Leadership of Crusade

The eight princes who led the First Crusade

1. Germans: Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin of Boulogne

2. Northern French: Hugh of Vermandois, Robert of Normandy (son of William), Robert of Flanders, Stephen of Blois

3. Southern French: Raymond of Toulouse

4. Italian Normans: Bohemond of Taranto and his brother Tancred of Hauteville

The aim of the eight princes

Aim: Capturing Jerusalem

1. Those who achieved it: Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Normandy, Robert of Flanders, Raymond of Toulouse

2. Those who did something else: Baldwin of Boulogne (abandoned crusade after becoming Count of Edessa); Hugh of Vermandois (abandoned crusade after capture of Antioch); Stephen of Blois (deserted due to difficulties at Antioch); Bohemond of Taranto (abandoned crusade after becoming Prince of Antioch)

Issues that divided the eight princes

1. Attitude towards the pope: Raymond fully backed Urban vs Godfrey who had attacked Rome in 1080s

2. Attitude towards Alexios: Bohemond had been at war with Alexios vs Robert of Flanders whose father backed Alexios militarily

3. Attitude to taking power: Bohemond wanted land vs Raymond wanted glory by being in command

Early divisions of the eight princes

1. They arrived at different times at the border of the Byzantine Empire in 1096

2. The decision or not to swear oath to Alexios - Godfrey etc took it seriously, Bohemond took it but ignored it to become prince of Antioch, Raymond swore a weaker oath, Baldwin avoided taking it at all

The significance of the siege of Nicaea

First time the eight princes had to work together - blockaded the Askanian lake + laid siege to fortress

The role of the Council of Princes

1. Provided a forum to reach decisions collectively

2. Ensured communication between different waves of crusaders (e.g. at Dorylaeum)

How Baldwin became Count of Edessa

1. Wanted his own territory so abandoned main crusade army.

2. Travelled east to be adopted by Edessa's ruler Toros in 1098.

3. Toros murdered, meaning Baldwin became count

The effects of Baldwin acquiring Edessa

1. Baldwin of Boulogne + his army quit the First Crusade

2. Baldwin funded his brother's army with 50,000 bezants

3. Kerbogha tried to retake Edessa before heading to Antioch - gave crusaders time to break into Antioch

The key features of the siege of Antioch.

Antioch protected by Seljuk Yaghi Siyan - siege dragged on for 7.5 months

1. Boosted Bohemond's status (victory at Lake of Antioch + negotiations with Firouz)

2. Damaged morale - famine in December forcing crusaders to forage for food

3. Leaders abandoned the crusade - Tatikios + Stephen of Blois

How Bohemond of Taranto defeated Kerbogha

Kerbogha arrived with 35k troops. Bohemond had 200 knights + few thousand troops.

1. Morale boost after discovery of Holy Lance

2. Bohemond's leadership: broke his army into 7 divisions; tricked Kerbogha into thinking it wasn't a major battle; kept troops back as backup

Reasons for delay after the capture of Antioch

1. Bohemond refused to hand back Antioch to Alexios according to the oath.

2. Raymond of Toulouse refused to accept Bohemond's leadership

3. The pope's representative Adhemar of Le Puy died leaving the Princes Council leaderless

Reasons why Godfrey of Bouillon emerged as leader

1. Raymond of Toulouse lost support of crusaders after attack on Arqah.

2. Raymond then gave up when he heard Baghdad caliph was on his way.

3. Tancred of Hauteville + Robert of Normandy switched support to Godfrey

Reasons why crusaders were able to take Jerusalem

Siege lasted 5 weeks, rather than 7.5 months at Antioch

1. Flexible approach to using different strategies to attack Jerusalem - including siege towers

2. Personal leadership of Godfrey boosted morale

3. Only the most experienced crusaders had made it to Jerusalem

The motives of the leaders of the Second Crusade

1. French King Louis VII - to fulfil his dead brother's vow to go to Jerusalem + to do penance for burning a church at Vitry

