Protecting Christianity and Pilgrims (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
Protecting Christianity and Pilgrims
Introduction: the need for knights in Outremer
After the success of the First Crusade in 1099, the establishment of Christian states in the Holy Land created a new challenge: how to protect pilgrims making the dangerous journey to sacred sites. The term Outremer (meaning 'overseas') referred to these crusader states, and they faced constant threats from Muslim forces throughout the 12th century.
The pilgrimage routes to the Holy Land were fraught with danger. Pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem and other holy sites faced attacks from Muslim raiders operating from key strongholds. The chronicler Daniel of Kiev, who undertook a pilgrimage between 1106 and 1107, recorded how Muslims used the coastal city of Ascalon as a base to launch attacks on Christian pilgrims. These threats were not isolated incidents but represented a sustained pattern of violence against Christian travellers.
The Crisis of 1120
The most devastating attack occurred in 1120, when Muslim forces from Tyre and Ascalon ambushed a group of 700 pilgrims journeying to Outremer. In this single raid, 300 pilgrims were killed and 60 were captured. This shocking loss of life demonstrated the urgent need for military protection of pilgrims.
The Muslim threat persisted throughout the century, as evidenced by King Amalric's letter to the archbishop of Reims in 1169, which specifically mentioned the ongoing dangers faced by Christian pilgrims.
The military orders
Formation of the Templars
The constant threat to pilgrims inspired a radical new solution: groups of knights who would dedicate their entire lives to protecting Christianity in the East. In 1120, two French knights, Hugh of Payns and Geoffrey of St Omer, along with several companions, officially founded what became known as the Templar movement. The name came from their headquarters at the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
The Templars represented a revolutionary concept in medieval society. They received formal approval from the Church at the Council of Troyes in 1129, which gave them official legitimacy and support. This approval transformed crusading from purely a temporary military expedition into a potential lifelong vocation for some knights. They could now dedicate themselves to permanent military service in Outremer, similar to how monks in western Europe devoted their lives to spiritual service.
The Unique Status of Templars
The Templars were permitted to engage in violent action in defence of Christianity—something unprecedented for those who had taken monastic vows. Bernard of Clairvaux praised this unique combination of religious devotion and military service in his influential work De laude novae militae (In Praise of the New Knighthood).
However, the appeal of joining the Templars was limited by the demanding requirements. Brother knights (full members of the order) had to take strict monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These vows were similar to those taken by monks, with one crucial difference: Templars were permitted to engage in violent action in defence of Christianity. This unique combination of religious devotion and military service was praised by Bernard of Clairvaux in his influential work De laude novae militae (In Praise of the New Knighthood). Bernard presented Templars as role models for other knights, highlighting the extraordinary commitment they had made.
Limited Recruitment Despite Prestige
Despite this prestigious reputation, the Templars never attracted large numbers. At their peak, the order had only around 500 knights. The demanding nature of the monastic vows proved too great a sacrifice for most knights, who were unwilling to give up prospects of marriage, wealth, and independence.
This relatively small membership reveals that while the Templars were highly respected, few knights were willing to make such a complete life commitment.
The Hospitallers
The Hospitaller movement had slightly different origins but followed a similar path to militarisation. This order began in the 1070s with the stated aim of providing support for pilgrims through medical care and accommodation. It became an independent religious order in 1113, officially recognized by the Church.
At its height, the Hospitallers had between 300 and 500 members, a similar size to the Templars. Their primary responsibility was running the Order of St John's Hospital in Jerusalem, which by 1185 had an impressive capacity of 2,000 beds for sick or poor pilgrims. This hospital played a crucial role in crusading society, offering medical care and shelter to thousands of pilgrims who might otherwise have died from disease or exposure during their journey.
However, the Hospitallers did not remain purely a medical order. Like the Templars, they began to take on defensive military roles, which attracted knights to join their ranks. The militarisation of the Hospitallers occurred in the 1130s. Clear evidence of this transformation includes King Fulk of Jerusalem's donation of the Castle of Beit Jibrin to the order in 1136, and by 1144 the Hospitallers had acquired a large estate in northern Tripoli that required military defence.
Parallel Development of the Military Orders
This militarisation paralleled the growth of the Templars. From 1127, the Templars had sufficient financial resources to maintain a small company of knights from their own funds. Both orders therefore helped transform crusading from a temporary venture into a permanent vocation for a select group of dedicated knights.
Settlement in the crusader states and the acquisition of wealth
Wealth as a recruitment tool
The promise of land and wealth played a significant role in recruiting knights for the First Crusade. In Robert of Reims's account of Pope Urban II's sermon at Clermont in 1095, the Pope (according to Robert) drew a stark contrast between western Europe and the Holy Land. He described the West as overcrowded with limited economic opportunities and frequent famines. In comparison, he portrayed the East as rich and fertile—a land flowing with milk and honey, as biblical scripture described it.
This sermon made explicit what many knights were already thinking: crusading offered more than just spiritual rewards. The appeal of material gain was real, even if it coexisted with religious motivations rather than replacing them.
