Aligning with Anna Comnena’s overall bias, the details in The Alexiad harbor a great deal of disdain for crusaders. The East versus West mentality is evident in the narrative through Comnena’s description of the Crusaders. She uses the names “Celt” and “Norman()” as derogatory describing the Crusaders as uncultured and “riotous().” With Byzantine bias she singles out the Normans especially with respect to Nicea where they “behaved the most cruelly to all (251).” Alexius, himself is written to fear their “unstable and mobile character (248)” which reiterates battles against Normans earlier in his life. Anna Comnena dismisses any God narrative from the Crusaders goals as a mere screen for their true aim of conquering land, even Constantinople, …show more content…
The names of the leaders appear different in The Alexiad (252). The dates of events are slightly off and timeframes slightly hazy possibly because she is writing years later. Her bias presents in how the depth of detail is centered on Constantinople and the effects on the city. When writing of the arrival of the Crusaders in Constantinople she infuses the text with feelings of people in the city and understanding of the magnitude of the crusader movement. She describes that, “any person of intelligence could feel that they were witnessing a strange occurrence (249) and “such an upheaval of both men and women took place then as had never cured within human memory (250).” Her bias toward Constantinople hinders her overall knowledge of the crusader movement when it comes to the battles. Comnena’s text includes great detail on the siege of Nicea and to a lesser extent the siege of Antioch; however, the further the Crusaders traveled from Constantinople and the longer the campaign lasted the less detail and interest Comnena includes in The Alexiad. The fall of Jerusalem, the goal of the Crusade, is a mere footnote in her text. Her focus, instead, shifts to Byzantium and the betrayal of …show more content…
She dispels the idea that Alexius took the Latin Dukes and Counts hostage or forced their oaths under duress, instead, she insists the Latins were too talkative and the infallible Alexius was not at fault in their delay (258). The Alexiad makes no mention of Alexius offering an oath of his own nor the counts and Dukes taking issue with the oath as it was presented as a customary and expected part of the Crusade. This ties in to Comnena’s motivation to clear her father of wrong doing during his reign by showing him as a man of his word and contrasting him to those who are not. Motivated by bias for her father, Comnena shows a comparatively detailed knowledge of Bohemund and the siege of Antioch. From the first moment Bohemund is mentioned in The Alexiad, Comnena portrays a great deal of distrust and animosity towards him. This animosity parallels back to earlier books in The Alexiad where Comnena foreshadows Alexius and Bohemund’s conflict during the First Crusade with tales of battles between Alexius and Bohemunds father. She stresses the untrustworthy way that Bohemund secured the city and how he always had always intended to take the city for himself (279). Using this, Comnena justifies Alexius not coming to the aide of the crusaders by detailing his fear of the Turks
When it comes to analyzing the “banana massacre” scene in chapter 15, I found three narrative techniques the author used to describe this scene. Therefore, one can notice that this part of the book is the climax. As a result, one infers what the author is trying to say about Latin American history and politics.
The Byzantine empire was under attack from the Seljuk Turks and Alexius Comnenus, the emperor of the Byzantine empire, required help from Western Europe. Knights were sent for support, but during the Fourth Crusade, defending the Byzantine empire was not made an important priority, and the Crusaders therefore pillaged Constantinople for their own benefit. Pope Innocent the Third was outraged to hear that the Crusaders destroyed Constantinople, saying in the reprimand of papal legate, “It was your duty to attend to the business of your legation and to give careful consideration, not to the capture of the Empire of Constantinople, but rather to the defense of what is left of the Holy Land…”. Through the quote, it is proved that defending the Holy Land was a higher priority than attacking the Byzantine empire. Furthermore, Pope Innocent the Third did not mention that defending the Byzantine empire was the Crusaders’ ‘business of their legation’ and therefore means that the cause is very trivial, or it has been neglected. Although defending the Byzantine empire was a cause of the Crusades, it did not last long and did not contribute much to the creation of the other
August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 42-43
...y within its borders, though practitioners of Christianity were not permitted the same civil and political privileges allowed to the Muslim inhabitants of the empire. The account provided by Fulcher of Chartres, though illustrating an extremely brutal, uncaring, merciless and unflattering depiction of Christian Crusaders, seemingly provides an unbiased and objective chronicle of the Siege of Jerusalem.
The Crusaders purpose was to fight against non-Christians, and convert non-Christians into Christians. Examples of Non-Christians were Muslims and Jews. Although crusades were warriors, they had limit warfare meaning crusades couldn’t cause blood shed on holy days or weekends.
