Impact Of The Crusades On The Beginning Of A New Era

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.

Pope Urban’s message was not an overly original message. In fact, it seems to echo many of those formerly issued by the Papacy. Urban was responding to a request by the Eastern half of the old Roman Empire (Constantinople) to send warriors to assist in expelling the Turks. Urban directed the speech mainly at the French (Franks), at the young, strong, and male. He claimed to be issuing a call to war on behalf of Christ. To participate in the war was to act out one’s love for God. Urban was drawing on many of the popularized concepts of religion and spirituality at the time. The idea of war for Christ had become popular at this time. Similarly, Urban presented the war as one of liberation (of Jerusalem), this fell into two categories, the liberation of baptized Christians, and the liberation of a place (Jerusalem). It was the concept of Jerusalem that made Urban’s message so successful. Pilgrimage for the remission of

It is clear that the Pope is prompting Christians to remember that they are set aside by God and therefore must engage in these crusades. The Pope constantly highlights it is only natural for these Christians to take up arms against the Muslims especially when they are “valiant soldiers and descendants of invincible ancestors” . By encouraging the Christians to believe they are the rightful defenders of the holy land and will not be harmed the Pope is giving his men hope and enticing them furthermore to fight. Evidently, he understands that his men will feel obliged to act when they will be fighting for the land “in which [they] received the grace of redemption and the source of all Christianity” . By linking their religious consciousness to the need to act, the Pope is heartening them to act and partake.

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II gave a supposedly important speech at the end of a church meeting in Clermont, France. In it he had called upon the nobleness of the Franks, to go to the East and assist their Christian “brothers”, the Byzantines, against the attacks of the Muslim Turks. He also apparently encouraged them to liberate Jerusalem, the most sacred and holy city in Christendom, for the Muslims had ruled it since taking it from the Christian Byzantines in A.D. 638. The Crusades were a series of wars between Christians and others to take back Jerusalem.

According to Baldric's version of Pope Urban II's speech calling for holy war, the Pope's chief motive was to rescue or liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, for the purpose of spreading Christianity (namely, Roman Catholicism.) Baldric wrote about the speech favorably, from a post-crusade perspective, biased by his support of the crusades and his knowledge of the victories achieved.

he subject of the crusades is still a very controversial topic that spans across various time periods and has religious, social, and political implications. The first crusade started off as a widespread pilgrimage that ended as a military expedition resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem in 1099. The crusades initiated from a call from help from Alexius for the protection of Constantinople and the recovery of Anatolia. For centuries textbooks have repeated with routine regularity, that the immediate cause, of the Crusades was the Turkish conquest of the Near East, which apparently was a very real threat to Christendom, that had to be countered by military action. With this in mind, the primary purpose of this essay is to identify the various reasons that contributed to the start of the first crusade, while disproving the fact that the first Crusade was a response to a military threat. In discovering the true cause of the first crusades it is necessary to examine it from all aspects from the start to the finish.

The Crusades were a series of holy wars that began in 1095 CE. These wars were fought between Christians and Muslims to gain control over the sacred land. The Turks moved into the middle east during the early part of the 11th century CE. Most of the Turks served the Islamic armies and would invade land rapidly using combat forces. This alarmed the Greek emperor and caused him to seek out Pope Urban II and ask for mercenary troops to confront the Turks. The Pope called a council and had 300 attendees to show up. During this council, the Pope made a plea to free the Holy Land, which received an enthusiastic response. After this, Pope Urban II promptly waged war against the Muslims and took armies of Christians to Jerusalem to try and

Going against modern day religious beliefs, in 1095AD the Christians went to war to claim the holy city of Jerusalem, massacring the Muslims in a bloody attempt to worship their God. Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont inspired by claims made by the Byzantium Emperor encouraged the Christians to partake in the First Crusade in an attempt to liberate Jerusalem. The religious and economic factors were the most relevant to cause this crusade, with some influence from desired political gain and little from social factors unrelated to religion. The immediate consequences were positive for the Christians and negative for the Muslims, but the First Crusade launched an ongoing conflict between the Christians and Muslims which had positive and negative consequences for both sides. There are a number of relevant modern sources which examine the causes and consequences of the First Crusade, but, while there are many medieval sources, they do not explicitly discuss the causes and consequences of the war. In order to fully comprehend the First Crusade, it is necessary to analyse the religious, economic, and political factors, as well as the short-term, long-term, and modern consequences.