Primary Source: Robert of Reims's Account of Urban II's Sermon (1095)
Urban reportedly addressed the knights as strong soldiers and offspring of unvanquished parents, urging them to remember their strength. He described how their homeland was shut in by the sea, surrounded by mountain ranges, overcrowded, and lacking in wealth. It scarcely produced enough food for its own farmers.
This poverty, Urban argued, led to hatred, quarrels, and wars among the people. He called on them to stop these conflicts and instead take the road to the Holy Sepulchre, rescue that land from a dreadful race, and rule over it themselves, noting that this land which Scripture says flows with milk and honey was given by God to the children of Israel.
Analysis: This source reveals how economic arguments were woven into religious appeals. Urban presented the crusade as both a holy mission and an economic opportunity, suggesting that God intended Christians to possess this wealthy land.
Evidence of looting and booty
Chronicle accounts of the crusades support the idea that material rewards mattered to crusaders. After Jerusalem fell to the crusaders in 1099, the army began a massacre of the city's inhabitants and systematically plundered any valuables they could find. Booty—money, goods, and other valuables taken by soldiers during campaign—was an expected part of warfare. Only after completing this looting did the crusaders travel to the Holy Sepulchre to finish their crusading journey with prayers of thanksgiving.
The Mentality of Medieval Warfare
This sequence of events is revealing. It illustrates that looting was part of the mental world of crusaders—an accepted and expected practice. Importantly, the pursuit of booty existed alongside religious motives rather than replacing them. Crusaders saw no contradiction between seeking material rewards and fulfilling a sacred pilgrimage.
The concept of mouvances
Pope Urban's sermon also touched on another motivation: escape from difficult circumstances. Many European knights lived in a world of mouvances—a term describing their dependent status. These knights relied on the patronage of someone wealthier and more powerful than themselves. They had to compete constantly with other knights for favour and influence with their patron. This created a world of limited opportunities and intense rivalry.
For some knights, a crusade represented a chance to escape this restrictive system and make something significant of their lives. This was particularly true for younger sons and those with limited inheritance prospects.
In search of power: the First Crusade
Knights seeking land and power
While most crusaders were motivated by a mixture of religious devotion and the hope of some material gain, only a few leading knights went explicitly to grab land and establish themselves as rulers in the Holy Land. There is little evidence that the majority of the crusading army shared this ambition. The knights who clearly went with territorial aims were:
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Bohemond of Taranto: He already controlled Norman-ruled lands in southern Italy but wanted to become a prince with his own independent territory. His ambition drove much of his behaviour during and after the crusade.
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Baldwin of Boulogne: As a younger son, he had very limited inheritance opportunities back home in France. The crusade represented his chance to create a kingdom for himself, which he eventually did by becoming Count of Edessa and later King of Jerusalem.
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Tancred of Hauteville: As Bohemond's nephew, he had even fewer inheritance opportunities than his uncle. He needed the crusade to establish his own position and acquire land.
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Raymond of Toulouse: Unlike the others, Raymond was already a wealthy and powerful count. However, he went on crusade with his third wife, Elvira, which suggests he planned to claim and settle in his own territory in the Holy Land rather than return to France.
Case study: Bohemond of Taranto
Bohemond of Taranto's career perfectly illustrates how the pursuit of power motivated some crusaders. He was a Norman from southern Italy who had previously tried to invade the Byzantine Empire in the 1080s. This earlier attempted invasion reveals his longstanding territorial ambitions.
His ambition for power was evident throughout the First Crusade. Before the crusade began, Bohemond had taken an oath to the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius Comnenus, promising to hand over the city of Antioch when it was captured. This oath was meant to ensure that the crusaders would return Byzantine territory rather than keeping it for themselves.
Bohemond's Betrayal
However, when Antioch fell in 1098, Bohemond refused to honour his oath. Instead, he declared himself Prince of Antioch, a position he held from 1098 to 1111. This betrayal of his oath shows how territorial ambition could override other commitments, even sacred vows made to the Byzantine Emperor.
Bohemond's pursuit of power did not end there. Between 1106 and 1107, he travelled back to western Europe to raise another crusade. This time, his target was not Muslims but the Byzantine Empire itself. Although this crusade failed in its attempt to attack the Byzantines, Bohemond's willingness to keep fighting reveals that power was indeed an important motive for some crusaders.
The Crusade of 1107
Bohemond's Crusade of 1107 demonstrates how a knight could be driven by territorial aims thinly disguised as religious purposes. After the Franks were defeated at the Battle of Harran in 1104, Turkish forces prevented further Frankish expansion in the East. This gave the Byzantine Empire a chance to regain important settlements in the region.
In 1105, Bohemond travelled to southern Italy and sought the support of Pope Paschal II. He presented several arguments, but his chief point was that Emperor Alexius I had prevented pilgrims from travelling to Outremer. This was a clever accusation because it framed his conflict with Byzantium as a religious issue rather than a personal territorial dispute.
Papal Support for Bohemond's Crusade
Pope Paschal II accepted Bohemond's arguments and gave his approval to a new crusade. A papal legate, Bruno of Segni, was appointed to give the campaign religious authority. The crusade was formally proclaimed at a council at Poitiers in 1106.
