...view the Crusades as an honored Christian conquest to reclaim the Holy Land back from the Muslims. Like history, the Crusades cannot be itemized into one set place; there are many different views. Looking at the first Crusade, there are the views of the Franks (Western Christians), Byzantines (Eastern Christians), and the Muslims. Texts giving insight to these views include: Pope Urban at Clermont by Fulcher of Chartres, The Alexiad by Anna Comnena, The Damascus Chroncile by Ibn al-Qalanisi, The Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders by Raymond of St. Giles, and The Conquest of Jerusalem by Ibn Al-Athir. Even though the idea of the first Crusade is clear, the reason why many ‘crusaded’ has to do with many different reasons and many different people. These texts describe views on Muslim accounts, Byzantine, and Frank accounts of how the Crusade affected them. One of the different people involved was the Franks. Out of the three so-called people of the first Crusade the Franks had the most to win. If they were to gain the Holy Land, that would give them more land to rule which was probably highly favored in the eyes of kings, nobles, and vassals. In Pope Urban II eyes this gives him a chance to extend the church’s power. So when the Byzantine Empire asked for help against Turks, the idea of a crusade was imminent. Urban II stated in Fulcher of Chartres, “Manifold evils were growing in all parts of Europe because of wavering faith” (Reilly 354). This text gives reason for a crusade...
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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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...Assess the reasons for the failure of the Second Crusade (1147-1149) The Second Crusade featured two of the most important European rulers of the time, at the head of an army that numbered in the region of 70,000, and supported by the Pope and the great orator St. Bernard of Clairvaux, with the relatively modest aim of taking back Edessa. The reasons for the failure of the Second Crusade are manifold. The annihilation of the Christian population at Edessa undermined its suitability as a target, leading to the crusade being subordinated to the rival interests of the crusader states. Furthermore, the Byzantines withheld assistance, while the crusaders faced a stronger and more united Muslim force. However, while all these factors played a part in the failure of the crusade, it was ultimately the poor leadership demonstrated by Louis and Conrad that led to a succession of mistakes, which emphasised the importance of these other factors, to bring about the complete failure of the crusade. Poor leadership was the key reason for the failure of the Second Crusade. Both Conrad III and Louis VII demonstrated an inability to manage their troops and weak leadership. Conrad was perhaps more to blame, abandoning the plan to wait for Louis at Constantinople, declaring he would not rest until Edessa was taken. This led him to enter Asia Minor without the support of Louis making the whole contingent more vulnerable to Muslim attack. This exacerbated a succession of further errors. At Nicaea...
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...or defeat something that is viewed as dangerous or bad (War, 2016).” War consists of a lot of violence, and unfortunately we as a society, think that is the best way to get our 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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...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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...Pope Urban II called the first crusade at the Council of Clermont after the Byzantine emperor Alexios Komnenos asked him for help with the Seljuk Turks. Urban, seeing this as an opportunity to launch an attack on the Islamic held holy land, made speeches at the council with accounts of violence being inflicted on the Christian pilgrims. He used this speech to rile up the French clergy and noblemen, as well as being a good troop gathering tool. The Church was very influential at the time of the Crusades, so it was not hard to gather men for these armies, considering they had the help of several prominent Frenchman including the Count of Toulouse, Raymond IV. Unexpectedly, it was the peasants, not the knights, who most fervently answered the call to war. Men of women of all ages took up arms, possibly seeking to earn grace with God, or to earn wealth during the war. Following his speeches in France, Urban recruited other leaders such as Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemond of Taranto (enter other things here...
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...The Crusades are a series of nine wars that were fought between Muslims and Christians. There are many reasons why people wanted to fight, but the main reason is that they all believed that the “holy land” (Jerusalem) was rightfully theirs and the Christian's goal was to gain reign over it. The real question is whether the Crusades had more positive or negative results. From my point of view of the Crusades were more negative because there was little religious tolerance and the Crusades legacy left bitterness between the religions and enabled them to further divide. A lot of innocent people were killed on all sides of the war because what they believed in was different from what others believed in. Document 1 states that, “In Europe, crusaders...
