Crusades Dbq

Karina Lambert

The First Crusade

10/11/14

The crusades, were many, massive military movements. The purpose was to

regain what once was the Christians, which was now the muslims holy places.

Everything taking place, of course, in the East; there would be quarrels between Asia

and Europe, and between the East and the West. All the way from 1096 AD to 1270 AD,

the crusades would not stop fighting for what was believed to be theirs. The whole point

from all the crusades, was not only about religious affairs, but also the church and

chivalry, Peace and truce of God, Norman restlessness, and many other minor causes.

In the end of it all, there were various good things that happened as a result of the

crusades, however, there were also a few negatives

effects from it all.
Whether the product of what is being made is in the end helpful or not,
there is always a starting point in everything, including events in history.

After much

sentiment towards losing the “holy lands,” Christians would visit Jerusalem in

pilgrimages. Jerusalem to them was a very important place, where so many important

artifacts of their history had taken place. This however, became very tough, as the

Muslims would make it as hard as possible for the Christians to get there. However,

after some time the journey became torturous to anyone who would voyage it. Not only

were the pilgrimages interrupted by the Turks, but also destruction came upon churches

in Jerusalem, and the persecution continued. It came to the point where Christians no

longer could nor would take it, and an army was formed out of the pilgrims.

Transformation from poor pilgrims to military was quite impossible for the

church to do on its own. That is why, the help from- Quakers, medieval ordeals, and the

spirit of chivalry, got the army ready for the Holy Wars. After all was going well, the

region of France directly pointed out the Christians and blamed all the gruesome

fighting going on everywhere, on them. Hearing about this, the Christians started the

Truce of God, where they would rest certain days and abstain from certain activities

and
fights. Although this action is ignored often, it did have a positive effect for the future.
Now, the Holy Wars had not started quite yet. The crusaders were slowly making
their way to Jerusalem, by attacking small regions close by. W inning most of these
victories was not a shocker because they were weak cities. However, much hatred
towards the Christians was building up within the Muslims because of all the attacks.
Also making the Turks in the east Zealous, the crusaders needed to get help, for they
were much too weak to go on alone.

Seeking help from Pope Urban ll, Alexis

Comnenus sent out a letter explaining how without his help, Constantinople and all the

holy relics would soon be in other hands.

Urban ll took everything to play, gathering everyone in a council meeting. The

first few times they fought against Jerusalem they were conquered. But, soon enough

the Crusaders got to Jerusalem and were victorious. Not only were they successful, but

they had one of the greatest victories of them all. As Raymond of Agiles, one of the

historians who describes the Holy War says- “Some of our men cut off the heads of their

enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured

them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be

seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of

men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the

temple of Solomon, a place where religious services were ordinarily chanted. What

happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice

to

say this much at least, that in the temple and portico of Solomon, men rode in blood up
to their knees and bridle reins.”-
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/crusades.stm
Conquering and regaining Jerusalem was one of the things the crusaders wished
for, but since they also wanted the regions around Jerusalem, they would soon have a
second crusade. The first crusade was helpful to a certain extent, however, damage
and wrongdoing was done. From pilgrimages to crusader and poor to powerful strength
and confidence was gained. Not only did they rescue the Holy Lands but also stood up
for what they believed in. However, because of the way in which everything took place,
every battle and slaughter, made the Christians look bad and out of place. After the first
crusade things went downhill, but for now they had achieved their goal.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_crusades.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/first_crusade.htm
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/crusades.stm
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320hist&civ/chapters/15crusad.htm