Women in the Crusades

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Introduction

The Crusades were the gathering and mobilization of the armed forces of Western Europe under the Pope between 1096-1293. The main goal of this movement was to take Jerusalem from the Muslims and to create an allegiance among Christians. The function of the papal institution here was to gather the states together and to increase the rate of participation in the war by traveling from village to village through the papacy.

“At the same time as Urbanus was calling for the Crusade, he was also stating that it would be a great pilgrimage, and he was reiterating the assurances of forgiveness for the sins of those who would join the crusade, as well as the Church's protection for the persons and property of the pilgrims, which the Church had previously given to those who went on pilgrimage. But this was a strange invitation to pilgrimage, for Urbanus sought to restrict participation in the expedition to knights bearing arms, that is, to the young and healthy. He especially forbade monks to go. In addition to the clergy, he also said that the old, the sick and women were not fit to go on an expedition.”

The sermons of clergymen such as Peter Von Amiens, who distorted and religiousized the events in Jerusalem, succeeded in influencing not only men but also women and even children. As a result, women from all segments of society wanted to take part in the war in Jerusalem. As such, women's participation in the war brought with it much criticism and debate.

“The Papal institution allowed men and women from all classes of society to participate in the war in order not to lose the Crusader spirit that was tried to be created before the First Crusade.” Considering that this movement took place in the Middle Ages, women had to deal with these criticisms and debates on the one hand, and the pressures from their husbands and society on the other. Despite all the setbacks, women's efforts to participate in the war were rewarded, and it was reported that hundreds of women may have participated in the First Crusade in 1096.

It would be more accurate to divide the situation of women during the Crusades into those who participated in the war and those who did not. Women who did not participate in the war experienced as many difficulties as those who did. In addition to taking care of the family members left behind after the mobilization, women were responsible for meeting expenses, childcare, agriculture and animal husbandry. In addition, women who did not participate in the war; “They kept the crusaders' spirits up with their prayers and encouraged their men to fight.” In addition, the wool weaving necessary for the soldiers participating in the war was also done by women. Women's duties included bearing children and raising them as Crusader warriors, albeit with a forward-looking plan.

1.      COMMON WOMEN DURING THE CRUSADES

“It is seen that the women who participated in the Crusades generally participated in the I. Crusade and when we look at the status of the participants, it is seen that women from almost every stratum of society participated in the war.” Despite this, women's participation on the battlefield remained a controversial issue. “Pope Urbanus II considered female participants without proper custody to be more of a hindrance than a help, a burden than a benefit.” Some argued that they should exist to fulfill sexual needs in war, while others argued that women should exist as nurses, technical staff or quartermasters. Some of the women were present as wives and family members of men on pilgrimage. “For example, Count Raymond of Toulouse and Count Baudouin of Boulogne brought their wives with them on the expedition.” During the campaign, women were often tried to be removed from the expedition on the grounds that women encouraged men to sin. After the Third Crusade, however, women were banned from participating in the expedition; “the Children's Crusades*, which took place in 1212 under the leadership of Stephan Von Orleans in France and Nikolaus von Köln in Germany, saw the participation of many girls and mothers who wanted to take care of their children.'' 

Based on the discussions, it is possible to divide the women who participated in the campaign into three main groups: women who ran errands, women who fulfilled sexual needs and women who were personally present on the battlefield.

