Christian Knights And Feudalism

The Crusades also changed the role of the Catholic church. During the Crusades, the Byzantine emperor asked the Catholic church to help with the ridding of the Turkish Muslims since they had taken over Jerusalem. The Catholic Church supported the Crusades and tried to convert everyone to Christianity; those who disagreed were killed. This caused the Catholic Church to gain power and become very wealthy which resulted in more people converting over. One of the lasting impacts was on the relationship between the Greek and Latin churches. The Crusades put an end to any sense of reconciliation between the East and the West. Europe was no longer a central identifying force.

The societal mindset that was prevalent in medieval Europe, feudalism, phased out due to the bubonic plague and the religious beliefs of the people.

Although the Crusades resulted in defeat for Europeans, many believe that they successfully extended the spread the Christianity and Western Civilization. The Roman Catholic Church experienced an increase in wealth and the power of the Pope rose after the Crusades ended. Trade and transportation also improved throughout Europe due to the Crusades. The wars created a constant demand for supplies and transportation which created ship-building and the manufacturing of many supplies. Most importantly was the impact on commerce. They created a constant demand for the transportation of men and supplies, encourage ship building, and extended market in Europe. The expansion of agricultural production made growth of towns, an increase in trade and a

Knights were essential for providing security and a sense of safety during the Middle Ages. Knights took a rigorous training process to learn every aspect of warfare and to acquire skills needed for knighthood. After training was complete, knights would have to abide by the Code of Chivalry, which was studied during their training. An ordinary knight’s life involved forty days of service in wars to their lord, and the activities which occupied a knight’s free time . Although knights were elite warriors and honorable men, as Europe crawled out of the Middle Ages, their services were no longer needed.

It was not easy to become a knight. They started off by becoming a page. A noble's son could start training to be a knight when he was seven years old. Nobles' sons had to train with weapons of course, but they also had to learn how to ride a horse, how to behave towards their liege lords and ladies, and even about music and the other arts. It was just like going to school, only their teachers were the squires. Once they reached a certain point in their training, they would be appointed as a squire. A squire, who was generally a teenager, had a different set of duties. They had to teach the pages of course, but they also had to wait on the knights. They continued their training in battle, but also were assigned to a specific knight who completed their training. As a squire you went into battle with the knight and fought at his side. This

Economically, religion was a positive force because throughout the duration of the Crusades, there was a redistribution of wealth. Crusading was costly which meant it was essential for wealthy Europeans to spend large amounts of money. It was necessary that “churches and noblemen sold property and took loans… [and also] paid the lower classes for services.” Them doing so rearranged the wealth in the Medieval empire causing immense economic change. Another example in which religion was a positive force in developing the Medieval empire, politics wise, was that the Ten Commandments were used as the core of the justice system. Because they were part of the religion, it’s inferable that they were well known rules and that people actually followed them. In another instance that can arguably seem good or bad, is that they lived in a feudal system. They were classified into three different groups in which people who were part of the church were not as high on the social ladder as the knights and nobles, but not as low as peasants. People who were part of the church were a buffer in between the upper class and lower class. Some may argue that the purpose of the Crusades to those of medieval Europe was to kill in the name of God, which is against one of the commandments. While this may be true for the medieval empire, this is also true for the Islamic empire. Muslims were also killing in the name of Allah, who is basically the same god. Seeing that it improved the civilization economically, socially, and politically, religion had a positive impact on the medieval

The Medieval Period was a time where citizens were controlled and dominated by three basic things- their feudal obligations, their religion and the crime and punishment system forced upon them. Feudal obligations helped build their social hierarchy and what was proper for them (depending on their rank) to do, Religion controlled their beliefs and ultimately what provided entertainment and the law system sparked fear so that no one will misbehave. They all play an important roll, but the most controlling factor was Religion.

