1- Very rich century, many important things happened in this period of the late Middle Ages. Very significant changes were happening in society. A class of people appeared that did not live in the countryside, but rather in the cities that were being built, the bourgeoisie.

2- The first artisans appeared, who produced things using their skills and sold them (commercialized them) to acquire what they needed, because they did not have skill for planting. Thus, commerce was developing and the idea of currency and barter was strengthened.

3- Christianity lost a little of its strength because it lived the peak of the crusades (military expeditions) in this century. They began in the previous century by order of Pope Urban II. These expeditions left Europe, heading to the Holy Land to recover the tomb of Jesus that was in the hands of the Muslims. And to retake the territories that had been taken and, with that, oppose the expansion of Islam. The Christians managed to recover Israel, after a bloody battle, in which there was a great killing, including of civilians.

4- Jerusalem was until this moment of history, under the domain of the Christians, whose king was Baldwin IV, who had a striking characteristic in history: he had been born leprous. Even so he became king and he had much authority over his commanded, conquering many victories against the Muslims. He obtained victories, even against the one who would later be known as Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Saladin).

5- However, Salah ad-Din was improving himself, gaining notoriety and, when invading from the north, where today is Israel, he managed to take the territory of Edessa.

6- In this space of time a false news was spread that the pilgrims were being mistreated by the Muslims. And this stirred the pride of the Christians. Historians say that it was a propaganda launched to stimulate the Christians to go to fight.

7- The religious authority of the time promised to those who went to the crusades the absolute forgiveness of all their sins. What motivated these men to fight, to give their lives, was this absolution of their faults. The power of the papacy, at the time, was very great, so it was worth it to fight and have the sins redeemed and go to heaven...

8- The second crusade was organized by initiative of the French king, Louis VII, and of Conrad II, king of Germany. The great objective was to retake the county of Edessa, which had been lost to the Muslims. Besides these two kings, a French monk, Bernard of Clairvaux (clear valleys), of the order of the Cistercian monks, which arose in the eastern part of France, also encouraged this incursion. They all dressed in white.

9- They would fight motivated by a very religious sense, that is, to recapture Edessa and, later, the entire territory of Israel, because this was the will of God. So they thought... However, those who fought in this crusade were practically wiped out by the Muslims.

10- With this frustrated attempt, the pope did not accept the transfer of domain of the Holy Land. It was necessary to organize another crusade, the third, but this time it would be “the crusade”, formed by kings. They were: Philip II, king of France, Frederick Barbarossa (Red Beard), king of the territory that today is Germany and Richard the Lionheart, king of England. Together, they formed the third crusade, and departed to retake the territory of Israel.

11- One of them, however, Frederick Barbarossa, did not even reach the territory of combat, because he drowned in a river on the way. The other two arrived at the destination, but Philip II, when realizing that the conditions were difficult, precarious, returned to his kingdom, because if he stayed in France he would have much more to gain. Richard the Lionheart moved forward, fighting alone and managing to reconquer some territories. But, he was defeated by Salah ad-Din and did not manage to recover the Holy Land.

12- Salah ad-Din was a sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty, which replaced the Fatimid dynasty, in Egypt. He possessed special characteristics and entered history as a sweet, compassionate man, very different from the other sultans. Extremely intelligent, with very great military abilities, of very high character. He became notable in the crusades for his nobility and the way he fought.

13- There is a passage of him, in the crusades, in which he was fighting against the king of England, Richard the Lionheart. In this combat, Richard’s horse was killed and the king was fighting on foot. A Christian knight carried the king, fleeing from the combat, going to the Christian camp. Not knowing what he would do to continue the war without his horse, at night, a Muslim appeared in the camp bringing two Arab horses and announced that Salah ad-Din had sent them as a gift to the king, because he would not like to fight with Richard without a horse...

14- On another occasion in which both were in combat, the Muslim soldiers, instead of attacking the Christian army, attacked those who brought the food supplies to the Christian camp, leaving them without being able to feed for the combat. Salah ad-Din then sent, to the camp of Richard the Lionheart, fresh fruits and a meal so that they could fight equally, because kings must be well fed for a good combat...

15- In another battle, Richard was wounded, then Salah ad-Din sent his doctors to take care of him. Richard was so impressed with his enemy that he proposed peace between them. He proposed that the brother of Salah ad-Din would marry his sister and thus they would seal peace. Salah ad-Din did not agree, because it would not be possible for a Muslim to marry a Christian...

