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Medieval Crusades and Africa

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Medieval Crusades and Africa

Read the short account and study the timeline. Then use evidence from them to solve the historian’s questions. Remember that people in the past had different beliefs and experiences.

A campaign reaches Egypt

The Crusades were repeated religious wars in which European armies pursued Christian goals in the eastern Mediterranean. In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a campaign to help the Byzantine Empire and to take Jerusalem. The First Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099. Later campaigns brought crusading armies into Egypt, a powerful kingdom in north-east Africa. In 1218, during the Fifth Crusade, an army from Europe attacked the port city of Damietta in the Nile Delta. It captured the city in 1219, but after advancing inland the crusaders were surrounded and eventually surrendered it in 1221. The campaign failed to take Egypt. Egypt mattered because it controlled important routes and resources, and its rulers could influence events in the eastern Mediterranean. The campaigns affected people living there, including Muslim communities and Christian communities. The story cannot be understood from the viewpoint of European armies alone.

1095 — Pope Urban II calls for a crusade

1099 — The First Crusade captures Jerusalem

1218 — The Fifth Crusade attacks Damietta in Egypt

1221 — The crusaders surrender Damietta

Investigate the evidence

Answer in full sentences where appropriate. Use the account and timeline as evidence.

1.Which statement best describes the Crusades in the account?

A series of military campaigns connected to Christian aims in the eastern Mediterranean
A single peaceful trading mission to Egypt
A war fought only between European kingdoms
A campaign to explore the source of the Nile

2.According to the account, give one reason Pope Urban II called for a campaign in 1095.

3.Which place in Africa did the Fifth Crusade attack, and what kind of place was it? Use the account.

4.Put these events in chronological order by writing 1–4 beside them: capture of Jerusalem; attack on Damietta; Urban II’s call; surrender of Damietta.

5.True or false? The crusaders held Damietta permanently after capturing it in 1219. Correct the statement if it is false.

TrueFalse

6.The campaign failed to take Egypt. Give one piece of evidence from the account that supports this conclusion.

7.Why might Egypt have been strategically important to rulers around the eastern Mediterranean? Give one reason from the account.

It controlled important routes and resources
It was the location of the Byzantine capital
It had no connection to Mediterranean events
It was the only place where Christians lived

8.The account says the campaigns affected Muslim and Christian communities. Why is this detail important when studying the Crusades?

9.A student says, “The Crusades were only about Jerusalem.” Use one detail from the account to challenge this claim.

10.Write one question you would ask a person living in Egypt during the Fifth Crusade to learn about their experience. Explain briefly why the question could help a historian.