The Evaluation of the First
and Third Crusades
By Ryan Thomsen
Leadership
Leaders can mean the difference from
defeat or victory in many periods of
time.
The better the leader, the more successful the people are.
Even Abraham Lincoln recognized the
importance of leadership so much that
he was constantly looking for a great
general to lead the Union until he
found General Grant.
Goals
Goals give an army purpose.
When soldiers are fighting wars that they
have no clear idea why they are fighting,
they are not as motivated to fight the
war.
Long term Success
Even when the goals are achieved, it does
not mean their gains can be held for long.
Adolf Hilter and Nazi Germany conquered most of Europe before they were
defeated.
It is a major achievement to hold on one’s
gain after they complete their goal.
Leaders of the First Crusade
Pope Urban II
I picked Pope Urban II because he
put in motion the First Crusade.
He don’t lead the Crusaders into battle but he did motivate the people of
Europe to go to the Holy Land to
conquer it.
He has one quality of a great leader
which was that he could motivate
people to do it.
Godfrey of Bouilon
I chose to talk about Godfrey of Bouilon
because he stayed in the Holy Land after
the end of the First Crusade when so
many Crusaders left the Holy Land after
the First Crusade.
He was one of leaders that Crusaders to
victory of Siege of Antioch (which lasted
from October of 1097 to June of 1098).
He also led his men in the Siege of Jerusalem of 1099.
He was also one of the first into Jerusalem which shows that he is willing to
fight to his men.
He will become the leader of the Latin
Kingdom of Jerusalem after the First
Crusade.
Goals of the First
Crusade
The original goal of the First Crusade
was to help the Byzantine Empire to
regain lost territory, including the Holy
Land, to the Turks.
Once Byzantine forces met up with the
Crusader forces, tensions quickly
arose between them.
The goal soon became the idea of recapturing the Holy Land in the name
of Christianity.
This goal was achieved in 1099, after
Jerusalem was conquered.
Long Term
Success
This crusade was one of the
most successful in the long
term.
Jerusalem was under Crusader control for eightyeight years until Saladin and
his Muslim forces conquered Jerusalem.
The Crusaders lost their first
Crusader State (Edessa) in
1145.
These statistics may not
look good, but a few decades can be long time.
The Leaders of the Third
Crusade
King Richard I of
England
I chose King Richard I because
he seemed to be the major
leader.
One of the leaders (Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa) drowned
at Anatolia before his army arrived at Syria.
King Philip II of France was
another leader for this Crusade,
but their (Richard’s and
Philip’s) relation became dicey
when Philip returned to France
early and started to partition
Richard’s territory.
King Philip II of
France
I chose King Philip because he
was the only other leader of this
crusade that had a major impact
on this crusade.
He left the crusade and returned
to France after the fall of Acre.
He was tired and ill after that battle which is why he went back to
France.
Richard did not have enough
men to hold Jerusalem so he
did not lay siege to Jerusalem.
Goals of the Third
Crusade
The main goal of this crusade was to reclaim Jerusalem from the Muslims.
The Crusaders managed to
reestablish the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem without
the city of Jerusalem.
The Third Crusade did accomplish something, but it
did not achieve its goals.
Long Term
Success
The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem survived to 1291
which was due to the semisuccessful crusade.
Which Crusade Was The Most Important Crusade?
My position on this question
would be that the First Crusade
had the most importance.
I used three criteria when I was
looking at this question.
The first criteria is how good
certain leaders were in their crusade.
The second criteria is whether or
not the Crusaders accomplished
their goals or not.
The final criteria was what was
the long term success.
If you want more information on
my three criteria, please read the
first page of this paper.
Leadership
The First Crusade had great
leaders.
I consider Pope Urban II a
great leader because he motivated many Catholics to go
to war in the name of Christianity.
A few of the leaders of First
Crusade like Godfrey of
Bouilon stayed in the Holy
Land to make sure things
were doing well and to lead
the Crusader states.
Although, the First Crusade
had a few great leaders, King
Richard I of England (a
leader of the Third Crusade)
was one exception.
The Third Crusade never
completely achieved its
goals.
Goals
Five out of the nine crusades
were semi-successful.
Most of these crusades had a
clear goal.
The First Crusade, like most of
the other crusades, had a very
simple and clear goal.
This goal was to reclaim the
Holy Land from the Muslims.
Like the First Crusade, the
Sixth Crusade is one of the few
Crusades that were truly successful in achieving their goal.
Long Term
Success
Only two or three crusades could ever claim
to have any long term
success.
As you can guess, the
First Crusade would be
one of those few crusades to have any long
term success.
The First Crusade got
Jerusalem under Crusaders’ control for
eighty-eight years.
Although, the Third
Crusade did reestablish
the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the twelve century to the thirteenth
century, but as I have
said before the Third
Crusade was only semi
-successful.
Conclusion
According to the criteria I have set
up, the First Crusade is the most
important crusade.
If I have used different criteria on
this topic, it could have change
which crusade had the most importance.
The First Crusade had some of the
best leaders leading it.
The First Crusade is one of the
few crusades to be completely
successful.
The First Crusade is one of the
few crusades to have any long
term success.