Leaders+of+the+Crusades

= **Leaders of the Crusade- Kings and other important Leaders** =

The First Crusade
painted by Giacomo Jaquerio in Saluzzo, northern Italy, in 1420 ca.
 * Godfrey of Bouillon**- He was the Lord of Bouillon by birth, which is located in the Ardennes region of eastern France near modern Metz. He was born in 1060 a.d. and died in 1100 in the Holy land as the first ruler of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem but never took the title of King of Jerusalem as he refused to be crowned king in the city where Jesus Christ had died. He, along with his brothers Baldwin and Eustace, led an army that he had gathered and paid for by either selling or taking out loans on most of his lands. His army arrived second in Constantinople after Hugh of Vermandois in the year 1096 and by 1097 were marching with the rest of the Crusader armies toward Jerusalem and by 1099 the Crusader armies had conquered the city. After taking the position of leader of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the same year he proceeded to die only a few months later in 1100. After his death he became idealized as the leader of the first Crusade, a just ruler who gave the Kingdom law, and as the ideal of chivalry and warrior.

Hugh Robert Curthose (Courte-Heuse) at the Siege of Antioch (1097-1098).
 * Hugh of Vermandois**- He was born 1053 and live until October 1101 and was the younger brother of Phillip I, King of France. He along with Count Stephan of Blois and Robert Courte-Heuse led the army from France for Italy and then the Byzantine capital of Constantinople after picking up the remnants of Emicho's army, which was defeated in Hungary after pillaging the land there. After the capture of Antioch in 1098 returned to Constantinople at ask the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I for reinforcements but was unable to convince him to do so. Having failed to receive any reinforcements he returned to France instead of Antioch to plan the siege of Jerusalem. Having failed to fulfill his Crusader pilgrimage to recapture the Holy Land the pope, Pope Paschal II, threatened to excommunicate him and he returned with the minor Crusade in 1101. While on that Crusade in a battle with the Turks he was wounded and died the next month.
 * Robert Courte-Heuse-** He was most likely born in 1054 but it may have been 1051 and lived until 1134. He was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and from 1087 to 1106 is the Duke of Normandy and was first in line for the English crown upon the death of William. However, William and Robert did not get along so William split his holdings between his two eldest sons with Robert receiving the duchy of Normandy and his brother William Rufus received the English lands. In 1096, Robert left on Crusade with Hugh Vermandois and Count Stephan of Blois. Before he set off on Crusade Robert and his brother William Rufus made each other their heirs so that if either died the other inherited the others lands. When William Rufus died in August of 1100, Robert was making his return trip from the Holy Lands allowing his other brother Henry to seize the throne of England. Following his return home Robert attempted to forcefully take the English crown but was unsuccessful and after civil discontent in Normandy in 1105 Robert loses his duchy in 1106 at the Battle of Tinchebray against his brother Henry. After the battle Henry imprisons Robert at Devizes Castle for twenty years and is then moved to Cardiff Castle where he dies in 1134 in his eighties.


 * Count Stephan of Blois**- Stephan was born in 1045 and died in 1102. He married the daughter of William the Conqueror in 1080 and was accompanied on Crusade by his brother in law Robert Curthose and Hugh Vermandois leading the Norman and French contingents of the First Crusade. Stephen was the head of the army council at the Crusaders' siege of Nicaea in 1097. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow to forge a way to Jerusalem. He was pressured into making a second pilgrimage, and joined the minor Crusade of 1101 in the company of others who had also returned home. In 1102, Stephen was killed at the Second Battle of Ramla at the age of fifty-seven.