16- Richard the Lionheart was a great fighter and a great name in this crusade, because he obtained several victories. But Salah ad-Din, in the end, won the battle and when he entered, triumphant, in Jerusalem, the Christians began to run and hide in fear of being killed. He then told them not to be afraid, because he would not kill them, that he would gain nothing with that, and that, from then on, they would have freedom of worship, that Muslims and Christians could live together and that he would only kill those who did not accept him as their ruler, who would start to work for him and produce for his enrichment.

17- He was a warrior who killed, fought, shed much blood, but within the pattern of the time, within what was expected of Muslim sultans, he was very compassionate. After having won the battle of the conquest of Jerusalem, the defeated king was not killed, because “a king does not kill another king”. Richard was spared so that he could return to his kingdom.

18- Salah ad-Din liked science, artistic development. It was a time in which he wanted to again increase the arts, the studies and the sciences. It was a time of beautification of Arab culture, consequently, of the Holy Land.

19- Another fact, very interesting: he donated all his goods, everything he possessed, before dying, to charity, remaining with nothing. When of his departure, his successors ran to his chests to take possession of his treasures, but, when they opened them, nothing was left...

20- Then, once again, there was, in a certain way, peace between Muslims and Christians, due to this closeness between Richard the Lionheart and Salah ad-Din. It was a time of greater prosperity, because Christians began to be able to go to the Holy Land – a time of truce. However, the pope wanted the territory back, and will organize more crusades that will happen in the next century.

21- An interesting fact about Richard the Lionheart is that, when he went to the crusades, England would have been left in the hands of temporary rulers, who were very authoritarian and were not noble like Richard the Lionheart. A person of the people, called Robin Hood, began to steal from the rich to give to the poor. Then, the legend of the character Robin Hood appeared. This was taken from traditions, but there is no proof.

22- This was a very interesting period, in which great intellectuals appeared in the world of Islam. Bait al Hikmah, the House of Wisdom, spread much knowledge in many places. Within the court of Salah ad-Din, scientific knowledge was valued. There was a very well-known doctor, called Maimonides, who in fact was Jewish. So, Salah ad-Din, Muslim who fought against Christians, had as his personal doctor, a Jew.

23- Maimonides is one of the great names of Judaism. After Moses, he is the most important name of the Jewish religion, because, in this period of History, he revived Judaism, which was very weakened. He suffered many persecutions, the family fled from city to city, until they arrived in Cairo. There he met Salah ad-Din and this one, noticing his wisdom, invited him to be part of his court, giving notoriety to him. He became the doctor of the court, wrote a very basic text within Judaism called “The Thirteen Principles of Maimonides”. To be Jewish one must be aligned with these thirteen points. Maimonides is also known by his nickname, Rambam. He also wrote the book that remained for history, Guide for the Perplexed, a dialogue between Aristotle, with his Greek philosophy and Judaism, in which it is perceived that everything is similar, equal...

24- Both he and Averroes, one of the most influential philosophers, doctors and Muslim jurists of this century, provided a period of union between science and religion, that is, everything that is revealed by God deserves to be in agreement with what is discovered by men. There is no way to separate religion from science, faith from reason. This was the proposal of the two. Very beautiful!

25- In this period, several orders appeared, such as the Templars, who were called “The Knights of Christ”. It arose with a European personality, but when he had the idea, he was in Jerusalem: Hugh de Payens. He took the idea to the king of Jerusalem, later to the pope. He thought that the knights of Jesus, as they came to be called, would be blessed by the pope to defend the Holy Land and the crossing of Christians, who made pilgrimage from Europe to Jerusalem and back, would be protected both on the way and on the return.

26- They were very noble knights and who protected not only the pilgrims and the Holy Land, but also the pope. The name Templars was chosen because of the Temple of Jerusalem, when there was no longer a Temple to be protected. To belong to this order it was necessary to make a vow of poverty...

27- The Templars were like bankers. The pilgrims gave money to them at the beginning of the pilgrimage and received a document that recorded the exact value. When they arrived in Jerusalem, they received the amount back, thus they did not run the risk of being robbed on the way.

28- As they charged a portion of what they kept for their protection, they became rich and were protected by the pope. But, later on they will become corrupted. The king of France, Philip IV, the Fair, realized what was happening: that, while the Templars protected the pilgrims and were protected by the pope and became rich, he was losing his supremacy. Then, in the name of this supremacy, there was the death of the Knights Templar, which will happen in the next century.

29- The symbol of the Templars is a horse mounted by two knights, to show that they were humble, very poor. The second order that was created was the Hospitallers. This order took care of the wounded, of those injured because of the crusades. And a third order, that of Saint Lazarus, was also created, by former knights who acquired leprosy, but served Jesus anyway.