2. German King Conrad III - to assert his dominance over other German princes like Welf VI

The good start of the Second Crusade

Conrad III and Louis VII coordinated their journeys to the Byzantine Empire - followed same route across Hungary

The relationship between Conrad, Louis and Manuel

1. Level of military support - First Crusade had Tatikios to guide them.

2. Amount of supplies/provisions - Manuel could shut down markets + raise prices for essential goods

3. Risk of Manuel working with Turks - Manuel had a treaty with Turks so could share secrets with them

4. Potential delay - Manuel could hold up the progress of the crusaders if he wanted

The relationship between Conrad, Louis and Manuel

1. Conrad + Manuel: initially good as they both hated Roger of Sicily, but worsened due to fights breaking out between their soldiers.

2. Louis + Manuel: difficult because Louis had originally wanted to go on crusade with Roger of Sicily, Manuel's enemy

The crossing of Asia Minor

1. Conrad's army ran out of supplies + were attacked by Turks at Dorylaeum= many went home. Conrad then got sick and arrived late to Holy Land

2. Louis' army ran out of supplies + Manuel's guides told Turks where to attack --> Templars then took charge

3. Manuel's promised fleet not big enough to transport crusader armies

Reasons why they gave up on Edessa

Didn't consult with crusader state leaders so didn't know that Edessa had been totally destroyed, first by Zengi then by Nur ad-Din

The Antioch Plan

1. Plan proposed by Raymond of Antioch to attack Nur ad-Din's bases at Aleppo + Shaizar

2. Rejected because Louis was committed to going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem + annoyed that Eleanor, his wife and Raymond's niece, was trying to manipulate him

The significance of the Council of Acre

Attended by Louis, Conrad's barons, Queen Melisende.

Three options: Edessa, Ascalon or Damascus.

Damascus chosen because it was the immediate threat due to rise of Nur ad-Din

The siege of Damascus

Started well after capture of the Damascus river but failed after a change to strategy cut the crusaders off from water and food.

The failure of German contingent

1. Had to fight Emperor Andronicus before getting to Asia Minor.

2. Ran out of food/supplies as they crossed Asia Minor (like First/Second Crusades)

3. Frederick died - soldiers went home

The three issues dividing Philip II and Richard I

1. Richard ended his engagement to Alice, Philip's sister, but only after Philip had vowed to go on crusade

2. Disagreement over who should be king of Jerusalem - Philip backed his cousin Conrad of Montferrat vs Richard backed Guy of Lusignan -> resulted in delay as negotiations took place over who to take charge

3. European politics: Philip left the Holy Land early to conspire against Richard with his brother John

Reasons why Richard attacked Sicily/Cyprus

1. Sicily: to collect dowry payment for his sister --> got 40,000 gold ounces after attack on Messina.

2. Cyprus: ships went missing, ended up fighting Isaac, the island's ruler, Richard invaded then sold island to Templars for 100,000 bezants

The end of the siege of Acre

1. Arrival of fresh troops/supplies with Philip + Richard

2. Construction of siege weapons

Impact of the end of the siege

1. Major morale boost after 2 year siege ended

2. Philip went home leaving Richard in sole command

Evidence of Richard's leadership

1. Organised 70 mile march down coastline to Jaffa - kept soldiers/supplies safe and secure.

2. Defeated Saladin's troops at the Battle of Arsuf

Reasons why Richard didn't attack Jerusalem

1. Listened to advice of Templars/Hospitallers - deal with Saladin THEN take Jersualem.

2. Delay over who should be made King of Jerusalem - Guy made king of Cyprus, Conrad assassinated, then Henry of Champagne

3. Had to wait for Henry's troops after securing coastline.

4. Richard wanted to attack Egypt, Saladin's main base, but French refused and threatened to attack Jerusalem alone.

The terms agreed between Richard and Saladin

1. Christians would keep control of the coast from Tyre to Jaffa

2. Christians would give control of Ascalon back to Saladin

3. Christian pilgrims would be allowed to visit the holy shrines of Jerusalem.

4. Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands.