Women During the Period of Crusades. Crusades were expeditions as well as being holy wars; as a result women did at hand take the cross and joined the crusades, regardless of those who lectured about women to send money to fund the troops instead of arri

By the Second Crusade, experienced men at arms, mostly the noble people, were recruited, leaving property and wealth to be administered and protected by women. These changing conditions empowered women much more than previously before. During the Crusades wives were very influential in persuading their husbands to take the cross and were especially disappointed if they brought shame to themselves in the process. Look, for example the case of Stephen of Blois, who deserted the First Crusade, supposing it to be a failure before the fortifications of Antioch. “Stephen arrival in France told him that Christians did take Jerusalem. He was so ashamed that his wife, daughter of William the Conqueror, forced him to go again in the Crusade of 1101, in which he was killed.” Prime example of women taking charge was Blanche of Castile (1187-1251), queen of Louis VIII of France, who became in charge while her crusader son, King Louis IX, took up arms in his “holy war”. On his going away in seventh crusade, Louis IX told his capable mother: “I leave my three children for your care. I leave this kingdom of France to you to rule over. Truly I know that they well guarded and it well governed be.” Blanche controlled to hold back the rebellions and actually expanded the power of the French empire. In 1249 she accomplished the incorporation of the power Midi family into the French state and made beneficial unions. As a result, the empire of France more or less closely resembles the outline and form it has today. Although it was mainly men who set off on the Crusades, many women did actually accompany the men but after the failures of the first Crusade and the ban in place from the Pope for women and children from attending further crusades, some women accompanied their husbands anyway. The famous female crusader who completely ignored this ban was Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.

At age fifteen Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII, King of France, with that she brought into the marriage her huge dowry of assets. Eleanor, the daring lady that she was, claimed on leaving with her husband to battle in the Crusade. “Contributing thousands of fighters to help in the Second Crusade, Eleanor made sure that she would go too, alongside with her three hundred of ladies in waiting. These women clothed in body armor and bared arms, but on no account fought.” Eleanor was very enthusiastic about the Crusades and understood that every person must aid the warriors by some mean. She was in favor of the Crusades that she would gallop around cities on her horse, urging the townspeople to join the crusades. The church may have been grateful to receive her thousands of fighting vassals, but they grew considerably less happy when Eleanor proclaimed that she proposed to go with the crusaders with no plans of letting anybody prevent her from going. Her reason for attending the crusades was that she was departing to assist the wounded. She needed this excuse to get around the ban that Pope Urban II had set on women not being able to attend the crusades. The women never in reality anticipated to fight, but they wanted to prove their support and faithfulness towards the crusaders. They also wanted to demonstrate to the men that they were prepared to battle if they required to. When King and Queen arrived at the city of Antioch, Eleanor found herself in profound friendship with Raymond, her uncle, who had been chosen prince of the city. When Raymond determined that the best planned mission of the Crusade would be to recapture Edessa, therefore protecting the Western section of the Holy Land, Eleanor agreed with his tactics. King Louis IX, however, was obsessed on reaching Jerusalem by any means necessary and Louis IX required that Eleanor follow him to Jerusalem. Suddenly Eleanor claimed that their marriage was not legitimate in the eyes of God, Louis however forced Eleanor to respect her marriage vows and journey with him. In the end the journey did fail, and a conquered Eleanor and Louis IX came back to France in separated ships. On her way back home, Eleanor was told that her uncle has been slayed in battle, and his decapitated head brought to the Caliph of Iraq. If Louis IX had just listened to Eleanor, the result of the whole crusade could have been different. Jerusalem would have been sheltered from the west by Raymond's knights, guarding the land from attackers and other Muslim militaries. This would allow them to more easily take over Jerusalem, considering that there would be less outside parties in Jerusalem for them to fight off as they were taking it. “In 1152, the marriage was void and her possessions returned back to Eleanor's control. In a few months, she married twenty year old Henry who became King of England.” The next pope, for the upcoming Third Crusade prohibits women of all walks of life to join the Crusade mission. All the Christian kings, as well as King Louis, approved to this, but by this time Eleanor had personal troubles of her own in her marriage to King Henry II of England. During the Second Crusade, Eleanor protected the kingdom from her youngest son John. This role increased her fame as an extremely capable politician. In all respect her influences set the code for all living monarchs. In history, women played a vital role during the Crusades persuading noble men into accepting their point of view; Eleanor of Aquitaine in particular had great influence in her time, as she was a powerful woman in history. 

