The Crusade: What Really Happened During The Dark Age's Most Horrific War? | Warfare | Chronicle

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200 years, from 1096 to the end of the 13th century, a steel tide of knights, pilgrims and men-at-arms surged from Western Europe to the burning deserts of Palestine. They carried before them the Cross of Christ. and marched to liberate the Most Holy City of the Medieval World, Jerusalem, the desperate Wars that followed would witness perhaps the

most

savage, bloody and fanatical conflict of all the Grim Medieval Ages, the scorched Desert Sands of the Holy Land would be forever stained by the blood of His Christian and Muslim cause was thoroughly warm and their struggles would become known in history as the Foreign Crusades, although the Crusader movement did not finally die out until well into the 16th century.

Its main successes occurred at its beginnings at the end of the 11th century. This perhaps reflects the enormous initial fervor of the peoples of Western Europe in response to calls for expeditions to the Middle East; the motivation of the individual participants in these and subsequent expeditions (the so-called Crusades) remains largely a matter of speculation; There is no doubt that men were driven by a genuine spiritual desire to rescue the holy lands from the infidels, however, it is certain that more pragmatic motives, such as the desire to plunder the mystical cities and fables of the East, had an influence on many areas of Western (and, surprisingly, by the 11th century) Europe, especially those of Urban Development, had become, by relative standards, overcrowded and overcrowded;

Therefore, many saw the Crusades as an opportunity to gain land wealth in captured enemy territories, although it is likely that most sought simply to escape poverty, malnutrition, and plague, as well as the sheer boredom and monotony of life. life in the medieval feudal hierarchy, but no matter

what

their reasons, it is a fact that hundreds of thousands of people left their homes and families behind to fight this new type of war, whether they died in battle or as a result. from wounds, illness, or simply hunger and exhaustion on the march, most

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rs never returned in the second half of the 11th century.

Palestine had a special status in the Middle East for centuries. Muslims, Christians and Jews had lived there in relative peace. It was at the same time a holy land. and a link between the Western world and the East, although it had been ruled by Muslims since the 7th century, Christians had become accustomed to making pilgrimages there, the journey was long and dangerous, but the Fatimid rulers of Syria and Palestine were understanding and they offered food to Christian pilgrims. protection and the opportunity to trade, but in 1071 the Seljuk Turks, who were nomadic warriors from Central Asia, defeated the Byzantine army at Manziket.

These men were fanatical converts to Islam with a reputation for savagery very different from the Fatimates who in seven years had swept through Asia Minor and taken control of the Middle East, including the ports of Damascus, Antioch and, most importantly, Jerusalem. The historical hit is like Netflix just for history fans with exclusive historical documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history just for you with familiar faces like Dan Jones. and Dr. Eleanor Janega we have hundreds of documentaries covering the most important figures and events in medieval history that we are committed to.

Providing history fans with award-winning documentaries and podcasts they can't find anywhere else sign up now for a free trial and Chronicle fans get 50 off your first three months just be sure to use the code Chronicle right now, under Under the Seljuk government, Christian pilgrims were commonly turned away in the Middle East, many were attacked, robbed, and killed by the Turks when land routes to Syria and Palestine were closed. Trade with nearby Western nations was immediately threatened by Turkish privateers. Soon, Byzantine Emperor Alexis, the first commander to have lost vast provinces to the Turks, asked the West for help in recovering them.

