The Medieval Crusades (1956)

[Music] glor [Music] pra generos [Music] [Applause] [Music] not [Music] [Applause] [Music] William Lord of Mont breth was a Pious man every year on St Bartholomew's day the cross of Mont bre Chapel was carried in procession around the castle while fervent prayers were offered for the liberation of the Holy Land from the infidel moslims the Lord's Sons Phillip and Steven carried the cross as they followed their father in the [Music] procession on this particular day their prayers were disturbed by the sound of hoof beats a messenger the God let him pass for he came from the count of Buu the overlord and protector of Mont bre and of this entire County [Music] [Music] only after the holy ceremony was Sir William ready to receive his protector's message it was a call from the count of Buller to his vassals to follow him to the town of Claremore in the south of France to hear Pope Urban II speak on matters of the greatest Import in the 11th century the Christian world was beset with many grave problems the map of Europe was a patchwork of many independent Empires kingdoms duchies principalities papal Holdings and feudal Estates one Waring against the other even the Christian church was divided into the Latin or r Roman and the Greek or Eastern Christian Church in the west Christianity was further weakened by the quarrels between the pope and Powerful rulers over the right to name Bishops in the East the Christian Byzantine Empire was threatened by the advancing Turks to cope with these problems Pope Urban thei traveled from Italy to France holding councils with Bishops and Abbotts And discussing the threats against [Music] Christianity in the presence of eminent church leaders Pope Urban received an emissary of the Byzantine emperor Alexius commus who desperately called for help against the invading [Music] Turks this was the opportunity Urban had been praying for an opportunity to to reunite The Divided Churches of Christ under the leadership of Rome and an opportunity to strengthen the power of Rome by Leading the United Christians into battle for the liberation of the Holy Land the Pope's sincere desire to help the Eastern Christians made a deep impression on the Bishops who swore to carry this message back to their provinces and arouse the noblemen and the people in answer to Pope Urban's appeal to come to the meeting at clar Moore in the south of France Sir William and his sons Philip and Steven resolved to undertake the long [Music] Voyage they ordered out their horses and took leave of their families together they set out to join their Overlord and protector the count of buer with whom they were to ride to Claremont on a November Day in the year 1095 The noblemen of France gathered in front of the Cathedral of clar Moore to hear the words of the Pope the Knights of mon were among them as a Frenchman by birth the pope first appealed to his fellow [Music] countrymen oh race of Franks race from over the mountains race Chosen and beloved by God let the Deeds of your ancestors move you and incite your minds to manly achievements then to the land hungry Nobles Pope Urban said the land you inhabit is too small for your great population nor does it abound in wealth enter upon the road to the holy Seiler rest the land from the wicked race and subject it to yourselves that land which as the scripture says floweth with milk and honey in the end the pope lashed out against the quarreling princes you rage against your brothers and cut one another to pieces if for sooth you wish to be mindful of your souls either lay down your girdle of such Knighthood or Advance boldly as Knights of Christ and Rush as quickly as you can to the defense of the Eastern [Applause] Church it is the will of God these words inspired Great Wave of religious fervor the sign of the cross appeared on the garments of layman and monks and on the shields of the knights and became the symbol of the Crusades rapidly religious fervor spread across France itinerant preachers carried it from Village to Village one of them Peter The Hermit came to Mont bre to bring the cross to Sir William lowly sures impassioned words came from the preacher's mouth words painting a picture of Glorious Adventures for the Soldiers of Christ as Peter The Hermit moved on men and their women folk followed him in crowds blindly confident that God would take care of his soldiers such was the power of the appeal of the Crusades among the common people [Music] but the leading noblemen of France were cautious William of Mont breth pointed out to the Pope's emary that it is not on faith alone that soldiers March it takes money and Leadership to organize a fighting force Only The Firm assurances of Salvation in heaven and protection on Earth persuaded the bans to make the voyage of God for it was a dangerous and costly undertaking but the hope of gaining salvation treasure and new lands moved Sir William and many other noblemen to arm for the [Music] Crusade and so Philip and Steven of Mont breth LED their foot soldiers to berier to join forces with other vassels under the banner of their [Music] protector while it was a great sacrifice for the Mont bre to get horses in armor it was an even more difficult undertaking for their protector and master