The Second Crusade

The Second Crusade was only talk and tales until a very persuasive speaker named Bernard of Clairvaux started selling the idea. He spoke of the “horrors” of the Holy Land falling into unbelievers’ hands and promised that God would reward the souls of those who fought for him. Bernard’s power of persuasion was amazing. People listened and vowed to follow.

In 1145, two kings, Louis VII and the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, amassed their armies and headed for Jerusalem. Almost 1 million people were involved in the Second Crusade. The crusaders changed direction for an unknown reason, and instead of attacking the Muslims who overthrew Edessa, they attacked the only Muslim friends the Christians had, who lived in the city of Damascus. This strategy only helped to unite all the Muslim nations together against the Christians.

Once the crusaders were outside the walls of Damascus and the city’s Muslim people sent notice of surrender to them, the victorious crusaders milled about a bit and then left. They never even entered the city and to this day no one knows why. They packed up and went home. The only thing they accomplished was to make the Muslim nations more solidified.

Years later, a Sunni Muslim of Kurdish descent built his own army. Historically, he is known as Saladin. His hope was to further the unintended result of the Second Crusade by joining all Muslim forces together under one leader. He conquered all of Egypt and then officially took back Jerusalem from the Christians knights who conquered it. To make his point, he didn’t harm the common Christians but he allowed the captured Christian knights to be beheaded by people unskilled in the art. It took a great many chops and swings, and the unfortunate people bled to death before the heads were finally removed. Jerusalem was once again a Muslim city. The year was 1149.