Decline of the Decline of the Crusading IdealCrusading Ideal

The Fourth Crusade

Plan of the Crusaders The 4th Crusade was conceived only 4 years after the

death of Richard the Lionheart, in 1201 by Innocent III The plan was to attack the wealthy Muslim Empire of

Egypt, then thrust northward towards Jerusalem Like the 1st crusade nobles were to organise and lead

this expedition, no kings However, Crusading had become rather expensive.

They were forced to borrow enough money from the Venetians to pay for the crusade

Each crusader would then pay their share to cover costs

Plan of Venice Venice was of course happy to take the crusaders

money, but where they as happy to se the crusade succeed?

Venice did a lot of trade with Egypt Trade that would vanish if the crusade was successful So the leader of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, tricked the

crusaders into ordering three times as many ships and supplies as they really needed

This meant the crusaders were now in debt to the Venetians.

Corruption of the Crusade In order to pay off their debts the crusaders were

happy to fight for Venice They helped them collect some debts from the King of

Hungary (A Christian King) And… They even agreed to help the young deposed Alexius

regain his throne of Byzantium Poor Alexius had seen his father blinded and

imprisoned by his Uncle and his claim to the throne ignored, so he offered a lot of money to the crusaders for their help

Attack of Constantinople

Many crusaders felt uncomfortable with fighting for money, but it was the only way to clear their debt and return to the main job of invading Egypt

So they helped Alexius regain his throne Then Alexius refused to pay them… Angered the crusaders stormed the city and

annexed Constantinople for themselves Most of the cities great treasure went back to

Venice

Decline of the Crusading Ideal

Not a single Muslim had died as a result of the 4th crusade

Religion was now no longer as important as money and politics

The crusade had been used to fight Christians, this would set a precedent for future misuse of the crusading movement

There are other crusades to the Holy Lands after the 4th , but the crusading ideal did not survive

Other Crusades The 5th crusade was launched in 1213, again by

Innocent III. It attacked Egypt, and showed many signs of a renewed ideal, but unsuccessful

The 6th crusade was an all French affair,but the King Louis IX was forced to surrender to the Egyptians

The Children’s crusade was a final nail in the coffin. A 12 year old shepherd boy from France had a vision of a crusade of children freeing Jerusalem.

Almost 20 000 children aged 10-12 attempted the journey to Jerusalem, but most were sold into slavery