Who won the second Crusade, Christians or Muslims?
1 Answer
That depends on what you consider the second Crusade.
Explanation:
The first crusade that actually happened, called the People's Crusade, was such a disastrous undertaking that many people do not consider it a crusade. The majority of the crusaders where not soldiers but peasant. They slaughter thousands of Jews in Europe, made it about as far as Turkey, and 90% of them were killed.
Most people consider the People's Crusade as the precursor to the actual First Crusade which was conducted by Norman soldiers primarily. This group did everything they set out to do, and was the most successful of the Crusades.
What is usually referred to as the Second Crusade, came about when Muslims started attacking the territory that was won by the crusaders in the First Crusade. Generally speaking the Second Crusade was a solid Muslim victory. The Crusaders failed to make any headway into the holy land and the stage was set for Saladin and the Saracens to start conquering large areas of land.
It is often overlooked, however, that the Second Crusade did include Iberia. The crusaders successfully took the city of Lisbon from the Moors. So the Second Crusade wasn't a total loss.
