The Second and Third Crusade

The crusades lasted many years almost 200. The Christians also had crusades with other lands like Egypt. The one thing that each had in common is that they were against Muslim countries and territories. So apparently the Christians did not give up on crushing the Muslims. The second and third crusades are the ones I will talk about.

The second crusade was the most devastating for the Christians. One, they lost against the Muslims. Two, they lost the city of Jerusalem. In the Crusader States reinforcements were constantly needed because of the constant Muslim attacks. At this point the Muslims did not want Jerusalem but instead to remove all Christians from their land. They also wanted to unite all land under Muslim control. Then the Muslims conquered Edessa, leaving the Europeans to defend three remaining Crusader States. The second crusade started in 1147. The Christians had to retreat in this crusade from the Muslims. Disagreements between the Byzantine Empire and the crusaders may have brought on their defeat. Another reason might have been the poorly trained reinforcements that they got. Either way the second crusade ended in 1149. So the Crusade lasted two years.

The third crusade was better for the crusaders. This crusade was led by Richard of England and Phillip II of France. The Emperor of Germany came but died before reaching the Holy Land so his forces broke up and headed back to Germany. Phillip later returned back to France because he and Richard did not get along back in England and France. Richard alone regained a lot of land back from the Muslims, but sadly he could not get Jerusalem back.