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The First Crusade
What was the cause for Western Europe to implement the Crusades? To answer this, we must go back the 11th century when the Seljuk Turks made their presence known in the east by conquering Armenia, Syria, and Palestine. They soon moved on to Jerusalem where they burned down Christian churches and murdered the clergy and many Christian pilgrims visiting there. Byzantium quickly saw the Seljuk Turks as a threat, and in 1071, met them at the Battle of Manzikert in Asia Minor. The Byzantines were slaughtered and it would not be long until the Seljuk Turks closed in on Constantinople. Byzantium's only hope rested on the shoulders of Emperor Alexius I Comnenus who quickly raised a mercenary army to help protect Byzantium. Alexius knew, however, that this army would not be enough to hold off the Turks, and going against his will, sent for help from the pope in Western Europe. The choice to ask for help from Western Europe was not a popular one due to the fact that the Byzantines saw there form of Christianity as heresy.
Pope Gregory VII saw Byzantium's call for help as a great opportunity to use Europe's soldiers in the service of God. The Pope had this vision of leading the army into the east to defeat the Turks. He saw this as an excellent way to help change people's view of the church. At this time the church was involved with ridding itself of lay control, and believed strongly that the Pope should have power over all rulers, that including Kings and Emperors. What else would better display the power of the Pope than that of him leading an Army into the east to defend Constantinople? Plus, since relations between Western Europe and Byzantium had been strained for quite some time because of the "Great Schism" of 1054, the Pope saw this as an excellent opportunity to help reunite them and perhaps bring them under the control of the Papacy. This expedition, however, was not to be seen as a crusade; but as an act of charity and mercy bestowed upon Byzantium by the Pope. Pope Gregory VII also had planned on visiting the Holy Land after freeing Byzantium but this was not the main focal point of his expedition. Gregory VII decided to leave Germany's King Henry IV in charge of the church, while he was gone with the army, but relations between the two soon broke off after Gregory VII issued his decree against the lay investiture of the clergy.
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.
Thomas Madden’s Crusades is an exposition of the crusades, which occurred during the Middle Ages. The Crusades were a series of military conflicts of a religious character. They remain a very important movement in human history, and are hard to understand, as they include several themes and they lasted for a long time (about two hundred years, and the author covers a period of about eight centuries in his chronological work). Religion is, of course, the most recurrent theme we think about the Crusades, but is it the only factor to explain them? How does Madden, considered as one of the most foremost historian of the Crusades, expose them in his book? Is his work effective to understand this period of History? Madden has the ambition to relate the Crusades from the Middle Ages to today events, such as the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. For him, it is a recall of what happened in the past, and what can still happen today: making wars for religion. Madden wants to intrigue readers with this concise book so they go further to discover more about the Crusades.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” To understand the causes of the crusades, we must have a solid understanding of the Islamic world and Europe backgrounds – respectively. By the tenth century, the Islamic empire under Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad was divided. The Fatimid, Shiite dynasty established a Shiite Caliphate in Egypt, and Cairo was its capital. They had tried to unite the Islamic world under its caliphate and they had become enemies to the Sunni caliphate in Baghdad. As a result, the Islamic world was divided.
In 1095, Pope Urban the second, was the one who declared religious war against the Muslims now known as the Crusades. In order to get an army, plenary indulgences was offered to anyone who joined resulted in tens of thousands joining in on the campaign. This meant that anyone who joined was “cleansed” of their sins by the Pope which helped believers be more pure in the spiritual world. The crusades began in the late eleventh century by the Western European Christians. These Europeans went with armies to take back the Holy Lands which is modern day Israel, or as the Jews and Christians refer to as Palestine. “ The first official armies to take part in the pope’s crusade departed from Kingdoms in Germany, France, and Italy in August 1096 and began to arrive in Constantinople in late 1096 and early 1097” (5). For the next 200 years, Christians and Muslims would battle over the Holy Lands.
How did the Crusades affect the Christians, Muslims, and Jews? The crusades impacted them all greatly for they were all a key part of the Crusades. Occasionally A religion may get a positive consequence but most of the time it was a negative one. Why did they all want Jerusalem? They all wanted it because it had a religious value to them. For the Jews, it was their spiritual city where the great temple once stood. For the Christians, it was where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. Last but not least for the Muslims it was where Muhammad rose to heaven during the night journey.
The First Crusade was established in 1095 in a council of the Church in Clermont. Alexius I Commenus, emperor of Byzantium, wanted to control Asia Minor and Northern Syria after losing to the Turks. He needed more Western troops and looked towards Pope
Definition: The medieval "Crusade" was a holy war. In 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade with the goal of restoring Christian access to holy places in Jerusalem.
The crusades known as the nine wars from the europeans christian era between the eleventh century and the thirteenth century still fight till this day to get their hands on the holy lands. Why was there such a negative impact on the crusades?
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
The First Crusade was seen from many different points of view, and every account and reference in the source must explain where, when, and by whose interests was it written. Each participant made their own crusade, and the leaders had their own beliefs. Different views often put them at odds with one another. There were four different accounts on the First Crusade from Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Byzantines. These accounts of the First Crusade all had different interpretations because of differences in religious and cultural beliefs.
Jerusalem again which led to the Battle of Hattin. Pope Gregory Vlll called for a
The First Crusade is often cited as one of the most damnable consequences of religious fanaticism. A careful inspection of the circumstances and outcomes, however, will reveal a resultant political restructuring of Europe under the banner of Christendom. The purpose of this investigation is to investigate Pope Urban II’s motives in initiating the First Crusade, with a particular focus on the consolidation of the Western Church’s influence in Europe. Among the primary sources that will be consulted are the letter sent by Patriach Alexios of Constantinople to Urban, and an account of Urban’s speech at Clermont. Relevant excerpts from both of these primary sources, as well as contextual evidence and a wide array of historiography, will be taken
The principals of human nature force people to fight for what they believe in; therefore, defending religion is not objective to that principle in the case of the crusades. In the case of the First Crrusade many people did just that, volunteered knowing that many of them would die defending their religious beliefs. In the days of the Byzantine Empire, a person’s faith or religion determined how they would live their life. It is the nature of people to fight for what they believe in; therefore, defending ones religion is not objective to that principle as in the First Crusade. A crusade is characterized as any of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to win the Holy Land from Muslims. The First Crusade played a vital role in Late Antiquity (Middle Ages) Europe; consequently, setting the stage for future events in European history and the preface for the Crusades to follow. The reason for the initiation of the First Crusade, how it was fought and who were involved, notable battles and generals, and how upon its finale it reshaped the Byzantine Empire.
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.