Compare And Contrast The Crusades And The Crusades

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The people of the middle ages showed their faith in many ways some were through prayer or fasting and others took a more violent approach. The Crusades were a way for men to resolve themselves of their sins according to Pope Urban II. This was also a way for the Crusaders to take back what they believed was stolen from their ancestors and their god. This was not only from the men who went to fight, there were also the elderly, women, and children who felt they needed to go help their faith. This would also make the Muslims who had control over Jerusalem because they believed it was their holy land as well. They on the other side had to protect their faith and pay their own piety. This would also cement the relationship of Christians and Muslims for …show more content…

But the definition of the word Piety is “to be reverence for god or devout fulfillment of religious obligations”. This give the word a very broad interpretation and the Crusaders took their interpretation to an extreme. Blood has been spilled for God for centuries before the crusades and for centuries after and is still today. But the Crusades are different because they were a form of Piety. The Crusades were sanctioned by the Pope to reclaim Jerusalem from the Muslims it was a form of pilgrimage. They believed they were doing their honor towards god and they planned to do this by any means necessary while wearing the sanctioned cross of the Church. The Muslims were also doing their duty to god as they were on the opposite end and they were protecting the holy land from men who were coming to take it from them. Most scholars agree that one of the main reasons for the crusades was Pope Urban ii and a quest for political power. His presence as the Pope help cement the Crusading and set it on his path maybe not the path he intended but it was his presence and words that did it. according to P AUL E. C

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    In 1095 Pope urban II call all Christians to take part in what would become the world’s greatest Holy War in all of history. Urban’s called Christians to take up arms and help fight to take the Holy Land of Jerusalem back from the accursed Muslims. During this time of war the whole world changed. Land boundaries shifted, men gained and lost and gained power again, and bonds were forged and broken. The Crusades had a great impact on the world that will last forever. There were many major social, political, religious and economic changes that occurred during the crusades. But first, a brief history to give backbone to these reasons.

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    The emperor of the Byzantine Emperor was upset with Turks encroaching on his empire. He went to the Pope Urban II and complained. He made up atrocities about the Turks. In 1096, The Pope Urban II promoted the Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the barbaric Turks. These crusades lasted till the 13th century. In the process, Jews were persecuted and lots of looting took place. Many countries took interest in the Crusades because they were ready for travel and adventure. They wanted to expand trade with the Middle and Far East and so the Crusades gave them a chance to open up trade routes with those countries. They used Christianity to justify the Crusades. In reality, they wanted to expand trade and gain more territorial land.

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  • Why Did Pope Urban II Encourage The Crusades

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    Pope Urban II, just like many popes before him, was a part of the Investiture Controversy, which stemmed from a dispute between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. For the duration of the 11th and 12th centuries, religious leaders like Urban faced conflict with the ruling class of Europe, and this sense of contention impacted and fueled many of Urban’s decisions, including the choice he made to so strongly encourage the Crusades. Due to the fact that there were “political forces at work… since the Crusades were also tied to the Investiture Controversy” and because Urban attempted to and succeeded at “usurp[ing] the prerogative most secular rulers had claimed traditionally to declare an enemy and muster troops for battle,” it is undeniable that he was caught up in – and winning – a political battle, which means that he must have been acting with politics in the forefront of his mind (Crawford). Furthermore, Pope Urban II used the crusades as a way of undermining the king's authority while simultaneously increasing his own – now he was the one who was calling the shots and sending the European people off to war, when usually, that job belonged to the king. Although this may seem insignificant, the pope knew that if the king could not even control his own people, he would have no power left. The pope's decision to rally the people up for a crusade was a meticulously calculated one that effectively and purposefully resulted in him becoming the most politically powerful person in Europe, when previously almost all of his power stemmed from

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