the count of Buu to obtain needed gold the count offered to sell privileges to towns under his protection the Town Council of bolier for instance collected money from its merchants and Craftsmen to buy the charter that would make it a free town in this way even before the knights had left France the first impact of the Crusades was [Music] felt the first Crusaders to march across Europe to the east were the peasants they never reached the holyland the Turks massacred them as soon as they crossed into Asia Minor the West Easter Knights marching in small groups each under the banner of their own Master took different routes to Constantinople from where they hoped to cross into Asia Minor on Byzantine ships leaving behind them a trail of plunder and Terror they finally reached Constantinople late in the year 1096 Philip and Steven of M breth were heading a small Advanced party of the army of the count of Buu when they first cited Constantinople they stopped in awe it was an imposing site truly the capital of a great Empire the C of Buu accompanied by Philip and Steven of montre was received by the [Music] emperor the count asked Alexus for ships to take the knights across the narrow seiz to Asia Minor Emperor Alexus refused to let the Western armies enter Constantinople for fear they would plunder his Capital even though Alexus was hard pressed by the advancing Turks he withheld his ships until the Western Knights were ready to swear solemnly that they would hand over to him all territories they might liberate that had once belonged to his Empire and so after much violence threat and dispute the Crusaders crossed the sea from Europe to the near [Music] East meanwhile the people at Mont bre were also feeling the impact of the Crusades whenever word reached the castle that a priest or a warrior had returned from the East a rioter was dispatched to bring him to mount [Music] bre these Travelers told wondrous tales about Constantinople the magnificence of the buildings the wealth of the merchants the holiest relics in their churches of silks and garments of food never seen in the west of Miracles and [Music] sufferings Philip's wife lady Genevie admired the beautiful silks and jewels but in her heart she longed for news from her husband letters were rare even though Philip had spent many a night writing to his family my dearly beloved wife Genevie here follows my story from the day when we left the emperor's Capital pursuing the most iniquitous Turks through desert and a land without water We Came Upon Nika the Sultan's Capital by summer we drove the Turks out and turned the City over to Emperor Alexius as we had sworn to do we kept going on through such desert land where most of our horses perished at long last we reached the town of the Desa there the count Baldwin left us with his men to marry a native princess with whom he founded the county of adessa we others continued on our way finally our Knights reached the valley in which is situated Antioch which is the capital of all Syria we captured the city and there we hoped to rest but the evil Turks returned to the city and surrounded us cutting off our supplies when all seemed lost God saved us miraculously a humble foot soldier called Peter Bartholomew had a vision of an Angel who told him that the Lance which had pierced the Blessed body of our savior lay buried in the holy city of Antioch Peter began to dig for it and with the help of others he found it carrying the holy Lance in front of us and shouting prayers we attacked and surprised the Turks an important victory was ours now I want you to know that soon we shall be marching again this time with God's help we shall not stop until we sight the holy city but it took many months and Untold hardships before the crusading armies reached the borders of the Holy Land they March past ruins of pagan cities bigger than anything they had ever seen in their own [Music] lands finally the Crusaders crossed into Palestine to Philip of montre and his solders this did not look like the promised land where milk and honey floweth now in then the knights were fortunate to chance Upon A Shepherd whom they forced to follow along with his flock which would provide food for the Crusaders and then one day early in 1099 Philip and Steven rode up to an Olive Grove that overlooked Jerusalem there it was the holy city the goal of almost 3 years of travel the city of Jerusalem was well protected by a wall and defended by a Garrison of Egyptian Soldiers the Crusaders settled down for a long Siege Provisions were short and water scarce Sun thirst lack of food and insufficient equipment weighed heavily on the leaders of the Crusade but once again they found inspiration in faith Peter The Hermit beseeched the knights to bury personal differences and Purge their souls of [Music] sin is on July 8th 1099 the Bishops abbots and monks led the Crusaders on a March of penitence around the walls of Jerusalem the Egyptian Garrison inside the city let the penitents pass without molesting them they thought them fools to walk around the city wall with the sun bearing down upon them but the Crusaders found new inspiration and went to work during the next few days they secretly built equipment whereby the city was to be assaulted then