Friday, March 29, 2024

Top 10 Biggest Mistakes Made During The Crusades

The Crusades are some of the most famous historical events.

They were a series of military campaigns from Medieval England and Europe against the Turks and other peoples who lived near Jerusalem.

These wars were to last for nearly 200 years and many, many lives were lost.

However, throughout the duration of the Crusades some blunders were made, and here are the ten worst of these.

10. Destruction of the Knights Templar

The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it the Temple of Solomon and it is from this location they derived their name of Templar.

This was a military order dedicated to the cause of the Crusades.  Individual Templars were to be poor and pious, but the order as a whole soon became wealthy and powerful.

The Templars created modern banking with a system where pilgrims could deposit money in Europe and withdraw the deposit in the Middle East, making the journey a bit safer from robbers.

However, King Philip IV of France wanted their funds for himself and so, in turn, convinced Pope Clement V that the Templars had become heretical and corrupt.

Across Europe, Templars were arrested and their goods seized; they were then executed.  Many were burned at stake.

9. Children’s Crusade

This was an unsanctioned crusade made up of peasants; it consisted of children, teenagers, women, the elderly, and the poor.

It was organized and led by a young man called Nicholas of Cologne.

The fate of this crusade is unclear, as is the fate of its leader.  It is known that they reached Genoa in 1212.

The Children’s Crusade, by Gustave DoréThe seas did not part for them as expected, so some of the peasants stayed and worked in the area while others made their way on to Rome and beyond.

Nicholas’s father was made an example of by the parents of the missing children and was hung while they were gone.

Many who took part in these crusades went missing, and it is suspected that they were enslaved.