Medieval EuropeDavis, H. W. Carless (Henry William Carless)
History
Medieval Europe
Davis, H. W. Carless (Henry William Carless)
Europe -- History -- 476-1492; Middle Ages
Godfrey of Bouillon and his fellow-leaders, when they passed through
Constantinople (1097), did homage to the Emperor Alexius for any lands
that they might conquer. The transaction may not have been voluntary;
this homage was the price demanded for a safe-conduct through the Greek
dominions. But later events proved that the chief Crusaders were
resolved not to hold their conquests as fiefs from the Holy See, for
which they were nominally fighting. As they drew near to the Holy Land,
it became clear that the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre was a subordinate
consideration with them. At Tarsus and at Antioch there were fierce
disputes between rival claimants to the conquered territories. Baldwin
separated from the main army to found a seignory for himself at Edessa.
Bohemund remained behind, when Antioch was once assigned to him, for
fear that any rival should rob him of his prize. Raymond of Toulouse
turned aside to reduce Tripoli, and was with the greatest difficulty
constrained to continue the march. The final result of a war in which
the loss of men must be reckoned by tens of thousands was the
establishment of the four states of Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch, and
Tripoli. To extend the boundaries of these colonies, and to consolidate
them under the suzerainty of the Crown of Jerusalem, was the work of
their rulers for the next eighty years. These princes were esteemed as
champions of the Cross; to assist them in the defence of their
territories the military orders of the Temple and the Hospital were
founded under the sanction of the Church; apart from the great relieving
expeditions, such as those of 1101 and 1147 and 1189, annual fleets of
soldier-pilgrims arrived to take part in the operations of the year. But
there is little to show that either the Kings of Jerusalem or their
great vassals ever justified their position by pursuing an unselfish
policy. That the dominions which they ruled were imperfectly colonised
cannot be made a reproach against them; only for knights and merchants
had the Holy Land any attractions. But the inevitable weakness of the
Frankish states was aggravated by their feuds and reciprocal ill-faith.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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