The Second Crusade: A Medieval World War - full documentary

1144 – The Frankish states of Outremer are in peril. Edessa falls to the undefeated warrior-atabeg Zengi. Outremer dispatches appeals for help to the Latin kingdoms of Europe. There, the cause is taken up by Bernard of Clairvaux, the mid-twelfth century’s most influential churchman. Bernard goes before the King of France, Louis VII, and the emperor of Germany, Conrad III, and urges them to lead their armies east. For the first time in half a century, Latin Europe is mobilized, and warriors come forward in great numbers. But the campaign grows into something far larger than even Saint Bernard initially imagined. In the Iberian Peninsula, King Afonso I of Portugal and King Alfonso VII of León-Castile ask that the crusade be extended to their battle against the Almoravids. While on the eastern frontier of the German empire, Henry the Lion wants to lead a crusade against the Wends. This is the Second Crusade – the first truly continental crusading effort of the Middle Ages. We’ll cover the full history.

Written, edited and narrated by J Stephen Roberts
Animations by Denys Rodionov
Game footage: Attila Total War: Age of Charlemagne and Rome 2 Total War: Medieval 1100 mod

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Sources:
-Christiansen, Eric - The Northern Crusades, (Penguin, 1998)
-The Conquest of Lisbon, trans. Charles Wendell David, (Columbia, 2001)
-Ibn al-Athir - The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period, Part 1, trans. D.S. Richards (Ashgate, 2005).
-Ibn al-Qalanisi - The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, trans. H.A.R. Gibb, (Dover, 2002)
-Madden, Thomas - The New Concise History of the Crusades, (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2006)
-O’Callaghan, Joseph - A History of Medieval Spain, (Cornell, 1975)
-O’Callaghan, Joseph - Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain, (Pennsylvania, 2004)
-Phillips, Jonathan - The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom, (Yale, 2010)
-Reilly, Bernard F. - The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain, 1031-1157, (Blackwell, 1995)
-Riley-Smith, Jonathan - The Crusades: A History, (Yale University Press, 2005)
-Tyerman, Christopher - God’s War, (Harvard University Press, 2006)
-William of Tyre - A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, Vol. II, trans. Emily Babcock and A.C. Krey, (Columbia University Press, 1943)

#SecondCrusade #France #Zengi

[jfarinhote]

We study this at school in Portugal as it is of major importance in the creation of our kingdom

[Hohenstein]

FINALLY a video about the second crusade! :D

[sheilahorn]

As always a very much appreciated look at medieval history! And very well done as usual! These long videos never disappoint. Thank you J Steven!

[SD_yessir]

"The sin is not in fighting, but in fighting for the sake of booty."

Hanging that quote up on my wall.

[denysrodionov]

It's just something incredible. You did a great job creating this video. I am pleased to be a part of this great work!

[MrNiceGuyHistory]

Most excellent! This is the best presentation of the Second Crusade I have seen.

[EinDeutscherPatriot]

As a German, I never knew that my country's participation in the crusade went so disastrously. My family hails from Hamburg and our roots go back into Lower Saxony as far as the 1200s. I assume my ancestors would have fought with the other Saxons against the Wends.

[matthewbryson]

Thank you for your hard work creating this informative and entertaining documentary about an incredible period in history.

[dave]

The third crusades were amazing as well man I can’t believe the strength of both sides in these wars

[OtherRealmProductions]

Would love to see the first crusade in this style.

[Morton]

And here I am 2 hours later watched the whole thing and absolutely loved it! Thank you for this never before was I able to see such good detail about the second crusade nor did I know how successful it actually was

[WotansKarl]

Nice to see the ideas of the expanded crusades explored! Not often you get anything on zengi

[TheLoyalOfficer]

Great job! You make great points at the end that Conrad and Louis had not properly prepared for the "boring stuff" of warfare - the logistics and non-combat concerns. This often causes armies to unravel, even before battle is joined.

[zact]

This is a really well put together documentary on the second crusade!

[tadeasjanout]

THANK YOU! ♥ Love your work buddy! Greetings from Bohemia! you own my respect man!

[SidMajors]

Some of the eyes in those early drawings really made me chuckle.
Anyhow, amazing video!!

[SKILLIUSCAESAR]

Absolutely loving these documentaries! Thanku for ur hard work ❤

(Also love ur conversations with Dr. Helena Schrader, she’s a brilliant treasure of research)

[EasternRomanHistory]

I thought this was an excellent history of the Second Crusade.

It was interesting to see the shear scope of the Crusade in all of its theatres as well as Bernerd's concepts about prosecuting the Crusade. For Manuel I, Niketas Choniates tells us of how many Roman citizens hated the Latins and he repeats the stories of them sending down scraps of mouldy bread for most of their money as well as brawls and the sweeping away of the German baggage train by a flash flood. I agree that Manuel's apathy towards the Second Crusade was a misjudgement but at the same time, from his perspective, he had several large armies crossing his lands and to the Eastern Romans, the Latins were just as much a threat as the Turks and were not considered natural allies. Something that had not happened yet were Manuel's successful policies to tame the still rather wild frontiers of the Anatolian provinces. Had the Crusade of Louis and Conrad taken placed 20 years later, they may not have had quite as many issues when marching across Anatolia as they did in the 1140's.

I look forward to the next one.

[tolgakarahan]

Nice documentary. Thanks for the effort!

[-RONNIE]

I wanted to wait until I got home so I could watch this on my TV like a movie. Thank you so such for the video 👍🏻 I can tell you put a lot of work into it.