“Years ago cries and shouts were heard from great crowds, as Pope Urban II gave a speech at the Council of Clermont, urging hundreds of Christians all over Europe to take up arms and aid the Greeks in the recovery of Palestine from the Muslims” (Halsall). This speech resulted in 200 years of constant hostility and gory battles between the Christians seeking the return of their land and the Muslims, intent on keeping it (Trueman). Even though the wars were fought for religious reasons, the events that occurred during them were hardly religious.
The very first crusade began in 1095 (history.com). Over the course of the next 200 years there were eight more major crusades and two minor ones (Trueman). The Christians who first set out to fight for Jerusalem wore red fabric crosses that earned them the name, Crusaders, from the Latin word crux (Trueman). These Christians were told to “take up their crosses and fight for their Holy Land, Jerusalem” (Alchin). The wars were mostly against the Muslims living in and around Jerusalem, but they also attacked Jews and others who had stolen Christian land or possessions in the past (history.com).
The armies marching toward Jerusalem were fairly diverse. Although, they were all Christians following Pope Urban’s call for war, this was not everyone’s main reason for joining in the series of battles. According to howstuffworks.com, some religious and obedient individuals joined for devotion to the Pope and his wishes, but many were thinking of themselves and their own wishes. Various people joined for the prospect of being a military hero, others wanted land and money that could be stolen from the towns they destroyed, and still others joined because of promises of absolution from sin and eternal g...
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Halsall, Paul. “Urban II, Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095.” Fordham.edu. Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 1997. Web. 2 May 2014.
Madden, Thomas F. “Crusades.” Britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Snell, Melissa. “The People’s Crusade.” Historymedren.com. Medieval History, 2014. Web. 1 May 2014.
“The Crusades (1095-1291).” Metmuseum.org. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Trueman, Chris. “The Children’s Crusade.” Historylearningsite.co.uk. History Learning Site.uk, 2013. Web. 2 May 2014.
Trueman, Chris. “The Crusades.” Historylearningsite.co.uk. History Learning Site Co, 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Dana C. Munro, “The Speech of Pope Urban II. At Clermont, 1095”, The American Historical Review, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Jan., 1906), pp. 231-242
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.
The emperor of the Byzantine Emperor was upset with Turks encroaching on his empire. He went to the Pope Urban II and complained. He made up atrocities about the Turks. In 1096, The Pope Urban II promoted the Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the barbaric Turks. These crusades lasted till the 13th century. In the process, Jews were persecuted and lots of looting took place. Many countries took interest in the Crusades because they were ready for travel and adventure. They wanted to expand trade with the Middle and Far East and so the Crusades gave them a chance to open up trade routes with those countries. They used Christianity to justify the Crusades. In reality, they wanted to expand trade and gain more territorial land.
This was enough to convince about 60,000 Europeans, many of them peasants to start on the First Crusade to the Holy Land ("THE CRUSADES TO THE HOLY LAND”). Many of the soldiers who went on the Crusades also hoped to acquire land and riches and return a war hero. This was the first time the Catholic Church had seen penitential warfare- “warfare in the service and defense of the Church for the ‘remission of your sins’”("THE CRUSADES TO THE HOLY LAND”). The whole mentality of the Crusades was to destroy any other beliefs including paganism and Judaism, which lead to all kinds of violence and persecution, with Jews becoming a common target, even entire Jewish communities were slaughtered ("How Christianity Rose to Dominate Europe."). Even the Christians were not safe, as many were killed in settlements along the way. Pope Urban was the one who brought out this idea that it was okay to kill non-Christians, and, even beyond that, IF you went to the Holy Land on a Crusade, you received a free ticket to heaven even if you died there. Does this sound a little bit familiar? Perhaps a little like those who truly believe that they’re gaining salvation by blowing up a group of innocent people along with themselves? Or flying a plane full of passengers into building full of people? Well, the First Crusaders marched to Jerusalem leaving death and
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.
Wars are started due to different beliefs whether it is religion, ethics, etc. The Crusades were a series of “Holy Wars”. Prior to the Crusades, in 1009 the Arabs rule Jerusalem, a sacred site to both Christians and Muslims. At the same time, El Hakim ordered the burning of the Holy Sepulcher. This brought mistrust with the Muslims. In 1054 the Church split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Sixteen years later, the Turks conquered Jerusalem and started to attack the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines sent a letter to the west asking for help. Pope Urban II read it and then called for the first Crusade to take back the Holy Lands. Thousands marched to the Holy Sites and conquered Jerusalem. However, only this Crusade was successful as the other two resulted in failure. The second and third Crusade was called to take back Edessa and Jerusalem which were recaptured by the Muslims. Although some of the Christian reasons were right, their attacks on Muslims were mostly unjustified.
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
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
penance" (Campbell p.14). A pilgrimage to the Holy Land was not an easy task to
Latham, Andrew A. "Theorizing the Crusades: Identity, Institutions, and Religious War in Medieval Latin Christendom." International Studies Quarterly 55, no. 1 (March 2011): 234. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 14, 2012).
This essay gives a brief outline of the major developments in the role of the Papacy between the Early Church and the present day. It will cover four aspects. The development of the papacy as a temporal ruler, Papal elections, the Curia and the development of the ‘mission role’ of the Papacy. It will explore how the papacy changed from being an organisation that had the influence to appoint kings and arrange state borders to one with a billion followers. These followers see the papacy as being responsible for the administration, pastoral and spiritual care of their membership.
The Papacy is the office of the Pope. The word pope comes from the Latin form of the word “Papa” which means father. The office of the Pope or rather the papacy is responsible for a wide variety of things. Specifically the Papacy’s main responsibility is the spiritual well being of the members of the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church rose to power in the 6th century and lasted throughout the 9th century. There were several different circumstantial and also coincidental factors that contributed to the high regard of the church by the 6th century. The beginning was the church’s unsolicited popularity. This could be linked to its relationship with the early apostles. The Roman Church was the first in the empire to be established by the Apostles. Since the 4th century the Roman Empire was being primed to receive the church as the highest power in its land. When the barbarians started their invasion on Rome the church had a very powerful leader at the time. Pope Gregory I was responsible for Rome’s finances, food, water supply, and policing. He put a new face to the Papacy. He established a new Liturgy of the church. Liturgy means a service to the people.