30- The Muslim empire, in 711, had taken the Iberian Peninsula, besides many other territories. Portugal was practically all in the hands of the Muslims. Only the Kingdom of Asturias, in the north, was not. They, to defend themselves from these invaders, needed those who knew how to fight the enemy. They thought of the Templars, who had gained practice in fighting the Muslims, and called them to defend them, and then made an agreement. They went to the Iberian Peninsula, fought and won. Portugal was reestablished as a nation, remaining, thus, a debt to the Templars, and this debt will be paid only in the fifteenth century, with a very interesting outcome...

31- In 1139, there was the battle of Ouriques. History says that Dom Afonso Henrique had a vision of Jesus, in which he would defeat the Moors (as the Muslims were called, coming from Mauritania). This was a decisive confrontation in this century, in which the forces of Dom Afonso Henrique defeated the Moors and advanced, conquering the kingdom of Portugal. Thus, in 1148, with this fundamental victory, the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal was consolidated, which had as its first king, Dom Afonso Henrique.

32- The kingdom of Portugal arose, then, from the battle of Ouriques, in 1139, with the help of the Templars. And it was consolidated in 1148, from a county in the north, on the banks of the Douro river, called County of Portucalense. Thus Portugal was born!

33- In this century began the study of Christianity in the universities, which were beginning to arise. The study of Christianity ceased to be exclusively of the Church, because the faith could be studied, through the teaching of theology, in which the Old and the New Testament, the Canon, and how everything arose would be studied. Great philosophers, theologians and scholars appeared. One of them, French named Peter Abelard, has a real love story, very beautiful, with Héloïse.

34- Abelard was a mature man, very educated, he had a chair, because he was a professor of theology. Héloïse was very young, practically a teenager. He was her tutor, her teacher, but they fell in love. With the religious functions that he had, he could not marry, because he had taken a vow of celibacy. Héloïse’s uncle did not allow them to stay together and separated them. For a time, they corresponded with each other and these letters exist and people study them.

35- But, they ended up being discovered, not before having had an intimate relationship. She became pregnant and they decided to marry secretly. However, before the marriage, they were discovered by her uncle, who became furious. Then, by order of the uncle, he was castrated and sent to a convent, in Brittany. She was sent to a convent in Paris and they never saw each other again. They remained until the end of their lives corresponding.

36- In these letters that they exchanged, they describe the frustrations that they felt for each other. He felt responsible for the future that she did not have. She, likewise, held herself responsible for what he stopped doing. Their son was called Astrolabe. Some historians say that the name was chosen in honor of Hypatia, of Alexandria. She was a woman of much knowledge, Neoplatonic and mathematician. She did not create the astrolabe, but intensified its use. This device serves to measure the distance of the stars and calculate the circumnavigation of ships. It was widely used by the school of Sagres, which will arise in the fifteenth century.

37- Historians say that Abelard had an enlightened speech, he was a great orator, with great wisdom, because he was a polymath. At that time, to be a philosopher it was necessary to have knowledge of theology and it was not allowed to marry. Wherever he passed, he enchanted. When they died, Abelard and Héloïse were buried together. Their bodies are in the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, in Paris.

38- In 1184, at the Council of Verona, in Italy, Pope Lucius III gave beginning to what can be considered the most drastic movement of the Church: the Holy Inquisition. With the proposal that it was necessary to defend the faith and create a movement in which everyone who opposed the Apostolic-Catholic-Roman faith needed to be taken to a tribunal. In this tribunal he would have the opportunity to either abjure, or he would be killed, so that the Devil that led him to act in that way would be expelled from his body.

39- This movement not only defended the faith, but plundered people, mainly the Jews (countless processes were concluded with the confiscation of their goods). How many Muslims, simple women, considered witches, magicians, were taken to the tribunals of the Inquisition. In Portugal, the Inquisition forced the Jews to change their names. Then appeared the Silveiras, Oliveiras, converted Jews...

40- In this century, in 1163, the construction of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame (Our Lady), in Paris, began, in Gothic style. A tribute of the Goths, a barbarian tribe, to the Mother of Jesus. At the time it was considered a very ugly monument. However, today it is one of the most beautiful Cathedrals in the world.

41- There was also, in this period, the expansion of several churches around the world (according to historians, five hundred notable churches were built in France), to confront the Muslims, by the supremacy of the grandeur of these constructions... thus, showing the power, the strength, the glory of Christianity...

42- Was born, at the end of this century, precisely, on the day October 3, 1182, the one who would come to reform the Church of Jesus, Francis of Assisi...