Bohemond's army assembled in October 1107 in Bari, southern Italy, and began attacking the Byzantine port of Durazzo. However, Emperor Alexius was well prepared. He waited out the siege with a force of around 60,000 men. Bohemond's army suffered from supply problems and was eventually forced to surrender.
The outcome was disastrous for Bohemond. He had to submit to the Treaty of Devol in 1108, which made him a vassal of Alexius I and restored a Greek patriarch in Antioch. Bohemond had been motivated by a desire to expand his principality, but instead he lost a considerable amount of power. This failed crusade reveals both the strength of territorial ambitions among some crusaders and the risks involved in pursuing them.
How many stayed behind?
Despite the famous territorial ambitions of men like Bohemond of Taranto and Raymond of Toulouse, there is actually little evidence that most knights were motivated by the prospect of permanent settlement in the Holy Land. The numbers tell a revealing story.
Limited Settlement After the First Crusade
During the final stage of the First Crusade, approximately 1,200 knights fought at the Battle of Ascalon. Of these, only around 200-300 settled in the region afterwards. There are accounts of reasonable numbers settling at Edessa and perhaps 3,000 in Antioch, but these figures are still small compared to the total number of crusaders who participated in the expedition.
Over the entire 12th century, there is evidence of only about 200 new settlements established by western Europeans in Outremer.
This limited settlement pattern strongly suggests that most crusaders viewed their participation as a temporary stage in their lives rather than a permanent opportunity to establish themselves in the East. The vast majority returned home after completing their pilgrimage and military service.
The cost of crusading
Financial barriers to crusading
The primary reason there is so little evidence for greed as a motivation for crusaders, particularly after the First Crusade, was the enormous cost involved. Many crusaders returned from Outremer in 1099 in a state of poverty. The booty they had taken during the campaign was either used to fund the journey home or was simply too heavy to transport back to western Europe. The 15th-century image of the looting of Jerusalem illustrates the difficulties of transporting loot—the valuable items were often bulky and there were insufficient horses to carry them.
This financial reality sent a very strong message to future crusaders: they would not return from the East with fabulous riches. In fact, the prospect of wealth was largely illusory.
The true financial cost
Knights who planned to embark on a crusade had to gather approximately five to six times their annual income just to fund the expedition. This represented an enormous financial burden. The costs included:
- Equipment (armour, weapons, horses)
- Transport (sea passage or overland journey)
- Supplies for the journey
- Provisions for retainers and servants
- Funds to maintain oneself during the campaign
Cost as a Barrier, Not an Incentive
This high cost explains why, as the 12th century progressed, popes and kings became increasingly involved in the fundraising process. Individual knights simply could not afford to finance crusades on their own.
For example, Louis VII of France asked for financial help in 1146 to fund the Second Crusade. This royal appeal for funds shows that even wealthy monarchs needed assistance to mount a crusade. Similarly, King Henry II of England introduced the Saladin Tithe in 1188 to pay for the Third Crusade. This was a special tax levied on income and movable property to raise crusading funds.
Institutional Fundraising
These institutional fundraising efforts reveal an important truth: instead of wealth being a motivating factor to join a crusade, it was actually a serious barrier to potential crusader knights. The financial obstacle was so significant that it required organized, large-scale fundraising just to make participation possible.
Exam guidance: analysing motivations
When answering the question "Were religious ideals the main motive for the Second and Third Crusades?" (a typical 20-mark question), you need to balance religious motives against other factors. Key points to consider:
Religious factors:
- Protection of pilgrims and holy sites
- Responding to papal calls for crusade
- Seeking spiritual rewards and salvation
- Defending Christianity against Muslim advances
Political and territorial factors:
- Opportunities for land acquisition
- Escape from limited inheritance prospects
- Pursuit of power and princely status
- Competition among European nobles
Economic factors:
- Limited—cost was a barrier rather than an incentive
- Booty existed but was difficult to transport home
- Most crusaders returned in poverty
Crafting a Strong Answer
For a strong answer, you should acknowledge that motivations were mixed and varied between different types of crusaders. Leading nobles like Bohemond had clear territorial ambitions, while ordinary knights were more motivated by religious devotion, even if they hoped for some material benefit. The key is to evaluate which factors were most significant and provide specific evidence to support your judgments.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
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Muslim attacks on pilgrims in the early 12th century created an urgent need for military protection, culminating in the devastating raid of 1120 that killed 300 pilgrims.
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The Templars and Hospitallers transformed crusading into a permanent vocation for some knights, but strict monastic vows limited membership to around 300-500 in each order.
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Only a few leading knights (Bohemond, Baldwin, Tancred, Raymond) went on crusade with clear territorial ambitions to establish their own principalities.
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Limited settlement after the First Crusade—only 200-300 out of 1,200 knights stayed in the region—shows that most crusaders saw it as a temporary venture, not permanent migration.
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The high cost of crusading (five to six times annual income) was a major barrier rather than wealth being an incentive, leading to organized fundraising by popes and kings throughout the 12th century.