Although The Poem of The Cid was written during the Spanish crusades, The Cid could not be further from the heroic crusader ideal, as established, for example, in The Song of Roland. Roland was so passionate, so convinced of the rightness of his beliefs that he was willing to demonstrate all of his heroic qualities in the pursuit of achieving martyrdom as posthumous evidence of his devotion and courage. Charlemagne and God himself bless Roland’s mission to kill as many “heathens” as he can. The Cid, on the other hand, begins the narrative exiled by his king, and he fights to make money and a living for himself and his family, not for God and Christendom. The Cid cannot be labeled an example of the crusader heroic ideal, but The Poem of the …show more content…
The opening scne of the narrative depicts The Cid making a deal with the Jewish moneylenders Raquel and Vidas, offering them the opportunity to secure and profit from his coffers in return for a monetary loan so that he can sustain himself in exile. The moneylenders give him “six hundred marks for the two coffers, which they agree to keep until the year is past” and Cid promises that if he fails to repay the loan, “you may take its value from the coffers” (10-11). Not only was loaning money with interest frowned upon by the Church, but to do so with Jews, who were stereotyped for their greed and despised for their participation by association in the death of Christ, would have been unthinkable for a good Christian, let alone a pious crusader. A true crusader, according to the eastern ethos, would have perhaps demanded the Jewish moneylenders convert, or simply killed them without hesitation, just as many crusaders slaughtered hundreds of Jews along the Rhine river valley on their way to the Holy Land. Yet The Cid does not attempt to convert or kill Raquel and Vidas. He does trick them, giving them coffers filled with sand, but adorning them ornately and filling them with enough sand to make the containers feel convincingly heavy, but in the end, he does pay back the loan (58). Assuming …show more content…
After being exiled, The Cid conquers Moor cities, but not because of any righteous zeal to prove the might of Christendom over the barbarians. Instead, he fights to gain wealth for himself and to pay his vassals and their knights. The Cid says outright, “We are exiles in a foreign land. Let us see now who earns his wages” (48), and the knights “willingly obey him” (21) – a statement followed closely by The Cid always promising them much “booty.” The narrative repeatedly emphasizes that that The Cid only takes a fifth of the spoils of each city and divides the rest fairly among his knights (24, 35), suggesting that his men’s loyalty is in direct proportion to their sense of fair recompense from each adventure. The Cid’s knights are no crusader army, bound by nobel ideals and a sense of kinship; they do not fight for any particular cause besides their own profit. One by one, the Moor towns fall easily to The Cid’s army, but he “does not wish to keep the captives, men and women, in his company” (24). If the eastern crusader even saw this situation as a dilemna, he would quickly solve it by killing all the Muslims. In direct contrast to that course of action, The Cid declares, “I will set free two hundred of these Moors, lest they speak ill of me for what I have seized of theirs” (24). Not only do the Moors love him for it, they “fall to weeping” when he leaves,
Foss explains, “What Urban needed was an enterprise, clearly virtuous in serving the ends of Christiandome… in these moments of reflection, the popes mind turned towards Jerusalem.” Urban II reflects back on the first taking of the Holy City after the defeat of the Byzantine Empire in 1071, and begins to question what his people know about the Turkish race and really the ideology of Islamic thought. Foss goes on to examine the ignorance of westerners and needed to be “reminded [by the pope] of the infamous heathens, their cruelty and hatred of Christians,” hoping this would justify the first Holy Crusade. However, Foss identifies the creativity of the Pope’s language to persuade the knights and army of the people to embark on the Holy Crusade based on the Muslims cruel actions turned onto their fellow Christians. Claiming the Muslims “Killed captives by torture…poor captives were whipped…and others were bound to the post and used as a target for arrows.” Foss examines the Popes words as an effective effort of persuasion in creating an army of crusaders to help clean “…Holy places, which are now treated with ignominy and polluted with Filthiness” and any sacrifice in Jerusalem is a “promise of a spiritual reward… and death for
Life during the Middle Ages was full of social change, division, and classism. This feudal society of Britain was divided into three estates. (social classes) Within the second estate was the the knight who was a soldier for the king who fought in many battles. Even though the knight is expected to have the strength and the skills to fight in battle, all knights during the Medieval period additionally had a chivalrous aspect to them. Chivalry was the honor code of a knight which included bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women. Within the stories of the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the code of chivalry was broken by knights which show the corruption of England’s feudal society.
In White’s work chivalry can be seen as the substance that pulls knights away from the ugly violence they possess within themselves. In my essay, I will use this source as an Example to show the positive perspective of chivalry within an anti-war society. Archibald, Elizabeth “Malory’s Ideal of Fellowship.” Arthuriana 43.171 (1992): 311-328. Web.