Raymond of Toulouse taking the oath to liberate Jerusalem.
 * Raymond of Saint-Gilles**- Raymond of Saint-Gilles, also known as Raymond of Toulouse, was born in either 1041 or 1042 and died in 1105. Raymond was a deeply religious old man who was one of the first to take up the cross after Pope Urban II call for a Crusade in 1095 and by April 1097 arrived in Constantinople with his army from southern France. After arriving in Constantinople his army set out with the rest of the Crusaders and took part in the siege's of Nicaea and played a major role in the capture of Antioch in 1098. Following the fall of Jerusalem to the Crusaders in 1099 Raymond was offered the title of King of Jerusalem but refused as he did not want to rule the city in which Jesus had suffered and he also was more interested in the siege of Tripoli than remaining in Jerusalem. While pursuing the siege of Tripoli Raymond died in 1105 before the city could be captured.

Bohemond and his Frankish troops scale the walls at the Siege of Antioch.
 * Bohemond I**- Bohemond, who was the Prince of Taranto and Prince of Antioch, was born in 1058 and died in March of 1111. He was the leader of the Norman army from Southern Italy and arrived in Constantinople in April of 1097. After his departure from Constantinople he led the vanguard force in the siege of Antioch. Following the capture of Antioch in 1098 with the help of Raymond of Toulouse he founded the Norman dynasty of rulers in May of 1098 that outlasted both the English and Sicilian dynasties after expelling Raymond of Toulouse forces from the city to assure his control. He did not continue with the rest of the Crusader army to the siege of Jerusalem but did arrive after the city had been taken in December of 1099. However in 1108 after being defeated by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I he was forced to sign the Treaty of Devol which made him a vassal of Alexius. He died in 1111 a broken and humiliated man.

**The Second Crusade**
King Conrad III (//Cunradus rex//) in a 13th-century miniature.
 * Conrad III**- Conrad III was born in 1093 and the King of Germany from 1138 until his death in 1152. Conrad went on the Second Crusade with his army from Germany and was aided in his quest to protect the Holy Land by the French King Louis VII. He arrived in Constantinople in September of 1147 ahead of the French army. He participated in the unsuccessful siege of Damascus in 1148 but following that failure and a second failure at Ascalon returned home in 1150. After he returned home he secured the line of succession by his family and upon his death in 1152 his nephew Fredrick Barbarossa was elected King.

Louis VII receiving clergymen, from a late medieval manuscript.
 * King Louis VII**- Louis VII was the son of the previous French King Louis VI and was born in 1120 surviving until 1180 and ruled France from 1137 until his death. In 1147 Louis and his army left France for the Holy Land and arrived there in 1148. He first stopped in Antioch to help against Aleppo because his wife's uncle was Raymond of Antioch but secretly slipped out and set off for Jerusalem. There he joined forces with Conrad III of Germany and King Baldwin III of Jerusalem in the disastrous siege of Damascus. After the disaster in Damascus Louis and his army returned to France in 1149 where he continued to rule France until 1180 although with some difficult resulting from his expenditures for the Crusade and his wars with Henry II of England, who had married his first wife without his permission following his annulment to her in 1152.

The Third Crusade

 * Richard the Lion Heart**- Richard the Lion Heart was born in 1157 and died in 1199 and was the ruler of England following the death of his father Henry II in 1189. Richard was part of the Third Crusade which was led by the three great western European Kings, the other two being Philip II Augustus of France and Fredrick Barbarossa of Germany. Richard arrived in Acre in 1191 and enforced the conditions of surrender that the Muslim commander Saladin had agreed to. While Fredrick never made it to the Holy Land, Philip Augustus did and then departed after the siege of Acre due to continuing disputes with Richard over the island of Cyprus and being in ill health leaving Richard as the lone remaining Western European monarch in the Holy Land. In 1192 realizing that he could no longer remain in the Holy Land because Philip and his brother John were both back in Europe creating problems for his rule he concluded a peace with Saladin that included a three year truce and left for England. However he was unable to return to England until 1194 because he was held hostage first by Leopold V of Austria and then by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. He continued to rule England until his death in 1199 all the while he was fighting with Philip II Augustus of France.

