Crusaders

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Crusaders
Organizational information
Founder(s)	Pope Urban II
Operational center	Acre (1191)
Religion	Christian (Catholic denomination)
Historical information
Formed	1095

The term "Crusaders" applied to a number of different monastic and military Christian orders that, in unison with several European kingdoms, declared war upon the Muslim rulers of the "Holy Land", aiming to forcefully reclaim it in the name of Christianity. Amongst their number were counted knightly orders such as; the Knights Hospitalier, the Knights Teutonic, and Knights Templar.

History

In the late 12th century, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I sent an ambassador to Pope Urban II, asking for help against the Seljuk Turks; in response, Pope Urban organised the creation of the first Crusader force. Pope Urban II called upon all Christians to serve, promising them material rewards and remission of their sins.

Third Crusade

Main article: Third Crusade

By the year 1191, the Crusaders were commanded by Richard I of England - better known as Richard the Lionheart - who sought to reclaimed Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. The Crusaders won a number of battles at Acre, Arsuf, and Jaffa, yet they ultimately failed to capture Jerusalem. Later, King Richard made peace with the Saracen ruler - Salāḥ ad-Dīn - on the condition that Christians pilgrims be allowed to freely visit Jerusalem.

The Knights Templar, who were a part of the Crusader army, besieged the Assassin fortress at Masyaf twice during the Third Crusade, although both attempts ended in failure.

Templars attacking Masyaf in 1189

The first, in the year 1189, was led by the Templar Haras, who was a part of the Assassin Order until he betrayed them, hoping to locate the Apple of Eden. The second, in 1191, was led by the Templar Grand Master himself, Robert de Sablé. In all, both sieges were quelled due to the efforts of the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

By the year 1191, the Crusaders had conquered the cities of Jaffa and Acre, and were on the march towards Jerusalem. During this time, Crusader troops could be found patrolling through the wilderness that divided the cities of Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem.

The same year, Altaïr set out to eliminate several corrupt men, who were secretly Templars. Several of these men were important Crusaders and Saracens, which almost led to the two factions uniting in an attempt to try and destroy their common enemy. In order to prevent this, Altaïr set out to assassinate the Templar Grand Master, Robert de Sablé, and succeeded in killing him after a long duel, during the Battle of Arsuf, to convince Richard that the Templars were traitors to his army.

Knightly orders

Knights Templar

Main article: Templars

Throughout history, the Templars had existed in one form or another, and during the Crusades, they felt the need for support from the Catholic Church. With this, they turned into a monastic-military organisation, with the stated objective of protecting pilgrims in the Holy Land.

However, their actual objective was to look for the Pieces of Eden, one of which they had found in the Temple of Solomon in the year 1191, and to also eliminate the influence of their enemies, the Assassins.

In regards to leadership, by the year 1191, they were led by Robert de Sablé, who was responsible for finding the Apple of Eden. He planned to conquer the Holy Land from the Muslims and then drive out the other Crusaders as well, in order to end the war. Leaders of both the other major knightly factions, several important Saracen individuals, and even the leader of the Assassins, Rashid ad-Din Sinan, were involved in this goal.

Knights Teutonic

Main article: Knights Teutonic

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, more commonly known as the Knights Teutonic, were a monastic-military order of German origin that participated in the Third Crusade.

During the Crusade, the Teutonic Order aided King Richard I of England in the conquest of Acre, and were later positioned in the city's Middle District.

The Order's first Grand Master, Sibrand, was also secretly a member of the Templar Order, and he planned to use the Crusader fleet in Acre to blockade the city and prevent the European kingdoms from sending reinforcements, allowing the Templars to conquer the Holy Land.

Knights Hospitalier

Main article: Knights Hospitalier

The Knights Hospitalier, also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, the Order of St. John, the Knights of the Hospital, and the Chevaliers of Malta, were one of the Christian orders of the Crusades. Their emblem was a white cross, often on a black background.

The Knights Hospitalier were founded in the city of Jerusalem to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land, but became a much more militaristic organization with the onset of the Crusades.

By the year 1191, they were led by Garnier de Naplouse, secretly a Templar. After the Templars had lost the Apple of Eden to the Assassins, Garnier began experimenting on his sick patients with herbs, to try and replicate the mind-controlling effects of the Apple.

Soldiers

Main article: Guards

By 1191, the Crusaders controlled the city of Acre and had guards stationed throughout the Kingdom, the region between Acre, Jerusalem, Masyaf and Damascus.

Regular guards

Regular guards were the most commonly found Crusader guards throughout the Holy Land. They wore no helmets and had only light leather armor, being the weakest Crusader guards, though their strength lay in numbers. They were also the most cowardly guards and would flee when their opponent began to triumph over them.

Guard sergeants

Guard sergeants were equipped with chainmail tabards and wore a helmet, and were often found leading guard patrols, as well as having more combat experience than regular soldiers. They were also braver than the regular guards, but would still flee from an opponent if they killed several higher ranking guards.

Guard Captains

Captains were the strongest guards, and wore chainmail armor with tabards, surcoats, chain mail gloves and various knight helms. They would rarely run away from a fight and could present a challenge to even the toughest fighters.

Templar Knights

The Templars had well trained knights who were posted throughout the Holy Land, in Crusader and Saracen cities alike. They wore similar armor to Guard Captains, though their armor sported a Templar cross, instead of the prancing lion, which was the usual Crusader symbol.

They were highly skilled and aggressive fighters, often breaking their enemy's defense with ease. Templar Knights would never run away from a fight, and would also choose to fight to the death. In total, there were at least sixty such knights, all of whom were killed by the Assassin Altaïr.

Trivia

Flags

• There were several flags spread throughout the Holy Land in Assassin's Creed, of which the following were related to the Crusaders:
  • King Richard flags
  • Teutonic flags
  • Hospitalier flags
  • Templar flags
  • Jerusalem crosses

Gallery

A Crusader soldier

A Crusader sergeant

A Crusader captain

A Teutonic soldier

A Teutonic sergeant

A Teutonic captain

A Hospitalier soldier

A Hospitalier sergeant

A Hospitalier captain

A Templar knight

Haras, the leader of the Assault on Masyaf

Robert de Sablé and his army in Masyaf