The third crusade ended, pious idealism as well
The crusades that were to come were pretty sick I tell
Forty years later Turks took Edessa State
So Pope Eugenius III called the second Crusade
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux made it seem vogue
The Eastern Latin speaking states to go
To protect the land from the infidels once more
To fight for the Catholics another holy war
Kings Louis of France and Conrad of Germany
Soon set off upon the merry way
To meet in Acre then set off for Damascus
But they couldn’t get on and results were disasterous
Turks killed them all and they never arrived
And that was the end of the second try
Twenty years after that
A Sunni Kurdish warrior lad
Called Salah ed-Din had
Somehow brought all Moslem sects
Together to reject
The western intrusions
But not with total exclusion
He became Sultan of Egypt
Was naturally equipped
With diplomatic savvy
Such good relations had he
With Syrians Egyptians and Turks
That all prepared never to shirk
In ridding the Middle East
Of ruling Popes and Priests
His wisdom was in tolerance
Of religious observance
Surely it was better for him
Not to have his servants fighting
Amongst themselves
Might as well
Not hassle the Shi’ites but let them pray
Then all fight together on the battle day
Moslem and Christian respected him
That warrior that we call Saladin
Had more of an innate chivilary
That the Knights had ever dreamed to be
Around this time King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
Died young of leprosy gruesome
And Saladin much wanted the Crusader States
He went to the desert and stung Tripoli first
He goaded them out and they died of thirst
Acre was next
And then all the rest
Till Jerusalem
Was taken by Saladins’ men
Once he had victory
Ed-Din felt no need
To kill all his conquered
Like the Catholics did
I imagine them shuffling sheepishly home
Embarrassed at how the Crusades were going
Or maybe some stayed and learned quite a lot
Of what ways this strange eastern culture had got
Pope Gregory VIII called for the third crusade
To win back Jerusalem again
In Jesus’s holy name
There was King Frederick Barbarossa of Germany
Also King Phillip II of France
And it’s here where Richard the Lion Heart
Makes his dramatic entrance
Raping and pillaging in Normandy
Had made up most of his youthful days
Yet this was a man brought up with troubadours
And he wrote and sang a bit as well y’all
Especially when needing a ransom
Yes and of course he was handsome
Eager to crusade he sold much property
To finance his armies properly
Would have sold London if he had someone to buy
He once said that you know I don’t lie
He fell out with Phillip his friend on the route
Frederick drowned at Tarsus and then there were two
Who were not getting on and the Germans dispersed
Richard and Philip split up at first
Philip failed at Acre but Richard took Cyprus
Then they came together and were really quite decisive
Acre fell with no Saladin there to rally his men
Richard took the prisoners and just killed them
At which point Philip left saying he was ill
His French troops would follow French Richard still
But the chivalry of Saladin could only go so far
And he came with three times his foe in war
Yet Richard charged and soundly routed them
Then set off for Jaffa destination Jerusalem
But the French without their King would not follow through
So Richard captured Ascalon for something to do
Then set off again for Jerusalem but still could not win it
The Hospitalier and Templar Knights advised not to begin it
Saying even if it was took it could not be kept
A lesson today’s leaders would do well to recollect
Gazing from afar at the city Richard screens his eyes with a shield
Knowing he could not win it back or make the Persians yield
Yet he smashed Saladin at Jaffa with not that many men
Went on to claim a strip of coast but never Jerusalem
At which point they’d both had enough
For each other they were too tough
Saladin was sick of war
Richard wanted home once more
For he’d heard John his own kin
Was up to a bit of throne nicking
A peace treaty was writ and Richard kept his strip
Of Tyre to Jaffa plus Antioch and Tripoli
Muslems kept Jerusalem but Christian pilgrims could go there
Acre became the head crusader state and this is where
The third crusade ended, pious idealism as well
The crusades that were to come were pretty sick I tell
These Knightly jaunts to nab the land
Of turban wearing Saracans
Was to reconcile Byzantium
And Roman Churches into one
That’s what Urban II desired
But it seemed the plan backfired
The fourth Crusade was the coffin nail
Hammered in to make it fail
This time Pope Innocent III
Commissioned armies to go by sea
From Venice through the Med to Egypt
But they never achieved it
The chief Magistrate Doge of Venice
Said Hungary is a menace
They’ve taken our town of Zara
We don’t want them to get farther
If you go and use your sword blades
To Egypt I will give you free passage
So Zara was seized and given the sack
When the Pope heard this his mood turned black
He excommunicated the Crusaders and the Doge as well
For actions like that they would go to hell
Whilst in Zara the Byzantium King Alexius came by
Who wanted to be restored, with father to his pride
Of position in Constantinople
He wondered if they were noble
Enough to help them get set up as Kings
If they did it was quid’s in
Of course they obliged
But tensions ran high
And though the two were made co-emperors
The Crusaders just kicked in the Royaldoors
It seemed that no cash was forthcoming
So they smashed up the Palace and running
Round town they sacked the whole place
It was humanities worst disgrace
Citizens were massacred
Surely every acre bled
Looting rioting rape and fire
This was not a purpose higher
This was Constantinople’s new Latin Empire!
