Albigensian Crusade

Lore & Background

The armies of Louis VII and Conrad III marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks. The main Western Christian source, Odo of Deuil, and Syriac Christian sources claim that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos secretly hindered the Crusaders' progress, particularly in Anatolia, where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks to attack them. However, this alleged sabotage was likely fabricated by Odo, who saw the empire as an obstacle; moreover, Emperor Manuel had no political reason to do so. Louis and Conrad reached Jerusalem in 1148, where the remnants of their armies participated in an ill-advised attack on Damascus, that ended in their retreat. Crusader efforts were successful in Iberia, where several territories—including Lisbon, the future capital of the Portuguese Empire—were conquered.

In Their Own Story

The initial response to the crusade bull, with incipit Quantum praedecessores, was poor, and it in fact had to be reissued when it was clear that King Louis would be taking part in the expedition. Louis had been considering an expedition independently of the pope, which he announced to his Christmas court at Bourges in 1145. It is debatable whether Louis was planning a crusade of his own or in fact a pilgrimage, as he wanted to fulfill a vow made by his dead brother Philip to go to the Holy Land. It is probable that Louis had made this decision without having heard about the bull. In any case, Abbot Suger and other nobles were not in favour of Louis's plans, as he would be gone from the kingdom for several years. Louis consulted Bernard of Clairvaux, who referred him back to Pope Eugene. By that time Louis would have definitely heard about the papal bull, and Eugene enthusiastically supported Louis's crusade. The bull was reissued on 1 March 1146, and Eugene authorized Bernard to preach the news throughout France.

Reader's Guide

The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, who issued the bull Quantum praedecessores on 1 December, calling for a crusade to rescue the remaining states. Eugene did not control Rome and lived instead at Viterbo, but nevertheless the Second Crusade was meant to be more organised and centrally controlled than the First Crusade: the armies would be led by the strongest kings of Europe, and a route would be planned. Bernard of Clairvaux preached the crusade at Vezelay in Burgundy in 1146 on 31 March. Louis, Eleanor, and the princes and lords present prostrated themselves at the feet of Bernard to receive the pilgrims' cross. Bernard then passed into Germany, and at Speyer, Conrad III of Germany and his nephew, later Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, received the cross from the hand of Bernard. In the spring of 1147, the pope authorized the expansion of the crusade into the Iberian Peninsula, in the context of the Reconquista. In May 1147, the first contingents of Crusaders left from Dartmouth in England for the Holy Land. Bad weather forced the ships to stop on the northern Portuguese coast at Porto on 16 June 1147. There they were convinced to meet with King Afonso I of Portugal. The Crusaders agreed to help Afonso attack Lisbon, with a solemn agreement that offered to them the pillage of the city's goods and the ransom money for expected prisoners. The 1147 siege lasted from 1 July to 25 October, when the Moorish rulers agreed to surrender primarily due to hunger within the city. Almost at the same time on the peninsula, King Alfonso VII of León, Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, and others led a mixed army of Catalan, Leonese, Castilian and French Crusaders against the rich port city of Almería. With support from a Genoese–Pisan navy, the city was occupied in October 1147.

Did You Know?

• The source does not cover the Albigensian Crusade; it only covers the Second Crusade (1147–1149).
• The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the Seljuk forces of Zengi.
• The County of Edessa was the first Crusader state to be founded and also the first to fall.
• Crusader efforts were successful in Iberia, where Lisbon was conquered in 1147.
• The main Western Christian source for the Second Crusade is Odo of Deuil.