The reaction in the West was, by modern standards, extraordinarily slow, but over a period of a decade, as the reality of Turkish rule in the East became established, momentum grew behind a movement to act in the winter of the year. 1095. Pope Urban II addressed the people of France in a field outside the town of Claremore and appealed to the nobles and clergy of Christendom to undertake an armed pilgrimage to the east and offered the protection of the church to all who participated the following year, he toured France with this message and where he could not appear personally, his words were read by the people Pope Urban, servant of the Servants of God, to all the faithful waiting in Flanders, both rulers and subjects, greetings Grace and apostolic blessing you have no longer heard by the testimony of many that the frenzy of the Barbarians has devastated the Churches of God in the East and has even taken as a slave the holy city of Christ Jerusalem, afflicted in pious contemplation of this disaster, we visit France and strongly urge the princes and the people of that land to work for the liberation of the Eastern Church in the Council of Avania that we ordained. them this commitment for the remission of all their sins and appointed our dear son Adamar Bishop of the queen as leader of the journey in our name so that whoever undertakes such a journey will obey his orders as if they were ours if God Any of you called to this task He knows that Bishop Adamar will leave with the help of God on August 15, 1096, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin,

what

the Pope intended was an expedition to recover the Holy Land from the infidels. and by securing the blessing and protection of the church, he offered an irresistible reward of both material and spiritual advancement;

In other words, take the spoils with God's blessing, the Pope pointed the way to the Holy Land in very clear terms here you are poor and unhappy there you will be. to be joyful and prosperous and true friends of God, a great commotion arose in all the regions of France, so that if anyone sincerely desired to follow God with a pure heart and mind and wanted to carry the cross faithfully after Him, he hastened to take the way to the Holy Sepulcher for Pope Urban II began to give eloquent sermons and preach saying that if anyone wanted to save his soul, he should not hesitate to undertake the Way of the Lord with a humble spirit and if he were short of money he would divide Mercy and give it to him. for him for his Holiness the Pope said Brothers you must suffer many things in the Name of Christ misery poverty nakedness persecution need illness hunger thirst and other privations of this type just as the Lord said to his disciples you must suffer many things in my name the great warrior bohemian from Toronto upon hearing that an immense army of Christians was on the way to the Holy Land, then what weapons did this army carry, they told him respectively, they carry weapons suitable for war, they carry the Cross of Christ and with one voice the words go, God wants it, God.

God wills it the Byzantine emperor had hoped to recruit a mercenary army to fight the Turks in his place the Pope's clarion call Unleashed upon the East the First Crusade the Pope delivered his message to the nobility of Europe personally but the The Crusade It would depend on both the common people and the clergy and nobility of each country. The call to arms was heard by the poor, oppressed and disaffected by their own fanatical preachers. Guiber, habit of nausea, wrote to one of those men who incited the people of the north about him. France, while all the princes who needed large funds and large retinues of supporters arranged their affairs in an organized and scrupulous manner before leaving for the Holy Land, the common people, poor in possessions but rich in numbers, joined one Peter the Great .

Hermit, unless I'm mistaken, he came from the city of Amio in France and had led a solitary life wearing a monk's habit somewhere in northern France. I do not know where he came from for what purpose, I do not know and he traveled through cities and towns to preach he was surrounded by such a multitude of people he gave them such gifts acclaimed as such an example of holiness that I remember that no one had ever been held in such honor peasants criminals Artisans Beggars the old and the sick were fired by religious fervor and the prospect of plunder and plunder the popular

crusade

a motley army led by Peter the Hermit left Cologne in April 1096.

Their impatience is perhaps recounted by Guiber, who He noted that as soon as they reached a walled city they repeatedly asked if this was Jerusalem. The main armies of the crusade did not set out until the summer. They needed time to prepare the train and organize the carts, horses and weapons needed throughout Europe. The nobles mortgaged their possessions to pay for provisions for the trip. A church encouraged these Knights to stake their lands. In this way he sustained himself for the duration of the crusade and soon amassed great wealth. God free Boyon, who commanded one of the four largest armies, sold his castle and his lands in northern France outright.