Never yet has the church split been mended
Down the centuries so many men dead
Causes no healing possible to make
What kind of message shall we take?
Pope Innocent called for a fifth Crusade
But died before it got underway
This time they got to Egypt and took port Damietta
But striving to realise their long spun vendetta
Many died of disease in the Nile Delta
Then were trapped en route to Cairo where fate dealt a
Telling but not so cruel blow
A truce returning Damietta and they all could go!
These Muslims did not want to kill for the sake of it
They must have had another take on it
A culture much grander had made them more wise
They saw not just power and carnage with their eyes
And news of this was breaking through
Into thick western skulls, who give them their due
Had never seen nothing like the east at all
And so bits of this knowing would change the whole world
The Sixth was a curious turn of events
And ones which could lead to no regrets
Pope Gregory IX made the call this time
Emperor Fred of Germany said he would. Fine
But he never set sail and the Pope had enough
Excommunication he gave from heaven above
But Fred sailed to Palestine and drew not his sword
Achieving a great deal with diplomatic words
Yes for a span of ten years duration
Nazareth and Bethlehem and Jerusalem
Were given as Crusader nations
From further east the Mongol Tribes
On tiny quick ponies west were riding
Over Asia to Bagdad with Genghis Khan
Khwarismian Turks turned tail and ran
In their turn they did Jerusalem it was 1244
Pope Innocent IV called for Crusade once more
And Saint Louis IX King of France
Said he’d give it a chance
Getting to Egypt it was Damietta again
Which he quite easily claimed
But heading for Cairo he was captured on the way
To free up the army a huge ransom had to be paid
Near Nazareth Muslim Mamluks stamped out the Mongols
Captured the Christian towns Caesarea and Jaffa and on to
Antioch which they Muslim made
This little action led to the eighth crusade
Which Louis IX took on but died of disease
When they had only reached as far as Tunis
Edward of England a chivalrous prince
Of all this fighting wasn’t convinced
Thought it all corrupt and Louis was gone
Thought diplomacy better and wasn’t wrong
He brokered ten years of truce
With those Egyptian Mamluks
Waited for his wife Eleanor to give birth
Back in England was crowned Edward the first
That was the end of the Crusades to the Holy Land
What a mockery of God’s holy plan!
Two other crusades remain
These not to the Holy Land
One was to Occitania in southern france
The Cathars were Christian but did their own thing
And this the weight of the State on them did bring
The North was wanting to extend its power
So dubbed them heretics and on them glowered
Till the Albigensian Crusade of 1209
Had them all exterminated in double time
More times soldiers set of on these parades
But I’ll end with the sad Children’s Crusade
Three thousand children both French and German
Set off to conquer the Holy Land
Nick and Steve were their military guides
They were all sold as slaves or died
Richard got called the Lionheart ‘Coeur de Lion’
Because he proved it beyond
Any doubt in the Holy Lands
Yet things didn’t go as planned and
Heading back home
Leopold the fifth of Austria
Accosted him somehow or other
Letting Byzantine Holy Roman Emperor brother
Henry the Sixth slam him in jail
This caused English complexions to pale
As the ransom was a third of the countries wealth
A special tax levied at the poor was dealt
And Eleanor had to make sacrifices of her own
While Richard composed and thought of his throne
When he got out he crushed the coup
That John had been trying to do
Also regained lands lost to Philip once his friend
Though that friendship had long met it’s end
A brutal and arrogant King of great violent force
The ‘Good King’ of children’s books of course
Was slain by a child with a crossbow bolt
In dying Richard bewailed that he was at fault
Had remorse for undutifulness to his Father Henry
Wishing they might be reconciled when he
Saw him in the next world fast approaching
So Richard the Lionheart was buried close to him
His half brother John
Had been dying to get on
That Throne
Now it was his own
‘Bad King’ is how he is usually stereotyped
Certainly wasn’t liked
For he taxed to the max
And abused the fine administration
From when his dad ruled the situation
Richard had taken the Throne
Which Henry never condoned
But John was never appeased with gifts of terratory
He had failed to rule in Ireland temporarily
But now he was King he could do anything
But his actions caused many changes to ring
He did have a hard time John the Bad
But I don’t think I’ll feel too sad
He teamed up with Philip to little avail
Could not corrupt his taxmen when Richard was in jail
Saw to the murder of his nephew
Lost his French Lands too
Spending years trying to get them back
Was called John Lackland ‘cause land he lacked
Excommunicated for not accepting the papal candidate
John was steadily sealing his fate
The barons were fed up with John’s dismal campaigns
Incurring some new tax they had to pay
So revolted, took London then some time after
Drew up a thing called the Magna Carta
This was in Runnymeade by the Thames
A piece of paper as a means to an end?
