...The Crusades In 1095 an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. Messengers from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus had urged the pope to send help against the armies of Muslim Turks. On November 27 the pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The response of the assembly was overwhelmingly favorable. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates of the Near East. "God wills it!" That was the battle cry of the thousands of Christians who joined crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims. From 1096 to 1270 there were eight major crusades and two children's crusades, both in the year 1212. Only the First and Third Crusades were successful. In the long history of the Crusades, thousands of knights, soldiers, merchants, and peasants lost their lives on the march or in battle. 1095: Beginning of the Crusades In 1095 an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. Messengers from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus had urged the pope to send help against the armies of Muslim Turks. On November 27 the pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The response of the assembly was overwhelmingly favorable. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates of the Near East. The...
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...The Crusades were a series of military campaigns launched by the Roman Catholic Church starting from 1095. The main goal of the Crusades was to regain control of the Holy Land to the Christians from the Muslims. The Crusades were mainly a failure because they did not achieve this original goal. However, the Crusades were an inadvertent success because they brought vast changes to Western Europe. Thus, the Crusades are known as a successful failure. During the Early Middle Ages, the fifth through ninth centuries AD, Christians were able to safely complete a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as the Muslim Egyptian rulers at that time were tolerant of other religions. However, in 1071, Jerusalem was captured by the Turks who would rob, rape and murder non-Muslim pilgrims. These Turks threatened the weak Byzantine Empire, and, in turn, western Europe and the Pope. In...
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...point across and the best way to solve problems. It is a situation that affects so many people. Not just those involved in the actual fighting in the war, but their families, their friends, and each country included in the war. When we send soldiers in to fight a battle, a lot of them will not make it back home to see their loved ones again. They may not even understand or agree with the reason behind the war. They just know they were called to serve their country and that’s what they will do. Based on the history of the United States of America, we have been at war for about 90% of the time since 1776. Some of the wars that have been instrumental within our history and that I will be discussing are World War 1, Battle of the Bull Run and Crusade. The process of warfare throughout the ages of time has evolved substantially; and these changes that have been implemented have drastically changed the way that we as a society view war and all that it entails. Let me say that since I have been a part of two wars I can say there are changes that have and will effect...
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...Impact of Crusades in European History The time referred to as the High Middle Ages in Europe in the 11th century was in stark contrast to the Europe of the Renaissance. The continent was divided into kingdoms of weaker monarchs fragmented into small fiefdoms. The political landscape was dominated by the powerful aristocracy and even more powerful men of the religion. Life conditions were dismal for most of the population, trade was nearly nonexistent. In terms of arts and sciences, European civilization was dwarfed by those of the Middle East and Asia. Yet, in a couple centuries Europe would become one of the most powerful, sophisticated civilizations in the world. This change can be attributed in no small part to its interaction with the Orient though Crusades that spanned from the end of the 11th century to the end of the 13th century. The 35,000 men that joined the first Crusade embarked on a journey to a world that was very different than Europe. After capturing Jerusalem and settling down in various places in the Middle East, they saw that the Muslims lived luxurious lives. Their civilization was hundreds of years ahead of their own in terms of culture, technology and sciences. The Arabs had spent centuries in major cities copying the texts of classical Greek philosophers and making additions on the existing body of knowledge. The works of philosopher scientists such as Ibn Sina and Biruni were taught in European centers of learning emerging at the time of the first...
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...natural sciences and newfound knowledge rather than accepting older teachings (Brotton, 39). It fostered curiosity and innovation in many industries and aspects of life. In a sense, it was a new chapter or book in our human history index. The Renaissance also paved the way for the Protest Reformation to eventually occur (Brotton, 101). There are many factors that led the Renaissance to occur. It was a combination of the Crusades and the Mongols expansion that began under Genghis Khan that led to the fruition of the Renaissance. The Crusades brought the two worlds of Islam and Christianity in a manner like never before. The death toll of the Crusades varies among academia between one and five million people (Madden, 172). Besides all the bloodshed, the Crusades allowed Europeans to rediscover new forms of art, expressions, and ways of life. Europe became too involved in their feudal and monarchy type systems. They had forgotten the importance of the arts and sciences and were more focused on building fortunes and spreading salvation. Europeans, by way of the Crusades, were astonished at the advancements of the Muslim world and sought to learn and capitalize from it (Madden, 156). The Abassid Empire, the Muslim empire, stored the knowledge of past civilizations and continued to utilize them (Madden, 158). Greek and Roman teachings on mathematics, anatomy, medicine, biology, physics, and more were protected by the Abassid Empire (Madden, 159). These ancient Greek and Roman teachings...