This landless brother, Baldwin, joined him enthusiastically, thus escaping the boring prospect. training for a life in the clergy, Count Raymond of Toulouse, almost 60 years old, commanded the most powerful, made up mainly of southern French, Bishop Le Puig traveled with him and the Pope had appointed spiritual leader of the force Crusade of men from Normandy, England and Scotland was led jointly by Earl Robert of Flanders, Earl Stephen de Broir and Earl Shart, Hugh of Vermont, brother of the French king, and Duke Robert of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror. . The other large army was made up of Normans who had previously conquered and settled in southern Italy, led by Bowman in Toronto, it was agreed that the crusaders would meet at Constantinople, there the Byzantine emperor would supply ships to cross the Bosphorus into Asia, but the Long March of so many armies throughout Europe was not easy, discipline and planning.

It was essential for such a complicated logistical operation and in many cases it was seriously lacking. The crusade of Peter the Hermit's village, now numbering 20,000 people, frequently lost all cohesion and on many occasions his pilgrims staged a mockery in the town of Semlin, where a small group of crusaders had already been punished for raiding a bazaar. Peter's crusaders massacred four thousand people before continuing to plunder Byzantium. Belgrade was burned and the Bulgarian governor sent his army against them. Thousands of men, women, and children died when Peter and the rest of his The Crusader army finally reached Constantinople, they immediately began to flee, settled, the emperor quickly transported the Lacosta, Boston, the Anacondena, daughter of the Byzantine emperor, He recorded how the people's crusade confronted his own, they immediately set out along the road to Marcia, without any appearance of order, everyone forgetting their army. skill and discipline that is required of those who go into battle the race of Latins is generally characterized by their love of money they do not embark on the invasion of a country they become totally unrestrained without any reason since these men did not advance in any way By order of discipline he fell into the Turkish ambush near Dracon and in a miserable annihilation in autumn the French and English armies crossed the Alps had to deal with snow, local traffic on the old Roman roads and the problem of bandits, the count Raymond in particular suffered greatly from such attacks as he made his way along the swampy Dalmatian coast, presenting an easy target for the Slavs because of this, his food supplies were depleted before reaching Constantinople.

Once over the Alps, the large army was divided into independent commands that sailed separately across the Adriatic, both halves of the force suffered losses at sea in the primitive merchant ships they employed. Prince Bowman's army crossed from Bari into Greece, but in the Pindus Mountains they lost their pack animals and had to plunder the countryside for more for the rest of the journey. In Constantinople, the emperor placed them under a guard of mercenaries who did not care at all about eliminating and killing several straggling crusaders. By May 1097, between 60,000 and 100,000 men had crossed into Asia and the campaign proper had begun.

The crusaders never had any overall control. Command or plans simply launched an attack on Nicaea, the Turkish capital. Brewer, William the Conqueror's son, wrote about the attack on his wife. My love is surrounded by more than 300 towers. It was the most amazing war. We found the Turks inside the city. Bold fighters. but we discovered that God's limitless Army had already locked in Mortal Kombat with the people of Nicaea for four weeks. The crusaders set out for a seven-week siege of the city, but the day before their planned assault, the Byzantine emperor Alexius attacked by sea. and forced the surrender of the garrison,They well rewarded the crusaders who felt let down by the loot, dissatisfied with the manner of their victory, the road to Anatolia was now open as Stephen ofbroar recorded God triumphed and greatness here was one on June 19, 1097.

I am telling you this my life since we arrived in Jerusalem from Lycea in five weeks good Antioch does not stand in our way unfortunately Stephen of Roar's optimism was misplaced, in fact it would take two years to reach Jerusalem in July half of the crusader army was ambushed by Sultan Killage Arslan but withstood the attack long enough for the situation to be reversed when the rest of the crusaders, in turn, rode upon the sultan's men and broke their morale. It soon arose among the crusaders as they remembered that we pursued and killed them all day long and took much loot. gold and silver horses and donkeys, camels, sheep and oxen, the Christian armies continued making a grueling four-month journey through the desert to Antioch, the capital of Syria, when it ended in October, many of the horses and animals were dead and those nights on foot had been dispensed with.