1.1. Women Participating as Cooks, Laundresses and Corpsmen

Women, who did not have high status in society and did not possess the necessary qualifications for warfare, generally served as nurses, doctors, laundresses, cooks and water carriers on the battlefield. Indeed, women were literally involved in every line of work, especially during the First Crusade. “They removed lice from soldiers' heads and performed tasks such as washing clothes. Indeed, laundressing was almost the only role for a woman approved by the Catholic Church for the Crusades, and during the First Crusade their presence was permitted as long as they were beautiful and unattractive.” The reason for the preference for beautiful and unattractive women can be interpreted as women seducing men and taking them out of the war. But despite this view of the Church, women continued to join the advancing Crusader army. Women, whose names were not mentioned during the good times of the war, were accused of seducing men when the war turned bad. Women were declared "persona non grata" and tried to be pushed out of the battlefield because they were thought to be harming the sanctity of the campaign. Of course, it cannot be said that women nurses and doctors were not affected by this situation. Throughout the war, female members of European knightly orders treated Christian soldiers and brought them back to the battlefield. Here, too, the accusations against women did not diminish but took on a different dimension. This time, it was thought that men and women being treated together would weaken men mentally and it was proposed that men and women be treated in different hospitals or infirmaries.

1.1. Participants for Satisfying Sexual Needs

According to Albert of Aachen, some of the women who participated in the campaign did so to satisfy their sexual needs. During the Turkish raids on the Crusader camp near Eskisehir, women reportedly dressed up and flirted with Turkish men in order to escape death. Women who participated in the war to satisfy their sexual needs have been a controversial topic both in their own time and today. While Aachen argued that this situation led the soldiers to immorality and created chaos, the preacher Arnulf of Normandy, known for his fondness for women, argued that women should remain in the army for sexual needs.

     The situation of women became more prominent after each defeated battle. After the Siege of Antioch, married and unmarried women were expelled from the army. According to the Church, wars were thought to be lost due to the wrath of God because of their sinfulness, and women were blamed for this. Later on, all women were expelled from the army without any distinction between noble and non-noble.

1.1. Women Fighting at the Front

Crusader sources do not mention women fighting. Eyewitnesses of the 13th century Baltic Crusades (Northern Crusades) write that pagan Prussian and Lithuanian women fought against Christians, but not Christian women. Muslim historians Imad al-Din and Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad write that women played an active role in the Third Crusade. These historians wrote that a noblewoman paid the expenses of some 500 knights who landed from the sea at the Siege of Acre and that women fought Muslims on the battlefield in knightly armor like men.

Baha al-Din mentions a woman among the Christians at the Siege of Acre, wearing a green coat and wielding a wooden bow, trying to sneak behind the walls. The presence of women was not confined to this siege; women are also mentioned in the march from Acre to the south. However, Christian sources state that after Acre, all women except the laundresses were left behind. The reason for the limited information about women in Christian sources, or the fact that they only mention women who are laundresses and women who are about to fulfill sexual needs, which is also very rare, is the belief that women are a stain on the sanctity of war. This is why women, who were undesirable from the start, are rarely mentioned in Christian sources.

2.      Noble Women Participating in the Crusades

It is known that noble women of the period also took part in the campaigns. Noble women who ruled the state, such as Queen Melisende, married people recommended by the Pope, such as Countess Adelheid, or did not leave their husbands alone, such as Eirene, the wife of Byzantine Emperor Alexios Kommenos, took part in the war. It is also known that many women joined the war alongside their husbands with the call of Pope Urbanus II.

2.1. Ida Von Österreich (Ida from Austria)

Ida was the daughter of Luitod von Maehren, the captain of the Maehren region of Austria. She joined the Crusader army of 60,000 people in the First Crusade. She first reached Hungary, then Bulgaria and finally Anatolia. She lost her life fighting in the Battle of Eregli.

2.2. Countess Adelheid of Sicily

In the Middle Ages, it is known that marriages were arranged in order to gain status in society or to gain some political rights. Adelheid, the rich widow of Count Roger, was one of them. She was married to King Baudouin I of Jerusalem through Patriarch Arnulf. This marriage The king of Jerusalem was financially relieved. The reason for this relief can be understood from the fact that when the Countess arrived at the port of Acre, she landed with shiploads of gifts and her own armed troops.

2.3. Melisende from Jerusalem

Melisende of Jerusalem is known to have played an important role in the Second Crusades. After the death of her husband, she ascended the throne alone. She is known for her struggles against the Muslims. Melisende participated in the planning of the Second Crusades and was involved in the fight for the Palmyra region.

