The Crusades and the European Nations in the Muslim World

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The Crusades took place the late 1000’s and went on until the early 1200’s. The Crusades was the calling of Christians to defend the Holy Land by Pope Urban II. The Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus needed help to stop the Muslim invasion. He asked the pope and western European rulers to stop the Muslim advancement. Pope Urban spurred on the Christians by composing a need to recover the Holy Land. These Crusades had profound effects on both the European nations who participated and little on the Islamic world.
Under the Pope's leadership, the identity of the Catholic was consolidated. The hope of mending the Schism between the East and the West was ended by the conflict between the Latin Crusaders and the Orthodox Christians. This conflict weakened the Byzantine Empire but temporarily protected it from Muslim invasion. Many of the nobles took part in the Crusades never returned, and many more wasted their fortunes in paying off the expenses of their adventures. At the same time, the cities also gained many political advantages at the expense of the crusading barons and princes. Available money during the Crusades was in the pockets of the middle class, and in return for the money lent to their overlords, they received documents giving special and valuable privileges. Another political effect of the Crusades was that because the Turks were stopped, the fall of Constantinople was postponed for three centuries or more. This gave the early Christian civilization of Germany time to acquire the strength needed to push back the returning tide of the Muslims when it reached Europe during the fifteenth century. Politically, the European monarchies gained strength. Since many nobles did not return from the Crusades or lost co...

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...Exploration. In Comparison to the Islamic World, there seems to be little documentation of any economic effect of the Crusades. It can be inferred that trade was strengthened as it was in Western Europe. Although the Pope would not condone trade with Muslims, it probably happened. With all the embellishing by the Crusaders towards the Muslims, a desire to be more like them would have been fulfilled through trade and the access of the same goods these more advanced peoples. In Western Europe, the Crusades set in motion an economic revolution that culminated in the Renaissance.
In conclusion, the Crusades had tremendous consequences for both the Muslim world and Western Europe. The political structures, economies, and culture of the Western World were radically changed. It seems that the Islamic World did not experience such dramatic advancements as Western Europe.

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