The conquest of Constantinople was wrongly justified and resulted with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. The Fourth Crusade began when the Crusaders went to Venice to ask for ships to sail to Egypt but was unable to afford it. In exchange for ships, the Crusaders agreed to regain the city of Zara under Hungarian rule. The Crusaders were able to claim back Zara for the Venetians but were excommunicated since they attacked a Christian city. Right before they were going to Egypt, Alexius Comnenus asked for help from the Crusaders to help him restore his power in the Byzantine Empire. In exchange for help, Alexius would provide the Crusaders, supplies, ships and necessary help for the siege of Jerusalem. In 1203, the Crusaders would band with …show more content…
In the sermon, the bishops insisted that soldiers “...confess their sins and receive the communion devoutly; and said that they ought not to hesitate to attack the Greeks, for the latter were enemies of God.” 2 Although the Crusaders were excommunicated by Pope Innocent III, the bishops still had the power to claim the war was just under the name of God. When the Crusaders began sacking the city they “engaged in stealing gold and silver, others precious stones...” 3 This was justified since it was considered a “right of conquest...” 4 This wrongful justification was obviously fueled by the agreement made with Alexius to restore power for goods. Time and time again in the conquest of Constantinople, the Crusaders would wrongly justify their attacks in the name of God or righteousness. The Fourth Crusade was initiated based on greed and the idea the Crusaders could gain more for their siege of the Holy Land. The Crusaders chose to attack Zara, a Christian city to get ships against the pleasing of the Pope. The Crusaders would get the ships but then attempt to gain more by helping Alexius regain his power in the Byzantine empire. They justified their attacks on Constantinople as holy and
The Crusades were a succession of many wars, which “originally” started as a request from Alexius II for aid after a devastating war in the Battle of Mazikert. This war had taken its ravishing toll on the Greeks in the Middle East. The Battle of Mazikert was a result of the expansion and occupancy of two conflicting empires that
In the first crusade the byzantine emperor was afraid of the Turks, Alexius I asked the roman church for help. he thought that eastern and western Christians should join forces and make the Turks moves from Anatolia and Palestine. This movement would be called a holy war or crusade. The pope whose name was Urban II, agreed to this plan for two reasons, the first reason was because he thought that combining the east and the west war against the Turks would reunite the eastern and western churches. The second reason was because he wanted to free Palestine and Jerusalem from Muslim rule
From the end of the eleventh century and into the thirteenth century, a series of holy wars known as the Crusades were launched. There were nine crusades, the first of which Urban II issued in 1097 to gain control of Jerusalem, the Holy Land. (io) Which had been until then under Muslim command. The reason behind the Crusades was because Muslims and Christians both wanted control over Jerusalem. For Muslims, it was important because their founder, Muhammad, had risen to heaven from Jerusalem.
L. The main reason the crusades started was to take Jerusalem from the Turks. Before 1087, Christian pilgrims frequently traveled to Jerusalem, “the holy land”. However, according to document 6, “from 1087 onwards, turks stopped christian pilgrims from entering Jerusalem.” Basically, the Turks claimed Jerusalem as their own, and prevented any pilgrimages. Pope Urban II was not happy about this. He called European Christians to war in 1095 to recapture Jerusalem. According to Document 1, he says, “I, or rather, the Lord, beseech you as christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich….to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends.” Basically, Pope Urban II is urging the people to fight the Turks, and win back Jerusalem.
It started in April 1204, The crusaders and Venetians stormed constantinople and sacked the city for its valuable items that were later sold in Europe. It also stated that from the destruction of Constantinople the city was never rebuilt. Since this was the fourth crusade, their goal was to reunite the Greek and Latin churches, but the cause of their destruction split the two cultures
These reasons resulted in what became a prosperous first crusade led by the Pope himself. The political reasons ranged from a desire for adventure to the land of Jerusalem, wanting to gain more power, and other economic rationales. By the end of the first crusade, the Crusaders were victorious in stripping “more than forty silver candelabra and more than twenty gold ones” in the Dome of the Rock. The economic reasons included gaining more wealth, land, riches and multiple goods. The Pope claims that the Crusaders must “...rush quickly as [they] can to the defence of the Eastern Church” and that it’s “...a beautiful thing to die for Christ…”. The religious reasons the Crusaders thought to be true was that the crusade was God’s call for the Christian brothers to accomplish their attack on the Muslims. The Muslims were filled with grief as the Arab Historian, Ibn al-Athir, recalls that “...the Franks slaughtered more than 70,000 people…women and children taken prisoner, the homes pillaged…”. Unlike the rejoice in the documents and articles from the Crusaders’ perspectives, the Muslim perspective felt sorrow for those who died innocently. The Crusaders destroyed an extensive portion the Jerusalem land and population, taking away valuable riches and treasures from the Holy Land. While later crusades failed to accomplish that of the crusade led by Pope Urban III, I greatly believe that the first crusade was a great
