The First Crusade was called in November 1095 by Pope Urban II at the town of Clermont in central France. The pope made a proposal: 'Whoever for devotion alone, but not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penance.' This appeal was the combination of a number of contemporary trends along with the inspiration of Urban himself, who added particular innovations to the mix. For several decades Christians had been pushing back at Muslim lands on the edge of Europe, in the Iberian peninsula, for example, as well as in Sicily. In some instances the Church had become involved in these events through the offer of limited spiritual rewards for participants. Urban saw the campaign as a chance for knights to direct their energies towards what was seen as a spiritually meritorious act, namely the recovery of the holy city of Jerusalem from Islam (the Muslims had taken Jerusalem in 637). In return for this they would, in effect, be forgiven those sins they had confessed. This, in turn, would save them from the prospect of eternal damnation in the fires of Hell, a fate repeatedly emphasised by the Church as the consequence of a sinful life.

The city of Jerusalem, as the place where Christ lived, walked and died, held a central role. When the aim of liberating Jerusalem was coupled to lurid stories of the maltreatment of both the native Christians and western pilgrims, the desire for vengeance, along with the opportunity for spiritual advancement, formed a hugely potent combination.

A spark to this dry tinder came from another Christian force: the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Alexios, feared the advance of the Seljuk Turks towards his capital city of Constantinople. The Byzantines were Orthodox Christians.


In June 1097 the crusaders took the formidable walled city of Nicaea, 120 miles from Constantinople, The crusaders moved inland, heading across the Anatolian plain. A large Turkish army attacked the troops of Bohemond of Taranto near Dorylaeum. The crusaders were marching in separate contingents and this, plus the unfamiliar tactics of swift attacks by mounted horse archers, almost saw them defeated until the arrival of forces under Raymond of Toulouse and Godfrey of Bouillon saved the day. This hard-won victory proved an invaluable lesson for the Christians and, as the expedition went on, the military cohesion of the crusader army grew and grew, making them an ever more effective force.

Over the next few months the army, under Count Baldwin of Boulogne, crossed Asia Minor with some contingents taking the Cilician towns of Tarsus and Mamistra and others, heading via Cappadocia towards the eastern Christian lands of Edessa (biblical Rohais), where the largely Armenian population welcomed the crusaders. Local political conflict meant Baldwin was able to take power himself and thus, in 1098, the first so-called Crusader State, the County of Edessa, came into being.

Brainless mischief maker.

By this time the bulk of the army had reached Antioch, just inside the southern Turkish border with Syria. This huge city had been a Roman settlement; to Christians it was significant as the place where saints Peter and Paul had lived and it was one of the five patriarchal seats of the Christian Church. The site was too big to surround properly but the crusaders did their best to squeeze the place into submission. Over the winter of 1097 conditions became extremely harsh. The stalemate was only ended when Bohemond persuaded a local Christian to betray one of the towers and on June 3rd, 1098 the crusaders broke into the city and captured it. Their victory was not complete, however, because the citadel, towering over the site, remained in Muslim hands, a problem compounded by the news that a large Muslim relief army was approaching from Mosul. Lack of food and the loss of most of their horses meant that morale was at rock bottom. Count Stephen of Blois, one of the most senior figures on the crusade, along with a few other men, had recently deserted, believing the expedition doomed. The crusaders had been inspired by the 'discovery' of a relic of the Holy Lance, the spear that had pierced Christ's side as he was on the cross. A vision told a cleric in Raymond of St Gilles' army where to dig and, sure enough, there the object was found. To the masses it acted as a vital inspiration. A couple of weeks later, on June 28th, 1098, the crusaders gathered their last few hundred horses together, drew themselves into their now familiar battle lines and charged the Muslim forces. With the aid of warrior saints in the sky, the crusaders triumphed and the citadel duly surrendered leaving them in full control of Antioch before the Muslim relief army arrived.

They reached Jerusalem in June 1099

Forces concentrated to the north and the south of the walled city and on July 15th, 1099 the troops of Godfrey of Bouillon managed to bring their siege towers close enough to the walls to get across. Their fellow Christians burst into the city and over the next few days the place was put to the sword in an outburst of religious cleansing and a release of tension after years on the march. A terrible massacre saw many of the Muslim defenders of the city slaughtered, 'wading up to their knees in blood. The crusaders gave emotional thanks for their success as they reached their goal, the tomb of Christ in the Holy Sepulchre.
Their victory was not yet assured. The vizier of Egypt had viewed the crusaders' advance with a mixture of emotions. As the guardian of the Shi'ite caliphate in Cairo he did not want a new power to establish itself in the region. His forces confronted the crusaders near Ascalon in August 1099 and, in spite of their numerical inferiority 4000 crusaders Vs 55000 Egyptian warriors), the Christians triumphed and also secured a substantial amount of booty. By this time, having achieved their aims, the vast majority of the exhausted crusaders were only too keen to return to their homes and families. Some, of course, chose to remain in the Levant, resolved to guard Christ's patrimony and to set up lordships and holdings for themselves.

Reasons the Knights Templar Were History's Fiercest Fighters

After Christian forces conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Europeans began making pilgrimages to the Holy Lands by the droves. On the way, they were often attacked by bandits, or even crusading knights. To protect travelers and help defend the new Christian states in the Middle East, a small group of fighters formed The Poor Knights of the Temple of King Solomon, otherwise known as the Knights Templar. Over the next two centuries, the Order became a powerful political and economic force across Europe, making history in such dramatic fashion that some people are still trying to emulate them today. Here are a few astonishing facts about these holy knights:.