2.4. Eleanor of Akitonian 

After the defeat of the Germans by Sultan Masud in 1147, King Louis VII of France and his wife Eleanore d'Aquitaine personally participated in the war. In addition to the ladies of the court, the countesses of Flanders and Toulouse also joined the expedition. The Queen's participation undoubtedly set an example for courageous women waiting for the opportunity to join the war.

2.5. Zümrüt Khatun

One of the important women of the period was Zümrüt Hatun. In the early 1130s, she played an active role in the administration as the wife of the Emir of Damascus. Her son Ismail, who ascended to the throne, obtained significant booty from his expeditions to the cities of Banyas, Acre, Hama and Ba'lebek. However, his excessive taxes and ruthless rule drew reactions. As a result of the massacres he committed, the people complained to his mother. Zümrüt Khatun, who had kept silent until this time, had her son Ismail killed when she received the news that her lover would also be killed. This action of Zümrüt Hatun weakened the central authority that her son had established, albeit with cruelty. This was a great opportunity for the Crusaders to retake the cities they had lost.

2.6. Shajar al-Durr

After the death of the Ayubid sultan al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub in 1249, his son Turanshah ascended the throne. However, Turanşah was assassinated because of his differences with the Bahri Mamluks. While these events were taking place, the struggle with the Crusaders was also continuing. King Louis IX of France had just been captured. In such a chaotic situation, the Bahri Mamluks unhesitatingly elevated the former ruler al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-Durr, the wife of Najm al-Din Ayyub, to the throne. The reasons for this choice were her administrative skills and the fact that she was the former ruler's favorite wife. After ascending to the throne, Seçer al-Dürr, who was of Turkish descent, issued edicts under the name of Validet al-Khalil. This event, which was rarely seen in the Arab world, did not delay the reaction from religious circles. The biggest reaction came from the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutasim, who was consulted for the confirmation of the reign. In order to alleviate the pressure from religious circles, Shajar al-Durr married the army commander Aybek and although she legally lost her sultanate, she was a woman who had a say in the administration with the support she received from the Bahri Mamluks.

2.7. Kontes Eschiva

In the Middle Ages, women often entered into political marriages. Countess Eschiva is one of them. Countess Eschiva, the wife of the judge of Taboriya, married Raymond III, Count of Tripoli after the death of her husband. This marriage also brought Raymond III the sovereignty of Tabor. However, the husband and wife adopted a joint administration in Taboriye. When the Count joined the Crusader army, Eschiva was left in charge of Taboriye. As a result of Sultan Saladin's siege of Taboriya and the Countess's unanswered calls for help, the Countess surrendered Taboriya to Saladin in 1187.

Although the Crusades created a spirit of unity in Christian societies against Muslims, they also caused a major disruption in the social structure. The concept of family and the woman, who is the body of the family, were psychologically and physically worn out. Women were divided into those who participated in the war and those who did not. Those who participated in the war were divided into nobles and common women. After their husbands, fathers and sons went to war, women took on the financial obligations and the care of the children was left to them. The concept of holiness put forward by the Church led to the expectation of something from women. Women who were in a difficult situation worked as thieves and prostitutes in order to support their families. No help was provided by the Church and women were also shamed.

     Women from the public who participated in the war were generally involved in the war with tasks such as carrying water, supplies, weapons to the front, washing clothes, cooking and meeting the sexual needs of the soldiers. Later, women were banned from participating in the war for reasons such as desecrating the sanctity of the war and corrupting the soldiers. But this ban did not apply to noble women. Noble women were no different from common women in the war. They were often married off for political gain and to secure the position of the clergy. Some noblewomen played an important role in the political and military arena in the Crusader spirit by taking part in the battlefield and ruling a country. The best example of this is Melisende of Jerusalem.

