Second Crusade example essay topic

Well, I am glad that I am able to continue my story. You see, even before I was training long and hard to work for the title I now posses, being that of a knight, I was always quite dedicated to my Heavenly Lord. That is why as soon as I was old enough and finally dubbed a knight I went straight to the head guys and signed up for the second crusade. You see, I was religiously motivated to win this holy war, and take back our rightfully Christian Holy Land. After the successful first crusade led and issued by Pope Urban II, a second was soon needed.

In 1146, the Crusade principality of Edessa fell to the resurgent Muslims. As a result, Pope Eugene II called for a new crusade, the Second. He was enthusiastically supported in this call by his mentor, St. Bernard of Clair vaux. So, with everything in place and we, the crusaders, were ready to go! After all, I were promised a remission of my sins in return for risking my life for god and his church. Eventually by 1147 all things came together and the whole movement had generated a very enthusiastic group.

After all this crusade had to succeed for they had all the experience of the first crusade to go on. I started out in Metz than worked my way down along with some other knights and crusaders southeast through Bulgaria. We all gathered outside of Constantinople, and from there we moved to and attacked Damascus, a Muslim city. which had up until that attack always been a Christian ally. While most of my fellow crusaders crusades on the eastern border of Germany, I traveled to Iberia. From there, and after visiting through several other and different cities we finally arrived in Jerusalem.

We were able to hold onto Jerusalem until the Muslim counterattack. The Christians had been on the defensive since 1169. Baldwin V of Jerusalem died in August 1186, and his mother and aunt fought for control of Jerusalem, leaving the Christians with a crisis of leadership. Saladin invaded the Frankish territory in 1187 and in July of that year defeated the combined armies of the crusader states at the Battle of Hattie.

The destruction of the army left the territories vulnerable, and Saladin was able to retake Jerusalem and most of the territory of the Crusaders, leaving only Tyre, Tripoli and Antioch. These were, however, enough of a foothold for reinforcement and the Third Crusade to enter the Mideast. After Lisbon was retaken many of the crusaders felt they had done their duty and returned home. The crusade was viewed as more of a contract and the crusaders had felt that once they had fought the first battle and won they had fulfilled their contract. Some continued on after helping Henry of Portugal win back Lisbon for the chance to visit the Holy Lands as a sort of pilgrimage and in the hopes of winning estates and title and honors in the Holy Land, not wishing to return to their homelands. After all the attacks, sieges and fighting, we did not conquer the Holy Land instead, The second crusade ended in humiliation in July of 1148.

The downfall of the second crusade was due to poor strategic planning, division within the ranks, poor planning for all the necessary provisions and the underestimation of their enemy. So there you have it, my life as a crusader and a knight. I fought for my God, but we were not able to hold onto his land. Maybe the next crusade will turn out better.

Bibliography

1.) S chaff, Philip. "Second Crusade"1894.
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2.) "The Second Crusade" 12 Oct. 2003.
3.) University of Michigan. "Second Crusade" 2003.
4.) Mar, Paul. "Medieval Sourcebook" 1996.
5.) Hals all, Paul. "Internet Medieval Sourcebook" jan 20 1996.