The Knights Templar created a different model in which members were monks, sworn to poverty, chastity, and obedience, and committed to fighting “infidels” in the Holy Land. Promising to serve the Christian cause, they received papal recognition at the council of Troyes in Champagne in 1129. Significantly, in stories about the Knights of the Round Table written in the thirteenth century, the most perfect holy knight, Sir Galahad, wears a white shield with a red cross, which was the symbol of the Knights Templar.

They didn’t joke around when it came to discipline


Under “The Rule of the Templars,” a detailed code governing everyday behavior, the knights were required to live austere lives. They could have meat only three times a week, except on special holidays, since eating flesh was understood to corrupt the body. Fur and fancy clothes were forbidden. So were pointed shoes and shoe-laces, since “these abominable things belong to pagans.” Of course, chastity was a must, and Templars were forbidden to kiss any woman, even their own mother. Breaking the rules could mean getting a beating, being banished from the brotherhood, or having to eat meals on the floor.

They refused to ever surrender

During the Crusades, some Christian forces were ragtag armies with minimal training. Not the Knights Templar. They were highly trained, and became known as fierce fighters. They acted as the advance force in a number of battles of the Crusades, including the Battle of Montgisard, when they helped greatly outnumbered Christian forces defeat an army led by the great Muslim commander Saladin. A part of that fierceness probably came from religious devotion, which allowed them to see breaking their vows as a fate worse than death. The Rule of the Knights Templar called for them to never retreat, surrender, or charge without being ordered to do so—excellent features for any army that needs to remain disciplined.


They were strategic thinkers as well as zealous fighters

While they were known for their piety and their readiness to fight for the spread of Christianity, the Knights Templar sometimes counseled their fellow Crusaders against rash action. European Christians reaching Jerusalem for the first time often wanted to do battle with Muslims as quickly as possible. The Templars, who had been in the area for years and had some friendly relationships with local Arabs, sometimes had to explain that picking a particular fight wasn’t a great idea. “It would not be unlikely that the Templars at times seemed insufferably know-it-all to those who had just arrived from the West

HOW GOOD WERE THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS AS FIGHTERS?

they were very good indeed. In the words of a famous 12th Century Christian pilgrim:

They are the first to go and the last to return… As one person, they strongly seek out the units and wings of the battle, they never dare to give way, they either completely break up the enemy or die.’


The key phrase here is ‘as one person’, which highlights the Templars’ frighteningly effective tactic of attacking in rigid formations. Think walls of cavalry fighters, tightly packed side by side, bearing down on the enemy. Sitting astride their horses, clad in chainmail and padded leather jackets, wielding swords and lances, the knights formed the shock, attack troops of the Crusader armies, their job being to smash into the enemy ranks and leave them vulnerable to the other Christian fighters coming in their wake

TEMPLARS CHARGE THEIR ADVERSARIES AS THOUGH THEY CONSIDER ENEMIES TO BE SHEEP


Templars charge their adversaries as though they consider enemies to be sheep, not fearing a bit the savagery of the Barbarians or the size of their army,’ wrote St Bernard of Clairvaux. This fearlessness was literally part of the job description. In the Templar Rule, which lays out the obligations of the order, it states that no Templar can ‘leave the squadron because of cuts or wounds without permission; and if he is so badly hurt that he cannot obtain permission, he should send another brother to get it for him.’

The squadrons were arranged prior to the battle by the field commander, known as the Marshal. Once this Marshal divided the knights into their separate squadrons, they were under strict instructions never to break ranks during the battle itself. As mentioned above, even sustaining an injury was no excuse. The one and only allowable reason for leaving formation would be to help another Christian in peril. In this scenario, a knight was allowed to rush off to help, but was then expected to return ‘quietly and in silence’ to continue the original squadron charge.

As long as the battle standard, or flag, of the Templars, was held aloft, the knights were expected to carry on fighting – even if they were hopelessly outnumbered or their brothers were slain all around them. Even if their standard fell, the Templars would still be expected to fight on if any other Christian standards, such as those belonging to the Knights Hospitaller, were visible.

These were stringent, uncompromising requirements, underscoring how crucial their Christian faith was to their zeal on the battlefield. By today’s standards, the Templars could arguably be considered religious fundamentalists – holy warriors more than happy to die in the struggle against the unbelievers.

One of their most celebrated victories came at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177, when they helped the army of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem take on the far larger forces of the great Muslim leader, Saladin. As chronicler Ralph of Diss wrote:

‘Spurring all together, as one man, they made a charge, turning neither to the left nor to the right. Recognizing the battalion in which Saladin commanded many knights, they manfully approached it and immediately penetrated it, incessantly knocked down, scattered, struck and crushed. Saladin was smitten with admiration, seeing his men dispersed everywhere… everywhere given to the mouth of the sword.’

The trouble was, the Templars’ bravery could sometimes be a liability. Take the Siege of Ascalon of 1153, when Crusaders tried to take down an Egyptian fortress. The Templars breached the defences alone after charging ahead. The knights were then massacred by the enemy soldiers who lay in wait within the fortress. The Templars rushed rashly through the breach in the wall without waiting for reinforcements, because… well, they were Templars, and going in first was what they did.

One unfortunate saide effect of the legendary bravery and skill of the Knights Templars is that whenever they are captured it is certain death.

Templars’ reputation meant the prisoners of war were put to death because it didn’t make sense to let such skilled warriors live to fight another day. As an onlooker wrote, ‘Saladin ordered that they should be beheaded, choosing to have them dead rather than in prison.’ 1600 of then where beheaded that sad day.

I have come to the end of my thread. I hope you enjoyed reading this ..

This thread only serves to educated naive religious extremists who think only Islam has the monopoly of violence.. the church of Christ is used to violence so don't make us turn back to it or we will all loose.