What were the reasons for the failure of the Second Crusade?

Question 1

what are 4 reasons for the failure of the second crusade?

Answer 1

• Growing Muslim Unity
• Lack of Clear Aims
• Lack of Byzantine Support
• Poor Leadership

Question 2

what are some limitations to the theory that it was growing muslim unity that caused the second crusade to fail?

Answer 2

• Muslim leaders continued to fight each other up to the fall of Edessa.
• Unur of Damascus’s request for help from Nureddin was a last resort.​

Question 3

what evidence is there that Muslim leaders continued to fight each other up to the fall of Edessa?

Answer 3

• Zengi repeatedly attacked Damascus in the 1130s
• the Sunni-Shia split remained
• Muslim leaders had even been willing to make alliances with the Franks, as Damascus had previously done with Jerusalem due to its fear of Zengi. ​

Question 4

what are some limitations to the theory that it was lack of Byzantine support that caused the failure of the first crusade?

Answer 4

• Unlike the First Crusade, the Byzantine emperor had not asked for assistance and had given advice to the crusaders that had been completely ignored (the route). ​
• Manuel was unwilling to break the truce with the Seljuks or provide military and naval support but this was largely due to the fact that he was facing invasion by his fellow Christians, the Normans of Sicily, in the west

Question 5

how had use of jihad developed prior to the second crusade?

Answer 5

• 1119: Field of Blood marked the beginning of the involvement of the religious classes in the struggle against the Franks, increasing the likelihood of a more unified Muslim response
• Tughtegin (Damascus) and Balak (Aleppo)’s memorials both noted their role in the ‘defence of Islam’

Question 6

how was jihad used at the field of blood?

Answer 6

Aleppan preacher Ibn al-Khashshab raised the Muslim army’s morale

Question 7

how did the first and second crusade differ, in terms of the forces they were facing?

Answer 7

The First Crusade had faced a divided group of leaders in the Seljuk regions. By the Second Crusade, Zengi had made great strides towards unifying key cities

Question 8

how had zengi increased muslim unity?

Answer 8

• allied aleppo and mosul
• He presented himself as a leader of jihad 1127-1146, especially to gain support of Turcomans
• his son Nureddin had arranged a marriage alliance with Damascus. ​

Question 9

what muslim actions were taken against the second crusade?

Answer 9

• The Turks of Anatolia put aside internal rivalries (Seljuks and Danishmends) to deal with the external threat (the Second Crusade).​
• Damascus put up a spirited resistance to the siege in 1148

Question 10

how did the Turks of Anatolia put aside internal rivalries to deal with the external threat of the Second Crusade)?

Answer 10

• The Seljuk Sultan of Rum, Mas’ud took action to deter any progress of the Franks through Anatolia: ordered local governors to prepare their defences, muster troops, and fortify the mountain passes
• Made an alliance with the Danishmends and organised a joint campaign against the Franks; combined Turkish forces assembled at Iconium

Question 11

why did Damascus put up a spirited resistance to the siege in 1148?

Answer 11

rallied by jihad

Question 12

how was Damascus rallied by jihad at the siege in 1148?

Answer 12

• Death of a prominent elderly leader, al-Findalawi, stiffened morale as he had died in the name of jihad
• Unur of Damascus remained firm
• jihad had been largely ignored at the turn of the century when preached by al-Sulami but had since gained ground, arguably since Il-Ghazi’s victory at the Field of Blood in 1119

Question 13

why did the crusaders abandon the siege of edessa

Answer 13

Relief forces for Unur and Damascus was able to respond quickly and effectively, leading to a panicked decision to abandon the siege; The successors of Zengi, Nureddin and Saif ad-Din, were marching to his aid

Question 14

what caused the lack of clear aims for the second crusade?

Answer 14

• Wendish Crusade
• The pope gave crusading privileges to Christians in Spain
• The papal bull mentioned the fall of Edessa but little else.
• The Franks of Outremer were divided as to what to do with the crusader forces

Question 15

why did the wendish crusade happen?

Answer 15

• Many northern German barons declared that they faced danger near home from non-Christian Slavic peoples who lived across the Elbe river.
• They asked for permission to fight these non-Christians and be recognised as crusaders for doing so
• Conrad II authorised this ‘Wendish Crusade,’ and Bernard of Clairvaux persuaded Pope Eugenius III to approve it.​

Question 16

what crusading privileges did the pope give to crusaders in spain, during the second crusade?

Answer 16

June 1147: confirmed crusader status on an expedition by Barcelona and Genoa against Almeria in Muslim Spain; the major area was the newly est. kingdom of Portugal which was trying to expand at the expense of the Muslims

Question 17

why did many people from the second crusade not even make it to outremer?

Answer 17

The motives of spiritual and material rewards were at least as important as the idea of liberating the Holy Land. In papal terms, the crusaders’ job was to help in the recovery of Edessa specifically, but the crusaders saw it more as a contract of obligation and reward. The Portuguese offered them to fulfil obligations closer to home

Question 18

what was the first group to set out on the second crusade?

Answer 18

The first group to set out consisted of Flemings, Frisians, and English

Question 19

where did the first group of the second crusade set off to travel to?

Answer 19

Left by ship April 1147 to travel around Gibralta and across the Mediterranean

Question 20

why did some of the second crusaders end up helping in Spain?

