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The First Crusade began in an effort to retrieve Christian territory that was conquered by Muslims. The aim of the crusaders was to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem in the name of God. The Crusades were catapulted by a speech delivered from Pope Urban II in the city of Clermont. The passionate speech was centered on the Muslims, whose acts of savagery had sent all of Western Europe into a frenzy. The Byzantine emperor Alexius Commenous requested the Pope for aid to cease the Turks from invading. This led to an outcry as thousands of men, women, and children answered the pope’s message. Urban began to arrange his plan, and started a campaign asking others to preach in his favor. Though the ultimate outcome of the crusade was successful, many mistakes were made throughout the course of the war.
The amount of enthusiasm that followed was overwhelming. However, most of this support came from peasants whom were neither skilled nor trained for combat. When preaching, Urban had hoped listening knights would be available for battle. While knights proved to be the most glorious of fighters, they came at a price. Knights developed their true ability to fight as a mounted warrior. Their “warhorses” were extremely expensive and required an ample amount of care. While on tour, Urban tried to prevent certain types of people from joining the effort, but it proved to be difficult. There were more peasants than there were knights. Urban had the support and promises of two influential French leaders, Adhemar and Raymond. Urban also recruited many other famous leaders.
The outcome of peasants only led to more trouble. Peter the Hermit can be viewed as a figurehead of the people’s crusade. Peter can be described as a charismatic man who delive...
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... victory. According to Asbridge, if the first crusade had not been successful then these truly devout soldiers faith would “less pronounced” (Asbridge 336).
The fear of damnation, Asbridge explains, is what drove the Crusaders to conquer. There was not passionate dedication of fighting for the church. Asbridge believes more than anything it was a self-serving need of the desire to ascend into heaven. The papacy saw The First Crusade as an opportunity to manipulate and burn the religion of Islam.
Asbridge also states the Latin Christians were encouraged to believe that the Muslims were savages intent on destroying them. The unspeakable violence that followed only led the crusading movement to expand. More holy wars were fought, though none were successful as the first. The First Crusade was only the beginning of the rising conflict between Islam and Christianity.
The Crusades were a number of military expeditions by Europeans of the Christian faith attempting to recover the Holy Land, Jerusalem, which was then controlled by the powerful Muslim Empire. In his book People of The First Crusade, Michael Foss an independent historian tells the story of the first Crusade in vivid detail illustrating the motives behind this historic event, and what had really occurred towards the end of the eleventh century. The Christian lands of Western Europe were slowly deteriorating from invasions of the North, and the passing of corrupt laws from within the clergy and the high lords. However, these were not the only challenges those of European Christian faith had to face. Islam strengthened after the conversion of the
The year is now 1096 and Peter the Hermit is assembling the People’s Crusade! Although Peter’s sermons were great at pulling people together, his army is very disorganized
The First Crusade was called in 1096 by Pope Urban II. The reasons for the First Crusade was to help obtain Jerusalem known as the holy land. During this time period the Muslims were occupying Jerusalem. First Crusade contained peasants and knights’ whose ethnicities consist of Franks, Latin’s, and Celts which were all from the western part of Europe. To get peasants and knights to join Pope Urban II objectives in return of a spiritual reward called “remission of all their sins” which was to be redeemed of any sins the individual has committed. When sins are redeemed Crusaders believed that they will escape the torment of hell. When lords and knights joined the crusade they were known as military elites. Crusaders were known as soldiers of Christ.
The First Crusade was a widely appealing armed pilgrimage, and mobilized a vast conquering force at a time when the Christian Church was moving towards centralization and greater political influence in Europe. The Church gained a wider audience more accepting of its leadership, benefitted economically, and developed its own militarily force. These outcomes, along with the Church’s documented ambition to expand and its reversal of prior teachings, support the idea that the First Crusade was a deliberate political maneuver, intended to to expand and consolidate the authority of the
Urban’s decision to begin the Crusade was based on more than just the idea that he was doing the Lord’s will. The Christian idealism was mind over m...
The first crusade was held only in order to fulfill desire of the Christians of the recapturing the center of the Christian faith-Jerusalem, which has been controlled by the Muslim nation for more than 400 years. This military campaign was followed with severe cruelty and harsh actions against Muslims which cannot be justified with anything but religious and material interest.
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
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.
In 1095, Pope Urban II called the first crusade. Happening between 1096 and 1099, the first crusade was both a military expedition and a mass movement of people with the simple goal of reclaiming the Holy Lands taken by the Muslims in their conquests of the Levant. The crusade ended with the capture of Jerusalem in July 1099. However, there has been much debate about whether the First Crusade can be considered an ‘armed pilgrimage’ or whether it has to be considered as a holy war. This view is complicated due to the ways in which the Crusade was presented and how the penitential nature of it changed throughout the course of the Crusade.
A main cause of the Crusades was the treatment of Christian pilgrims. They were robbed, beaten, and then sold. The main group of Turks, the Seljuk Turks, were threatening and growing in power. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexus I, began to become worried and sent out an urgent plea to Pope Urban II, in Rome. He requested for Christian knights to help him fight the Turks. Pope Urban II did agree to his appeal although Byzantine Emperors and Roman Popes were longtime rivals. He also did agree with Alexus I, in fearing that the Turks were expanding. Pope Urban encouraged French and German Bishops and Nobles to also take part in this. “ An accused race has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and had depopulated them by pillage and fire.” This is when Pope Urban II called for a crusade to free the Holy Land. Urban did agree to this having some of his own motives in mind. He was hoping his power would grow in ...
The First Crusade from 1095 to 1099 has been seen as a successful crusade. The First Crusaders carefully planned out their attacks to help promote religion throughout the lands. As the First Crusade set the example of what a successful crusade should do, the following crusades failed to maintain control of the Holy Land. Crusades following after the First Crusade weren’t as fortunate with maintaining the Holy Land due united forces of Muslims, lack of organization, and lack of religious focus.
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 1095 Pope Urban II called all Christians to take part in what would become the world’s greatest Holy War in all of history. Urban’s called on 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.
The Children’s Crusade needlessly ended the lives of many. Although they had no other reasons than regaining Jerusalem, it was a lost cause. Stephen of Cloyes and Nicholas, though with a true purpose, caused only more pain and sorrow. Children left their family behind, “This they did despite the wishes of their parents, relatives, and friends who sought to make them drop back” (Halsall). Some parents encouraged their kids to go, but at the same time, even more parents tried to keep there kids at their side (Halsall). The Pope himself at one time stopped Nicholas’s Crusade and told them to go back home (Trueman). Even though the Crusade failed, and none of the children ever were heard of again, England once again remembered the importance of the Holy Land (Trueman).