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Doing God's Will in The Crusades

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Crusades were a series of campaigns of military-religious lead by European Catholics. The main goal of the European Catholics was to increase Christian influence in Palestine, also known as the Holy Land, from the 11th to the 14th centuries. Crusades were called military because they were had weapons and formed armies, and religious because religion was the main factor in what they were fighting for. Religion was the main factor because religious authorities played a key role in launching the Crusades, and Crusades believed that they were doing God's will and helping the church. The first crusade was brought upon amongst the Royal church leaders because Islamic culture spread rapidly in the 7th and 8th centuries and passed Christianity. In 637 AD, Arab tribes took over Jerusalem and allowed Christian Pilgrims to visit the Holy Land for the first 4 centuries. In 1076 AD, Turks took over Palestine and they. Persecuted Christians and Pilgrims were not allowed in the Holy Land. Pope Urban II met with Church leaders in 1095 in Clermont, France, and said that they need take up the cross and fight the unholy Muslims. In 1099, the Crusaders arrived in Jerusalem and started to massacre all of the citizens there.
Even though killing and violence was against Christian ethics, church leaders told the soldiers that crusading was okay and not against what they believed. The Riley-Smith article states that church leaders told the soldiers that crusading was an act of love. The soldiers

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