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Effects of the first crusade
Pope urban and the crusades
Impact of the crusades dbq
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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 …show more content…
While the documentary is regarded as generally accurate and reliable guide to the Crusades, with its presenter Terry Jones - a comedian and medieval-history enthusiast. As the documentary is produced D’Agnillo 4 with the intent of widespread entertainment, elements of comedy and other aspects of entertaining film can, at times, cloud the message and content of the documentary. An anti-war advocate, Terry Jones’ presentation of matter so closely related to strong personal sentiments can also introduce a degree of bias in the presentation and approach taken to analyzing the events detailed in the series. However, the documentary incorporates the input and analysis of several highly-regarded medieval historians, including Jonathan Riley-Smith, Suheil Zakkar, Fikret Isiltan, David Lazenby, and Christopher Tyerman. This group of historians, all highly esteemed individuals in the field, are able to offer a balanced and likely unbiased account of what they believe to be true about the …show more content…
The Military Orders, including the Templars and Hospitallers, were created to protect pilgrims on the route to Jerusalem, but grew into ranks of professional soldiers with a great presence in the East, answerable to the Papacy. These orders “grew rapidly and acquired castles at strategic points in the kingdom and northern states. […] They were soon established in Europe as well, they became international organizations, virtually independent, sanctioned and constantly supported by the papacy” (Madden). The Pope possessed, for the first time, a dedicated military force in Europe. These two outcomes indicate the growth of the Church’s power as a result of the First Crusade, and support the proposition that the Papacy intended it as a way for advancing its political and economic position. Conclusion 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
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
Kings often struggled with the Church over power and land, both trying desperately to obtain them, both committing atrocities to hold onto them. Time and time again, the Popes of the postclassical period went to great extremes to secure the Church’s position in the world. Both the Crusades and the Inquisition are examples of this. D...
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.
In the end of the eleventh and middle of the thirteenth century there were nine wars between muslims and christians that are now called the crusades.All nine wars were meant to take over the holy land (what is now israel) from the muslims.The most successful of those battles was the first and second.The worst of the crusades was the fourth crusade.The Crusades didn’t have a positive effect on trying to take over the holy land.Document 1 states that ”the Crusades failed their chief goal: the conquest of the Holy Land.This is important because the crusades didn’t achieve their main goal and they weren’t recognized as much as the first crusades.Document 1 states that the left a bitter legacy in their quest to take the holy land..This is important
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
Edward Peters, ed., Christian Society and the Crusades, 1198-1229 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971)
For years Western scholars and novelists have been drawn to the story, yet until now there has been no documentary. Ric Burns's film is a first.
The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales.
In the end of it all, there were various good things that happened as a result of the
The First Crusade was an extreme and explosive upheaval of religious elation that reached a state of perfection in a brilliant military achievement. Pope Urban II, in his call to the Crusade at Clermont in late 1095, touched a nerve in western Christendom, unleashing a power that far exceeded his desires outcome and proved difficult to control. Motivation both honorable and selfish prompted multitudes of crusaders to voyage to the east. Regardless of the considerable obstacles, large portions of these military powers succeeded in arriving at the Holy Land; in mid-1099 they broke the walls of jerusalem and in a paroxysm of madness prevailed over the Muslims and gained the Holy City. But in this essay I focus on: why did so many western Europeans joined this movement.
Meanwhile all around Europe the population was growing at an alarming rate as well as the economy putting everyone at an advantage, but while at the same time fighting all these wars. They had the men, the resources, and a massive amount of wealth due to their services as well as all of their donation money to expand their militia, and destroy anyone that could be harmful to the Christian faith. Although all their efforts, and sieges whether successful or not ultimately were undone by others, and to this day the Holy Land belongs primarily to the Jewish people. The Templar’s did not liberate all territories they wanted, but their influence their religion had on western Europe, and all around the world is really something they probably would have wanted
"The Crusades (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
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.
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
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.