through various forms of expression such as artwork, sermons and music and led to increased pilgrim activity and obsession with relics.  Scholar Jonathan Riley-Smith wrote, “contemporary piety encouraged an almost feverish obsession with the holy places.”^[4] Professor and historian Alexander Flick wrote that this “became the mania of the Middle Ages—so that by the eleventh century a constant stream of pilgrims was going to and from the Holy Land.”^[5] And so the calls for restoring and protecting the holy sites became louder.

During the period of feudalism, a sworn vassal was obligated to come to their lord’s aid if he were attacked. In the mindset of the people during medieval times, Christ was considered their heavenly Lord, and the Holy Land, which was under assault, was considered his land, and his people (Christians) were being persecuted. Therefore, a faithful vassal was expected to come to Christ’s aid just as they would to their earthly lord. They were servants of the King of Kings, willing to die for him.^[6]

Jerusalem

The Church of Jerusalem was often referred to as the mother of churches—the place all of Christendom was born from and dependent on. Pope Urban focused on the recapture of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher as a vital reason to join the Crusade. The importance of the Holy Land, especially the Holy City of Jerusalem, was paramount in Western medieval minds.^[7] Religion was a primary interest for all of Christendom, and the holy places played a vital role. It was like sports, politics, hobbies, and more, all wrapped together.

 Jerusalem was the center of the world and of the faith that they structured their entire society upon.^[8] Richard the Lionheart told Saladin that Jerusalem was the “center of our worship.”^[9] Throughout Christendom, they celebrated the restoration of the Holy City with prayers, fasting, and celebrations. Jerusalem was a popular girls’ name during this period.^[10]

Nothing was more holy than the Holy Sepulcher, where the Savior was crucified, buried, and resurrected. Anna Comnena (who thought the Western Christians were barbarians who secretly wanted to capture Constantinople) was a Byzantine princess and historian who lived from 1083-1153. She met with the leaders of the First Crusade in Constantinople and wrote that they told her the purpose of their long-distance travel was to redeem the Holy Sepulcher.^[11]

A high church official in the papal court wrote that those who left on the Crusade did so “to snatch the Sepulcher of the Lord from the Muslims.”^[12] Raymond of Saint-Gilles said he was going “…on Pilgrimage to wage war on foreign peoples and defeat barbaric nations, lest the holy city of Jerusalem be held captive and the Holy Sepulcher of the Lord Jesus be contaminated any longer.” Historian Maurice Keen wrote, “The crusaders did not see their gains in the Levant in terms of territorial aggrandizement. Rather, they were inspired by the belief that the shrines and the other places associated with the life of Christ… should be freed from the yoke of unbelievers and delivered into the safekeeping of the faithful.”^[13]

Those who took the cross and the pilgrims’ vow were just that—armed pilgrims on their way to visit the Holy Sepulcher and then, like other pilgrims, return home.^[14] After liberating the Holy City, the pilgrims worshiped at the church of the Holy Sepulcher to fulfill their vows. One member of the First Crusade wrote of the capture of Jerusalem, “Our men rushed the Holy City… all came rejoicing and weeping from excess of gladness to worship at the Sepulcher of our savior Jesus, and there they fulfilled their vows.”^[15] Raymond d’Aguilers, who was a chronicler and participant of the First Crusade, recorded that the pilgrims wept tears of joy as they visited “the Sepulcher of our Lord.” He mentioned that they sang and prayed, and that all the hardships they had faced during their journey felt worthwhile at that moment, as it turned their labors and sorrows into joy and exultation.^[16]

The Crusaders were referred to as pilgrims, received the same spiritual benefits as those on a pilgrimage, and often carried the staff symbol of a pilgrim. The indulgences they received were the same as for those who took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Relics

Protecting relics was a primary motivator for many who took up the cross. Byzantium used its threatened collection as a reason to ask the West for aid. Popes, preachers, and lords used them to recruit for various crusades, but one unquestionably stood out more than the rest.

