# The Crusades



## sknox (Nov 21, 2018)

Sequels are tough.
Toc - Second Crusade

Here's my essay on the Second Crusade, often overlooked, falling as it does between the Successful One and the Romantic One. But it has its own adventures and tragedies.


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## RJM Corbet (Nov 21, 2018)

sknox said:


> Sequels are tough.
> Toc - Second Crusade
> 
> Here's my essay on the Second Crusade, often overlooked, falling as it does between the Successful One and the Romantic One. But it has its own adventures and tragedies.


Bookmarked for reading on bus on way to/from work


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## sknox (Dec 5, 2018)

The Third Crusade is now live
Third Crusade 
This the best-known crusade besides the First. It's got Richard of England, the famous sultan Saladin, assassins and kidnapping and daring rescues. I have yet to read a good novelization of the events, but of course Runciman's recounting is pretty dramatic.

I'm just going to keep on the the crusading stuff for a while. There are the main crusades but I also have essays that trace each Crusader Kingdom individually, plus essays on things like the Albigensian Crusade, and even the fourteenth and fifteenth century crusades. At some point I'll add the Virtual Pilgrimage (whose title feels awfully dated now). So it's going to be some time before I get back to the more general European history stuff.


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## RJM Corbet (Dec 5, 2018)

You've really condensed it to almost study notes. It's good (2nd Crusade) but academic.


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## sknox (Dec 5, 2018)

Academic is exactly right; you say that like it was a bad thing. 

I wasn't trying to dramatize. It would make a good subject for novelization, but fiction writers always seem to go for the First or the Third.


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## RJM Corbet (Dec 5, 2018)

sknox said:


> Academic is exactly right; you say that like it was a bad thing.
> 
> I wasn't trying to dramatize. It would make a good subject for novelization, but fiction writers always seem to go for the First or the Third.


Oh no, I didn't mean it as a bad thing. Just academic. I'm working my way through my brother's 348 page Art PhD thesis. So I do academic as well as fiction, lol 

EDIT: Your 2nd Crusade essay is well written and clear and avoids obscure words and terms. I learned a lot from it and I look forward to Richard, Saladin etc, in your new essay.


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## sknox (Dec 5, 2018)

Thanks. I wasn't being defensive; I'm as harsh a critic as anyone on dull writing. I was joshing around.


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## sknox (Dec 20, 2018)

Another installment in my continuing series of historical essays. This one is on the Fourth Crusade, one of the strangest, most complex (you'll note I did not say Byzantine), and most widely condemned of all the crusades.
Fourth Crusade, home 

And here is a link to the table of contents for all the other articles
History by Ellis L. Knox 

Let me know what you think, and feel free to ask questions!


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 20, 2018)

Don't have the time to check it out now, but will be reading it with interest.

The Fourth Crusade is arguably the most stupid 'Western' foreign policy mistake in history. Kudos to Enrico Dandolo for his persuasive power (and vigour, given he was a blind ninetysomething), but the long term consequences were less than great from a European/Christian perspective.


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## sknox (Dec 21, 2018)

From your point of view, what were those long-term consequences?


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## thaddeus6th (Dec 21, 2018)

Totally ended any realistic hope of the Eastern Empire surviving (let alone prospering) against the Ottoman Turks. To be fair, a few more generations of Angeli misrule may've achieved the same, but the Catholic/Orthodox schism, Latin/Greek suspicion, and the ensuing Fourth Crusade was a godsend (ahem) for the Turks. Not that they were going backwards anyway, but it certainly helped.


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## sknox (Jan 4, 2019)

A new article on the crusades is now live. This one is on the Fifth Crusade, 
Fifth Crusade 
Each crusade is a strange, complicated event in itself, so it's a bit redundant to say this one is strange and complicated. Perhaps its distinguishing characteristic is that it's the closest any of the crusades came to being led by the Church.

If you are interested in previous articles, here is a link to the table of contents.
History by Ellis L. Knox

Let me know what you think, and feel free to ask questions!


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## sknox (Sep 23, 2019)

After a long delay called Finishing the Novel, I'm back to publishing my history essays. This one is on the Sixth Crusade, which was one of the strangest of them all.

Sixth Crusade home 

My intent is to publish a new essay every three weeks or so. Not all are on the Crusades, but the next several will be.


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## sknox (Oct 13, 2019)

The Seventh Crusade!  Seventh and last, except it wasn't really the last and sometimes historians count eight and anyway that doesn't include a bunch of other crusades and ... well, it gets complicated. Before we moderns got obsessed with numbers, the crusades were named after their leaders, so let's be old-fashioned and call this one King Louis' Crusade.






						Seventh Crusade, home
					

Home page for an essay on the Seventh Crusade by Skip Knox



					europeanmiddleages.info


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## Pemry Janes (Oct 13, 2019)

I'm reading these with interest. Right now I'm at the fourth crusade, there's a bit more detail about the background than I've come across before.