There, with their heavy armor, the crusaders besieged the ancient Roman fort, but through spies and traitors the news reached the Turks. The Crusaders' forces were depleted and lacking supplies the Emir of Mogul attacked the tired and exhausted. Foot soldiers and only one thousand mounted knights fought off this attack and were soon relieved just in time by the arrival of Genoese supply ships before the Emir could launch a second attack. However, the crusaders managed to sneak into Antioch after scaling the walls just before. Dawn aided by a Turkish traitor 60 crusaders managed to open the gates from within at the end of that day in June 1098 all the Turks in Antioch were dead the internal emir now besieging the Christians while the crusaders began to starve Emperor Alexius began to march to their rescue, but soon returned believing that the crusaders had been defeated and already frustrated by the repeated betrayals and deceptions of the Byzantines.

The crusaders never forgot him or forgave him for this act of abandonment, just as all hope seemed in vain. Fate interceded on behalf of the crusaders. The peasant crusader claimed to have had a vision of Saint Andrew telling him where the holy lands were buried and a piece of metal believed to be a spear was found which was said to have pierced the side of Christ on the cross. This discovery propelled the crusaders into a religious frenzy so great that they were able to march out of Antioch, scattering the emir's men before them and avoiding defeat after taking the walled city of Marad and Numan.

The Crusaders advanced along the coast quickly taking Tripoli and an acre before turning inland towards Bethlehem. Siege weapons were built there and after five weeks the assault on Jerusalem was carried out, soon a breach was opened in the northern wall and under a rain of rocks, stones and burning oil, Godfrey's men were the first to climb the city, the gates were opened and 1,300 knights and ten thousand foot soldiers flooded the streets almost four years had passed since Pope Urban's call for the expedition and now the crusaders had finally reached their objective Jerusalem was once again in Christian hands but the human kind was terrible for three days and three whole nights the crusaders ran and pretended to kill men, women and children, an English crusader named Roger de Wuzley witnessed the siege and its consequences before attacking Jerusalem, the bishops and priests told us They preached telling us to go in a procession in honor of God around Jerusalem and pray and give up weapons. and quickly on Friday, July 15 at 10.99 early in the morning we attacked the city from all sides.

I can't move forward, we were all paralyzed with amazement and very bright and his accounting line of brother Baldwin was fighting bravely in the Siege Tower and then one. of our Knights little by name climbed the city walls as soon as he climbed it all the Defenders of the city fled along the walls and through the city our men following Leopold pursued them killing and dismembering them to the Temple of Solomon and in that place there was such a Massacre Ed his blood God free of weon in fact he was honored with the title of defender of the Holy Sepulcher a month later in August the crusaders attacked and defeated the Egyptian army on a plane north of Ascalon after this , the holy land was truly his.

The Christian forces that participated in the Crusades were composed of different nationalities and are therefore often referred to as Frankish or Latin armies; Furthermore, they were composed of varied ranks and social positions, as was the case with all European armies of the time. In the medieval period, the Crusades were organized according to the dictates of the feudal system. A king granted lands to his barons and the church and, in return, received fixed quotas of knights for military service in times of war. In turn, nobles and clergy subleased land in exchange for a military contingent of each property each night or subtenant provided not only himself as an armed cavalryman but perhaps also brothers or other relatives as mounted sergeants or squires. .

Their Freehold tenants were equipped to a reasonably high standard with swords and basic padded or masculine armor. or polearms as men-at-arms, in addition, additional peasants were kept to work and serve as basic infantry. In this way, the feudal retinue of the baronage and the church of a kingdom were combined to form national armies, finally, hired mercenary forces served to strengthen an assembled army. It is difficult to estimate the actual size of the Crusader armies due to the exaggerations of contemporary

chronicle

rs; However, it is likely that the large army of the First Crusade numbered around one hundred and fifty thousand, almost certainly including a large number of country followers, female settlers and peasants.

