The Crusades were a pretty violent time for Europe and the Middle East. Tragically, though, the violence isn't the only thing that would kill you if you lived during that era. Here's why you would never survive the Crusades. Let's say you embark on the First Crusade in 1096. The Pope has promised that if you die in combat, all your sins will be forgiven and you'll go to heaven. If you're a knight, that's very convenient because you also fight in non-holy wars, which are considered "sinful." Plus, if you don't fight, you'll be branded a coward.
If you're a peasant, you're worried about going to hell not for who you fight, but for what you eat. According to National Geographic, famine ravaged France before the Crusades, killing thousands of peasants. Many of those peasants resorted to cannibalism as they embarked on an unorganized Crusade that was easily defeated by Turkish forces. A second, more successful group of crusaders also struggled with hunger. As The Telegraph explained, 4,500 knights were joined by 35,000 people fleeing famine and poverty without weapons or even shoes.
It would take three years to reach Jerusalem, and if you didn't die on the way, you still had to scrounge for food. According to eyewitness accounts, Crusader cannibalism was so rampant that they were seen placing body parts on spits out in the open.
Summer in the Holy Land was hell during the Crusades. According to The World of the Crusades: A Daily Life Encyclopedia, the normal heat of the season was made worse by the Medieval Warm Period that scorched the area from about 950 to 1250. That time span covers the First through Sixth Crusades, and part of the Seventh. Along with the heatwave came lethal thirst that killed many crusaders along the way. And even if you could manage to find water, your enemies might take it before you could.
Perhaps the best example of weaponized dehydration occurred in 1187 when the sultan Saladin defeated King Guy in the Battle of Hattin. Saladin lured Guy's army away from a water source that gave the King a distinct advantage. The Crusaders withered in the sun, and Saladin's troops cranked up the heat. Guy's incredibly thirsty men couldn't fight back effectively. Saladin went on to retake Jerusalem from Christian control, setting the stage for the Third Crusade.
Stifling heat turned the Holy Land into a dry, blistering hellscape in the summer for much of the Crusades. However, winter was often just as bad. Men and women alike died from exposure to snow, ice, days of heavy rain, vicious wind, and lethal hail. Keep watching the video to see why you'd never survive life during the Crusades!
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Starvation and starving cannibals | 0:13
Dehydration and heat | 1:22
Even water could kill | 2:20
Deadly medicine | 3:09
The fear of scurvy | 4:00
Super diarrhea | 4:47
Deadly earthquakes | 5:12
Brutal laws | 6:10
Crusaders vs. Other Christians | 7:11
Unholy massacres | 8:33
Doomed kings | 9:27
Indiscriminate slaughter | 11:00
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