...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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...mixed with other subjects or it will result in ongoing fights, arguments, and wars. In the case of the Crusades, this was exactly the result- a series of religious “Holy wars”. This particular set of Holy wars was divided amongst the Christians, Muslims, and Jews in revolt against the Catholic church. The original intention of the Crusades started as a political issue under the rule of Pope Urban II in 1095 AD. His goal was to increase Papal power, obtain wealth, and gain greater political power in Jerusalem, the Holy land. However, this quickly changed when religion played its role. The Pope performed a speech in Claremont simply implying that Muslims were persecuting the Christian faith due to the regions they resided in near the Middle East. As a result, the first Crusade came to terms. Something as profound as the Crusades will never be forgotten and although many centuries have passed, the previous problems still linger- especially in the Middle East. Most history books will focus on the outcome of the Crusades according to Western European culture, but it is the Eastern culture and religions who have truly suffered. All one has to do in order to realize this is to look at the current situation in our world today. The effects of the Crusades have taken a negative toll on the relations between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions and communities. In order to explain the result of the Crusades within the Jewish religion, one must understand what Jerusalem is to the Jewish...
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...reasons for the crusade and his aims and ambitions for the church. I will also be discussing the Popes use of exaggerating claims of christians suffering and being murdered and liberating the holy lands to gain support for the Crusade. I have looked at these sources and found some of these more useful than others in writing my paper. Pope Urban II’s call for a crusade:Four Accounts -This piece of work has four different accounts of one of the first sermons that Pope Urban gave about the crusade. The sermon was a response to Constantinople plea for help against the Turks. The sermon had called for Christians all around Europe to help save their Christian brothers and sisters who are being greatly mistreated and to take back the Holy land from the Muslims who were currently occupying it. These four accounts were written by churchmen and all of the accounts were written after the conclusion of the first crusade. The First Crusade and the idea of crusading by Jonathan Riley-Smith- I find this book so far to be a good read and chapter 1:Pope Urbans Message to very useful in helping me write my paper. This chapter discusses focuses on pope Urban and his sermons to the people. The chapter gives reasons on why the Crusade was called and how the church legitimized the crusade through his sermons. Also goes into the goals of the crusades that were mentioned over and over again by the Popes Sermons. The Pilgrimage Tradition and the Holy War Before the First Crusade James A. Brundage-...
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...The Crusades - Research paper The Crusades, like so much of the modern conflict, were not wholly rational movements that could be explained away by purely economic or territorial ambition or by the clash of rights and interests. They were fueled, on all sides, by myths and passions that were far more effective in getting people to act than any purely political motivation. The medieval holy wars in the Middle East could not be solved by rational treatises or neat territorial solutions. Fundamental passions were involved which touched the identity of Christians, Muslims and Jews and which were sacred to the identity of each. They have not changed very much in the holy wars of today. --Karen Armstrong, Holy War, 1988 Crusades were by far the...
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...a major key role in wars and death. The Crusades were a series of wars of Christians who wanted the holy land because the Muslims had conquered Jerusalem (Holy Land) and had also conquered many other countries. With this in mind, I believe that religion did play a part in the Crusaders, for instance the “Holy Land” known as Jerusalem. European Christians fought the wars because of religion, poverty, and economic reasons. The reason for the Crusades going into war was because they wanted to recapture the “Holy Land” from the Muslims. Many people didn’t like the fact that Muslims were living where Jesus had walked, lived, and made miracles. In document 1, Runciman states that “Their motives were … genuinely religious …...
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...The crusades were a series of Wars fought over the Holy Land Jerusalem, between Christian Europe and Muslim Asia. Jerusalem held a high significance to Christians because the Church of the Sepulchre was built upon the hill Christ was crucified on top of. The start of the Crusades was influenced by Pope Claremount in 1095. There were about nine crusades in total, the first four were known as the Principal crusades, and the four remaining, Minor crusades. The Holy crusades had many effects on both Europe and Asia. Before the 11th century most Christians were encouraged and even welcomed by the Muslim people of Jerusalem to journey on pilgrimages to experience Christ. Muslims had an open policy for pilgrims seeing them as a source of revenue. In the 1065 the Turkish took over control of Jerusalem and murdered Christians. The Pope Urban II hired a man named Peter the Hermit, a native monk of France, to spread the word and influence people to stand up and fight against the Infidels controlling Jerusalem and attacking Europe. August 15th 1096 marked the start of the crusades into Asia. The most important Crusades are the first four known as the Principle crusades. 3000 Christians were slaughtered in Jerusalem, prompting the first crusade, known as the People’s Crusade, made up of all kinds of classes of people, men, women, and children. Many preachers’ excited people of Europe, swaying them with their words of “Gods Will” to set out on a march to Jerusalem. The first crusade...