The contingent led by Raymond of Toulouse is known to be the largest, comprising around 1,200 cavalry and 8,500 infantry. Similarly, in the Middle East armies were also organized along the lines of a feudal system, the forces known collectively as Saracens were composed mainly of Fatinid Abbacids and Seljuk Turks. Like peoples in general, each province of an individual caliphate had by law to finance its own contingent of the national army, an emir was charged with raising such a force and, along with an annual tribute to the sultan, in times of war it was required to provide a certain number The service of troops and armies, therefore, consisted of a large professional force provided by the sultan's personal guard along with the feudal troops of the armies, in addition Master Mia used to have her own personal guard of professional soldiers known as escars in general, both saris and infantry and cavalry.

They had lighter armor than their Christian enemies, although they were often still equipped with male shirts and helmets. Weapons of choice included the curved scimitar and broad-bladed falcon along with the universally common Acts of War, as in Christian armies, Saracen forces were frequently reinforced with mercenary units. Composed mainly of Turkish horse archers, even less is known about the numerical strength of the Saracen armies, although by the early 12th century the Caliph of Baghdad could muster an army of about 120,000 cavalry. The main tactical arm of the Crusader forces was the heavily armed Mounted Knight. Wearing a padded gambeson under a male shirt along with a large shield or barrel helmet and a lance or mace mounted on large horses and charging in a concentrated mass, such troops had little difficulty in dispersing the much lighter Saracen cavalry, armed and mounted in response to the Arab horseman.

They could only melt under a charge in the hope of inflicting missile casualties by means of the light composite bow they carried. Although both armies employed units of crossbowmen, the dominant era of the English longbow had not yet arrived, so engagements were generally held. They decided with the force of cavalry. tactics again and again throughout the conflicts, heavily armed Christian Knights would charge headlong into the often numerically superior but lighter armed Saracen cavalry and infantry units. 44 The Saracen chieftain Imad in Din Zangi stormed into the city of Odessa and massacred the inhabitants. first serious challenge to the Crusader states that had been established in the Holy Land until then, local alliances, particularly with the Muslim sect known as the Assassins, named for their use of the drug hashish, had allowed the Crusader Kings to peacefully govern this sudden intrusion.

It was as unexpected as it was violent Western Christendom was shaken and the Pope's agent and advisor Bernard of Clairvo called for a response which took the form of the Second Crusade which was led by Louis VII of France who had been planning for some time a war. armed The pilgrimage to the Holy Lands and Conrad III of Germany turned out to be a complete disaster. Conrad's army was simply defeated in battle and massacred by the Turks near the land of the Dollar. Only a few survivors managed to reach Antioch. The French army, on the other hand.

Having departed for Odessa, he made an inexplicable change of plan and instead turned to attack the Syrian city of Damascus. Damascus had been the subject of much fighting, but despite strong ties with its Christian inhabitants, it had never been in the hands of the Crusaders. William of Tire witnessed the attempt. To take the city at the height of the fighting, the citizens, amazed by the number and courage of our army, began to lose faith in their own power to resist. They barricaded all the suburbs of the city in the area where they were with huge beams. our men camped. the only hope is that while the Christians were busy breaking down these barriers, they themselves could flee with their wives and children through the opposite area of ​​the city if Divine favor had been with us, but he who is terrible in his plans for the The sons of men had decided otherwise, because while the citizens were packing their bags and deciding to leave the place, they began to boast about Our greed and came with the intention of raiding with money the sales of those whose bodies they could not defeat by fighting against them. .

They used various arguments, even bringing an innumerable amount of money, to persuade some of our leaders to play the role of the traitor Judas now these men corrupted by gifts and Promises persuaded the Kings and the pilgrim leaders who completely trusted their loyalty and Industry. to transfer the Army to the opposite side of the city they stated that on that side that faces south and east there were no orchards to defend the city nor was access to the wall prevented by any moat or river, the Kings and the leaders of all The Army believed them. and abandoned the place they had previously occupied with great effort and loss of men, transferred all their forces and under the direction of the traitor camped on the opposite side of the city, they realized that their new position was very far from water and they lacked of the previous's abundance of fruit and that their supplies had almost run out, they complained too late but there had been betrayal, a serious food shortage was beginning to appear because the soldiers had been led to believe before leaving that the city would be taken very quickly, so he only bought a few supplies for the day.

