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With Antioch in their hands, the Crusaders set their sights on Jerusalem - if they can keep it together that long.

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Europe: The First Crusade - VI: On to Jerusalem - Extra History

Support us on Patreon! http://bit.ly/EHPatreon Watch the First Crusade series! http://bit.ly/1DxBoWh Subscribe for new episodes every Saturday! http://bit.ly/SubToEC Follow us on Facebook! http://bit.ly/ECFBPage Follow us on Twitter! http://bit.ly/ECTweet Follow us on Twitch! http://bit.y/ECTwitch ____________ The Crusaders now held Antioch, but not securely. The Turks still control the citadel atop the mountain and had a massive army coming to reinforce them. The situation grew worse when Stephen of Blois deserted from the Crusades, and told the Byzantine reinforcements not to bother: he believed Antioch would fall immediately. Now entirely on their own, the Crusaders held the wall in constant vigil until a mystic named Peter Bartholomew claimed to have received a vision from Saint Andrew. Guided by his vision, he discovered metal which he claimed to be the holy lance of Longinus - nevermind that the church already had the holy lance in its possession. Though the Crusade leaders had doubts, the soldiers were inspired so they launched an assault on the Turkish armies. Surprisingly, they won the day: the Turks did not fully support their leader, Kerbogha, and many took the Crusade counter-attack as an excuse to abandon the siege. Bohemond now kept Antioch, while Raymond of Toulouse - after the disastrous Siege of Maarat led the soldiers to commit acts of cannabalism - took the remains of the army south to Jerusalem. His attempt to capture a small city called Arqa along the way almost fractured the crusade army again, and did lead to the death of Peter Bartholomew. They arrived in Jerusalem to find the local wells poisoned, giving them no choice but to attack the city head-on. After days of intense fighting, they won their way inside the walls and began a massive slaughter of the people who still lived inside Jerusalem - the Christian population had been expelled, leaving only Muslims and Jews still in the city. And thus, with Antioch and Jerusalem both in crusader hands, the First Crusade came to an end. ____________ Get the intro music here! http://bit.ly/1EQA5N7 *Music by Demetori: http://bit.ly/1AaJG4H Get the outro music here! http://bit.ly/1NbpIcd __________ Extra History - From Swineherd to Emperor Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora: http://bit.ly/1J4vFWU Extra Credits - Welcome Updates or Troubling Omens? A Generation of Remasters: http://bit.ly/1iBPjRL

Comments

Farzad Mansouri

Blood begets blood, and some assholes have the gaul to call Muslims savages.

ExtraCredits

I hope that, if anything, Extra History has shown that people are people, and capable of great savagery - or great kindness - depending on their own choices. Our brains like to group people into one identity and assume that whole group will choose to act the same way, but that's not at all how people work. -Soraya

Anonymous

What happened to the man who ignited this War, Pope Urban II? Did all this horror and bloodshed benefit him in any way?

Anonymous

What? Tancred was a good guy? Didn't see that coming. I guess one shouldn't judge a person so hastily.

Anonymous

I just looked it up out of curiosity - 14 days after the crusaders took Jerusalem, Pope Urban II died - before word of this could even make it back to Italy where he was waiting!

Anonymous

Mind you this is the BETTER of the crusades. Sheer dumb luck with sudden bouts of heroism got them to the holy city but remember God wills it! God probably didn't will the mass murder of civilians though.... but i'm not overly religious myself. As always love the series, I've started showing them to pretty much anyone who has a internet connection amongst my friends and all have at least found them interesting

Jetstream

Less "Tancred was a good guy," and more "Tancred occasionally remembered parts of his holy book."

Anonymous

If I were a history teacher, I would make watching this series a requirement for my class. You guys do a great job of giving a general over view of events without bombarding people with to many details all at once.

ExtraCredits

Thanks! We do have to cut some things out for time/clarity, but we do our best to make up for that in Lies - and to emphasize that people should always get their history from multiple sources so they can make up their own minds about the way things went down.

ExtraCredits

Yeah, it is a terrifying thought that THIS was the "successful" Crusade, but there you have it. They did succeed in taking Antioch and Jerusalem and setting up the foundation for Crusader kingdoms out in the east, but man, so much of what it took to get there was an out-and-out disaster for everyone involved.

Jason Youngberg

Awesome series. One thing I hope viewers in the USA realize is that there are people who are still living in those cities. People for whom the Crusades are part of their history. In the USA there are people who cling to the Confederate flag saying it was part of their heritage and still hold a grudge for losing the US Civil War. That is a fraction of what some people in the holy land feel. They still see the effects of the Crusades to this day and recall the slaughters committed by barbaric invaders.

Anonymous

Fantastic series. It was very enjoyable, and I must say I am particularly enjoying Heather's art. Great Job y'all! As ever, * Great Big Kitty Hugs!! *

Jim McGeehin

A splendid finish. A shame we couldn't hear about Bishop Adhemar's ghost order a procession around the walls of Jerusalem, but maybe that'll be in the wrap-up episode.

Anonymous

Excellent! Great job on Heath, Dan, James and Kerry for their great work! It's gotten me really excited for the next one. One point of trivia worth mentioning is they also burnt a Synagogue of Jews alive, in Jerusalem.

ExtraCredits

Yeah, we like to tell a good story here, but history is very personal. Even folks who aren't conscious of the history of the place they grew up in (or people they grew up around) are being influenced by the attitudes of people who did experience those things, and handed them down through generations.

ExtraCredits

I don't even know that story! But perhaps James does. He's got a lot of material he didn't get to fit into the story, that much I do know. :D

ExtraCredits

Even by the standards of the day, when sacking cities happened somewhat often, the sack of Jerusalem was brutal.

Anonymous

Thank's for the great series! What's the next topic?

Anonymous

Crazy story altogether. I've lost track of time, but how long did the crusade last? It must've been years. Also, how did they manage to maintain a regularly army, large enough to take Jerusalem? Given all the fighting, the sieges, sickness and starvation they've gone through, I'm impressed there's any army left. Did new forces from Europe join them as time went on?

Anonymous

Only one minor incident of cannibalism. lol.

ExtraCredits

It lasted three years! Getting from Western Europe to Turkey is no small feat, so they didn't have many reinforcements coming in - just the Byzantines and whatever locals they could recruit. (They did recruit locals periodically - we see Tancred doing this in Episode 5.)

ExtraCredits

Actually, it says one *major* incidient of cannibalism in the episode. ;D Even the most gung-ho of chroniclers were pretty grossed out by that one.

Anonymous

The Crusades were always my favorite part of Medieval history. I hope we get to see the Second Crusade (the one that doesn't even make it out of Europe) and the Third Crusade with all the major kings of Europe actually participating.