Europe during the Crusades
What was happening in Europe during the two hundred years of the Crusades? A great deal, for this is the period usually called the High Middle Ages. The term strictly means nothing more than the time after the Early and before the Late Middle Ages, but this period is also when medieval civilization was at its height. When you think of stone castles, knights in armor, tournaments, Gothic cathedrals, noble ladies with the tall pointy hats ... this is the time period you are thinking of.
Our course deals specifically with the time period from 1095 to 1291. I shall refrain from saying this was a time of great change in Europe, for every and any two centuries you might care to pick were times of great change in Europe. The changes of these particular two centuries did have some specific characteristics that are relevant to our subject. Before addressing them, though, it will be useful to give a brief sketch of Europe as it was on the eve of the Crusades.
Politics and Political Geography
The most important powers during this time were France, the western Roman Empire (of which the greater part was the Kingdom of Germany), and England. Italy didn't exist as a single state, but several of its components were significant players, the most important of which were Venice, Genoa, Pisa, and Sicily. Important in a second rank were Flanders, Hungary, and Catalonia. During the Crusader era, new states were created, including Portugal and Poland, but we will have to do mainly with the big three of Germany (the Empire), France, and England. The papacy was also important, of course, but it could command few troops and was preoccupied on a political level with central Italy.
In theory, most of Europe was ruled by the Emperor. The phrase "Holy Roman Empire" was not used much at the time, but modern historians use it anyway, to distinguish between it and the Byzantine Empire. The rulers of both places tended to call themselves "Emperor of the Romans".
The kings of Europe were theoretically inferior to the Emperor. For example, only an emperor could create new kings. In practice, though, the Emperor didn't have much sway beyond Germany and portions of Italy. But this changed often and at times the varying fortunes of the Empire will become relevant to the progress of the Crusades.
Kingship was regarded as of divine origin. Kings themselves weren't divine, but the institution of kingship was clearly ordained in the Bible, as kings were quick to point out. Even so, kings in some places (Germany, for example) could be elected, while kings in other places were by blood relation only--kingship had to be inherited.
Dukes, counts, margraves, barons, earls, and all the rest were nobles of various standing, whose offices at one time had been created by a king somewhere. They were all in theory beholden to the king, though in practice this varied widely. Some dukes and counts were as powerful or more powerful than the king to whom they owed allegiance. So, for example, in France the Duke of Aquitaine or the Count of Champagne could coin their own money, raise their own taxes, pass their own laws, raise their own armies, and the king couldn't interfere in any of it.
All this makes the political geography of Europe incredibly complex and endlessly interesting. You must not picture a king in any of our countries being "in control" of his kingdom. From time to time, a strong king might emerge who, by force of personality and skill combined with a good fortune, might bend most of his kingdom to his will. But this was rare. Most kings were engaged in a difficult dance with their great barons who were at once their most powerful allies and their most dangerous enemies. This should all be borne in mind when we read of this or that crusade, of who went, and of the difficulties they encountered in financing and sustaining a crusade.