The coronation of Philippe II Auguste in the presence of Henry II of England.
 * Philip II Augustus**- Philip II Augustus was born in 1165 and became King of France in 1180 until his death in 1223. Philip and the French army set off for the Holy Land in July of 1190 arrived in May 1191 and helped complete the siege of Acre in July of that year. Following the completion of the Siege of Acre Philip was sick and had domestic problems and was unable to get along with Richard causing him to make the decision to return to France at the end of July 1191. Following his return from Crusade, Philip and Richard fought a series of battles for control of the Normandy region of France that was in English possession until Richards death in 1199. In the later years Philip was able to expand the royal domain of the French crown and bring much of France under his control however his son and grandson were the ones to reap much of the rewards for his efforts. Having accomplished many things during his reign atop the French kingdom Philip II died on July 14, 1123 at the age of fifty-seven.

Frederick Barbarossa in a 13th century chronicle
 * Frederick I Barbarossa**- Frederick I was born in 1122 and was elected King of Germany in 1152 and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1155, a title he held until his death in 1190. Following the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 to the Muslim forces of Saladin, Pope Gregory VIII ask for and received a vow from Frederick to take up the cross and retake Jerusalem in 1188. Frederick and his army set out in 1189 taking the land route through Hungary to Constantinople. He was joined in his mission by the English King Richard I and the French King Philip II Augustus who both took the sea route. While making way to the Holy Land, Frederick drowned in the Saleph river on June 10, 1190 as he was bathing. This left his army leaderless and it soon disintegrated leaving the English and French as the only two armies left on Crusade.

The Fourth Crusade
Boniface elected as leader of the Fourth Crusade, Soissons, 1201.
 * Boniface of Montferrat-** Boniface I was born in 1150 and died in 1207. He was the younger brother of King Conrad I of Jerusalem and the uncle of Baldwin V who was a co-king of Jerusalem. In 1201 Boniface unexpectedly became the leader of the Fourth Crusade when the original choice as leader by the Pope Count Theobald III of Champagne died. In 1202 the Crusader army arrived in Venice where they were to embark for Egypt thanks to the Venetians providing them with the ship necessary to complete their journey. However, the crusader army was in debt to the Venetians and were promised large sums of money if they would help restore the deposed Byzantine Emperor Alexius III Angelus to the throne. In 1203 Boniface and the Venetians sailed for Constantinople and in 1204 conquered the Byzantine capital keeping it for themselves beginning the period of Latin rule of the Byzantine Empire. Boniface created a new kingdom, the Kingdom of Thessalonica and ruled it until his death in battle protecting his new kingdom on September 4, 1207.

**The Fifth Crusade**

 * Cardinal Pelagius of Albano-** He was born in 1165 and died in 1230. He was sent by Pope Honorious III to lead the Fifth Crusade at Damietta, Egypt as a papal legate. He led the Crusades failed siege of Cairo and refused peace offers from the Egyptian leaders that would have given control of Jerusalem back to the Christian armies in 1221 and was defeated in a nighttime attack at Damietta and signed an eight year peace with the Muslims. In 1229 he led the papal fight with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II until his death a Montecassino on January 30, 1230.

**The Sixth Crusade**
Holy Roman Emperor, King of Jerusalem, King of Germany, of Italy, of Burgundy and Sicily
 * Emperor Frederick II**- He was born in 1194 and was made King of Sicily in 1197, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1220 until his death in 1250 and also took the title King of Jerusalem in 1228. Frederick was expected to go on the Fifth Crusade but did not and was blamed for the loss by much of the Christian world. After delaying another six years until 1227 Frederick was finally coerced into embarking on his promised crusade but fell ill and was again delayed. Pope Gregory IX did not believe he had fallen ill but rather that he was intentionally delaying again and excommunicated him. In 1228, after recovering from his illness, Frederick embarked on his promised crusade but the church took exception to this as he was still excommunicated and took the action of doing it a second time in 1228. Upon arriving in the Holy Lands, Frederick recognized he could not take Jerusalem by force and concluded a treaty with the Ayyubid ruler of the region, Sultan Malik Al-Kamil of Egypt for the return of Jerusalem and other territories to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was crowned King of Jerusalem on March 18, 1229 but was meet with resistance from the nobles of the region and returned home. By 1244 the city of Jerusalem was reconquered by Muslim forces and on December 13, 1250 Frederick II died.

