Chapter 15 Section 3 - Kingdoms and Crusades

Summary

     After William the Conqueror was crowned king of England in 1066, the cultures of the Normans and Anglo-Saxons mixed. The power of the English king increased during the rule of Henry II. King John's abuse of power led English nobles to draft the Magna Carta and set up a Parliament, which shared the king's powers. The French created their own parliament called the Estates-General.

     After the Mongols destroyed the Kievan Rus, the Slavs rebuilt the city of Moscow and founded a new Russian state headed by a czar. The city became the headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox Church and grew wealthy from trade.

In 1071 Muslim Turks defeated the Byzantines. Europe responded to the Byzantine emperor's cries for help with a series of Crusades. European crusaders captured Jerusalem, but despite early victories, and more than 200 years of fighting, the last Christian city fell to the Muslims in 1291. The Crusades positively impacted Europe by breaking down feudalism and increasing trade.

Textbook Online

The Crusades - Maps in Motion

Spotlight Video - Kingdoms and Crusades

Spotlight Video Transcripts

Male Narrator: In 1187, a Muslim army batted at the gates of Jerusalem, united behind Saladin, the most powerful commander they had ever had. For four generations, the Holy City had been in the hands of the Christian infidel. Now Saladin was poised to reclaim Jerusalem for the Muslim world. Inside the Holy City the Christian population panicked. Monks hid their sacred icons. They had good reason to be terrified. Saladin was driven on by the terrible events of the first crusade, eight-eight years earlier. Following an appeal from the Catholic Church, the first crusaders had ripped Jerusalem from the heart of the Islamic world, slaughtering every living thing in the name of their Christian God.

Translation: The first crusader invasion of Jerusalem was horrific. A lot of blood was shed for no reason. The amount of bloodshed was not based on military needs, but rather, to create terror.

Male Narrator: Now Saladin had gathered his own terrifying army. He believed that soon Jerusalem and victory would be his. Islam could take its revenge for the first crusade. Jerusalem was at Saladin’s mercy. The loss of Jerusalem was a disaster for Richard and the Christians in Europe. The Pope immediately issued a decree. Jerusalem was to be recaptured at all costs. In Christianity’s darkest hour, Richard prepared to take on Saladin. Richard received a fabric cross that all crusaders pledged to wear until Jerusalem was back in Christian hands. After months at sea, in May 1191, Richard King of England sighted the Holy Land for the first time, and he descended on Acre. He seemed unstoppable. Christianity’s new holy warrior had brought his own brand of hell to the Orient. It was at Acre that Richard King of England earned the title Lion Heart.

Male Speaker: Victory at the siege of Acre was a great breakthrough for Richard. It meant that the Christians had been blessed by God. How else could they explain their victory? It also, in strategic terms, he knew would be a big step forward; it would help to break the power of Saladin; would help open the way to the Holy City of Jerusalem.  

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