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...John F. Kennedy presidential campaign. He managed to successfully register more Mexican Americans than any other time in Colorado’s history. By the 1960’s when Congress passed legislation for President Johnsons War on Poverty, Mr. Gonzales became Denver’s director of the war on Poverty program. He dedicated much of his time and attention to the youth. He wanted them to understand their culture, traditions of the past and most importantly, their future. After a few years of working in politics with the war on poverty he became dissatisfied with the outcome and quit his job as Director in 1966 to found an organization, “Crusade for Justice”. In 1967 Mr. Gonzales made his final political effort, he ran for political office as Mayor for Denver but he was once again defeated. His full attention would now revolve around “The Crusade for Justice”. It had a principal goal, the creation of independence and control of the community in all aspects of the Chicano Life. Within a minimal amount of time the Crusade had its own newspaper called “El Gallo”, school,...
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...The Fundamental causes of the Crusades Derek A. Shuman The ancient World had the territorial Peleponesian war between Athens and Sparta. After that, the Persian swept in and conquered much of Greece, along with the rest of the Mediterranean area. Alexander retook possession of Greece, (along with much of the Mediterranean). Then came the Romans, who also conquered Greece, (along with much of the Mediterranean). But after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Eastern Mediterranean fell into the hands of the Muslims. So, since 638 AD, Jerusalem had been governed by Muslims. The Muslim Caliphs were, at heart, capitalists, and they tolerated Christian pilgrims because the tourist money helped the economy. But then, in the 1070s, Turks (who were recent Muslim converts) conquered these Holy Lands and mistreated the Jews and Christians, not realizing how useful their good will (and money) could be. The Byzantine Empire was also threatened by the Turks. Emperor Alexius asked the pope for assistance. Pope Urban II, a skillful orator, seeing an outlet for the violent energy of Christian knights, made an urgent speech calling for them to take back Jerusalem. Thousands responded, resulting in the First Crusade. Dates and Leaders of the Crusades: Urban II made his speech calling for Crusade at the Council of Clermont in November, 1095. He combined the idea of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with waging a war against the infidels. When he also promised complete absolution past present and future...
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...This extract illustrates a clear example of economic and cultural motives from the first crusade, as the knights “motives were in part genuinely religious,” which then brings in the concept of holy war. In Pope Urban II’s speech in Clermont he had given a cultural motive of “whoever goes to liberate the church of God can substitute this journey for all penance,” this simply states, in return for fighting God’s enemies on earth, a person would receive a spiritual reward, which again supports the cultural motive from this extract. The economic benefits may include “possession of the land they re-conquered.” The historian also explores the contrast between the Byzantine Empire whom respect the Arabs due to similar cultures and way of life, to the ‘Turkish barbarians.’ Another brief point that is mentioned is the threat Muslims had on the Western Christians, as they “could not share the Byzantine’s tolerance and sense of security.” The main argument in this extract is that the motives for the first crusade were for economic and cultural motives. The historian briefly discusses “land-hunger.” The inducement of land and profit being held out in the account of Pope Urban’s speech and this broad principle must have motivated some crusaders. There were also economic motives from families, where the inheritance would go to the elder sons, which meant “younger sons had to seek their fortune elsewhere,” this is supported by historian Bryd who also believed this. However historians Riley...
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...Crusades Introduction: The 11th Century saw the largest Military operation to date with the calling of the crusades and around 600,000 crusaders were involved in all the crusades. The Crusades were an example of the power the Roman Catholic Church had at the time. The Church made every idea, wish, or even occasion, appear to be Gods will. The church had great power and wealth at the time and that made the Pope the most powerful person in the west. The First Crusade. When the 11th century came to a close; the western part of Europe had become a power of its own but still was way behind the Mediterranean civilizations. These civilizations were the former eastern half of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic empire. The Seljuk Turks were at war with the Byzantine Empire and at the battle of Manzikirt defeated the Byzantine Empire in 1071. Alexius Comnenus finally regained the Byzantine power of the throne and over the remaining empires in 1081 after years of civil war and unrest. The Turkish again began to become unstable; prompting Alexius to ask Pope Urban II for help in the form of mercenary soldiers in 1095. The relationship of the Christians between the east and west were never great; but at the time of the request they had been improving, so the request was granted. The Pope at the time, Urban II at the council of Clermont called for all the Christians in the west to go help the eastern empire defeat the Muslims, recapture the holy land, and Aid the...
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...The Crusades, while not usually successful, did drastically change societies and regimes throughout the Mediterranean. Between 1096 and 1291 Latin Europe undertook eight large scale military campaigns in attempt to win back the Holy Land, which had been under Muslim control since 639. These Crusades are unique in European history because they are the only wars to be formally sanctioned and blessed by the Pope. By 1096, many Europeans felt war against Islam was a just cause due to repeated popular attacks and state-run persecutions of Christians and Jews, lead by Islamic...
