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Crusade impacts on the western world
An essay on the impacts of the crusades
Crusade impacts on the western world
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The events that led up to, and including the First Crusade, were a set of religious and political wars fought between Muslims and Christians in a means to exert influence and obtain control over the Holy Land. The movement held vast consequences that ultimately yielded enough power that caused a ripple effect through multiple facets of society. The First Crusade saw a mass following with aims to seize Jerusalem from Islamic control, all in the name of God. The wars were not entirely positive, those who took on the journey faced exhaustion, starvation, and devastation, yet their dedication demonstrates the immense religious devotion that allowed the crusaders to prevail and that dominated. The piety displayed by the western Christians and Muslims …show more content…
ultimately aided in framing attitudes and conceptions. Religion was the driving force behind the crusades, shaping attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions that transferred into characterization and justification for a Holy War. Among the different chroniclers, various explanations are given for the motivation behind the First Crusade. Of which, many attribute to the rapid and extensive expansion of Islam, while others declare the driving force came through papal reform. The church had experienced reform and now held moral and political authority over European Christendom, centering Christian ideals around charity, piety, faith, and redemption. “The result of the new universality of the ecclesiastical reform movement was the transformation of Christendom. Its most striking single enterprise was the First Crusade.” Christians were now concerned with the spread of Islam and its effects on their faith. The Muslims had extended into the Byzantine Empire, conquering Armenia, Syria, and Palestine, and Seljuk Turks threatened Byzantium. Alexius Comnenus became its emperor and around 1095 looked to the west for aid against the Turks. In 1095, Pope Urban II responded to Alexius and addressed the Council of Clermont in France, and called upon European Christians to bear arms and rescue the Holy Land from Muslim occupation; thus launching the crusade movement. Christians in Europe “…believed strongly that Muslims should not be there…these lands were consecrated to Christ,” and saw the expansion as a threat. The Pope’s call sparked a series of events and mini movements, such as the Crusade of the People led by Peter the Hermit and a multitude of smaller wars of armies who traveled to Constantinople and Jerusalem, experiencing both triumphs and losses, and led to a united, mass following, all under the same guiding purpose, to rescue and liberate the Holy Land. Islam seemed to be Christianity’s first competitor, among the dominant monotheistic religions present during the medieval era, propelled into the world by the prophet Muhammad.
Many Muslims believed that Jews and Christians worshiped the true god, but failed to recognize and accept Muhammad’s prophecy. The Islamic religion accepted Jesus and his believers, it was only if one of these faiths actively persecuted or hindered any progress or development of Islam, that they would then be considered targets of jihad, Islam’s own understanding of Holy War waged against nonbelievers. It was not until the Franks attacked Syria, that the Muslims realized their power. The Franks were moving in on Islamic territory, and persistent invasions continued to demoralize the Muslims and contributed to a growing consciousness of their threat. Muslim thought towards the Franks began shifting into a more hostile view, and in multiple accounts, Muslims began to view them as “infidel enemies” and damning them to God. This growing hostility was further fueled by a growing understanding of their untrustworthy nature, “…the Franks—God damn them! Failed to keep to the terms of the surrender.” This growing awareness from increased interactions between Muslims and Christians contributed to the motivation behind Islam’s approach to the events during the …show more content…
crusades. The success of the Franks can be ascribed to a number of reasons, and from multiple chroniclers, one can gather that the Franks led a massive movement under one religious goal. This can be viewed as an important piece to their achievement. The crusaders often displayed violence and hostility towards their enemies, “…they seized the Muslims’ possessions, using every form of violence and torture to extort them.” The Frankish armies were feared for “their fickleness of mind, and their readiness to approach anything with violence.” The Franks were also deceitful and used bribes for their own benefit. Muslims eventually caught on to the characteristics displayed by the Franks and “…they were known to be always immoderately covetous of anything they strove after and to break very easily, for any reason whatsoever, treaties which they had made.” Most significant to their success, however, is their resilience in their Christian faith, especially concerning messages or signs from God. “God stretched…his…hand in aid and…revealed the lance…when this precious gem was found, all our spirits were revived” and “they began battle with the greatest confidence.” Such extreme reliance on God and their faithfulness, inherently contributed to their confidence and strength within the crusade movement. The term crusade translates roughly to call to the cross or “those signed by the cross,” and designating the crusades as such, places it directly under religious connotation. During the crusade era in Christianity, one’s actions became closely tied to piety, prompting devout followers to go on pilgrimage to seek remorse and forgiveness. The crusade, therefore, was understood to be a path to redemption. “All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins.” Urban was able to utilize this to his benefit, promoting this journey as an act of penance given to them from God, “O sons of God…I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ’s heralds…to destroy that vile race from the lands…Moreover, Christ commands it.” Popes and priests encouraged crusade participation by praising acts of devoutness and instilling guilt or fear within western Christians. “…an accursed and foreign race, enemies of God, have invaded the lands of those Christians…Whose duty is it to avenge this and recover that land, if not yours? You should be moved…by the holy grave of our Lord and Savior…now held by unclean peoples, and by the holy places which are…befouled by their uncleanness.” Urban prompted further religious fervor by offering a sense of renewal, offering the Holy Land as a divine paradise needing liberation from their enemies. “Take the land from that wicked people and make it your own. That land which, …is flowing with milk and honey, …more fruitful than others…She longs to be liberated.” By deeming the Holy Land as in need of freeing, it is in this light that this call to bear arms is just. “You have thus…waged unjust wars, at one time and another…We now hold out to you wars which contain the glorious reward of martyrdom, which will retain that title of praise now and forever…” Religious power, beliefs, and attitudes all held connections to the Christian faith, which were used against their enemies. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, three major religions during the medieval era, held and still hold, deep-rooted connections to Jerusalem.
