Today, we welcome the king of England, Richard the Lionhearted. He has just finished a grueling campaign to regain the holy city of Jerusalem. Before we talk about that, how about you tell us how these crusades started, and just what they are, Richard.
R: Well, the crusades started in 1096. People with the means would make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was captured by the Turks, Christians were turned away. In response to this, Pope Urban II asked knights to help retake the holy city. There was a second reason to this. All over Europe, various lords were getting into fights with each other. By focusing the knights on Jerusalem, there would be less bloodshed in Europe.
And how did this first crusade and the others leading up to yours go?
R: The first crusade was successful at taking Jerusalem with the help of the Byzantine Empire. For a while, this all worked out fine, with the area split up into 4 sections, each ruled by a noble. A lot of knights went home after they were done though, leaving the army weakened. One of the sections was captured, and the rest weakened, causing the second crusade to start. Because of disagreements, it, for the most part, failed. In the year 1187, the Muslim General Saladin captured back Jerusalem. That’s where I came in.
How did your Crusade go?
Well, I lead the third crusade. Actually, I was one of three leaders, but one died on the way there, and the other one fled back to capture France from me. I managed to capture some of the Mediterranean Coast, but I did not actually fight for Jerusalem. Me and the general Saladin came to an agreement; I would let them hang on to Jerusalem if they were more lenient on allowing Christian pilgrimages.
Thank you for taking the time to be a part of this blog. As for my readers, I got more interviews of famous figures coming.
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