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...Crusades Abstract Crusades are recalled as a major incident in the history. This series of the holy war started in 1095 and continued till 1272. In general, reasons and motivational factors behind crusades are classified as subjective in nature. The goal of the Christian in this war was to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim possession and retook the control of the holy land. While, Muslims at the beginning of this war were on defensive side and failed to sustain their kingdom. However, after the third crusade, Saladin recaptured Jerusalem and included this state in his Kingdom of Egypt. This paper briefly describes the reasons and impacts of crusades which affected Europe in terms of politics, economy and social system and benefits. Table of Contents John Q. Student Professor Doe English 344 8 May 2000 Crusades Introduction The human history has seen numerous wars which have been fought to achieve the strategic goals of the states. Most of the wars reflect the intention of territorial expansion, acquiring additional resources of occupied land, settling down the political instability and to create balance or dominancy in terms of power in the region. However, history also witnesses to the fact that there are many wars that were fought on the name of religion. Crusades, among them, are generally referred as holy war or series of religious military actions to conquer the...
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...Contemporary world power, and the shift from the East to the West during what historian’s term, Medieval/Renaissance Europe, shifted the roles of two vastly different empires – the Ming and Ottoman. Both empires had different types of leadership and core goals – military and social. The Ming Empire was led by brilliant philosophical scholars, concerned not only with the external world but the development of the internal consciousness; the Ottoman based on a new monotheistic religion that stratified society, but also allowed numerous mathematical, scientific, and medical advances, copied by the Europeans after the Crusades. Islam began about 700 AD in the Saudi Peninsula, which at the time, was composed mostly of nomadic tribes, a few trade cities, and a disparate population. Through religion, the Arab peoples were united, so that by the years of 900-1200 AD, the Ottoman Empire could be called a state unto itself. It quickly proved to be a military strength and threat to its neighbors, at its height growing from the Iberian Peninsula through India and into Southeast Asia. The Turks expanded their empire through brilliant military tactics, horse archery, and new technologies in battle. Coupled with this more practical sense, the idea of spreading Islam, and the uniting of cultures through culture and religion, proved to be equally as powerful (Goodwin, 2003). The Ming Empire, on the other hand, had no central religion or cultural basis, unless one considers the philosophies...
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...With a pre-existing loyalty to the Church already rooted deeply into European medieval culture, it is no surprise that so many men were convinced to the cause of the Crusade time and time again. The ability to serve as the literal sword and shield of the Church was the apex of their vows as men of rank and status, it was not just expected of them to perform in the Crusade, but they were honored to do so. The lesser men-at-arms of the crusading bands, as usual in a feudal society, were led by these men, with whom they shared an equal responsibility in good conduct during times of conflict. In an account regarding the immediate reaction to the Council of Clermont, knights and the poor all sought to sell their belongings so that they could participate in the Crusade: “All the knights of an inferior order felt the same zeal (as the Counts Palatine). The poor themselves soon caught the flame so ardently, that no one paused to think of the smallness of his wealth”..22 The united effort by the class-based feudal European society marked a change for society’s conception of duty, that it could be shared...
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...One of these changes is culture. Culture is changing because of new things being brought in and art being used more throughout Europe. Some examples of the culture shift include Europe starting to innovate new inventions and discovering new scientific data and art being introduced through a series of events. One of these events is the Crusade. The Crusades led to new innovations and discoveries because after losing the wars it led to Europe being able to open up and have cultural diffusion and experience the golden ages of surrounding places. This is important because before the Renaissance Europe was cut off from all the other golden ages going around, leading to Europe being very behind in power and wealth. Cultural diffusion aloud for all of the smartest people to come around and join in the school of Athens and communicate about things. This leads to Europe growing and being the strongest it's ever been. Another thing during this time period that developed Europe's culture was the Renaissance. The Renaissance led to cultural developments and improvements because it was during a time period of prosperity for Europe. The reason why it was so prosperous during this time period is because of the after effects of the Crusades. The Renaissance also led to art being used and bought more meaning, that there was something of value in Europe that holds meaning. This means that Europe's culture was shifting...
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...Student name: Dave Le Class: E8-2 Teacher: Mr Garcia My project idea is about finding out the benefit of diversity in the medieval times. According to Meriam Webster dictionary, it stated: “Diversity-the conditions of having or being composed of differing elements.” In my first and second paragraph, I will be mentioning different trade routes during the Middle Ages. In my second paragraph the different ruling system in the medieval times Church vs State. In my third paragraph, I will be explaining about a multicultural society inside the Iberian society. The last paragraph I will be concluding my points about diversity. After the crusades, the effect that the crusades had on the society benefits them. The Crusades brought wealth and power...
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