**The Seventh Crusade**
Pope Innocent IV with Louis IX at Cluny.
 * King Louis IX**- Louis IX, also know as Saint Louis the only French king to be canonized by the church, was born on April 25, 1214 and became King of France in 1226 until his death in 1270. Louis was known for his piety and charity toward the poor and went on two crusades, the first being the Seventh Crusade. After the fall of Jerusalem in 1244, Louis began preparing for another crusade to the Holy Land and in 1248 set out on the Seventh Crusade. Instead of going directly to the Holy Land he went to Egypt and in June of 1249 recaptured the port city of Damietta, Egypt. After his capture of the city Louis marched along the Nile River toward Cairo but at the Battle of Fariskur was defeated and captured by the Egyptians. Following his release after a ransom payment, Louis stayed in the Middle East for four more years improving defenses in the kingdoms of Acre, Caesarea, and Jaffe then departed leaving a French force in the city of Acre for its defense. Louis attempted a second crusade, the Eighth Crusade, in 1270 toward Tunis and arrived in July of 1270. However, due to the poor drinking water and bad conditions Louis died on August 25, 1270.

**The Eighth Crusade**
King of Sicily, Naples, and Albania; Prince of Achaea; Count of Provence, Forcalquier, Anjou, and Maine
 * Charles of Anjou-** Charles I, known as Charles of Anjou, was the brother of King Louis IX of France and was born March 21, 1226 and became King of Sicily in 1266 until 1282 after which he is know as the King of Naples, his capital city until his death in 1285. Charles accompanied his brother Louis IX on the Seventh Crusade and was an instrumental part of convincing his brother to go to Tunis for the Eighth Crusade. He convinced Louis by using Louis' piety to convince him of the rumors that the leader of Tunis, Muhammad I al-Munstansir a former vassal of Charles', was sympathetic to Christianity. Accordingly, Louis IX set off for Tunis in 1270 to convert Munstansir to Christianity but upon arriving in July contracted dysentery and died in August of 1270. While Louis' son Philip III was technically in command he was only three years old leaving Charles as the actual commander. By October of 1270 Charles had concluded a peace treaty with Tunis giving Christians access to trade with Tunis. In 1271, Prince Edward I of England arrived to fight in the Tunis campaign but since it had already concluded Edward and Charles sailed to Acre in what is know as the Ninth Crusade and the last of the Crusades. Following a conclusion of an eleven year peace treaty between the Latin Kingdoms and the Muslims in 1272 he returned home.

The Ninth Crusade
Homage of Edward I (kneeling) to Philip IV (seated). As duke of Aquitaine, Edward was a vassal of the French king.
 * Prince Edward I of England**- Prince Edward I of England, later know as Edward Longshanks was born in 1239 and became King of England in 1272 until his death in 1307. Edward first attempted to join the Eighth Crusade under Louis IX, then his brother Charles I, but arrived in 1271 after the cessation of hostilities between the Muslims and Christians so along with Charles, sailed to Acre, the last remaining Christian Kingdom in the region. Edward arrived in Acre later in 1271 and attempted to conduct an alliance with the Mongols against the Mamluks in Egypt. He was unsuccessful and in 1272 after an unsuccessful raid on Ququn, near Jerusalem, Edward began conducting peace talks with the Baibars. In October of 1272, Edward concludes an eleven year peace with the Baibars and begins his return journey home. Upon learning of his fathers death while on Sicily in November of 1272 learned his father had died and he had become King of England, although he was not crowned until 1274 when he returned home, a title he held until his death on July 7, 1307.

All pictures were obtained from Wikipedia.com and are linked to their individual sites.