“The situation of Christian women during the Crusades is an important element in understanding the social, demographic and religious structure of Europe. Christian kings, princes, dukes and counts, united for self-interest, married off their daughters, sisters and even their widowed mothers in order to consolidate their positions. The ages of these married women ranged between 8 and 60.”

In general, when we look at the situation of women during the Crusades, they were seen as inferior by their families and the church, and were asked to serve and make sacrifices in difficult situations. However, the women who stayed behind and those on the battlefield suffered the most. As a result, the Crusades inflicted great wounds on both Muslim and Christian women and took the social structure backwards.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

• Albert of Aachen, Historia Ierosolimitana. History of the Journey to Jerusalem, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.
  

• Altan Çetin, Ortaçağda Kadın, Lotus Yayınları, Antalya, 2011.
  

• Anna Kommena, Alexiad, çev. Bilge Umar, İnkılap Kitapevi, Ankara, 1996.
  

• Baha el Din, The Life Of Saladin, çev. Hamilton Gibb, Oxford University Press, Londra, 1973.
  

• Conor Kostick, The Social Structure of The First Crusade, Brill, Hollanda, 2008.
  

• Ergin Ayan, Willermus Tyrensis’in Haçlı Kroniği 2, Gece Kitaplığı, İstanbul, 2018.
  

• Fulcherius Carnotensis, Kudüs Seferi, çev. İlcan Bihter Barlas, IQ Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 2009.
  

• Gendering the Crusades, haz. Susan Edgington & Sarah Lambert, University of Wales Press, Londra, 2001.
  

• Işın Demirkent, Haçlı Seferleri, Dünya Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 1997.
  

• Jonathan Phillips, The Crusades, 1095-1197, Harlow/New York, 2002.
  

• Piers D. Mitchell, Medicine in the Crusades. Warfare, Wounds and the Medieval Surgeon, Cambridge University Press, Edinburgh, 2004.
  

• Raimundus Aguilers, Haçlılar Kudüs’te, çev. Süleyman Genç, Yeditepe Yayınevi, İstanbul, 2019.
  

• Urfalı Mateos, Urfalı Mateos Vekayi-Namesi (952-1136) ve Papaz Grigor’un Zeyli (1136-1162), çev. Hrant D. Andreasan, TTK Yayınları, Ankara, 2000.

ARTICLES

• Aydın Usta, ‘’Haçlı Seferlerinde Kadın’’, Ortaçağda Kadın, ed. Altan Çetin, Lotus Yayınları, Antalya, 2011.

• Gülşen İstek, ‘’ Haçlı Seferlerine Katılan Kadınlar’’, Journal of Islamicjerusalem Studies, 19/2.

• Gülşen İstek, ‘’Almanca Eserlerde Çocuk Haçlı Seferleri’’, Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, sayı 65, 2019.

• Helen Nicholson, ‘’Women and the Crusades’’, Hereford Historical Association, 2008.

• Michael Evans, ‘’Unfit to Bear Arms: The Gendering of Arms and Armour in Accounts of Women on Crusade’’, Gendering the Crusades, haz. Susan Edgington & Sarah Lambert, University of Wales Press, Londra, 2001.

• Nadir Karakuş, ‘’Haçlı Seferleri’nde Üç Kadın ve İslam Birliğinin Sağlanması’’, On Dokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, sayı 43, 2017.

• Ramazan Altınay & Habibe Ceren Dağdeviren, ‘’Haçlı Devletleri Döneminde Kadın Algısı, Siyasi Evlilikler ve Devlet Yönetiminde Kadınların Rolü’’, Journal of History Culture and Art Research, Sayı 16, 2021.

• Richard Firth-Godbehere, ‘’Women and Crusading: A Brief Examination’’, (https://www.academia.edu/4407207/Women_and_Crusading_A_Brief_Examination), (27.12.2021).

• Salim Koca, ‘’Haçlı Seferleri Sebep ve Sonuçları Bakımından Nasıl Değerlendirilebilir.’’, Akademik Bakış, Sayı 20, 2017.