This was especially the case for those new to the Holy Land. They hesitated and wondered what they should do. It seemed difficult, if not impossible, to return to the position they were in. They had deserted, therefore the leaders of the pilgrims held a council and decided to return home. The kings and leaders were confused and afraid and their business unfulfilled due to our sins they were forced to leave after four days and camped outside the city. The French army was forced to retreat from repeated counterattacks from Damascus and the Second Crusade fell into disarray, the men returning to their own kingdoms by the same route by which they had come and keeping all the ways of our princes in suspicion, rightly refusing to take part in their plans, the result was that from then on the pilgrims who came here were not so many nor so Ardent and even today those who come do not want to fall into the network of betrayal and That is why they seek to return home quickly.

The Second Crusade ended in 1149 leaving Crusader power in the region weakened and internally fractured by power struggles in the years that followed. Christian leaders fought over authority in the Holy Land, while Damascus actually fell to Nuradin, the son of Zangli. In this context, a new threat arose after the death of Nuradian in 1174, a commanderKurd named Saladin took Damascus in 1176 was the ruler of all Egypt and could establish control of all the Muslim lands bordering the Crusader states through truces and the intelligent division of his enemies. In this way, this intelligent and capable soldier was able to concentrate all of his forces. attention to Jerusalem and its holy war against the crusaders God be exalted and as for those who fight for us we guide them along our path in fact God is on the side of those who do good there are many texts on Jihad in the Quran and I have been extremely diligent in waging this holy war and constantly kept in mind that one could swear by the right hand without fear of contradicting oneself that from the time I first set out for Jihad until the day of my death I have not spent or a single gold or silver coins, except in Jihad and pious deeds, my heart and mind are so dominated by this burning zeal for Jihad, but I cannot think of anything else due to my desire to fight for the cause of God.

I have left behind my family, my country, my children. house and the entire city under my control because I am Saladin God is my Lord having captured all the coastal cities but Tire Antioch and Tripoli finally invaded Galilee the military genius of Saladin would be confirmed just over a decade later a single overwhelming victory over the Christians would send terrible repercussions throughout Western Europe in July 1187 Saladin's army of one hundred thousand men surrounded the crusaders for 1,200 nights and twenty thousand infantry on a plain west of Tiberius marked by two hills known as the Horns of Hatim stayed awake all that night of July 2. 1187 archers and had filled their wooden and leather quivers with arrows the number of arrows I distributed amounted to 400 charges not counting the supply carried by 70 dramatars I had brought to the battlefield from which anyone could take a supply of atoms is the On the day of the dawn of July, our archers emerged, becoming the same.

The people of Hell shot with the boys with the arrows. There was a cracking of bows in the rope blockade that day and the Army poured on the Franksters. Burning rays that the heat ignited the forces. of evil began to fade, a scorching first descended the scorched air as passions turned to fear those dogs panting their tongues cooing plagued by chaos within themselves turning their minds to thoughts of water only to be greeted by the Flames of hell and being defeated by the fire of the midday song, a crusader who survived the confrontation recorded his experiences at the precise moment the fight began.

Raymond III, Count of Tripoli, left the place pretending to flee. It is rumored that he did so with a prior agreement so that our troops were dispersed apparently affected by the Terror due to the desertion of someone who should have been their support while the spirits of the enemy were enraged, so the lord handed over his people also to the sword entangled in the conflict over his inheritance to slaughter and plunder as the sins of humanity. demanded that Saladin's forces indeed proved too strong for the Franks who were finally driven to the Horns of Hateen; once surrounded, the defeat of the Crusader army was inevitable, no matter how hard they thought they were reported, no matter how often They gathered together, every time they were surrounded, not even an ant came out from among them nor could it.

