The Holy Land: The Crusades

The Crusades Even though, Crusader States in the Holy Land were unsustainable because of political instability. Long term problems were caused by Western presence in the Outremer1 and the political situation in Europe throughout the period. In Europe, the form of political dissension among the leaders of the various crusades caused everything to fall. They were many causes to the Crusades unsustainability like, ongoing tension between the Normans and the Byzantine Empire2 which culminated in the Norman defeat at Durazzo in 1107. The other main arguments include the lack of support for Jerusalem, as well as the lack of manpower, the debatable lack of strong leadership, and to a certain extent the arrogance of the Crusaders. By contrast to

This is because the Byzantine Empire, as the closest Christian state would have been able to provide the supplies and manpower which the Crusader polities so sorely needed. As well as these external political problems, the crusaders suffered from an almost chronic lack of support from their European parent states, as is shown by the fact that a Crusade was only arguably launched in response to one of as many as nineteen appeals between 1099 and 1186. The sustainability of the Crusader states was impossible due to these divisions, as it meant that there was not the influx of men, supplies and support necessary for their

There were other issues with many of the Frankish leadership, as many of the Latin occupants of the Levant were arguably motivated by greed rather than any religious fervour, at least past the end of the First Crusade. It is argued that at least a partial motive for the shift in objective of the Second Crusade was greed, as Damascus was a wealthy city, and offered an arguable trade opportunity further into the East. Other than this, and perhaps more obviously; the pursuit of the conquest of Egypt was mainly due to the riches provided by the trade and land along the Nile, while the strategic and tactical benefits were negligible by comparison to potential targets in Northern Syria. This meant that the strategic thinking required for the survival of the polities was perhaps overrode by more material