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Second Crusade
If the First Crusade was known as the People’s Crusade, the Second was
distinguished by the participation of several European kings as it sought to
expand the conquests of the First. But the military results were deeply
disappointing: the Seljuk Turks defeated most of the royal hosts in Asia Minor,
before they even reached the Holy Land. As with the First Crusade, the further
transit of diverse new groups of Western military forces through Byzantine lands
heightened Byzantine fears about crusader intentions. The emperor once again
sought to delay Western entry onto Byzantine lands and then hustled them as
quickly as possible across the Bosphorus and on their way south through
Turkish-held territory. Crusader forces coming from Sicily, in the meantime,
plundered several Greek cities on the way, confirming Byzantine fears about
their real intent.
In the end, the crusaders failed to take Damascus, a major goal, and the
Second Crusade had little to show for itself. Bernard of Clairvaux declared it
was the sins of the crusaders that had brought about their failure. Worst of all for
the crusaders, by 1180 the Muslim commander of the area, Saladin (Salah al-
Din), had unified Muslim forces in the region and recaptured Jerusalem from the
crusaders.

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Third Crusade
The shocking recapture of Jerusalem by Muslims now galvanized Europe into a
third Crusade. Saladin’s recapture paralleled the events of the first Muslim
capture of the city in 637 CE under the Caliph ‘Umar: few of its Christian
civilian inhabitants were harmed after Muslim troops entered Jerusalem this time
as well, and most of the churches were left untouched, although ransom money
was demanded from the crusaders. The Third Crusade was also notable for the
participation of several more key royal figures, including England’s Richard the
Lionheart and France’s Philip II. Ongoing Byzantine suspicions were reinforced
when Richard, en route to the Holy Land, captured Cyprus from the Byzantine
Empire. European integrity and sense of humanitarianism were further
compromised when Richard, during the siege of Acre, promised the safety of all
its Muslim citizens if it capitulated; yet upon its surrender, he massacred them
all. After failing to capture Jerusalem, Richard reached agreement with Saladin
on terms for maintaining an ongoing Christian pilgrimage to the city.

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