AQA A-level History · 1A

The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204

50 exam-style questions with answers for 1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 1A, Part one
What happened at the Battle of Manzikert (1071)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine army and captured Emperor Romanos IV (1); Byzantium lost much of Anatolia to the Turks (1).
Question 2 · Spec 1A, Part one
State two internal problems of the Byzantine Empire c1071. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: civil wars and rival claimants to the throne (1); reliance on mercenaries (1); financial weakness (1); pressure on several frontiers, eg Normans in Italy (1).
Question 3 · Spec 1A, Part one
Who were the Seljuk Turks? [1 mark]
Answer:
Sunni Muslim Turkish rulers who took Baghdad in 1055 and expanded into Syria, Palestine and Anatolia.
Question 4 · Spec 1A, Part one
Explain why the Papacy’s influence was rising c1071. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Gregorian reform movement asserted papal authority over the Church and secular rulers (1); popes such as Gregory VII claimed leadership of Christendom (1).
Question 5 · Spec 1A, Part one
When and where did Urban II call the First Crusade? [1 mark]
Answer:
At the Council of Clermont, November 1095.
Question 6 · Spec 1A, Part one
State two reasons why Urban II called the First Crusade. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Alexios I Komnenos asked for military help (1); to free Jerusalem and protect pilgrims (1); to heal the East-West schism and assert papal leadership (1); to direct knightly violence away from Europe (1).
Question 7 · Spec 1A, Part one
What was offered to those who took the cross in 1095? [1 mark]
Answer:
Remission of sins (an indulgence) for those who went with pure motives.
Question 8 · Spec 1A, Part one
State two motives of crusaders on the First Crusade. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: religious devotion and penance (1); remission of sins (1); land and wealth, especially for younger sons (1); adventure and status (1); loyalty to a lord (1).
Question 9 · Spec 1A, Part one
Who was Raymond of Toulouse? [1 mark]
Answer:
Count of Toulouse, the wealthiest leader of the First Crusade, who led a large army from southern France.
Question 10 · Spec 1A, Part one
What was the People’s Crusade (1096)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A popular movement led by Peter the Hermit that set out ahead of the knights (1); it attacked Jewish communities in the Rhineland and was destroyed by the Turks at Civetot (1).
Question 11 · Spec 1A, Part one
Name two major victories of the First Crusade before Jerusalem. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Nicaea (1097) (1); Dorylaeum (1097) (1); Antioch (1098) (1).
Question 12 · Spec 1A, Part one
When was Jerusalem captured by the First Crusade? [1 mark]
Answer:
July 1099.
Question 13 · Spec 1A, Part one
Explain why the First Crusade succeeded. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Muslim world was divided between rival Seljuk rulers and the Fatimids (1); crusader determination and Byzantine support in Anatolia helped them (1).
Question 14 · Spec 1A, Part one
Name the four Crusader states. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli (½ each).
Question 15 · Spec 1A, Part one
Define the term ‘Outremer’. [1 mark]
Answer:
‘Overseas’: the collective name for the Crusader states in the Levant.
Question 16 · Spec 1A, Part one
How did Baldwin I strengthen the Kingdom of Jerusalem? [2 marks]
Answer:
He took the title of king in 1100 (1); he captured coastal towns such as Acre (1104) with Italian naval help (1).
Question 17 · Spec 1A, Part one
Who was Queen Melisende? [2 marks]
Answer:
Daughter of Baldwin II who ruled Jerusalem jointly with Fulk and then as regent (1); she was a powerful patron of the Church who clashed with her son Baldwin III (1).
Question 18 · Spec 1A, Part one
Why were the Italian city-states important to Outremer? [2 marks]
Answer:
Genoa, Pisa and Venice provided fleets to capture ports (1); in return they gained trading privileges in coastal cities (1).
Question 19 · Spec 1A, Part one
When were the Templars and Hospitallers founded? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Hospitallers began as a hospital order and became military by the 1130s (1); the Templars were founded c1119 to protect pilgrims (1).
Question 20 · Spec 1A, Part one
State two roles of the military orders. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: defending castles and frontiers (1); protecting pilgrims (1); caring for the sick (Hospitallers) (1); banking and holding estates in Europe (1).
Question 21 · Spec 1A, Part one
Explain why the Crusader states relied on the Latin West. [2 marks]
Answer:
They had too few settlers to defend themselves (1); they needed new crusades and pilgrims who stayed to fight (1).
Question 22 · Spec 1A, Part one
Describe relations between the Franks and indigenous peoples in Outremer. [2 marks]
Answer:
Franks were a ruling minority over Eastern Christians and Muslims (1); local peasants were generally allowed to keep their religion and customs in return for taxes (1).
Question 23 · Spec 1A, Part one
Who was Zengi? [2 marks]
Answer:
Atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo who united much of northern Syria (1); he captured Edessa in 1144 and was presented as a champion of jihad (1).
Question 24 · Spec 1A, Part one
Explain why the fall of Edessa (1144) led to the Second Crusade. [1 mark]
Answer:
It was the first Crusader state to fall, and Pope Eugenius III called for a new crusade.
Question 25 · Spec 1A, Part one
Who preached the Second Crusade? [1 mark]
Answer:
Bernard of Clairvaux.
Question 26 · Spec 1A, Part one
Which kings led the Second Crusade? [2 marks]
Answer:
Louis VII of France (1); Conrad III of Germany (1).
Question 27 · Spec 1A, Part one
Explain why the Second Crusade failed. [2 marks]