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## sknox (Oct 14, 2019)

I keep forgetting to post a link to the table of contents. As you probably saw, I've got other crusade essays in addition to the main seven. Herewith, the ToC link.





						History by Ellis L. Knox
					

Ellis (Skip) Knox has over a hundred essays on various aspects of European history. These are the best of them.



					europeanmiddleages.info
				



 I'm glad you're finding the essays useful ... and even interesting!


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## Pemry Janes (Oct 14, 2019)

And I just realized you're also the author of those interesting articles on Mythic Scribes.


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## sknox (Oct 16, 2019)

Yep & thx. Scribes and SFF are my two favorite hangouts.


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## sknox (Oct 30, 2019)

Now that the crusades are over, I bet you thought the essays were done. Not at all! I've just put up an essay on the County of Edessa, a brief history of the first of the Crusader States--and the first to fall.






						Knox, Edessa during the Crusades
					

The County of Edessa during the time of the Crusades, by E.L. Skip Knox



					europeanmiddleages.info
				




For all my history essays, consult the Table of Contents.





						History by Ellis L. Knox
					

Ellis (Skip) Knox has over a hundred essays on various aspects of European history. These are the best of them.



					europeanmiddleages.info


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## sknox (Nov 12, 2019)

I have just published another in my historical series. This one is about the Principality of Antioch.





						Antioch during the Crusades
					

The Principality of Antioch from 1097 to 1291. Table of contents. By Thomas Joyce and Skip Knox



					europeanmiddleages.info
				




If you have questions, feel free to ask!

For all the history essays, here is the Table of Contents.





						History by Ellis L. Knox
					

Ellis (Skip) Knox has over a hundred essays on various aspects of European history. These are the best of them.



					europeanmiddleages.info


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## sknox (Dec 11, 2019)

I have a new essay at my history site




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						The Fall of Outremer
					

The end of the Crusader States, by Skip Knox



					europeanmiddleages.info
				



This one is about the last days of Acre in 1291. It's a dramatic story, both heroic and tragic.

This is the penultimate crusading essay. The next one will be on the Kingdom of Jerusalem itself (yeah, I know, it's a bit out of order). After that, I'll be offering essays on other aspects of the crusading era, but that doesn't exhaust my backlog. I have essays on other aspects of the Middle Ages, some on the Reformation, and even some on Greece and Rome. 

You can find the Table of Contents for all published essays here





						History by Ellis L. Knox
					

Ellis (Skip) Knox has over a hundred essays on various aspects of European history. These are the best of them.



					europeanmiddleages.info


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## sknox (Dec 23, 2019)

I have a new Crusades essay online. This one is on the Kingdom of Jerusalem itself during the Crusades.




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						Outremer
					

An essay by Skip Knox on the Crusader states from 1097 to 1291.



					europeanmiddleages.info


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## sknox (Jan 29, 2020)

I bet you thought after seven crusades that was all. Hah! Here's one that is often overlooked. It doesn't even get a good name. It's the crusade for everyone who blew off the First Crusade then thought oh crap we really should have done that and got the t-shirt.





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						The Crusade of 1101
					

Essay on the crusade of 1101, by Skip Knox



					europeanmiddleages.info
				




As ever, the full list can be found here





						History by Ellis L. Knox
					

Ellis (Skip) Knox has over a hundred essays on various aspects of European history. These are the best of them.



					europeanmiddleages.info
				




Also as ever, comments and questions are welcome!


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## Pemry Janes (Jan 29, 2020)

Is there a particular reason why some used the sea route, but then still ended up at Constantinople? Why not go directly to the Holy Land?


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## sknox (Jan 29, 2020)

In 1101 the Crusaders didn't have the port cities yet, save for St Symeon, the port for Antioch. Egypt had an effective navy, and sea travel was always chancy.


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## Pemry Janes (Jan 30, 2020)

Ah, that explains it.


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## sknox (Mar 1, 2020)

The history of the Crusades is most often told from the point of view of the Crusades. Well, duh. Sometimes there's a bit of context, especially when discussing the First Crusade, but It's tangential. Here I offer a look at the Byzantine Empire during the two centuries of the crusading era. Later essays will talk about Islam and various European countries over the same time span.






						History by Ellis L. Knox
					

Ellis (Skip) Knox has over a hundred essays on various aspects of European history. These are the best of them.



					europeanmiddleages.info
				




As ever, the full list of essays can be found here
History by Ellis L. Knox
and, as ever, questions are welcome!


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## sknox (Mar 21, 2020)

While I'm working on the Virtual Pilgrimage, here's an essay on Germany during the two crusading centuries.





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						Germany during the Crusades
					

Essay on the Holy Roman Empire from Henry IV to Rudolf of Hapsburg, by Skip Knox



					europeanmiddleages.info


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## olive (Mar 21, 2020)

Oh, it is really like study notes. I like it. This needs special attention. Thanks, sknox.


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