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

In his call at Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II asked all fellow Christians to join in the aid of the Christians in the East that were then prone to Turkish attacks. Requesting that they all leave their lives and run to their aid, Pope Urban II explained how they would be doing all in the name of God. The Pope let all of the people know that they would all be greatly recompensed in following God's will and fighting for God and in doing so he further led the people to understand that any killing they would do would be forgiven since it was all to be in God's will. In addition, he insisted that if any were to die in this aid, they would all be

The age leading up to the first crusade is detailed by many current historians, as well as Pope Urban II, as a time period where inhabitants "rage[d] against [their own] brothers and cut each other [to] pieces" (Peters, Baldric of Dol, 31) for economic and social advancement. In spite of these references, many people today believe that the Pope instigated the crusades for the sole reason of reclaiming Jerusalem. However, other motivations such as supplementary religious factors and the chance for economic, social, and political gain also played major roles. These motivations were not experienced supremely by the Pope; in fact he needed to instill these inspirations in all Christians to evoke their will to fight. The holy land had long

The primary target of the First Crusade (and the intended target of many more crusades), preached by Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095, was Jerusalem. In the version of this sermon by Robert the Monk, Urban urges those present to admire rulers who “have extended…the territory of the Holy Church”, and to “enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulchre; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves. That land which as

Late in the year of 1095 Pope Urban announced on Tuesday, November 27 that he would hold a public session to make a great announcement. This was the beginning of what was to be the First Crusade . After having painted a real grim or somber picture the Pope made his appeal. He thought that western Christendom should march to the rescue of the East. Rich and poor alike should go and they should leave off slaying each other and instead fight a great war. Supposedly they thought it was God will and that God would lead them and Take care of them. During his speech Cries of "Dues le wolt! -- "God wills it!" - Interrupted his speech. Just after the Pope ended his speech the bishop of Le Puy fell to his knees and asked permission to join the "Holy Expedition." Hundreds crowded up to later follow his example.

One of the most violent and bloody conflicts in history were the religious wars known as the Crusades. These wars that lasted from 1096 to 1291 and each impacted civilization in their own way (History.com, 2010). After the Byzantine Empire was defeated by the Seljuk Turks, Emperor Alexius Comnenus wrote to Pope Urban II in attempt to gain military aid in his holy war (Schlager and Lauer, 2001). Urban II used this issue to unite some of the feuding European kings and nobles who were challenging his authority. He called for knights to go to the Holy Land to regain the Jesus’ tomb, the Holy Sepulcher, and to free the Christians from Muslim control during his speech in France, on November 27, 1095 (Schlager and Lauer, 2001).

When the First Crusade began in 1095, there was immense hostility between the Byzantine Christians and Muslims. Muslims had taken control of Jerusalem over 450 years prior and many Christian churches had been destroyed. Pope Urban was very aware of Saint Augustine’s circumstances of just war. During the start of the First Crusade, the pope worked to primarily encourage the warriors to fight against the enemy. Because of Pope Urban’s plea, it is commonly believed that this was strictly a war for religious purposes. However, with closer consideration, it can be seen as more of a war of territory because Alexius was demanding loyalty as well as all land regained during the Crusade. Some soldiers began to see the crusade as a quest for power, money, and personal status. The promise of earthly and spiritual rewards was very enticing to them. Also, Pope Urban II’s motives were not as simple as securing the Holy Land for the Christians. He knew that the Church would gain a lot of power if the Muslim enemy could be forced out of Europe. A just war, in the Christian faith, is not something that avenges wrongs for a nation that needs to be punished for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects or attempts to restore territory they believe has been seized unjustly. While yes, Jerusalem was—and still is—a very important part of Christian life, this city had been under Muslim control for quite some time, making it impossible for Christians to use the excuse of unjust seizure as explanation for their actions during the First Crusade. While Crusaders, as a whole, may have initially embarked on this spiritual pilgrimage with good intentions, the waters were muddied when it came to the personal intention of each person. Many soldiers began to posses some of the unjust intentions mentioned by Augustine. He stated that the real evils of war are “love of violence, revengeful cruelty,