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Pros And Cons Of The Crusaders

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Medieval Difficulties In the seventh and eighth centuries, the new religion of Islam swept through the early west world, capturing lands expanding from modern-day Spain to the border of India. Seemly no force could stand up to such an army except that organized by the authority of the Catholic Church to stop the advancement of these people and restoring Jerusalem in Christian hands. Pope Urban II, desiring to rid the Holy land of the heathens, recruited many able-bodied Catholic Franks to partake in the first Crusade. Though the Crusaders came out as the victors of the First Crusade, their difficulty fighting in a foreign land, the influence of medieval times, and the disrespect for human life and the human body, fueled the distaste the two sides had towards each other. …show more content…

While the kingdoms did indeed send their armies, still there were many who had little fighting experience. This would play a large factor especially because their opposition had adopted a fighting force that had previously not been able to be completed with by the Persian or the Byzantine Empires. Apart from fighting, the next difficulty that the crusaders faced was marching from their kingdoms in Europe all the way to Jerusalem. Not only is it a journey that would take well over two thousand miles, the climates were very different. So when the Crusades reached the desert they were met with Muslim forces who instead of fighting would take their water supply and kill off any who would go wandering for nourishment. (238) This in turn only weakened the moral and physical abilities of the soldiers who were drinking water out of the carcasses of dead, smelly

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