They defended themselves from the attack, they retreated to the Mantra team to escape the storm of Destruction, but in our team they found themselves camped by fatal rays, the arrowheads paralyzed them, the Spikes placed them on those that immobilized them. Faith Calamity chewed them up and the mess contaminated them. Since the Frankish occupation of the Syrian coast, the Muslims' thirst for victory had not been quenched to such an extent as it was on the day of hatred in July 1187. Allah, may He be honored and glorified, gave me the advantage and It allowed them to carry out what the kings had proven deficient in, Saladin's victory was overwhelming and the losses of the crusaders, in fact, were so great, so many were killed, so many wounded and so many chained, that how the people were completely defeated or it was a pitiful side even for the enemy who was still the cross of our salvation that life would be taken into the hands of the enemy and along with it fell its bearers the bishop of acre and the defender of the Holy Sepulcher one killed the other captured when the The noise of the battle had ceased and Saladin saw the captives being dragged among the scattered dead, he raised his eyes to heaven and thanked his God for the victory, he even stated that it was our evil, not his power, he gave him the victory and the turn of events led to our arm, no matter how small, generally prevailing.

With the help of God on this occasion, however, we were not with the Lord nor he with us and our troops were completely defeated, although it was estimated that they were no more than 20,000 of the thousands that the Christian army was torn to pieces after the battle. . Saladin showed his renowned generosity by pardoning many of the prisoners for ransom; Indeed, Saladin's capacity for mercy, magnanimity, and victory is well documented among Christian and Muslim accounts alike. Once, during the siege of Jerusalem, an army scout came to us with a sobbing woman beating her chest from where she came. the Frankish Garrison Discount Expo and wants to see you my master, we brought her here question, he said yesterday some Muslim thieves came into my store and robbed my little girl all night and our orders told me that the king of Muslims is merciful, we will let you Go to him you can ask him to give you back your daughter and I have come and put all my hopes in you my eyes filled with tears I sent to the slave market to find the girl and in less than an hour a rider arrived with the child on her shoulders as soon as she showed them the girl's mother threw herself on the ground and smeared her face with sand everyone present cried with emotion she looked at the sky and prayed with relief and on Thanksgiving Day this was how her daughter accompanied her back to the canvas tears however, all the captured Templars and hospitals were executed in October Saladin had captured Jerusalem and once again the Western world panicked in 1190 the Third Crusade was launched, this time the Eastern Expedition, feverishly raised , was composed of French, English, German and Scandinavian troops, the German troops were Led by their emperor Frederick the First Barbarossa, now almost 70 years old, had the misfortune of marching overland towards Constantinople only to drown in an Armenian river.

The English and French traveled by sea and spent much time in ports of call such as Sicily. As a result, they did not reach Palestine until 1191. The French king Philip Augustus and the English king Richard the Lionheart persistently fought each other even as they landed and began plundering their way east. The contrast in character between the two leaders was stark. Philip of France was known to be unhealthy nervous, cunning and cruel and relied heavily on duplicity to achieve his political ends. Richard of England was a naturally charismatic personality and, although he was as cruel as Philip, he was reckless. handsome and inspiring in July, however, the crusaders managed to end Saladin's two-year siege of the port of Acre and marched towards the city.

The Saracen armor supply route was then cut by Italian warships which also prevented reinforcements from passing through the countryside and the Crusaders established themselves. on the rescue of the Saracen prisoners when the ransom payment did not arrive on time Richard had 2,700 Saracen prisoners executed after two weeks Philip Augustus returned to France noticeably depleting the forces of the crusaders despite this Richard characteristically confronted the forces of Saladin in a battle not far from Jaffa on the plane of Asuf a site of great strategic importance with the sea on their flank, Richard's heavily armored troops strongly withstood the hail of Saracen arrows before unleashing his deadly Ace, the charge of heavy cavalry to great effect, although with such a depleted force it was impossible to achieve a total victory.