It all shows John up as an appaling King
Yet modern constitutions stem from this thing
It declared the rights of Feudal times
Here’s the briefest of outlines
1. The Church would elect it’s own people
2. Large sums had to be given under consent
3.No man to be punished exept under common law
John grudgingly signed but delayed
Biding time for French to invade
The Barons offered French Louis the Throne
But were kicking off quite well on their own
In the midst of this chaos John died
Invasion and revolts going off on all sides
His son Henry was only nine
And was put on the Throne at this time
When rebellion caused by John
Was with the barons in the North going on
London and the south east
Were controlled by the French Dauphin Louis
Though the Henry was not very old yet
He had loyalty from the Midlands and South West
William the Marshall , Henry’s first Regent
Teamed with Barons and got Louis out the Region
Louis favoured too many Frenchmen in his Court
A big battle at Lincoln was how Louis’ lesson was taught
He went back to France to be King
Where it was less hassle for him
William governed followed by Hugh de Burgh when the Marshall died
And Henry III ruled in earnest from age twenty five
The land owning barons were keen
That things didn’t carry on as they had been
Kept on about the Magna Carta
Always to make it harder
For the King to have such total control
And by the same feudal rules be held
Nobles Barons and freeman felt the same
They wished perceptions rearranged
To see England as a community lot
Rather than just bits and bobs
Of independent principalities
Patchwork quilt localities
Of Manors owned by a few
And villages scattered through
Barons also wanted a say
In matters of state
Called a great council together
Kicked out the Chancery and the Exchequer
So the power of the King
And the government machine
Was answerable to their new councillors
Saying the State couldn’t tax too much or
Act irresponsibly with it’s power
Hoping that this would allow a
Broader governance than before
With wise council and restricting laws
The Barons thought this would be a tonic
But still Henry wound them up something chronic
By installing Frenchmen in the government
And Italians in the church meant
Regular English couldn’t get a place
It was quite some disgrace
And that wasn’t half of it
The Church had grown a bit
Corruptly covering Europe
So had plenty of scope
For extorting money
From all and sundry
For instance the English had to finance
A myriad officials working all over Christendom
Had to provide work and parishes
For any Italians who to England had come
The Barons were right peeved at this
Acquiescense to papal control buisness
And asserted national independence
In 1258 things had come to a point
When failed campaigns in France and Wales
Meant Henry had to put his land up for sale
And somehow pay for loads of new churches
Rome punched in the purse where it hurts yes
The last straw was financing the Pope versus Sicily
Another dismal failure actually
The Barons demanded reform there and then
Henry was forced to make a bargain
Something called the Provisions of Oxford was signed
That the Barons had designed
Letting them control the Realm
Henry was still at the helm
But could do nothing without it being known
This was OK at first
But gradually got worse and worse
Till bickering brought it low
And cracks began to show
Then Henry asserted himself
Stuffed the Provisions where it hurts
And caused a Civil War
Henry’s son Edward I lost it in Lewes in 1264
The baronial winner was Simon le Montfort
Brother in Law to Henry in the Angevine Court
For both King and Son it was imprisonment
Whilst de Montfort had the government
He went down well because of his family
And because he took reform seriously
Simon knew smaller landowners needed a say
As well as the substantially more moneyed
So summoned Knights burgesses and baronial gents
To the world’s prototype parliament
Where high and low could speak their mind of words
In House of Commons and House of Lords
It didn’t strictly mean that the poor had a voice
They were spoken for and had no choice
This was what it lead to though not formalized yet
The idea was just settling when up came a new threat
Gloucester’s Earl dropped out and Edward did escape
Those two got together and to arms they did take
Simon de Montfort was at Evasham slain
Henry was released and resumed his reign
Though it was Edward who had the power
His father was old now and maybe a bit sour
A failed soldier, politician and what bites to the core
His era was Kingship restricted by Law
