Crusades

     For the past couple of weeks, we have been learning about the medieval time period.  Today, we watched a documentary on the 1st crusade.  The first crusade was initiated by Pope Urban II when he made a speech on how the Islamic powers in the East was a problem.  In 1095, he then did a counsel and sent out the word that there should and would be a crusade to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims. 
     Many knights, peasants, and lords went on the first crusade, including William the Conqueror's son in law, Henry I.  During the crusade, all of the crusaders felt that killing for Christ was an action of devotion. In 1097, the first crusaders arrive at Antioch. They stay outside of the city for 8 months.      After 8 months, they get a man on the inside to let some of them in. They take the city at dawn the very next day. After the joy of taking the city, awful news comes that the Muslim army was a day away. Everyone started to freak out and thought that they were going to die. 
     Then in 1098, a man named Peter had a vision. The vision was that they were going to dig up the spear that had stabbed Christ's side. Some men began digging and they found a piece of metal and thought that they had got what they had dug for. The next day, the Muslims arrived and were defeated by the crusaders. 
     A couple months later, the crusaders arrived outside of Jerusalem. Only 90% of what came from the West. In 1099 the crusaders liberated Jerusalem.