Robert The Monk Response Paper

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.

Contrary to many commonly held notions about the first crusade, in his book, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading, Jonathan Riley-Smith sets out to explain how the idea of crusading thought evolved in the first crusade. In his book, Riley-Smith sets out five main arguments to show how these ideas of crusading evolved. Firstly, he argues that Pope Urban’s original message was conventional, secondly that a more positive reaction was drawn from the laity (due to the ideas surrounding Jerusalem), thirdly, that the original message of crusading had changed because of the horrible experiences of the first crusaders, fourth, that due to these experiences the crusaders developed their own concept of what a crusade was, and lastly, that

In 1095, Pope Urban II called for an army to go to the Holy Land, Jerusalem. This was what was later known as the ‘First Crusade’. A crusade is a religious war or a war mainly motivated by religion. The first crusade consisted of 10’s of thousands of European Christians on a medieval military expedition to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. This doesn’t mean that the first crusade was just motivated by religion. Throughout this essay, I will be suggesting the main reasons of why people went on crusades and which different people went for specific reasons and why.

Bravery is an important quality to have when leading a country or group of people. In Beowulf, when he decides to fight Grendel without any weapons, he makes a brave decision. (Burton Raffel, 37). He could have chosen the easy route but instead he decided to play more fairly with the beast and take the harder path. Sometimes when you are a king or a leader,

The brief campaign of the thirteen-century Children’s crusade was not technically a crusade in the sense that medieval Europeans understood the term and lasted only a few months during the year 1212. It lacked Papal sanction and its participants marched without the customary indulgences granted to those engaged in warfare to defend the Faith. Uncharacteristic as it was, the Children’s Crusade was a revealing chapter in medieval history, as it exemplified the depths of crusading zeal along with the unrestrained behavior of which enthusiasm and faith are capable. The children’s crusade was nothing less than a destructive movement that preyed on those in its paths, much like the earlier crusades had done. It was during the late august of 1212, that rows of zealous children and the priest guiding them had stood on the dockside of Marseilles awaiting for a parting of the Mediterranean to permit passage to the holy land. The children marched unarmed, in some notion of converting the Muslims seems to have taken place of the usual crusaders zeal for battle.

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.

With total autonomy to kill and plunder as they please alongside a godly, miracle-like victory in their first ever attempt in a series of holy wars, the Crusades stand out as a key point in the history of both Christianity and the medieval world as a whole. It is undeniable that religious devotion played a factor in the Crusades; in an era where Europe was a land of chaotic violence, a quick chance to absolve oneself from any sin was immensely appealing. Yet from the wars' very origin to their ways of recruiting and actions on the battlefield, this apparent devotion that is the heart of the Crusades is repetitively contradicted. The holy wars would never have reached the height they did – or

Introduction: Provide background information on the Crusades, restate the DBQ question, state thesis with reasons. (include academic vocabulary and underline) The Crusades were a battle between the Muslims and Christians. There were 9 battles for the Holy Land, Jerusalem.

Beowulf, in reply, proclaims that neither Unferth nor Breca “were ever much celebrated for swordsmanship or for facing danger on the field of battle”, and that Unferth “will suffer damnation in the depths of hell”(Heaney, 589), all the while omitting to address Breca’s victory. His agitated reply shows an indisputable pride: no one is allowed the liberty of smearing his honor. Sir Gawain, in contrast, retains his composure when the Green Knight blasphemously calls him and his fellow knights “lightweight adolescents wouldn’t last a minute”(Armitage, 39) against him. Furthermore, when the Green Knight misses his first strike in the final confrontation, Sir Gawain admits to flinching and plainly accepts the accusations of “terror struck” and “feeble and frail”(Armitage, 173). Evidently he demonstrates a relinquishment of pride.

The origin of this source is also a book, Warriors of Christendom, published in the UK by John Matthews and Bob Stewart in 1988. The purpose of this book is informational only and is about the leaders of that time. The value of this book is that it provides information on the major leader King Richard as well as his role in the Third Crusade. This book has all its sections accompanied by a bibliography but does not use the format of in text citations. It does have a balanced view on the topic and talks about the strengths and weaknesses of King Richard. The limitation of this book would be that it is a little bit dated but not long enough for it to affect the information.

In The middle of the Eleventh Century The tranquillity of the eastern Mediterranean seemed assured for many years to come, but little did the people know what was ahead . This, thus embark us on a journey back into the First Crusade. In this paper I will be discussing the events that lead up to the first in a long line of crusades. I will also be mentioning the lives of some of the crusaders through letters that they wrote. The crusades were a time of confusion for most people, yet today we look back at them as a turning point.

The protagonist of the story, Beowulf, displays a great amount of bravery in everything he pursues. When faced with Grendel, the antagonist, Beowulf “took off his helmet and handed his attendant / the patterned sword”(lines 672-673).  Confident Beowulf,

Accordingly, Memoirs of the Fourth Crusade has been reviewed vigorously over the past century and central among these reviews is a genuine acceptance of Villehardouin s authenticity and accountability with respect to his

Johannes argues that the knight of faith acts in total isolation from everyone else. His relation to God is a private one, and cannot be justified by an appeal to the universal. Though it is noble for the single individual to aspire to the universal, God may call for actions that cannot be justified in the

The Crusades: A Short History, written by British Historian Jonathan Riley-Smith, offers a broad overview of this part of the medieval era, but he also explores how historians have attempted to explain these events in modern terms. Riley-Smith also makes sure to note all major contributors to the Crusade movement and their personalities. Numerous scholars have wondered whether this was a political or religious mission. This helps to spark the question of why people would leave their homes and their families to risk their lives invading a land that was thousands of miles away for religious reasons. In his book, Riley-Smith makes this era come alive for the modern reader. He does