Religion, war, bloodshed and disputes for land. This is what the crusades consisted of; a set of religious wars that only led to failure. One could say that the Seljuk Turks signed their death warrant once they began to conquer Christian land of the crumbling Byzantine Empire. It all started when the Seljuk Turks decided to conquer Jerusalem. That’s when Pope II decided to take action. Because Jerusalem is holy land for Christian’s (because Jesus Christ spent last days there as well as his crucifixion happened right outside of the walls of Jerusalem), the Pope wanted to reclaim the land back. So a group of people devoted to the cause decided to venture out to the holy lands, obliterating anything that got in the way of their goals; which was basically everything. Many innocent lives were taken because of them. Also, this was unofficial because the people took off without the official leaders and went in unexperienced with no talent. The people who took part of the ‘People Crusade’ had only made it so far, far enough to Jerusalem, when they were captured by the Seljuk Turks. Anybody can guess what happened to the ‘People Crusade’ after that. It was annihilated. But the leaders back in Europe did not give up the conquest of Jerusalem. The leaders continued to plan out the first official crusade. The first crusade was the religious war that led to the capture of Jerusalem, and the effects of the crusades had significantly affected the Middle Ages and history to come.
The first official crusade was one filled with bloodshed and arduous fights, like the many yet to come. The leaders were tentative about fighting for the pope, because there was no personal gain, but they gave in at the end. As the warriors traveled to Jerusalem, they ca...
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...sades have influenced history in such a way, that if it not for the crusades, then who knows how it would be today?
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Thomas F. Madden’s The New Concise History of the Crusades is an invaluable account of the crusades that bases its arguments off of factual evidence and draws from historical accounts. Although his arguments may be flawed because of preconceived biases, Madden is still able to present the history of the crusades in an interesting and professional manner. The themes he addresses accurately portray the crusades as both a religious and territorial endeavor. Overall, Madden successfully summarizes and analyzes the crusades in his historical review, infusing his own ideologies in the text while still maintaining a professional voice.
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.
The Crusades took place in the Middle East between 1095 and 1291. They were used to gain a leg up on trading, have more land to show hegemony, and to please the gods. Based upon the documents, the Crusades between 1095 and 1291 were caused primarily by religious devotion rather than by the desire for economic and political gain.
In the year 1095 the First Crusade was just beginning. Pope Urban II called Christians to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim oppressors. He promised indulgences and the gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven for fighting in the holy war. Those that answered the call were peasants, beggars, the poor looking for riches and the unknown looking for glory. What started out as a pilgrimage to help fellow Christians secure their borders and repel foreign invaders soon became the first of many Holy Wars for the Kingdom of God.
Religious feelings were the principal cause of the Crusades. Up until 1065 the Moslems had control o...
The Pope banded together an army and headed toward Jerusalem. Pope Urban II persuaded those to go to war he promised that if anyone died they would go straight to heaven. When gathering the army to fight, those that fought were uneducated, poor and unable to fight. Little did they know that the journey itself would kill most of the men, the elements took lives before they even reached Jerusalem. In July of 1099 they arrived in Jerusalem and killed thousands of Muslims, Jews and Christians. This crusade ended in four kingdoms, Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem.
The crusades in the middle ages were a long-lasting series of vigorous wars between Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land, Jerusalem. The crusades lasted for almost two hundred years. They began in 1099 and approximately ended in 1291. (What were the motives, and causes of these gruesome wars?) is the first question one might ask. To properly answer this question, I am about to analyze the first four crusades that had began in 1099 and ended in 1212.
How could the Christian church, which bases itself off kindness and peace, allow the Crusades to happen? The religion known to be loving of all was the cause of the most catastrophic occurrence in the late eleventh and late thirteenth centuries because of misconceptions and avarice of the pope. Of all of the religious wars fought, this was the one with the highest level of ridiculousness. Members of the church fought for all of the wrong reasons and the outcome was poor because of it. Even though the Crusades were justified by the false philosophies of both parties, they were overall beneficial economically. Before one can analyze the thoughts of the people, he or she must know what came about to make them think like this.
Just as the Second Crusade began with two different figures, the mission continued to grow into an increasingly disjointed and divided project. ...
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 was called by Pope Urban II in November 1095. Urban made a simple proposal to his people: “Whoever for devotion alone, but not to gain honor or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penance.” This proposal sounded very appealing to many. There were several motivations behind the Church calling for the Crusades. Some of these motivations helped persuade the knights to take up arms and help reclaim the Holy Land. Urban figured that it was a win win situation. The violent knights could become “good” again. They would be forgiven for all their sins and they would be saved. They could cease their violent lives and instead do something productive, such as help recover the holy
Salvation of the Christians can be said to have been one of the motives of the crusades, thereby strengthening the religious case. Pope Urban, a religious figure, call for the first crusade in 1095 shows that salvation might have been the major motive for the calling. Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the ninth and tenth centuries flourished (Trotter, 1987), and now that this was being threatened, the religious leaders felt the need to protect their followers. It has been documented that there was a general tendency among Latin Chroniclers to perceive Muslim presence around Jerusalem as violation of Christian holy places, they thus mounted the crusades on a religious ground to purify the lands from defilements by the Muslims (Syracuse University Press, 2001, p. 5).
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 ...
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.
Starting from one of the very first holy wars, the Crusades are a prime example of this disuniting force of religion. Stemming from Pope Urban II’s rallying cry for soldiers to reclaim the Holy Land, this was a series of religious wars launched by Christian states of Europe against the Muslims. Thousands of men, both young and old, were motivated by promises of wealth, religious salvation, and chivalry to fight this religious battle against the Muslims. Despite the nobility, these wars had severe consequences between Christian and Islamic believers. In the article “The Crusades” by W. Robert Godfrey, he expresses, “Hundreds of thousands died, and the terrible massacre in Jerusalem by the crusaders has seriously damaged the reputation of Christianity among Muslims ever since.” This major event in history created tension between Christians and Muslim faiths. As one of the bloodiest wars in history, this conflict between the Muslims and the Christians represents how religion ruptures peace between two segregated sides.