Edward by contrast seemed to grasp
The modern notions and take to task
The letter of the Law decreed
Which called a King supreme
Judge and legislator yet also deemed
His subjects to be protected
(This last bit his father had rejected)
The King should rule with advisers
To council on all matters arising
Apparently he did so good for him
Cared for his subjects did this King
Though he was shrewd with the cash flow
And made a mobile retinue
Comprised administrators judges clerks
Magnates who went as part
Of a King’s household and council
That anytime anyplace could fill
In forms and have a deep chat
Find out where it was at
And what to do for the best
When it came to England’s interests
His refining of laws decreased feudal holdings
As more and more land the crown was owning
And the King alone could make you a vassal
No more could you take your house to church and sell
The land was getting turned into commodity
Inch by inch was given to the Monarchy
People might have felt protected by their Lord
But on these fine points might have felt unsure
Writers report that he did very well
Certain it was that his coffers did swell
For those not his subjects foreign policy was aggressive
He walloped the Welsh to give them the message
King Lywelyn ap Gruffydd died and lost his country all
Wales was placed under English civil law
Edward built new castles there
And English Royals since then declare
Their eldest sons to be hailed
As mercy me, the Prince of Wales
He had small success in Celtic Ireland
Negotiated France but was drawn to stand
Against incursions from Philip of Gascony
Yet in the end made a peace treaty
And retained the land won in parley
That he had before the fight
Gentlemen’s agreement, alright
Scotland in the lowlands was feudal
And in the mountains it was tribal
Edward saught through negotiation
For Margret of Scotland to marry his eldest son
She was the legitimate heir
But died on the way there
Edward had cleverly got a right to intercede
As the Scots feudal Lord, can you believe!
So could choose from claimants and chose John Baliol
Who as Lord took Edward on
But the Scots would not fight for the English King
Who invaded and soundly kicked them in
Causing Baliol to abdicate
And Edward to take his place
The Scots well hated this
And William Wallace
Incited rebellion most stirring
And defeated the English at Stirling
The next year however Edward fought back
Defeating Wallace at Falkirk
For several years the resistance went on
Till Wallace was caught and faced execution
He died but others took up the bitter fight
Robert the Bruce an heir’s grandson had the might
Had some victory but nothing outright
Then Robert some tricks from a spider learned
And smashed Edward for good at Bannockburn
Thus for many centuries
Scots hated Sassanacks almost entirely
Foreign policy had cost Edward sore
So he instituted taxes to pay for these wars
The Great Council meetings now called Parliament
Now showed Edward what justice meant
In the Magna Carta there is the clause
That says no King is above his Laws
And that taxes are levied only with consent
Of the Realm as spoke for by Parliament
While all this was happening, over in Japan
There happened the birth of a remarkable man
Born in Awa Province to seaweed farmers
His name was Zennichimara
Which changed at 16 when he took his tonsure
The guy wanted to be a monk for sure
And Rencho was the name he took
His big question
For the Japanese nation
Was why if so many practised
So much to so many Buddhist
Gods then why was there everywhere war
Why was life so demeaned what was the cause
Of the earthquakes and disasters and marshall law
Did they truly portent doom for all
Why when the prayers were made
Did they not do their job and save
Why were streets so often full of corpses
Pestilence crime murder and disease
A year before his birth in 1221
A struggle had broken out that affected everyone
The Imperial Court had tried to break free
From the Regent Hojo Yoshitoki. Not so easy
The Shogunate military heavies did a coup
Deposed the Emperor and got someone new
People prayed much to a Buddha called Amida
He lived to the East in a realm far
Too far away to reach in this lifetime
But in the next one you’d be fine
Rencho studied all he could find
Read every text to fill his mind
With knowledge of Sutras Treatise and Law
Looking for truth searching for flaws
That compromised Shakyamuni’s original wish
He wanted to accomplish this
And grasp the kernel that transmits
The Buddha nature surely within
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