By 1096, thousands of knights traveled to the holy lands to begin what later became known as the first Crusade. Pope Urban II had personal motives to increase his power in Europe, as well as to heal the split between the Roman and Byzantine churches. In 1099, Christian knights took control of Jerusalem, resulting in the massacre of Muslim and Jewish citizens. Throughout the following years, the Muslims repeatedly fought to regain control of the Holy Land, resulting also in the deaths of Christian residents. “The Crusades left a bitter legacy of religious hatred” (Ellis Esler 258). During the years of the Crusades, there was no separation between church and state. The two had influence and power over the people, which allowed the church to be extremely involved in starting the Crusades. Separation Of church and state means that a national religion cannot be established, therefore, the church stays out of the governments business and the government stays out of the churches business. The crusades were blood baths in the name of religion, with the Christians fighting Islamic Muslims and visa-versa. Had there been a separation between church and state, the emperor would not have been able to call upon Pope Urban II to influence so many to engage in the First Crusade, as a holy war. The same as the Muslim’s fighting jihad in the name of their religion. The first crusade was the only

The Middle Ages, or Medieval time, was an era of war, plague and political oppression. It is thought to have begun with the fall of the Roman Empire (history.com). After the fall of the Roman Empire, there were no laws or government to protect the poor people, so they “turned to lords to keep the peace and act on their behalf” ("Characteristics of the Feudal World"). This led to the beginnings of Feudalism, a social system in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and land in return (“Feudalism”). Under the feudal system, the Pope was positioned at the top of the hierarchy pyramid.

Something every civilization needs. Something so powerful that without it civilizations fall into chaos. Social Systems. But not just any social system, the European Middle Ages one. The Feudal System. While it may seem insignificant to Europe and Europe’s history compared to other events like the Hundred Years’ War or the Black Plague which killed many people and completely changed many parts of Europe, the Feudal System (also called Feudalism) was also very important to Europe during the Medieval Times.

Catholic Church leaders including Pope Urban II regarded the Crusades as an ideological battle for religious superiority and control of the Holy Land. Urban emphasized the religious emancipation of the Crusades in his speech to thousands at Clermont-Auvergne in France, where he implored, “Undertake this journey eagerly for the remission of their sins, and be assured of the reward of imperishable glory in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Durant 587). However, just as religion can be attributed to the reason for Urban’s crusade, so too can the financial and economic goals of both the Church, nobility, and common folk. Changing economic structure in the medieval period fostered a need for change in commerce and trade. With that, came an ambition from the lower class to change their socio-economic status. The emergence of the merchant class, desire for commerce and trade among centralized empires, and the lure of financial freedom and prosperity propelled the Christian Crusades to regain the holy land and control of eastern territory against the Moslem “infidel”.

Did you know that knights didn't just fight? Vassals impacted feudalism in many ways. Feudalism was a system in which all classes needed each other. The church was a part of feudalism and laws were another way that knights helped with feudalism. The job of the vassal helped feudalism meet the need of its people.

After multiple attempts by the Crusaders of Jerusalem to capture Egypt, Nur al-Din’s forces mainly controlled by general Shirkuh and his nephew, Saladin, they had seized Cairo in 1169, forcing the Crusader army to retreat. After Shirkuh’s death, Saladin took control and began conquests of the Holy Land as well as Jerusalem that sparked just after the death of Nur al-Din’s in 1174. Saladin had no problem rising to power, especially coming from a military family and a Muslim society. “Later, Saladin in 1187 began a campaign of conquests that would go against the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Saladin’s men called Saracens annihilated the Christian

Church and state in medieval Europe includes the between the Christian church and the various people and other states in Europe. During the time they had hard and struggles times under the kings and pope they had. So after they had to recreate the age

Why did the feudal order of Medieval society fall apart? The feudal order of the Middle Ages was a system of local rule, where powerful lords gave land and protection in exchange for loyalty and military service from lesser lords. Tradition dictated that this exchange would be held in place by the feudal contract, consisting of multiple pledges. This resulted in small communities consisting of one powerful lord, peasants, and serfs who worked for the lord. These people gave their loyalty locally, and had no sense of nationalism at all. This type of society was predominant in the Early Middle Ages, but soon started to fall apart during the Late Middle Ages. One major event that contributed to the fall of the feudal society was the Hundred Years’ War. This war was fought between England and France, lasting for a total of 116 years. During the war, peasant uprisings became frequent, as the inordinate cost of military campaigns resulted in heavier taxes. Events such as these were caused by the Hundred Years’ War and further contributed to the decline of feudalistic society. The Hundred Years’ War was a turning point in Medieval feudal society, by marking the transition from feudal armies to the masses of mercenary soldiers, changing the balance of power within Medieval social hierarchies, and strengthening nationalism while creating a more modern militaristic society. The greatest cause of the fall of feudalism in the late Middle Ages