The Motives Behind The Crusades

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1) What were the motives behind the Crusades? Evaluate their outcomes.
The most notable motives behind the Crusades include religious zeal, Europe’s large population augmenting, and a staggering number of knights eager to fight in battle. Of these motives, religious zeal was the greatest. The crusaders were already more than willing to fight against the Muslims before Alexius Comnenus asked Pope Urban II to supply him with Norman mercenaries in 1095. Western Europeans loathed Muslims ruling the Holy Land, particularly of the holy places of Palestine. The saying “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” encapsulates the situation Christians in both the east and the west experienced. Both factions realized that without helping one another, they would share the same fate of falling to the Seljuk Turks. In addition to the Christians fighting for God, Europe’s ever-increasing population also needed more land to live off. Europe’s territories had to be expanded. With the shortage of land, the expansion of feudalism, and the urge to fight by influential leaders such as Pope Urban and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the sons of knights and nobles desired to conquer new lands. While there were many outcomes of the Crusades, some stick out more so than others. The biggest of these is the fact that the crusaders from Europe failed to permanently capture Jerusalem or Palestine. The fall of Constantinople was the end for the Byzantine Empire. Overall, the First Crusade was the most successful when compared to all of the other Crusades.
2) Compare and Contrast the development and function of the three major representative assemblies of the Middle Ages: Parliament (England; the Parlement of Paris (France); and the Cortes (Spain).
In retrospect, all thre...

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...s were even allowed to continue trading. The Ottomans were also the middleman between Europe and the Middle East. Hence, they were supported by both sides in battle. Another reason was the efficient leadership of the empire by rulers including Mehmet II and Suleiman II. Both greatly expanded the empire’s territory. In addition to the rulers’ efficiency, their subjects had the utmost respect for them because it was believed that the sultan was the successor of Muhammad. While the rulers weren’t seen as being equal to power as Muhammad, they were looked up to as the most powerful living humans. The early sultans also solved the problem of succession between rulers, a problem that plagued many medieval states. Lastly, the janissaries were a big reason for the success of the sultan’s army. They began to become a force to be reckoned with beginning in the fifteen century.

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