fortified by prayers the Christians made an all out assault during the night of July 13th [Applause] the sudden Onslaught opened a breach in the city's [Applause] fortifications when the sun rose a second wave of Crusaders attacked the weakened fortification [Applause] when the principal Towers had fallen the Crusaders carried the battle into the streets and massacred everyone who crossed their [Applause] path plunder destruction and Butchery lasted throughout the day the Crusaders fought in small groups each under its own leader no overall scheme of attack was ever planned by next morning the victory was almost complete the wounded began to return to the Crusaders encampment among them was Philip of montre Philip was ambushed by a band of Egyptian soldiers and struck down the bolier chaplain found him and ordered two foot soldiers to carry him to his [Music] tent and while Philip was praying and cleansing his soul of sins Steven of montre was filling his and his brother's chests with spoils so ended the first and only great Crusade many had set out to liberate the holy city few survived to see the Day of Victory because of his wounds Philip decided to return home as soon as a ship could be [Music] found before winter snows had closed the roads Philip of montre was once again home greeting the daughter he had never seen and giving thanks for his safe [Music] return Steven's betrothed waited anxiously for news from him philli brought her presents and a message from Steven she was to join Steven in Palestine where he had remained as a baron of the kingdom of Jerusalem in Palestine Steven founded the manner of new mon bre in the vicinity of the harbor of [Music] Jappa it was a feudal Manor much like Mont bre in France but the new Lords of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem quickly fell under the influence of the more civilized environment and accepted many of its [Music] Customs at the table Foods were offered hitherto unknown to people in Western Europe spices from the East came easily by land route to Jerusalem and by sea to japa Venetian genoise and pean Traders ped their way back and forth carrying a profitable trade to the West when Steven Palestinian born son fell Gravely ill a Muslim doctor of great repute came to his bedside Infidel though he was the Muslim was wise learned and well-mannered gradually the Knights of Western Europe acquire new habits not only in food and clothing but in learning in art and above all in tolerance in spite of all this feudal life in the near East rested on uneasy foundations mlim Revenge was inevitable less than 50 years after the liberation of Jerusalem the moslims were on the March again they conquered the county of adessa and threatened all the Latin possessions in the East when the news reached the West the pope asked Abbott Bernard of clero the most famous preacher of his time to call for a Second Crusade led by two kings one German and one French the Second Crusade ended in complete [Music] failure late in the 12th century a strong mlim leader emerged the sultan Saladin unified the Muslim tribes and in 1187 captured Jerusalem from the Latin Knights then Pope Innocent called for a third crusade organized by the foremost Catholic princes of the time Richard of England Frederick of Germany and Philip Augustus of France three crusading armies were to converge on Jerusalem Frederick drowned on the way the French and English kings and their Knights quar amongst themselves and brought failure to the Third Crusade only Richard by Feats of personal bravery succeeded in securing pilgrimage rights from Saladin then in the year 123 Pope Innocent called for a Fourth Crusade to pay the venetians for needed ships the crusading knights agreed to fight the Byzantine emperor first they sailed to Constantinople and conquered this Christian City for the venetians in 124 they founded a short-lived Latin Kingdom in banum that was all the Fourth Crusade accomplished in 1270 one of the last Christian fortresses fell to the moslims and by the end of the century the Christian Knights were driven out of the near [Music] East the castle at Mont breth in France took all these Chang in stride Crusaders and Sons of Crusaders returned to the west and brought with them new experiences and new habits that left a mark on the Airs of Mont bre new towers were added new materials tried new ways of life [Music] tested crops at Mont bre were improved by new methods of Agriculture windmills like those used in the East now helped irrigate the fields of the Mana from the East new kinds of merchandise appeared in the market of Mont bre with names that carry the flavor of far away places Muslims from mozzle Damas from Damascus rugs and carpets with Arabesque [Music] patterns Eastern spices fruits and luxuries like Sesame and carab Ma and rice Alum and alows appeared in the Mont breath Marketplace the noble ladies of Mont bre sometimes ventured into the market to trade with Italian Merchants using new coins to pay for their purchases the Floren minted in Florence the Ducket from [Music] Venice so by the close of the 13th century the era of the Cru st came to an end an era which in spite of its high cost in life and treasure profoundly influence the course of Western Civilization [Music] oh