The First Crusade is often cited as one of the most damnable consequences of religious fanaticism. A careful inspection of the circumstances and outcomes, however, will reveal a resultant political restructuring of Europe under the banner of Christendom. The purpose of this investigation is to investigate Pope Urban II’s motives in initiating the First Crusade, with a particular focus on the consolidation of the Western Church’s influence in Europe. Among the primary sources that will be consulted are the letter sent by Patriach Alexios of Constantinople to Urban, and an account of Urban’s speech at Clermont. Relevant excerpts from both of these primary sources, as well as contextual evidence and a wide array of historiography, will be taken
Both the Crusaders and the Muslims wanted power. In contradiction the church wanted to reunite Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire with the Roman Catholic Empire giving the Church extra power. Baldwin of Boulogne is a key example in portraying the Crusader’s quest for power; splitting off from the rest of the army and traveling east until he reached Armenian where he would establish himself as ruler. Like Boulogne, Bohemond of Taranto also abandoned the majority to better his own personal status—he took over as Prince of Antioch. Through these two prominent figures we see that power was a necessity to the leaders of this era; and unfortunately the people look up to their leaders and do likewise. However, if these Crusaders were fighting for “religious factors” then they would recognize that God holds the ultimate power and they are nothing without him. But these power hungry individuals obviously lacked humility...
The Alexiad, written by Anna Comena is a vivid description of her father Emperor Alexis Comenna I and his rule and events associated with him from 1081–1118. The book is a chronicle as it a historical account of her father and his rule, however it is incredibly bias but can be used by historians to understand the Byzantine perspective on many events during Alexis’s rule. In the book Anna outlines her father’s life before he is emperor in book one, which talks about his early years as a solider in service to Emperor Romanus Diogenes and his years as a general in service to the Eastern Roman Empire, throughout the early chapters in the book up until book three when he becomes emperor after a successful coup against the previous regime. After
In the poem The Song of Roland, the author relates the spectacular fight between King Charlemagne’s army, the Franks, and the Muslim Saracens. The poem tells a story of blood, death, loyalty and honor. Around 1095, the year in which the First Crusade was initiated, we find the first extant version of this great French epic. While there is truth deeply rooted in the poem, much was emphasized and embellished to attract followers in the crusades. Despite appearing as propaganda, the author succeeded in assembling thousands of volunteers for the launch of the crusades. In The Song of Roland, the author created the poem to gather troops through Roland’s character, the Good vs. Evil theme, and the theme of loyalty.
We all experience losses as we grow older in life. These losses are usually about our physical or inner self. However, sometimes these losses could be about how our relationships with others have been lost or changed due to growing up. For example, in the story How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, four sisters suffer or experience losses as a result of growing up into older young women. All this started when the four sisters moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic at a young age. This affects the four sisters because they encounter problems or obstacles as they age into young adults. For instance, Julia Alvarez shows that growing up is a process of losing respect, sanity, and a loving friend.
...rs rightfully thought belonged to them. For this reason the fighting of the First Crusade can be viewed as the war that started all Christian Religious wars or Crusaders that followed. It ended as a time changing journey that changed the Byzantine Empire and the reasons wars were fought. The First Crusade made it possible to start wars with anyone for their religion throughout Europe across the Mediterranean to Asia, on to Africa, and other surrounding areas. The advances of the Crusaders can be seen as admirable and condoned in the eyes of God, who was the only entity that Crusaders deemed worth possessing the power to judge them.
Contrary to many commonly held notions about the first crusade, in his book, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading, Jonathan Riley-Smith sets out to explain how the idea of crusading thought evolved in the first crusade. In his book, Riley-Smith sets out five main arguments to show how these ideas of crusading evolved. Firstly, he argues that Pope Urban’s original message was conventional, secondly that a more positive reaction was drawn from the laity (due to the ideas surrounding Jerusalem), thirdly, that the original message of crusading had changed because of the horrible experiences of the first crusaders, fourth, that due to these experiences the crusaders developed their own concept of what a crusade was, and lastly, that these ideas were refined by (religious) writers and turned into an acceptable form of theology. Riley-Smith makes excellent points about the crusade; however, before one can delve directly into his argument, one must first understand the background surrounding the rise of the first crusade.
Although the Christian Franks were defeated by the Pagans, their morale and camaraderie was impenetrable. Throughout the entirety of The Song of Roland examples are given of what composes a true knight or lord. Amongst this symbolic battle of Christianity against Paganism, many lords and knights are acknowledged for their outstanding honor and dedication to their king and country. While several knights disregarded such commendable qualities nevertheless these ideals that promote chivalrous behavior boosts personal and communal morale despite the defeat against the Pagan army.
...n and the Second and Third Crusades, 1147 to 1193. http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/casia01c.htm (accessed April 4, 2014).
For a period stretching up to two centuries, various powers come together to intensify the struggle to take over the Holy Land. These included the aspiration of Popes to gain Rome’s "Spiritually consecrated canonical role" and the business ambition of Italian traders. Christian and Muslim leaders came to the realization that the plan of Holy War could be harnessed to vindicate programs of solidarity and military action, even to expedite the enforcement of autocratic governments. This way, the crusaders war sought to shape and direct violence. Essentially, this ended up serving the ruling class. Those involved in the fight for running of the Holy Land truly believed that their activities were entangled with the divine purposes. Popes Innocent III together with Urban II advocated for crusades to stamp their power, though also hoping to assist the Christians navigate their way to salvation. (Asbridge, 2010)