Argumentative Essay: The Journey To Edessa

Many have priorly stated that history repeats itself time and time again. This can be seen throughout history but, especially so during the Crusades. This paper will discuss the parallels between the First and Fourth Crusade. We will also take a brief look at the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and how it compares to the aftermath of the Second Crusade.

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

Post 2 The Pope has called for a crusade to the Holy Lands to take them from the Muslims and to open up the paths to the holy land. One monk seems to have been effected more than the rest. Peter the Hermit has made an unorganized army pulled towards a common goal. With his sermons, Peter has drawn up an army of peasants and some knights to move on towards Constantinople. This has been named the peoples crusade.

The brief campaign of the thirteen-century Children’s crusade was not technically a crusade in the sense that medieval Europeans understood the term and lasted only a few months during the year 1212. It lacked Papal sanction and its participants marched without the customary indulgences granted to those engaged in warfare to defend the Faith. Uncharacteristic as it was, the Children’s Crusade was a revealing chapter in medieval history, as it exemplified the depths of crusading zeal along with the unrestrained behavior of which enthusiasm and faith are capable. The children’s crusade was nothing less than a destructive movement that preyed on those in its paths, much like the earlier crusades had done. It was during the late august of 1212, that rows of zealous children and the priest guiding them had stood on the dockside of Marseilles awaiting for a parting of the Mediterranean to permit passage to the holy land. The children marched unarmed, in some notion of converting the Muslims seems to have taken place of the usual crusaders zeal for battle.

This investigation attempts to answer the question, what were the successes of the Third Crusade? The question is relevant or important because it focusses on the next unit and involves religious conflicts. The subtopic that will be addressed are Islamic influences on this Crusade.

Wrapped in mystery and intrigue, the Knights Templar stand out from the pages of history as the keepers of Catholicism’s greatest, most dangerous secrets. In legend, the Knights are known as the guardians of the Holy Grail, the Arc of the Covenant, and other Holy relics. Historically, they are remembered as the “Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon,” the disciplined guardians to Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. Although the order is one of the most intriguing secret societies, the literature written on the Templars is minute and thus it is one of the least understood societies in history. Sadly, the order’s important contributions to history are so vastly overshadowed by scandal and intrigue that fact and

During the early 13th century, while the wars against he Albigensians were occurring, crusade preaching became integral aspect of life in parts of Germany and northern France. On top of the already present religious fervor the most of Europe had, these preachings drove people to act on their devoutness to God. The Children’s Crusade, which was a popular religious movement in Europe during 1212, was a movement in which thousands of youth assembled and took crusading vows, their objective was to recover the Holy Land, Jerusalem, from the Muslims. Lasting only a couple of months, the Children’s crusade didn’t have Papal approval nor the materials needed to have a successful crusade, and ultimately this youthful religious undertaking was a failure; none of the self proclaimed crusaders ever made it to Jerusalem. Although the Children’s crusade was not considered an official crusade, the Children’s crusade provides insight on how influential the call to crusade was despite the dangers and challenges the journey posed to those who set out to recover the holy land in the name of God.

First Crusade by Fulcher of Chartres and the collection of excerpts from the letters and chronicles by Jews and Muslims are two documents relating to the climax of the invasion and conquest of lands and cities in the Middle East by European armies during the First Crusade. The climax was the siege and capture of Jerusalem. The two documents have similar, contrasting, and incomplete information. Of this incomplete and one-sided information we will discuss the different perspectives of those who lived in and near Jerusalem to those who came from outside the region.

While The Crusades may have begun with a noble intention, or set out with objectives that sought to relieve the suffering of fellow Christians, those original ideas were perverted and twisted until The Crusades were not at all noble or justified. This is particularly obvious in retrospect when we can look at history from various perspectives and draw conclusions, but it seems that even at the time it might have been obvious that the original intent had been misused in order to advance the personal aspirations of many people taking part.

Author Paul Crawford opens his essay with a quote from former president Bill Clinton the quote refers to the horrific actions taken by Christian crusaders against the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. The crusades invoke and image of Christian warriors arriving in the Middle East in waves of man and beasts intent on getting rich by fulfilling their bloodlust, and under the protection of a Christian Pope who promised eternal salvation for all who kill the Muslim horde. However, Crawford does not believe that Christian west actions were unprovoked, and he writes about the four misconceptions that are often applied to the crusades.

This paper will explore the various impacts the crusades had on medieval history.  Starting with a brief explanation of the crusades themselves the paper will go into detail in regards to the aforementioned impacts, which range from banking to changes in social perception. The Crusades, which took place between 1095 to 1487, were a series of military campaigns sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church. Their creation can be credited to the 1095 conflict between the Byzantine empire and the Seljuk Turks after the latter took over Anatolia, which originally belonged to the Byzantines. Unable to fend off the Turkish forces by their own power, the Byzantine Emperor of the time, Alexios I, reached out to Pope Urban II (r. 1088-1099) for aid.

" The Crusades were more then just a war, it was a world changing event that lead to the recovers of many ancient texts, lead to the golden age of prosperity, and it tested the power of the Church. Men went on Crusades for many reasons such as pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the fear of the ongoing spread of Islam, and protection of the Holy Land. For all of those reasons to fight Christian men were united and fought

Accordingly, Memoirs of the Fourth Crusade has been reviewed vigorously over the past century and central among these reviews is a genuine acceptance of Villehardouin s authenticity and accountability with respect to his

Interestingly, historians differ on the number of crusades. There is also some minor differences in the dating of the crusades. However, these is general agreement that there were at least five definitive crusades. For this discussion, we capture eight crusades (not including the Children’s Crusade of 1212) and dating provided by Walker: First Crusade 1096-1102 AD, Second Crusade 1147-1149 AD, Third Crusade 1189-1192 AD, Fourth Crusade 1202-1204 AD, Fifth Crusade 1217-1221 AD, Sixth Crusade 1228-1229 AD, Seventh Crusade 1248-1250, and Eighth Crusade 1271-1272 AD.

In the epic poem, “The Song of Roland” the tale depicts the Battle at Rencevaux in which the protagonist is betrayed and serves as a martyr to justify the Crusades. The Crusades were a medieval military expedition by the Roman Catholics to purge the Muslims from the Holy Land. With this definition of the Crusades, one can conclude that the “Song of Roland” should not be considered apart of the Crusades as the poem’s context is historically inaccurate, written long after the events, and lacks a credible source. Instead, this depiction should just be considered as a folk tale that was used to drive the crusaders to keep fighting. The story of heroism in this poem was no doubt a motivational tool that inspired soldiers to persevere and uproot the Muslims from the Holy Land.