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...5/4/2015 The Third Crusade The Christians in Western Europe and Muslims in the Middle East were in a constant religious battle during the 12th century because the Roman Catholic Church wanted to take control of the holy land, Jerusalem. In order to conquer Jerusalem, the Church initiated crusades, also known as military campaigns or holy wars. The First Crusade was successful as Jerusalem fell under the European control, but not so much for the following crusades. The Second Crusade was a disaster, as Europeans failed to conquer any land from the Muslims. This led to the Third Crusade in which three kings, ‘Richard the Lionheart’ of England, ‘Phillip II Augustus’ of France, and ‘Frederick Barbarossa,’ joined...
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...The Crusades. 1. What was the cause of the crusades? a. I expect to find out why there was a war between Christians and Muslims, and what is the holy land and why were they fighting over it. 2. What were the objectives of the crusades? b. I expect to find out why it expanded from releasing the holy land to conquering Spain from the Moors. 3. How many crusades were there and what were the most important? c. I expect to find out the exact number of crusades and why the first four were the most important. 4. What was the crusades timeline? d. I expect to find the dates of each crusade and when they finished. 5. What was the effect of the crusades? e. I expect to find the answer to why did they play a very big role in the Middle ages and how did they effect the catholic church. 6. Who were the crusaders and how were they treated? f. I expect to find the classes of where the crusaders came from and if they had any special privileges. Throughout history the Crusades affected many aspects mostly the Europeans Middle Ages. The crusades went on for almost 300 years and affected the people whom lived there church and many other aspects. Powering religion and the church. Even though many people lost their lives it still plays a huge role. 1. What was the cause of the crusades? The word crusade means holy war, and was caused over the possession of the holy land. For many years Muslims were responsible of the...
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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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...The Crusades are traditionally defined as the series of western expeditions against the Muslim lands of Palestine and the Levant which begun with Pope Urban’s call to arms at Clermont in 1095 AD, and all but ended with the Muslim liberation of Acre in 1291. The initial western offensive was sudden and effective. By 1099, Jerusalem was in Christian hands, and remained so until 1187, when it was liberated by Slah al-Din. From then on, European power in the region was very limited, although Frederick II of Sicily briefly conquered Jerusalem again in 1228. The fall of Acre in 1291 marked the end of the European presence in the region. All in all, it was the western Christian that states failed to counter the ultimate rise of Muslim power as-well-as “liberating” any holy lands. It was a war that a man fought another man for the misguided main beliefs of another. Over-all, the Muslim nations that were invaded by those Christian states wanted no part of the hostile take-over of their lands or a forced conversion to their non-Islamic religion. Holy Sepulchre, a city in Palestine was the center of attraction; where the religious practices of Christians were not allowed to enter. The city was under the care of the Caliphs from Bagdad and the Fatimid’s of Egypt. At one point the Caliph presented the keys of this holy place to Charlemagne to lock out the millions of Christians from gaining access. People from Turkey sooner joined the fight to control the holy place as the Arabian community...
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...The Crusades were a bloody religious war, they had a goal to have conquest of The Holy Land, but they had failed that goal. They also had left a bad remembrance of hatred behind them. In the Middle East, Christians and Muslims committed an awful violation in the name of religion. In Europe, Crusaders sometimes turned their anger on the Jews, kill the entire communities. The Crusades were fought between 30,000 people from Europe and the Seljuk Turks, who had taken total control of The Holy Land from the Arabs. The main Crusades took over a period of 200 years, they began in 1905 and continued till 1272. The Crusades are more negative, for example relations between Muslims and their Christian and Jewish subjects worsened. Commerce with the...