The crusaders finally won on the day one of Richard's veterans relates that as the Christians continued the slaughter by striking with their swords, the Turks began to panic and weaken for a time as the battle swung back and forth, each Both sides responded blow after blow and fought for victory. some were treated covered in blood, others were wounded and ran to death, many flags could be seen falling to the Earth with banners of all shapes and sizes and countless penances and banners, trusty swords scattered around metal tipped darts, Turkish bows and clubs bristling with sharp teeth.

On the battlefield more than 20 carts loaded with ships, arrows with javelins and other missiles could have been collected. Large numbers of bearded Turks lay dead and mutinied with a courage born of desperation. Others continued to fight, but as our forces gained ground, some were knocked from their horses and hid in the undergrowth, while others climbed trees only to be pierced by arrows, falling to the Earth with terrible screens, others left their horses of their own free will and slipped away in flight across a dangerous desert of the sea where they heard themselves in the depths. From cliffs up to 30 meters high, the enemy was gloriously routed so that for two miles nothing but a flea could be seen.

They, who had been served so firmly and so swollen with pride by the help of God, fell into their arrogance, although Richard managed to After the victory over Saladin and fought in Palestine for some time, he never managed to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem after that a little victor soon, on September 29, 1191, defortified the city with masters on the wall with the intention of protecting the interests of Christianity to the best of our ability after defeating Saladin has not dared to confront the Christians but who like a lion and his den has been hiding in secret and plotting to kill the friends of the Cross like sheep or Slaughter in the same way he has laid waste and trampled the land of Syria before him. comes to read the Quran for Good Hope, but soon, God willing, the inheritance of the Lord will be completely recovered, since in its recovery we have exhausted not only our money, time but also our body, and we inform your fraternal presentation that we certainly cannot remain.

In the country of Syria after Easter, as well as at the beginning of this Expedition, people are encouraged to serve Almighty God because there is a great need to strongly incite the same man to restore his holy inheritance or it will be too late forever and will eventually be affected by both illness and disease. Following worrying news from home where war had broken out between France and England, Richard reluctantly agreed to a three-year truce with Saladin. Saladin's brother and governor of the coastal zone negotiated peace on various terms when these were written and read to Richard. gave his consent, he could not expect to be sicker as he was with little prospect of help and no more than a couple of miles from the enemy lines, anyone who maintains that any other reaction was possible in the matter of this treaty must incur The charge. dishonest thinking Richard only wanted a temporary truce, in fact he wanted to see his own land again and re-equip himself with men and money and then he would return.

He swore and uprooted Jerusalem from Saladin's weed. Saladin sent messages swearing that by Almighty God and the Holy Lord, he held Richard's pride of integrity and excellence in such high esteem that if he had to lose his land during his lifetime, he would prefer that it be taken by someone of such power and courage that any other prince I had ever seen. the men never met again Saladin died in 1193 while Richard languished in Vienna prison a king held to ransom after Saladin's death the Saracen Empire crumbled with the passing of these two unforgettable leaders the days of the true Crusades they also ended the subsequent loss of acre to the Turks caused the irremediable collapse of Crusader power in Palestine.

Never again could Western Europe join the Cross, now completely preoccupied with its own wars and national intrigues, although throughout the 14th and 15th centuries attempts were made to curb the power of the powerful Ottoman Turks. They intended to achieve lasting success, but the dream of recovering Jerusalem (the world's navy from the hands of the infidels) continued to haunt the minds of men as late as 1492, when the renowned explorer Christopher Columbus suggested that the riches of their new world could be used to set free the holy city today, almost a thousand years later, it is easy to relegate the Crusades to history as a litany of humanity's folly and its horrible capacity for destruction and cruelty in the name of religion, but even today thescourge of holy war lives as a grim reminder.

From the sweat of blood and the eternal faith of the wars of the cross.