          Mutually the Christian and Muslim philosophy on war throughout the Crusades would not have allowed a strict battle role for women. A number of Muslims records account of the crusades in the East in which claim that Christian women occasionally went into battle as soldiers. Muslim reports of the Third Crusade also tell of female Europeans taking part in battles. The Muslim authors were enthusiastic to illustrate how monstrous the westerners were. It is not apparent how far women battled in the field. Muslims also states that women bodies discovered on the field after the war of Acre in July 25, 1190. The Western records show that just “common people” fought that day, as a result these would have been regular women fighting with the infantry. That the ordinary people had gone out intentionally lacking their noble kings to attack the Muslims themselves since they had lost confidence in the kings to guide them successfully. Possibly in that case it may seem that regular women such as wives, daughters, and mothers went with the men as part of the common reason. The Muslims were extremely surprised that the Christian women were fighting, as Muslim women did not battle with the exception of in very extreme situations, such as the defense of their homes or castles. Some Muslim reports declared that women were also combating on horseback in the Christian army, as knights, and were recognized as women as soon as they were killed and their armor was separated. It appears very doubtful that Christian women would have battled as knights, largely since the crusading kings would not have permitted it, it would have been a disgrace and humiliation for them to have permitted women to fight, as it was their responsibility to protect the women, not for the women to protect them! Also, as the Third Crusade was eventually unsuccessful, the Western European reports were looking for groups or isolated armies to blame for the loss. It would have been simple to accuse the loss of Crusade on the women, but they did not. They never recognized fighting women; as a result it is very unconvincing that women battled on horseback throughout the Crusades. In Muslim eyes, the fact that European women accompanied their men on campaign and sometimes fought showed the sheer evil and barbarity of the Christians. 

Their were quite a few other women who were very noteworthy during the Crusades. One of which is Anna Comnena, the daughter of the Alexis I, the Byzantine Emperor. She acknowledges the past of her family throughout the crusades and called it The Alexiad. This is the most informative and unique primary source of the First Crusade. In The Alexiad, Anna described her father's reign enthusiastically, portraying Alexius I as someone who wants the best for his people and his empire while also sensibly dealing with the crusaders. Anna also describes how her father secured oaths from crusading princes and their movement through Constantinople into the Holy Land. She details that these oaths returned from Turkey all the way to most of Asia Minor to Byzantine control. What’s interesting about The Alexiad is how Anna portrays the crusaders to be extremely crude and rude, saying that they are “looters who turned greedy eyes to the gold, enamel, and art work of Byzantium.”

In 1250 A.D. the crusading armies of France were threatening Egypt and the sultan of Egypt, Salih Ayyub in charge of Muslim army died and left behind his wife Shagrat al-Durr. Shagrat al-Durr took the mission upon herself and reorganized the Egyptian military to recapture Damietta back from the France Crusaders.  She became the sultan of Egypt after her husband died, and his entire military supported her because of her cleverness and strong determination.  “Shagrat is one of the very few women in Islamic record to rise to the throne. Her overemotional life demonstrates the truth that a determined woman had to depend on the great will of men to be capable of leading.”

Between the first and last Crusades, European women believed in the cross, determined to arrive at Jerusalem or die trying. The women who existed throughout the Crusades were faced with many hardships and opportunities. Although men mainly dominated society during these times, it is a serious misconception to think that the woman of this era were only responsible for the affairs of their everyday life. Men learned to except and even follow the ideas and actions of women during the Crusades. An expanding economy as well as the large number of casualties caused by the war and absence of many men in the towns allowed women to assume many more roles than they were able to or allowed before. On the other hand, it is clear that countless men brought their wife and children with them on crusade, some mothers even brought their sons to battles. Women expected their husbands, sons, and lovers to go on crusade and apparently a number of them went along with them. Women helped with essential tasks inside the camp, such as moving dirt to fill in the trench around a surrounded city. Women also acted as support forces, bringing water to the fighters, presumably applying first aid to the wounded, using bows, operating catapults and finally prostitution. Upper class women such as noblewomen can be in charge of the protection, of a fortress, or sponsor and manage the development of castles. When regarding about the Crusades, hardly any people reflect on the consequences that women did during these period. Both women and men set off for the Holy Lands, excited to be rid away with their sins and receive exceptional glory from God for their attempts to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control. The campaign for the crusade rapidly gathered people of all walks of life and became a widespread movement. Soon, a large, mob consisting of women quickly accumulated, and each woman believed to be led by God himself. From this mass of women, the figure well known for the idea of the crusade emerged.