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Crusaders

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Crusaders

First
appearance
1984
Main theme
Sets
Concurrent
themes/factions

The Crusaders were one of the various factions of Lego's Castle theme. The first sets that involved Crusaders first appeared in 1984. The last regular appearance was in 1992.

Contents

[edit] History

King's Castle (on the right) in a catalog from 1985.

The Crusaders were introduced together with the Black Falcons in 1984 when Lego relaunched their Castle theme after the discontinuation of the first knights faction that started in 1978. One of the first sets of the Crusaders included a castle (6080 King's Castle), which was considerably bigger than its counterpart from the Falcons (6073 Knight's Castle). During the following years the Crusaders would grow to one of the biggest Castle-themed factions ever, with at least one release in every year from 1984 to 1992. Only rivaled in number by the Black Knights or the later Crown Knights.

As contemporary factions, Crusaders and Black Falcons were shown to engage in peaceful competition with each other, as seen in 6021 Jousting Knights from 1984, as well as in military conflict, as seen in 6062 Battering Ram from 1987. Both sets were the only ones were the two factions appeared together, safe the Accessories sets. Another set where the Crusaders appeared with another faction was 6060 Knight's Challenge from 1988, this time with the Black Knights.

Crusaders also featured many halfway civilian buildings, 6040 Blacksmith Shop (1984) and 6067 Guarded Inn from 1986, which was one of most popular Castle sets ever and also the first one to be reissued as part of Lego's Legends line in 2001 as 10000 Guarded Inn.

After the advent of the Forestmen in 1987, it was implied that the Crusaders were at odds with these newcomers, since a forestman appeared as a prisoner in 6042 Dungeon Hunters and a lone Crusader was seemingly attacking 6077 Forestmen's River Fortress in 1989, which was the last guest appearance of the Crusaders in a different theme.

King's Mountain Fortress in a catalog from 1990 with Black Monarch's Castle in the background.

A second castle was added in 1990, 6081 King's Mountain Fortress, which was the first castle ever built on a raised baseplate. This set's release marked more or less the beginning of the end of this theme, since the following sets did not appear in any catalogues: A small catapult from 1991 and the last Crusaders set, 1463 Treasure Cart from 1992.

Although it has always been implied that there was some kind of king, there was never a distinct minifigure that filled this position. The first king minifigure would not appear until the introduction of Royal Knights in 1995.

[edit] Castles and equipment

The Crusaders owned two castles, a wall segment (included in 6061 Siege Tower), the Guarded Inn, a blacksmith shop, and possibly an armor shop. They also had rather huge complement of vehicles at their disposal, comprising two prison carriages (6055 Prisoner Convoy and 6042 Dungeon Hunters) and several smaller carts (6022 Horse Cart, 6016 Knight's Arsenal and 1463 Treasure Cart).

The Crusaders' army encompassed an impressing and varried array of siege engines, comprising two siege towers (included in 6061 Siege Tower and 6062 Battering Ram), two catapults (6039 Twin Arm Launcher and 1480 King's Catapult) and even a ballista (6012 Siege Cart).

Their fleet was only comparable to the one of the Black Knights and comprised a larger rowing boat (6049 Viking Voyager) and a smaller sailing boat (6017 King's Oarsmen).

[edit] Symbol

Early King and his bodyguard

The symbol of the Crusaders is an upright lion with a crown on its head. This symbol was featured on shields which were available in two variants with either a golden lion on a blue background or a blue lion on a yellow background. There was also a unique red flag piece with the lion crest on it which was only available in 6041 Armor Shop.

Some guards of the Crusaders had the lion crest emblazoned on their torso pieces, while others had a crest with crossed halberds. The halberd crest was already present in 6080 King's Castle from 1984 and was last seen in the two Knight's Challenge sets from 1988.

There were also horse barding pieces with the lion symbol.

[edit] Backstory

The backstory on the Crusaders was never fully developed, but it has come into acceptance that they were the "good guys" of the realm, and that they waged wars with the Forestmen and the Black Falcons.

Sometime towards the end of the Old Kingdom, the land was attacked by the armies of the Black Falcons, under the leadership of Lord Black Falcon. It is unknown if Lord Black Falcon was a former knight of the Kingdom, or he was an outsider that invaded the land.

The land was thrown into a period of violent wars, and the Black Falcons laid claim to a portion of the lands, scattering the remnants of the Kingdom across the land. For years the remnants of the Kingdom fought under the crossed axes banner of the various small barons and lords, until one day a King, a descendant of the original royal bloodline, rose up and united the scattered armies under his banner, the lion.

The King ruled from two fortresses, the King's Castle and the King's Mountain Fortress. There were a series of smaller wars between the Black Falcons, Forestmen, and the Crusaders for a few short years. That all changed with the arrival of the Black Knights.

Once the Black Knights invaded the lands, the Crusaders, Black Falcons, and the Forestmen came into an alliance under the King and formed their armies to fight the invaders. But years of warring had taken their toll on the good armies, and their numbers were no match for the Black Knights.

With the defeat of the Crusaders, the Black Knights had free reign of the land. Any surviving Crusaders, Black Falcons, and Forestmen that were good fled the land.

[edit] Characters

  • The King: Ruler of the Crusaders, he wore all gray armor, and carried a yellow shield with a blue lion on it, distinguishing himself from the rest of the knights. He resided in the King's Castle, or in the King's Mountain Fortress. It is unknown if he was killed in battle with the Black Knights or he simply fled the land. He is found in 6060 Knight's Challenge as the good knight, in 6080 King's Castle, and in 6081 King's Mountain Fortress.
  • The Princess: The princess is the daughter of the King, and she was found at in two sets, 6060 Knight's Challenge and 6081 King's Mountain Fortress.
  • King's Guard: These were the knights and footsoldiers that protected the King as his own bodyguard. They carried the yellow shield with blue lion.

[edit] Sets


Other appearances
Accessories

(* these sets include Crusaders with crossed halberds on their torso pieces)

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