There are many similarities that can be found between Islam and Christianity, with regard to their admiration and devoutness for God, especially during the crusade movement. “God…fought for us…fighting in the strength that God gives, we conquered them…” Christians constantly used God as a source of power and committed to their beliefs. Muslims likewise looked to God as one who decides their fate, “And God—to whom be the praise!—gave the Muslims victory over the infidel rabble.” Both Muslims and Christians laid claim to their religions, and placed a majority, if not all power into God’s hands. This displaced power, in turn, added to shifting ideals and beliefs regarding their ‘enemies’ and led to success and defeat on both
sides. This powerful attachment to God and strongly held beliefs shaped interactions between Muslims and Christians, and had an effect on their responses and attitudes before and during the crusade. Devotion to both the Islamic and Christian faith, added to a growing awareness that continued to shape attitudes and beliefs regarding one another. Inherently, during the crusades, Muslims and Christians “were officially enemies bound to ceaseless warfare,” putting forth efforts to assert dominance in their faith. The call for the crusade ignited turbulence within Christian society, and provoked a universal sanction that only western Christians were able to recognize that placed them under a common goal on the premise of religion. The actions that lead up to the First Crusade ignited constant tension, threat, and religious dedication between western Christendom and the Islamic world, which in turn influenced the differing perspectives, beliefs, and attitudes between the two religions, ultimately categorizing the crusade as a Holy War.
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 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
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.
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.
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
The Crusades were an outlet for the intense religious tension between the Muslims and the church which rose up in the late 11th century. This all started because the church and the Catholics wanted the Holy Lands back from the Muslims. Around this time the church was the biggest institute and people were god-fearing. Pope Gregory VII wanted to control more lands and wanted to get back the lands that they had lost to the Muslims (Medieval Europe). So in order to get back these lands he launched The Crusades which he insisted to the peasants was a holy war instead.
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 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 major turning point in Medieval history were the Crusades. The Crusades were a series of wars fought between the Christian Europeans and the Muslim Turks, which occurred between the years of 1096 to 1272. In this Holy War the Christians goal was to obtain the Holy Land from the Turks, in which they did not succeed. Although the Christians did not meet their goal, many positives did come out of their attempt. Due to the reason that they did not meet their goal, yet numerous positives came out of their effort, many refer to this as a successful failure.
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.
In the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, Europeans embarked to recover the holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslims. These expeditions, Crusades, were a form of war in defense of Christianity that was justified by the papacy. Popes and church officials would promise spiritual benefits and indulgences to those who would fight. With the start of the First Crusade in 1096, thousands of Western Christians of all classes joined the cause and chose to fight against the infidels in order to regain the holy city of Jerusalem. Between 1096 and 1291, when the last of the Crusader states were overtaken, there were numerous expeditions and hundreds of thousands soldiers and civilians were killed. Upon reviewing the two sources, we can see that there are many views in regards to the crusades and their success.
The Medieval period was a rough time period because there was a lot of death and conflict from fighting and diseases. There were places that had a social class and because of that there was a lot of inequality between the people living there because the people who are on top of the social class had more power than the people at the lower classes and the people in the lower class did most of the work but get paid the least. There were conflicts in parts of Europe because of different religious beliefs this ultimately leads to many crusades with the objective to keep peace to the areas of Europe but what actually happened is that the crusaders ended up slaughtering the people inside the towns that they were living and they didn’t care which religion they were in or what age they were. Godfrey of Bouillon was a French who was born in 1060 and he was the leader of the First Crusade and he won at the Siege of Antioch he was later elected as king of Jerusalem on July 22 1099 but he
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Crusading, much like Imperialism in the 20th century, was all about expansion. During the middle ages however, it was more about the expansion of religion rather then power, or at least that’s the way it was preached. Crusading by definition is; “ a holy war authorized by the pope, who proclaimed it in the name of god of Christ. It was believed to be Christ’s own enterprise, legitimized by his personal mandate” (1). This essay examines the background of the crusades to offer a better understanding as to why they occurred. It also examines the effects that the crusades had on the world. It is easy to look at the crusades as a violent meaningless act, but one must understand the type of setting this movement occurred during. This was a time when if you took part in the crusades, you were seen as a warrior of god, recruited by the pope. Any man who fought in the name of god would be rewarded in heaven. Popular belief in the 10th and 11th centuries was that the more you did for god, the less accountable you were for you’re past sins. The more deeds you did, the better your credit in the ‘Treasury of God’ (2). The Treasury of God is a summarization of the good deed outweighing the bad deed principle of the time. Acts of violence in the name of god are far less common in the world today. But, as seen with September 11th, jihad or holy war is still occurring. This essay gives a basic timeline and underlying principles behind the crusading missions. Justification for these acts remains unclear and is simply opinion based.