Answer:
Both armies suffered heavy losses crossing Anatolia (1); the siege of Damascus in 1148 failed and was abandoned after a few days (1).
Question 28 · Spec 1A, Part one
State two consequences of the failure of the Second Crusade. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Western enthusiasm for crusading fell (1); Damascus later fell to Nur ad-Din (1154) (1); the Byzantines were blamed for the failure (1); Muslim confidence rose (1).
Question 29 · Spec 1A, Part one
Explain why Alexios I asked the West for help in 1095. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Turks had taken most of Anatolia, including Nicaea (1); he needed Western mercenaries to recover lost territory (1).
Question 30 · Spec 1A, Part two
Who was Nur ad-Din (Nureddin)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Zengi’s son who ruled Aleppo and took Damascus in 1154, uniting Muslim Syria (1); he promoted jihad through mosques, madrasas and propaganda (1).
Question 31 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain why control of Egypt was important in the 1160s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Fatimid Egypt was weak and wealthy (1); whoever controlled it could surround or strengthen the Crusader states, so Amalric and Nur ad-Din both invaded (1).
Question 32 · Spec 1A, Part two
State one military strength and one weakness of Outremer after 1149. [2 marks]
Answer:
Strength: strong castles and the military orders (1). Weakness: shortage of manpower (1).
Question 33 · Spec 1A, Part two
Why was Baldwin IV’s reign problematic? [2 marks]
Answer:
He had leprosy and could not produce an heir (1); this encouraged factional rivalry over the regency and succession (1).
Question 34 · Spec 1A, Part two
Name the two factions in Outremer in the 1180s. [2 marks]
Answer:
The ‘court’ party around Guy of Lusignan and Sibylla (1); the ‘nobles’ party around Raymond III of Tripoli (1).
Question 35 · Spec 1A, Part two
How did Saladin become ruler of Egypt? [2 marks]
Answer:
He went to Egypt with his uncle Shirkuh for Nur ad-Din and became vizier in 1169 (1); he ended the Fatimid caliphate in 1171 (1).
Question 36 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain how Saladin united Egypt and Syria. [2 marks]
Answer:
After Nur ad-Din’s death in 1174 he took Damascus (1); he gained Aleppo in 1183, surrounding the Crusader states (1).
Question 37 · Spec 1A, Part two
What happened at the Battle of Hattin (1187)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Saladin destroyed the army of Jerusalem near Tiberias (1); King Guy was captured and the True Cross was taken (1).
Question 38 · Spec 1A, Part two
State two consequences of Hattin. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Saladin captured Jerusalem in October 1187 (1); most Crusader towns fell (1); Tyre held out under Conrad of Montferrat (1); the Third Crusade was called (1).
Question 39 · Spec 1A, Part two
Which pope called the Third Crusade? [1 mark]
Answer:
Gregory VIII, with the bull Audita tremendi (1187).
Question 40 · Spec 1A, Part two
What was the Saladin Tithe? [1 mark]
Answer:
A tax of a tenth on income and movable goods raised in England and France in 1188 to pay for the crusade.
Question 41 · Spec 1A, Part two
What happened to Frederick Barbarossa on the Third Crusade? [1 mark]
Answer:
He drowned crossing a river in Anatolia in 1190, and most of his army dispersed.
Question 42 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain why rivalry between Richard I and Philip II weakened the Third Crusade. [2 marks]
Answer:
They quarrelled over Sicily, Richard’s marriage and lands in France (1); Philip left in 1191 after Acre, taking many troops (1).
Question 43 · Spec 1A, Part two
State two achievements of Richard I on the Third Crusade. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: capture of Acre (1191) (1); victory at Arsuf (1191) (1); securing the coast to Jaffa (1); the Treaty of Jaffa (1192) (1).
Question 44 · Spec 1A, Part two
What did the Treaty of Jaffa (1192) agree? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Christians kept a coastal strip from Tyre to Jaffa (1); Christian pilgrims could visit Jerusalem, which stayed in Muslim hands (1).
Question 45 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain why the Third Crusade failed to retake Jerusalem. [2 marks]
Answer:
Richard judged that even if taken it could not be held once crusaders went home (1); supply lines inland were vulnerable to Saladin’s forces (1).
Question 46 · Spec 1A, Part two
Who called the Fourth Crusade? [1 mark]
Answer:
Pope Innocent III, in 1198.
Question 47 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain why the Fourth Crusade was diverted to Zara (1202). [2 marks]
Answer:
The crusaders could not pay Venice for the fleet they had ordered (1); Venice demanded they capture Zara, a Christian city, to pay off the debt (1).
Question 48 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain why the Fourth Crusade went to Constantinople. [2 marks]
Answer:
Alexios Angelos promised money and troops if they restored his father to the Byzantine throne (1); when the promises were not kept, the crusaders sacked the city in 1204 (1).
Question 49 · Spec 1A, Part two
State two consequences of the sack of Constantinople (1204). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: a Latin Empire was set up (1); Venice gained territory and trade (1); the split between Orthodox and Catholic churches deepened (1); Byzantium was permanently weakened (1).
Question 50 · Spec 1A, Part two
Explain why Saladin was able to retake most of Outremer after Hattin. [2 marks]
Answer:
The field army and garrisons had been destroyed at Hattin, leaving towns undefended (1); many surrendered on terms Saladin offered (1).

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The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204

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