Essay On The Crusades

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“The word ‘Crusade’ is used very loosely nowadays to indicate a public display of enthusiastic support for almost any cause” (Roberts, 148). The European Crusades were fought to free the Christian holy lands in Syria and Palestine from Islamic control. Tens of thousands engaged in the Crusade to receive the spiritual benefits promised by the Church. The benefits included spending less time in Purgatory and you were called a martyr if you died on a Crusade (which was an honorable title in the Middle Ages). The Crusades were originally created by Pope Urban II who wanted to start an expedition to aid the Byzantine Empire. He announced his plans for the expedition, or crusade, at a council in Piacenza and discussed his plans with Adhemar of Le Puy and Raymond of St. Gilles, both of which he wanted to serve as leaders on the Crusade. The first crusade was just the beginning of a series of crusades to permanently secure the Holy lands from the Islamic leaders in Syria and Palestine. These Crusades helped give Christianity a militant and violent side as well as shape Europe’s history.
Before the first crusade was officially launched, there were many bands of unofficial “People’s Crusades” marching towards the holy land from all over Europe. One of the famous leaders in these Crusades was the priest Peter the Hermit. He had been planning a crusade long before Pope Urban II had announced his plans in Piacenza. At its height, Peter’s crusade consisted of 20,000 men marching across rugged terrain to reach the Holy land. This was soon put to a stop on the Bosphorous Strait when Turkish forces annihilated the petty army. Many more of these crusades followed in Peter’s footsteps only to meet a similar fate.
The First Crusade was the mo...

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...lict between the two sides of the Christian Church. The first three crusades also helped to give the “temper” of western Christianity. The Crusades gave Christianity a true militant tone and aggressiveness, made missionary work more ruthlessly and potent when reinforced with technological superiority, and they also laid the groundwork for future campaigns.
All in all, the Crusades helped shape Europe’s history with the growth and spread of new religious institution and the military order of knighthood. They helped support other crusades against non-christian groups, such as the Slavs or Prussians, and against heretics. The crusades caused people to take religious vows into religious orders. Some of these orders became very rich, one example being the Knights Templar. “It [the Crusades] was the most explicit crystallization of militant Christianity” (Roberts, 151).

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