Answer 20

• Delayed by storms off Portugal and put in at Oporto, and were met by emissaries of Henry of Portugal (a French baron about to become the first king of Portugal)
• Crusaders persuaded to join siege of Lisbon, held by the Muslims, largely because they were granted the right to plunder and because they were promised by the Portuguese bishop that they would receive the same spiritual rewards as if they had gone east
• Crusaders spent winter at Lisbon; some continued to the East but most returned home or remained in Portugal

Question 21

what siege were some of the second crusaders persuaded to join?

Answer 21

Lisbon

Question 22

how did the second crusade help in spain?

Answer 22

Their help was crucial in the capture of Lisbon which was the key element in the creation of the new medieval kingdom of Portugal

Question 23

why may the second crusade have lacked clear aims from the beginning

Answer 23

The papal bull mentioned the fall of Edessa but little else; - It did not call explicitly for the liberation of Edessa or for a war against Zengi so Even when the crusaders arrived in the Holy Land, they did not have a clear idea of the military target of their efforts.​

Question 24

why were The Franks of Outremer were also divided as to what to do with the second crusader forces?

Answer 24

• Raymond of Antioch wanted to attack Aleppo (failure to do so led him to withdraw support).
• Baldwin III was keen to attack either Ascalon or Damascus.​

Question 25

why was Byzantine support was lukewarm at best for the second crusade?

Answer 25

- Long term hostility from the Frankish possession of Antioch - Bohemond’s crusade of 1108 - poor relationship of the Frankish leaders with Manuel I’s father, John II

Question 26

why did 2nd Crusaders believe that the Byzantines were working against them?

Answer 26

- They discovered that Manuel had made a 12-year truce with the Seljuk Turks (the enemy that the crusaders would have to fight if they were to reach the Holy Land). ​ - Byzantine guides provided by Manuel allegedly led the army on the wrong road, and then abandoned it to attacks by the Turks.

Question 27

why is it possible that Byzantine guides provided by Manuel led the army on the wrong road, and then abandoned it to attacks by the Turks, during the second crusade?

Answer 27

In order to weaken the passing crusader armies so that they would have no opportunity to attack Byzantine territory, Alexius and Manuel had both ordered attacks on their armies in the Balkans​

Question 28

how did Manuel fail to provide the degree of support for the second crusade enjoyed by the First Crusade?

Answer 28

He did not commit considerable military force or logistical support in the form of a Byzantine fleet. ​

Question 29

what evidence is there that lack of byzantine support contibuted to the failure of the second crusade?

Answer 29

Both the Germans and the French suffered their heaviest losses in Anatolia, a territory that had been overcome by the First Crusade largely due to Byzantine support. ​

Question 30

how did conrad iii display poor leadership during the second crusade?

Answer 30

- Refused to wait for the French forces at Constantinople. - Travelled overland against the advice of Manuel. - Failed to keep his army unified after Nicaea - Fell into a trap at the second battle of Dorylaeum, even though Turkish tactics were well known.​

Question 31

how did louis vii display poor leadership during the second crusade?

Answer 31

- Took the coastal route but abandoned most of his own forces at Attalia; they were left to fend for themselves and were massacred. ​ - Failed to appreciate that the main danger to the crusader states came from Nureddin and Aleppo and so failed to use his forces where they would have been most effective, in alliance with Raymond of Antioch. - Failed to help Raymond of Tripoli in his own border disputes and thus alienated this powerful Frankish leader. ​

Question 32

why was attacking aleppo, as suggested by raymond of antioch, a good idea for the second crusade?

Answer 32

Success against Aleppo would have been essential if the recovery of Edessa was ever to be achieved. ​

Question 33

how did the franks of outremer show poor leadership during the second crusade?

Answer 33

- Since the foundation of the crusader states, the Frankish leaders had shown that they were happy to fight each other and they now would not work together. - The barons of the kingdom of Jerusalem were divided between supporters of Baldwin III and Melisende which also made cooperation at Damascus much harder. ​ - Some the Frankish barons were, allegedly, keen to restore the alliance with Damascus

Question 34

which Franks of Outremer would not work together during the second crusade?

Answer 34

Raymond of Antioch and Raymond of Tripoli would not add their forces to the crusade once it passed on to the kingdom of Jerusalem and would not attack Damascus.​

Question 35

why were the barons of jerusalem split during the second crusade?

Answer 35

between supporters of Baldwin III and Melisende

Question 36

what evidence is there that Some of the Frankish barons were keen to restore the alliance with Damascus during the second crusade?

Answer 36

It is alleged that they sabotaged the siege to prevent Thierry of Flanders from gaining the city rather than their preferred local Frankish candidate, Guy of Brisebarre. ​

Question 37

how did the leaders of the second crusade show poor tactics at the siege of damascus?

Answer 37

- attacking damascus was foolish; it had been an ally - the move from the well watered and provisioned orchards in the west to the more barren eastern walls was disastrous. ​

Question 38

how did weak leadership undermine the siege of damascus in the second crusade?

Answer 38

The failure to quell the divisions within the force at Damascus as to who would hold the city (Louis VII wanted Thierry of Flanders and native Franks wanted Guy of Brisebarre) after it was captured, and the divisions between the French forces and the native Franks did much to undermine the expedition. ​