CRUCIFIX. A cross upon which a sculptured or carved image of the body of our Lord is fastened. It is much used by the Romanists and the Lutheran Protestants, to excite in their minds a strong idea of our Saviour’s passion. It has never been used in the Church of England since the Reformation, on the ground of its having been abused to superstition and idolatry.
CRUSADE. A name given to the Christian expeditions against the infidels, for the recovery of the Holy Land out of their hands, because they who engaged themselves in the undertaking wore a cross on their clothes, and had one in their standards. There were eight crusades. The first, in 1096, at the solicitation of the Greek emperor and patriarch of Jerusalem. Peter the Hermit, who was the preacher of this crusade, was made general of a great army, a thing that did not very well agree with his profession, being a priest; and all the princes,—Hugo the Great, count of Vermandois, brother to Philip I. king of France; Robert, duke of Normandy; Robert, count of Flanders; Raymond, count of Toulouse and St. Giles; Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lorraine, with his brothers, Baldwin and Eustace; Stephen, count of Chartres and Blois; Hugo, count of St. Paul, with a great number of other lords, took different ways to meet at Constantinople. The first who marched his troops was the famous Godfrey de Bouillon, who had a greater share than any of the rest in this undertaking, though not the command of the whole army. He commenced his march Aug. 15, 1096, with 10,000 horse and 70,000 foot; and before the other princes were come to Constantinople, passing the Hellespont, besieged Nice, which, notwithstanding the double-dealing of the Greek emperor Alexis, after six weeks’ siege, was surrendered to him; after which he victoriously entered Syria and took Antioch. Jerusalem was taken in 1099, and Godfrey of Bouillon chosen king; a little after which the Christians gained the famous battle of Ascalon against the sultan of Egypt; which victory put an end to the first crusade; for the princes and lords, with those who followed them, believing they had fully accomplished the vow they had made, took their leave of Godfrey, and returned to their respective countries.
The second crusade was in 1144, and this was headed by the emperor Conrad III. and Louis VII. of France: the emperor’s army was either destroyed by the enemy, or perished through the treachery of the Greek emperor and his brother-in-law; and the second army, through the unfaithfulness and treachery of the Christians of Syria, was forced to quit the siege of Damascus.
The third crusade was in 1188, after the taking of Jerusalem by Saladin, sultan of Egypt. The most distinguished persons engaged in this expedition were the emperor Frederick Barbarossa; Frederick, duke of Swabia, his second son; Leopold, duke of Austria; Berthold, duke of Moravia; Herman, marquis of Baden; the counts of Nassau, Thuringen, Meissen, and Holland, and above sixty more of the chief princes of the empire, with divers bishops. Barbarossa, in spite of the emperor of Constantinople, having got into Asia Minor, defeated the sultan at Iconium, but, drawing near to Syria, sickened and died in 1190: however his son Frederick led the army to Antioch, and joined with Guy, king of Jerusalem, in the siege of Ptolemais, but, failing of success, he died soon after, which proved the ruin of his army. Nevertheless, Richard, king of England, and Philip Augustus, king of France, arriving some months after in the Holy Land, with a great force, compelled Ptolemais to surrender, July 12, 1191. After which, Philip returned home in discontent, while the brave King Richard concluded a peace with Saladin, upon these conditions,—that all the coast from Joppa to Tyre should be left to the Christians, and that Saladin should have all the rest of Palestine, except Ascalon, which was to belong to the party who, at the end of the truce, obtained possession of it; and that, during the truce, which was to last three years, three months, three weeks, and three days, it should be lawful for the Christians to go to Jerusalem in small companies, to pay their devotions there.
The fourth was undertaken in 1195, by the emperor Henry VI., after Saladin’s death: his army started for the Holy Land three several ways, and, he himself at length arriving at Ptolemais, the Christians gained several battles against the infidels, and took many towns; but the death of the emperor compelled them to quit the Holy Land, and return into Germany.
The fifth crusade was published by the artifice of Pope Innocent III. in 1198. Most of the adventurers in this expedition employed themselves in taking Zara for the Venetians, and afterwards in making war against the Greek emperor; and those who proceeded to Palestine suffered a defeat in 1204.
The sixth crusade began in 1228, in which the Christians took the town of Damietta, but were forced to surrender it again. The emperor Frederick, in 1229, went to the Holy Land, and next year made a peace with the sultan for ten years, upon these conditions—that the sultan should deliver to the Christians the towns of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Tyre, and Sidon, but the temple of Jerusalem should be left to the Saracens, to perform the free exercise of their law; after which the emperor returned home. About 1240, Richard, earl of Cornwall, and brother to Henry III., king of England, arrived in Palestine, but, finding all efforts useless, while the Templars and Hospitallers continued their disputes and private animosities, he, with the advice of the duke of Burgundy, the great master of the Hospitallers, and chief persons of the crusade, accepted the advantageous conditions the sultan offered, whereby the Christians were to enjoy some lands in Palestine, then in the soldan’s possession. In 1244, the Corasmins, the descendants of the ancient Parthians, fell upon the Christians in Palestine, and almost extirpated them.
The seventh crusade was led by St. Louis, king of France, who appeared before Damietta, after the feast of Whitsuntide, in 1249. He took it, but after some battles his army was at last defeated, and himself taken prisoner; after which a truce was concluded for ten years, and the Christians were to keep what they were in possession of, except Damietta, which was to be delivered to the sultan for the king’s ransom, with a great sum of money; this done, the king sailed for Syria, and having put Acre and other sea-ports in a good condition, returned home in 1254.
The same prince put himself at the head of the eighth crusade in 1270, and laying siege to Tunis without success, died there: but his son, Philip the Bold, and Charles, king of Sicily, afterwards brought the king of Tunis to agree to a truce for ten years, upon condition that he should set all the slaves of his kingdom at liberty; that he should give the Dominican and Franciscan friars leave to preach the gospel in his territories, and build monasteries, and baptize all those that should desire it, besides a sum of money to be paid Charles yearly. About this time, Prince Edward of England arrived at Ptolemais with a small force of 300 men. He hindered Benzdoctar from laying siege to Ptolemais, but was obliged soon after to quit the Holy Land on account of his father’s death, and his consequent succession to the crown of England. In 1291 the town of Ptolemais, or Acre, was taken, and the Christians were driven out of Syria. Since which time there has been no crusade, though the popes have more than once attempted to stir up Christians to the undertaking.
CRYPT. The subterranean vault under any portion of a church. The original use of the crypt seems to have been to increase the number of places for altars; they were also sometimes used as places of burial, not as being set apart for that purpose, but that persons would desire to be buried before this or that altar, or in some particular place in the crypt, as they chose any part of the church for the same purpose.