Among some of the largest conflicts in the world stand the Crusades; a brutal conflict that lasted over 200 years and was debatably one of the largest armed religious conflicts in the history of humankind. Since this is so clearly an event of importance, historians have searched vigorously for the true answer as to why the crusades began. Ultimately, because of accusatory views on both the sides of the Christians and of the Muslims, the two groups grew in such hatred of each other that they began to act in deep discrimination of each other. Moreover, Christian motives seemed to be driven mostly by the capture of Jerusalem, the dark ages of Europe and the common-folks desperation for land, wealth, and a spot in heaven. What seems to be continually
Charlemagne is a man of good character in both works. He is a man that is considerate of supporting the poor and is generous of giving
In the little kingdoms or principalities, the lands over which a King ruled were regarded as no different from other property. Among the Franks, all sons were entitled to a share. Therefore, when a King died, each son became a King over his own little kingdom. Thus, many political units became small so there were no uniform laws or policies. This lack of unity made them vulnerable to enemies as well as conflict from within. Bullough points out that the loyalty of a warrior or subject to his chosen leader was not a light matter. The author does not contrast that concept of loyalty however, with our present ideas of loyalty to the homeland or institution.
Throughout the duration of the crusades real motivations shone though on behalf of the Crusaders. Not only did they lack a religious purpose for fighting, but they made the Muslim’s lives complicated and valueless. They were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales. It should be clear to anyone and everyone that the prime motivation behind the Crusader’s fighting was power and land which would eventually lead to wealth.
The Christian identity in The Poem of the Cid is one of complexity and war. As demonstrated by Cid’s military campaigns God can be on both the side of Muslims and Christians, “The Moors called on Muhammad and the Christians on St. James” which leads one to believe that the monetary value of raiding and plundering villages was what led these men to band together against a common foe (The Poem of the Cid 63). Moreover, as Cid continues his adventures he clearly gains the respect of the Moors who join him against the Count Ramon of Barcelona, so perhaps one could assume it was all for monetary gain. Regardless, Cid’s story is one of conquest, glory, and honor that parallels the stories of the crusaders and parades the idea of gaining wealth through war to the populace of Iberia.
Since this paper is my reflection, I will be honest by stating that I am nineteen years old, white, a male, and have been raised in a Catholic family just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Now why is this important? This is important because the only viewpoint of the crusades that I have studied, prior to my experience with Maalouf, has been from the Christian point of view. Until now, I have yet to place myself in the shoes of those on the opposite end of the sword, shields, and Jihad. History is a touchy subject for me because I have come to learn there is always another side of the story to learn from. This fact leads to the first main thesis of Maalouf’s adventure.
God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark, will cause readers to question much of what they know about the Crusades, the Crusaders themselves, and the formidable Muslim forces they encountered along the way in liberation of the Holy Land. Stark gives compelling reasons for the Crusades, and argues that readers should not be too quick in following the lead of historians who cast the Crusaders in less than positive light. Stark makes his case supported by evidence that vindicates the valiant struggles of the Crusaders who accomplished the task of keeping Christianity alive through troubled times.
The epic poem, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” (1200’s), set to practice the major pillars in the code of chivalry that the Duke of Burgundy in the 14th century eventually condensed and ascribed to the Burgundian Knights: Faith, Charity, Justice, Sagacity, Prudence, Temperance, Resolution, Truth, Liberality, Diligence, Hope, and Valor. Though values bear merit, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” teaches that true worth and longevity comes from assessing the situation and applying intellect to the code, from submitting to God, and from not cheating the system (the laws and cultural norms of the time that be).
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
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.
In today’s society the differences in morals between the rich and the poorer classes are virtually non-existent, but during Medieval times “morals and, above all, the virtues at its center, played an important role not only for distinguishing between good and bad, but, more importantly, even for the structuring of society” (Virtus 1). The aristocracy class and the immoral poor class had morals but how they demonstrated them varied; the aristocratic class used chivalry as the basis of their morals, while the immoral poor class did not. Chivalry was not only a code of conduct for those who followed it; chivalry was a way of life. ‘Chivalry first arose in Europe during the Crusades.
What is the Warrior Heroism in the Poem “Song of Roland”? What is the motivation of the men? Did the hero’s fight for loyalty to Christianity, their warlord, or the love of their country. A very complex poem of loyalty, deceit, and conflict we find a story that has been able to keep people’s interest for thousands of years. My thoughts and arguments on how to interpret the Poem’s meaning and the Poet’s view are several.