Church History, Volume 2 (of 3)Kurtz, J. H. (Johann Heinrich)
History
Church History, Volume 2 (of 3)
Kurtz, J. H. (Johann Heinrich)
Church history
of Bavaria, and in Italy and in France. They marched against
Bagdad, in order to strike terror into the hearts of Moslems by
the terrible onslaught; the undisciplined horde, however, did
not reach its destination, but found a grave in Asia Minor.
§ 94.2. =The Second Crusade, A.D. 1147.=--The fall of Edessa in
A.D. 1146, as the frontier fortress of the kingdom, summoned the
West to a new effort. Pope Eugenius III. called the nations to
arms. Bernard of Clairvaux, the prophet of the age, preached
the crusade, and prophesied victory. =Louis VII. of France= took
the sign of the cross, in order to atone for the crime of having
burnt a church filled with men; and =Conrad III. of Germany=,
moved by the preaching of Bernard, with some hesitation followed
his example. But their stately army fell before the sword of the
Saracens, the malice of the Greeks, and internal disorders caused
by famine, disease, and hardships. Damascus remained unconquered,
and the princes returned humbled with the miserable remnant of
their army.
§ 94.3. =The Third Crusade, A.D. 1189.=--The kingdom of
Jerusalem before a century had past was in utter decay. Greeks
or Syrians and Latins had a deadly hatred for one another:
the vassals intrigued against each other and against the crown.
Licentiousness, luxury, and recklessness prevailed among the
people; the clergy and the nobles of the kingdom, but especially
the so called Pulleni,[268] descendants of the crusaders born in
the Holy Land itself, were a miserable, cowardly and treacherous
race. The pretenders to the crown also continued their intrigues
and cabals. Such being the corrupt condition of affairs, it was
an easy thing for the Sultan Saladin, the Moslem knight “without
fear and without reproach,” who had overthrown the Fatimide
dynasty in Egypt, to bring down upon the Christian rule in
Syria, after the bloody battle of Tiberias, the same fate.
Jerusalem fell into his hands in October, A.D. 1187. When this
terrible piece of news reached the West, the Christian powers
were summoned by Gregory VIII. to combine their forces in order
to make one more vigorous effort, Philip Augustus of France and
Henry II. of England forgot for a moment their mutual jealousies,
and took the cross from the hands of Archbishop William of Tyre,
the historian of the crusade. Next the =Emperor Frederick I.=
joined them, with all the heroic valour of youth, though in
years and experience an old man. He entered on the undertaking
with an energy, considerateness, and circumspection which
seemed to deserve glorious success. After piloting his way
through Byzantine intrigues and the indescribable fatigues of
a waterless desert, he led his soldiers against the well-equipped
army of the sultan at Iconium, which he utterly routed, and took
the city. But in A.D. 1190 the heroic warrior was drowned in an
attempt to ford the river Calycadnus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account