The Crusader states had been pleading for aid for decades, but little help came from the West. Only after the loss of the relic of the Holy Cross (the True Cross- that Jesus was crucified on) and the Holy City came a massive response in the form of the Third Crusade. The loss of this most sacred of objects played a prominent role in the letters and pleas for assistance to the West that generated the response. The Third Crusade was launched to recapture the Holy City of Jerusalem and retrieve the relic of the True Cross that Saladin had captured at Hattin.

Many in Europe believed the loss of the relic was more devastating than losing the Holy City!^[17] The Duke of Burgundy told Saladin via a diplomat that they came to retake Jerusalem and the True Cross.^[18] During the negotiations between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, the Holy Cross played a significant role. Professor Thomas Madden said, “Europeans thought all the time of the Holy Land and the relic of the true cross.”^[19] Richard the Lionheart carried Excalibur, King Arthur’s sword, on his crusade.^[20] And relics such as this of the True Cross gave them the confidence to attack and defeat larger armies, even changing strategy based on the availability of vital relics.^[21]

When the Crusaders seemed to face inevitable annihilation while besieged at Antioch, the Byzantine emperor, who was en route to Antioch to lift the siege, abandoned the mission upon realizing the hopelessness of their situation.^[22] Due to the circumstances, the Crusaders who deserted at Antioch informed the relief army, led by Emperor Alexius, to return to Constantinople. Not even the relief army led by the Emperor could rescue the Crusaders’ situation!! Viewing the situation as hopeless, many deserters reported that the Crusade had already failed, and all the men who stayed behind were killed. Even those who chose to remain believed their situation was without hope.^[23] However, the supposed discovery of the Holy Lance (the spear that pierced the body of Jesus on the cross) at Antioch profoundly impacted the Crusaders. It turned a starving, outnumbered, ill-positioned army in a hopeless situation suffering from massive desertion into an unstoppable force that defeated a much more massive army.^[24] Its effects on the morale of the army were noted by Raymond d’Aguilers, who observed:

“[it] so comforted the hearts of all that each one in faith and hope seemed to himself already to have triumphed over his enemy. They urged on one another, and in urging regained courage for fighting. The crowd, too, which in the past days seemed to be consumed with want and fright, now reproached the princes and complained of the delay of the battle… changed the army from sadness to eagerness! … the priests and many monks, dressed in white robes, went in front of the lines of our knights, chanting and invoking the aid of the Lord and the benediction of the saints… the priests, with bare feet and garbed in their priestly vestments, stood on the walls of the city, calling upon God to defend His people, and through the victory of the Franks in this battle to afford a testimony hallowed by His blood.”^[25]

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^[1](Smith and Hedberg Jr.)

^[2] (Asbridge 2005 318-319)(Riley-Smith 27)

^[3] (Smith and Hedberg Jr. 2024)

^[4] (Riley-Smith 31)

^[5] (FLICK, Ph. D., Litt. D 185)

^[6] (“Bernard, In Praise of the New Knighthood”)Revelation 19:16

^[7] (Madden 2005 8)

^[8] (Madden 2005 8-9) (DANIEL) (Asbridge 2005 192-193) (“The Letter of Manasses II, Archbishop of Reims”)

^[9] (Barber 31)

^[10] (Weidenkopf 2014 17)

^[11] (“Anna Comnena: The Alexiad” Book 10)

^[12] (Riley-Smith 33-34)

^[13] (Keen 90-91)

^[14] (Madden 2005 8-10) (Asbridge 2005 76, 228, 259) (Weidenkopf 2017 98, 187) (OGG, A.M 1907, 291-297)

^[15] (Tyerman 2007)

^[16] (“Version of Raymond d’Aguilers”)

^[17] (Weidenkopf 201 116)

^[18] (Tyerman 2007)

^[19] (Madden 2008)

^[20] (Weidenkopf 2014 123)

^[21] (Barber 119)

^[22] (“Anna Comnena: The Alexiad” Book 11 chapter 7)

^[23] (Asbridge 2005 221)

^[24] (Madden 2005 28-30)(Weidenkopf 2014 68)

^[25] (“The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants” 185-89)