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• The Crusades in the Holy Land took place over a period lasting nearly 200 years.
• The consequences of the Crusades can still be felt in the world today.
• The Crusades had an impact on many areas including trade, finance, architecture and science.

Many historians see the end of the Crusades as being in 1291, when the port city of Acre was retaken from Crusaders by Islamic armies. The Crusaders had failed to reclaim the Holy Land as they had intended. The Crusades had been violent and bloody, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the conflict.

Islamic armies had successfully defended the Holy Land from the Crusaders, and they went on to have military conquests of their own throughout the Middle Ages. In 1453, Islamic armies of the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople from the Christian Byzantine Empire and by 1529 had also conquered south-eastern Europe, including Hungary, and were besieging Vienna.

Many aspects of Western life have been impacted by the Crusades. Here are some examples:

During the Crusades, groups of knights were put together to protect pilgrims and defend the Holy Land. When joining a military order, knights took a vow saying they would live in poverty, chastity and obedience to the Church.

The duties of a Crusader varied slightly according to their role or the Crusade they went on, but often included: fighting to try and win control of the Holy Land for Christendom, making a pilgrimage  to holy sites associated with the life of Jesus, protecting Christian communities and pilgrims , and behaving in a chivalrous  way.

These were some of the main military orders involved in the Crusades:

The Knights Templar

• Founded in 1118, the Templar was based in Jerusalem.
• Templar knights were known for their bravery and military skills. However, non-military members made up about 90 per cent of the order.
• They managed financial affairs across many Christian countries.
• Their methods and systems are the basis of how banking works today.
• In modern culture, the Knights Templar have been included in many books and films.

The Knights Hospitaller

• Given Papal blessing in 1113 by Pope Paschal II, the Knights Hospitaller was created to look after sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land.
• The patron saint of the order was St John, who Christians believe baptised Jesus Christ.
• It is the order on which St John Ambulance is based, which still provides care for people in Britain today.

Teutonic Knights

• The Teutonic Order was founded in 1190.
• The order supported pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Land
• It set up hospitals to treat sick and injured pilgrims and Crusaders.

The Crusades were expensive and led to higher taxes at home.

A form of tax called the ‘Saladin tithe’ was introduced in 1188 to pay for the efforts of Crusaders to reclaim Jerusalem. Also, in 1192, when travelling home from the Holy Land, Richard I was imprisoned and held for ransom by Leopold V of Austria and Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor - two Christian rulers. A tax was raised to collect the money required for his ransom.

In the time when Richard I was held captive, his brother John tried to take the throne from him. He was unsuccessful. The relationship between the two brothers eventually improved when Richard returned to England.

In 1187, Crusaders led by Richard I had captured around 3,000 Muslim prisoners. Negotiators couldn’t find agreement over the terms for their release between Saladin and Richard. Baha-Ed-Din, who was a Muslim scholar in the twelfth century, wrote in his biography of Saladin that the majority of the prisoners were publicly killed.

In 1191, Richard I and Saladin wrote to each other, attempting to negotiate a settlement. Saladin’s letter to Richard is useful in showing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims and why they were so determined to defend it against Crusaders.

Though they were fighting over the Holy Land, there was a degree of mutual respect between Muslims and Christians. Saladin and Richard I wrote to each other in an attempt to reach a peaceful settlement over the Holy Land following the third Crusade. Richard wrote to Saladin, explaining the importance of the Holy Land to Christians.

Despite the conflict and bloodshed of the Crusades, there were times when the two sides shared ideas and worked together. For example, in 1187, the Treaty of Ramla was signed. This established a 10 year peace agreement and allowed the free movement of Christian and Muslim pilgrims  to travel to and from Jerusalem.