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...The Crusades The Crusades was a war against the Moslems(Muslims) fought by the Christians. It started in November 1095 when the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius Commenus had sent a desperate appeal to defend Christianity against the Moslem enemy because the SeIjuk Turks, the dominant Moslem power, had conquered the Holy Land from the Christians and closed of the places made sacred by the life of Christ. Pope Blessed Urban II concluded a speech with words, “Men of God, men chosen and blessed among all, combine your forces! Take the road to the Holy Sepulcher assured of the imperishable glory that awaits you in God's kingdom. Let each one deny himself and take the Cross!” The assembly then rose with him and thus became the Crusaders. They adopted a red cross as there emblem and within ours no more red material remained in town because the knights had used it all to make the crosses that would be sewn onto their sleeves. The name Crusaders was given to them because of their emblem(crux the Latin word for cross). The Crusades were a just war which has been a controversial debate over time, but to prove it, in history the Christian nations in Europe were definitely not the aggressors. The Moslems had been the aggressors against the Christians since the seventh century. Their attacks on the Christians were still going on in the eleventh century. In 1071 the Turks had attacked and virtually annihilated the Byzantine army at Manzikert. It was this defeat that led the Byzantine Emperor...
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...The Crusades had a lot of impact on our history. They tore up cities, killed innocent people, and still failed to reclaim the Holy Land. The Crusades was a series of wars over the Holy Land . The Christians believe it is the place where the last supper was held. The impact the Crusades left on our history was definitely more negative than positive. They killed innocent people like the Jews, and they made the relationship between the Jews, Muslims, and Christians worse. One way that the impact of the Crusades was more negative than positive was that the Crusades killed innocent people such as the Jews. Document 1 states that “ In Europe, crusaders sometimes turned their fury against Jews, massacring entire communities.”This is (important/interesting/relevant)...
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...The Crusades were a series of wars taking place in Asia Minor and the Levant between 1095 and 1291, in which Western European nations engaged using the propaganda of religious expeditionary wars. The first crusade was called by Pope Urban II of the Roman Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. The background to the Crusades was the centuries of Arab–Byzantine Wars and the Seljuq-Byzantine Wars and the recent decisive defeat of the Byzantine army by Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in 1071. The Norman conqueror Robert Guiscard's conquest of Byzantine territories added to the problems of the Byzantine Empire. In an attempt to curtail both dangers, its Emperor Alexios I sought to align Christian nations against a common enemy, requested western aid, and Pope Urban II in turn enlisted western leaders in the cause of taking back the Holy Land.[1] The crusaders comprised military units of Roman Catholics from all over western Europe, and were not under unified command. The main series of Crusades, primarily against Muslims in the Levant, occurred between 1095 and 1291. Historians have given many of the earlier crusades numbers. After some early successes, the later crusades failed and the crusaders were defeated and forced to return home. Several hundred thousand soldiers became Crusaders by taking vows;[2] the Pope granted them plenary indulgence. Their emblem was the cross — the term "crusade" is derived from the French...
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...How the Crusades Changed the World HIS/276CA June 23, 2014 How the Crusades Changed the World The Dark Ages were a time of cultural recession for Western Europe. The barbarian invasions during the fifth and sixth centuries had obliterated the Roman Empire in the West. The wisdom of the lost Empire was nothing more than a memory. The Crusades offered endless opportunity and provided exposure the knowledge, culture, and resources that fueled the European progression into the Renaissance; a fortuity that shifted both cultural and religious power in the modern world. By the end of the 10th century, Western Europe was destitute. The inhabitants could not farm their land properly, and soon a cycle of famine, flood, and disease began to dictate the lives of the people. The only surviving institution was the Western Church in Rome. Roman popes soon began to challenge the Byzantine emperors for ultimate control of the church. Tension grew between the two branches of Christianity, which lead to cultural, theological, and irreconcilable differences between the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Greek Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire (Stalcup, 2000). This event, known as the East-West Schism in 1054, was a precursor to the Protestant Reformation (Stalcup, 2000). Meanwhile, a holy war in Spain between Christian Europeans and Muslims terrorized the outskirts of Rome during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Western Europe became very accustomed to religious...
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