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...The Crusades In the High Middle Ages, Europe felt the pressure of the growing Muslim states to the south and southeast. When the Palestine was captured by the Seljuk Turks, the Byzantium Emperor at Constantinople requested assistance from the West. This requested sparked the Crusades, a Holy war with a goal of reclaiming Jerusalem. Several sources written about the Crusades offer a better understanding of the inspiration that fueled them and the circumstances surrounding them. Pope Urban II’s Speech at Council of Clermont and Albert of Aix: History of Hierosolymita provide great details surrounding the Crusades. Pope Urban II addressed the Christians in a distinguished Speech at Council of Clermont. It was an inspiring effort intended to encourage the Greeks to rise and defeat the Muslim invaders. The text of his speech was not conserved but Robert the Monk provided a descriptive recount of Urban’s motivational speech. But if you are hindered by love of children, parents and wives, remember what the Lord says in the Gospel, " "Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life." According to Robert the Monk, Pope Urban II uses multiple quotes from the Book of Matthew to help convince to the Christians to leave their families behind and join the Crusade. He explains that the Lord has offered eternal life for those that join...
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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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...The Crusades was a series of “holy wars” fought between European christians and Middle Eastern muslims from 1095 to 1291. It consisted of three primary expeditions including the People's crusade, the German crusade and finally the Prince’s crusade. Though the main goal of all three Crusades was to reclaim regions near Jerusalem from the Infidel. Peasants, nobles, knights and various others were all motivated by varying causes. Whether it be for religious purposes, personal gain (such as money), or furthering their positions in power, it pushed thousands of people to participate in the Crusades. They succeeded in spreading their influence but failed to claim the holy lands back, leaving Islam as the dominate religion in the East. The crusades...
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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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...religion was organized, so was the feudal system in Western Europe. The feudal systems contained social hierarchy, and the highest class was the king. After the king, the next powerful class was the lords, knights, and then finally the vassals (peasants and serfs)(Ellis 188). Although the conditions of the king’s and lords’ environments were luxuries, the vassals’ environment was really poor. They had to live in a manor, with less food, and hard labor (Ellis 190). The most beneficial advantage for the vassals was to live near the river (Class notes December 17, 2013). The reason is because they can catch fish at sometimes, and have additional food than others. Most of the vassals were serfs (slaves that were bound to the land, and can be sold and bought). Other vassals were peasants (people with rights that got paid for their work) (Ellis 189). This was basically the overall image of Western Europe, before the Crusades. Like the Catholic Kingdoms, the Byzantine Empire had its own history. In around 330, the Byzantium Empire started when the Roman emperor of Constantine, rebuilt the Greek city of Byzantium, and named the city Constantinople (Ellis 234). As time passed, the Roman Empire became the...
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...In an organized religion debate, Alan Dershowitz and Alan Keyes contended many issues on religion and morality. Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor, believed that “morality can be maintained without religion.” He also stated that it must be maintained without religion because times have changed. He said that if religion is not separated from state it could have severe damage, such as the Crusades and the Holocaust. Dershowitz believes that there is a difference between morality and religion. When people are moral without religion, they are being virtuous on their own, not because they are afraid of God. He stated that religion should not consist of a Cost-Benefit Analysis. Alan Keyes, a former Republican presidential candidate, stated that religion sets the standard for what’s moral. Keyes argued “power only ultimately respects another power,” and Martin Luther King Jr. was not a preacher byaccident. Dershowitz also stated that not everything in the Bible should be believed word-for-word, even George Washington said “indulge religion with caution.” Keyes believed that if state and religion should be separated, then why does the Declaration of Independence contain so much about religion? Alan Dershowitz and Alan Keyes would have argued endlessly about religion’s role in society if there were not a moderator to stop them. Religion and morality exist together in parallel according to Alan Keyes. Alan Dershowitz stated that if religion and morality are not separated, it could...
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...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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...Essay POL372 “Islam and the West” Question 4: Is the apparent conflict between Islam and the West based in religion or in politics? The conflict between the West and the East is a result of a myriad of factors between both civilizations. The tensions that have existed between the Muslim and Christian world have threatened the general stability of world peace and progress. The ideological, religious, and political reasons, all cover the fact that there is a general lack of understanding between both sets of people. Islamists have gained a bad reputation in the west because they are seen as the sworn enemies of Christians, and the same applies to how Muslims view people from the west. On the whole, the war between the West and East has something to do with the world's political order, and this will form the basis of discussion in this paper. The war that exists between West and East is a result of politics and not the religious differences. Political ambitions have always been at the forefront of the existing conflict because different countries have always had diverse ambitions of controlling the rest of the world. A key moment in the history of the East was the deal that was made by the British at the end of the Second World War concerning the people of Palestine. The establishment of Israel in 1948 further escalated tensions and conflicts with the west, and the problems that exist today, almost have nothing to do with religion (Tausch...
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