When a courageous band of crusaders known as the Knights of St. John, fought the Saracens for possession of the holy land, they encountered a new weapon unknown to European warriors. It was a simple, but a horrible device of war, it wrought excruciating pain and agonizing death upon the brave fighters for the cross. The Saracen's weapon was, fire. As the crusaders advanced on the walls of the city, they were struck by glass bombs containing naphtha. When they became saturated with the highly flammable liquid, the Saracens hurled a flaming torch into their midst. Hundreds of the knights were burned alive; others risked their lives to save their brothers-in-arms from dying painful, fiery deaths. Thus, these men became our first firemen and the
first of a long list of courageous firefighters. Their heroic efforts were recognized by fellow crusaders who awarded each hero a badge of honor - a cross similar to the one firefighter's wear today. Since the Knights of St. John lived for close to four centuries on a little island in the Mediterranean Sea named Malta, the cross came to be known as the Maltese Cross. The Maltese Cross is your symbol of protection. It means that the firefighter who wears this cross is willing to lay down his life for you just as the crusaders sacrificed their lives for their fellow man so many years ago. The Maltese Cross is a firefighter's badge of honor, signifying that he works in courage - a ladder rung away from death.
August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 42-43
“The old Inquisition had its rack and its thumbscrews and its instruments of torture with iron teeth. We know what these things are today: the iron teeth are our necessities, the thumbscrews, the high-powered and swift machinery close to which we must work, and the rack is here in the ‘fireproof’ structures that will destroy us the minute they catch on fire,” suffragist Rose Schneiderman vehemently declared in a memorial speech after the terrible tragedy that occurred more than a century ago. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in United States history. Taking place on March 25, 1911 in New York City, a fire broke out on the 8th floor of the factory, spreading quickly to the 9th and 10th floors,
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.
...ert. Flesh and blood so cheap: the Triangle fire and its legacy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Print.
'Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?’ ‘No. Houses. have always been fireproof, take my word for it.’ ‘Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames.’ He laughed.
The idea of love is very complex and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Both “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “Araby” by James Joyce portray the lives of two individuals who are in love. “The Things They Carried” is about a young lieutenant named Jimmy Cross during the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Cross was incapable of focusing on the war because of his constant thoughts of the girl he loved, Martha. “Araby” is about a boy who is infatuated with a girl he has never had a conversation with. Although both protagonists in “The Things They Carried” and “Araby” eventually realize that the girls they loved didn’t feel the same way about them, Lieutenant Cross tried to move on by destroying everything he had that reminded him of Martha, while the boy in “Araby” was left disappointed.
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. United States: Shmoop University, 2014. Shmoop. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. .
A major part of the fighters in the crusades were untrained and unqualified peasants who went out to get back the holy lands for the church from the ?evil Muslims? (Medieval Europe 164-167). This was called the Peasants Crusade. In order to get these peasants, who knew no better, to go and fight the church told them that if they were to go and fight these ?horrible Muslims? then they would automatically get admission into heaven. Of course this automatically appealed to the peasants being that they were so god-fearing. They thought that if they helped the church then they would go to heaven and so they jumped at such an opportunity to get a get-into-heaven-free card. These people in all their religious glory went in and attacked the city of Nicaea (TWW, 104), and got killed. The city of Nicaea was a well fortified city controlled by Seljuk Turks. The peasants went in and attacked and literally got slaughtered. Only 2000 peasants survived their hasty attack. Unfortunately most of the crusades went this way(TWW)
Robinson, John J. Dungeon, Fire, and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades. New York: M. Evans &, 1991. Print.
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.
Spanning from 1095 to 1212 C.E, the Crusades were an effort made by medieval Christians to regain their holy lands back from the Muslims. There were five crusades in total going in order from the First Crusade to the Children's Crusade. A few were effective in their own respects although these Crusades proved costly to the European Kingdoms as a result of large losses of life. This paper will explore these crusades and explain why some succeeded whereas others failed.
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
Between the 11th and 13th century the Crusades have been fought by many dauntless knights who wanted to protect the Holy Land. They encountered many problems, however they were driven with their goal in mind. They thought that "protecting the Holy L...
Throughout recorded history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property, and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was easily one of the worst fires mankind has ever seen causing large scale destruction and terror. Samuel Pepys described the fire as “A most malicious bloody flame, as one entire arch of fire of above a mile long… the churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made.” (Britain Express 1).
Baase, Sara. A Gift of Fire Second Edition, Pearson Education Inc. pg. 242-243. Copyright 2003