Latest / Short History of the Christian Church / 054 - 23 The Crusades AD 1096-1270

Transcript

054 - 23 The Crusades AD 1096-1270 · Short History of the Christian Church

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Part two, Chapter twenty three of Short History of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Christian Church by John Fletcher Hurst. This LibriVox recording is
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: in the public domain, Chapter twenty three. The Crusades a. D.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Ten ninety six to twelve seventy. The origin of the
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Crusades is to be found in the occupation of Palestine
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: by the Mohammedan conquerors. The Pilgrims from Europe cherished the
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: warmest attachment to the sacred places. The Mohammedans not only
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: now occupied them, but persecuted the Pilgrims. The sanctuaries were
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: profaned and the venerated patriarchs thrown into prison. Christian merchants
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: from Pisa, Amalfi, Genoa and other rich Italian ports were
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: fortunate if they escaped with their lives. The evil reports
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: came back to Europe and took practical form in military
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: expeditions against the Mohammedans. These were called Crusades because of
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: the cross crouks worn by the warriors. Peter the Hermit
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: was the apostle of the first Crusade. Pope Gregory seventh
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: was the first, it is believed, who conceived the idea
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: of sending from europe An armed expedition not only to
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: punish the Mohammedan rulers, but to occupy the country and
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: rule it as a Christian nation. His successors, Victor the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Third and Urban the Second, indulged the same strong hope.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: All that was wanting was a popular leader, someone to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: fire the heart of Christian Europe. This man was Peter
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: the Hermit. He had been a soldier under the Counts
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: of Bologne, but forsook his military career, made a journey
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: to Palestine and saw the indignities suffered by the Pilgrims.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Here he was aroused to great enthusiasm in favor of
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the conquest of the country by Christians from Europe. To Simeon,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was comparatively helpless the Eastern Emperor,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: not being able to do anything for the Christians, Peter said,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the nations of the West shall take up arms in
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: your cause. Peter was true to his pledge. He returned
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to Europe, traveled through the German countries, and roused the
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: people to a frenzy of indignation against the Moslem faith.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: He presented a singular spectacle. He was a dwarf, wore
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: neither shoes nor Hat and rode through central Europe on
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: an ass His appeals were irresistible. The multitudes regarded him
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: as the representative of a holy cause, and through him
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: organized the First Crusade. The varied fortunes of the Crusades
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: furnish a striking historical picture. We find a rich combination
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: of light and shade. Peter the Hermit and Walter the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Penniless were the humble organizers of the Great movement. Some
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: military leaders rallied to their standard. The best blood of
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Europe was burning with sympathy with Christians in their aspirations
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: to kneel beside the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem and rule
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: over the land in which Jesus had lived. Six different
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: armies constituted the First Crusade. They numbered six hundred thousand
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: people who were led by Godfrey, Hugh the Great, Tannered,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Raymond of Toulouse, and Robert of Normandy. This crusade, begun
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: in ten ninety six, resulted in the capture of Jerusalem
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: within two years, with Godfrey of Bouyon as king of
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: the Sacred City. The next Crusade was on a still
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: more magnificent scale. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was threatened. Saint
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Bernard was the apostle. The kings became leaders. Louis the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: seventh of France and Conrad the Third of Germany led
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: one million, two hundred thousand men against the Saracens. The
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: great object was to reduce Damascus as a support to
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was a failure, and only
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the mere fragments of the armies reached Europe again. Saladin,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: the Great Mohammedan Chief, conquered Jerusalem in eleven eighty seven,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: and this was the signal for a new attempt to
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: rescue the Holy City and the entire country. Germany under
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Frederic Barabosa, France under Philip Augustus, and England under Richard
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: corde Leon united in a great crusade. This was a
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: failure because of division among the leaders, but they succeeded
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: in gaining from Saladin one concession, namely the freedom of
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Christians from taxes and from molestation in visiting the Sacred City.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: A fourth crusade begun by the Knights of Saint John,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: proved a failure. The Children's Crusade, organized in twelve twelve twelve,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: shows the extent to which the wild fanaticism of the
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: times could go. Thirty thousand boys, united under the leadership
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: of a shepherd boy, Stephen of Vendome, set sail from
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Marseilles for Palestine. Some of the vessels were wrecked, while
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the rest were driven ashore on the Egyptian coast, where
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the deluded boys were sold as slaves. The sixth Crusade,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: under the direction of Frederic the second of Germany, proved
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: a success. Palestine was ceded to the emperor and became
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: a Christian land. The seventh Crusade lost all that the
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: preceding had won. The Mohammedans recaptured the country. The last
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: crusade was under the guidance of Louis the ninth of France,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: commonly called Saint Louis because of his deep piety and
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: high moral principle. Cabul in his Christian year thus describes him,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: where shall the Holy Cross find rest on a crowned
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: monarch's mailed breast, like some bright angel or the darkling scene?
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Through court and camp he holds his heavenward course serene.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: After his death, Edward the First of England took the leadership,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: but this crusade also was a hopeless failure. The land
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: was in undisputed possession of the Mohammedans. Europe was exhausted,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: the cause was lost. While the direct object of the
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Crusades was not gained, there were important in direct results.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: First of all, it is likely that but for this
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: important diversion to the Moslem conquerors, they would have invaded
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Europe in such vast masses as to gain a permanent foothold.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: The bravery of the Christians, their ungovernable enthusiasm, and their
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: self denial as shown in the Crusades, proved to the
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Mohammedans the character of the foe with which they had
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: to deal. They found that the Western and Northern Christians
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: were far different from those populations of the Eastern Empire,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: which they had easily conquered. The Crusades, with all their
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: waste of men and treasure, seemed to have saved France
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: and Central Germany and Scandinavia and even Britain from the
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: hand of the Saracen. They arrested him, held him at bay,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: and inspired in him a healthy terror of the Christian soldier,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: from which he has never been relieved. The positive benefits
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: of the Crusades towards the development of the people are numerous.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: The old feudal system of private warfare had long been
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: a curse to the empire. The Knight, with his retainers,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: could make war on his brother Knight. All of Central
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: and Western Europe was torn up by this feudal and
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: predatory system. The Crusades broke it up and bound the
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: people together by a common law. When the last Crusaders
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: came home from Palestine, he found himself the member of
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: a broad commonwealth and not the head of a clan.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: The cruelty of rulers was arrested, the voice of the
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: people was heard for the first time, and kings learned
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: that there was a limit to their authority. Commerce took
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: larger and freer shape. The far eastern countries were brought
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: into close relationship with the Western. Some new sciences, such
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: as medicine and astronomy were introduced into Europe. As a
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: field for literature, the Crusades have inspired many writers in
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: all subsequent times. As an aid for comprehending their spirit
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: and the age in which they were organized, we may
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: reckon Sir Walter Scott's novels The Talisman, The Betrothed and
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Count Robert of Paris the scenes of which were laid
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: in those heated times. End of Chapter twenty three,