Title: What was the significance of the Crusades? - eNotes.com
Headings: What was the significance of the Crusades?
Crusades
What was the significance of the Crusades?
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Content: The next year saw the launch of the First Crusade. That year, 1099, was horrifically bloody; many combatants as well as women and children perished. Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders but it was a terrible battle. One Christian participant recalled, "the slaughter was so great that our men waded in blood up to their ankles." The fact that the First Crusade was a success was a surprise to many, not the least of which were the Crusaders themselves; from the point-of-view of those in the West, it was the most successful of all the campaigns. Succeeding Crusades were called to help, for the most part, those already in the Hold Land. The Second Crusade was launched in 1144 by Pope Eugenius III and promoted by one of the most influential people of the twelfth century, Bernard of Clairvaux. Despite the backing of these well-known figures, by all accounts, the Second Crusade was a terrible failure.