In Document 1 the pope wrote, “ On whom therefore is the labor of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you?” This shows how the pope made the task to fight to win back the holy land up to all the christians. The pope used a certain zealousness to make the Christians excited about fighting in the Crusades. The Pope also went on to say “Accordingly undertake this journey for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the kingdom of heaven.” The Pope told the christians that all their sins would be forgiven and they would go to heaven if they fought against the muslims to take back the holy land. This persuaded the christians to fight because they thought it was what god wanted them to do . The pope knew that by telling people this he would encourage them although some might’ve believed that it was what god really wanted them to do enough do that they would put their own life at risk to follow what god or the pope thought was
The First Crusade was called in 1095 by Pope Urban II in November. It was here that the Pope made a proposal: “Whoever for devotion alone, but not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penane” (Phillips, 21). Pope Urban II saw the first crusade as a chance for knights to direct their energy towards a spiritually rewarding experience, namely the recovery of the Holy City of Jerusalem from Islam. Knights were told that in return for their efforts their sins
The First Crusade was cause by conflicts between the Christians and the Muslims for the Holy Land, Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the holy city for all three groups of different faiths; the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims. For the Christians, Jerusalem was where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. For the Muslim, Jerusalem was the place where Muhammad had ascended to heaven. For the Jews, it was their God 's city and it was the sit of Solomon 's temple. The main idea of the First Crusade was good against evil, in which the crusaders were on the good side and the Muslims and Jews on the evil side; after all they were the one who killed Jesus. The two main leaders that called for the First Crusade were Alexius I, emperor of the Byzantine
The First Crusades was a military group that was started by Christians in Europe who wanted to gain back the Holy Land that was being occupied by the Muslims. Pope Urban II preached a sermon at Clermont Ferrand on November 1095. Most histories consider this speech to be the spark the fueled a wave of military campaigns to gain back the Holy Land. This speech was meant to unite the Europeans and to gain back what was taken from them. The holy land was a small area on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The First Crusades was a very successful military expedition that was driven by religious faith to reclaim Jerusalem and other holy places that fell under Muslim control. driven by religious faith. They wanted to gain back the Holy Land that was once theirs. Arabs and the Muslim Turks otherwise known as the Seljuk Turks were the Muslims that invaded and conquered land rightfully occupied by the Christian’s. Many European men, women, and children joined the Crusades and fought in the Middle East. Pope Urban II granted forgiveness of all sins to those who died in battle thus assuring them ascendancy into heaven. Which gave those who volunteered to fight assurance. Nobles and peasants responded in great numbers to the call and marched across Europe to the capital of the Byzantine empire. Having the support of the Byzantine emperor helped make them a stronger army. The Crusaders took over many of the cities on the Mediterranean coast and built a large number of fortified castles across the Holy Land to protect their newly established territories. Soon after seizing power the Seljuks face a very different challenge to Islamic civilization. It came from Christian Crusaders. Knights from western Europe who were determined to capture portions of the Islamic world that made up the holy land of biblical times. Muslim political division and element of surprise made the first of the Crusaders assaults, between 1096 and 1099, by far the most successful. Much of
Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire (330-1453 AD). It was famous for many reasons, including beautiful art and architecture, being a vital trade location, a strong economy, and its unique location. Many groups of people had long tried, unsuccessfully, to conquer the city, but in 1453 AD, the city finally fell to the Ottomans and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Constantinople’s geographic location was its most valuable feature. This is due to the city’s geography offering it natural protection and connecting it to the rest of the world, allowing for a strong economy and cultural and religious influences, making it a vital target to the Ottomans as a capital for their powerful empire.
Byzantium was one of the many Greek city-states that stratled along the coasts of the Aegean Sea. As an abundant source of Grains, fish, and trade, she played a pivotal role as a landing for Darius ' colossal army against the Greeks; a battleground between Athens and Sparta during the Pelloponessian war; and a prized tributary under Roman supervision.
Diocletian’s reforms established the rule of four, called the Tetrarchy, where in four emperors controlled the newly redistricted Roman Empire. Unbeknownst to Diocletian this particular reform would be a recipe for civil war. In the year 306, one year after Diocletian abdicated, Constantine I elevated to imperial rule over the western Empire after the passing of his father and then Augustus; Constantius. During Constantine’s reign he quickly gained popularity and consolidated his power while the rest of the emperors competed and quarreled amongst each other. Eventually the empire was overtaken strategically by two emperors Licinius and Constantine. This peace did not last long however, and in the year of 324 Licinius surrendered to
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was one of the most influential events in history and marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. The main effect of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 was the downfall of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The city was mainly populated by Christians and now has become an Islamic city. The capture of Constantinople stated the end of the Roman Empire, which lasted for about one thousand five hundred years. The invasion of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire marked the end of the Middle Ages.
To impair the walls of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire brought massive cannons that could take hours to reload.