The Crusades: A Blemish On Christianity

The Crusades of the High Middle Ages (a.d. 1050-1300) was a period of conquest or rather, reconquest, of Christian lands taken from Muslims in the early Middle Ages. It is an era romanticized by fervent Christians as the time when Christianity secured its honorable status as the true religion of the world. The affect of the Crusades is still with us today. It sailed from Spain and Portugal to the Americas in the fifthteenth century aboard sailing ships carrying conquistadors who sought new territory and rich resources. They used the shield and sword of Christianity to justify a swift conquest of mass territory and the subjugation of the indigenous peoples; a mentality learned, indeed,

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.

The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power

The Crusades were a bloody war that the church deemed holy and necessary for salvation of the knights soul. The Crusades are a highly controversial and very dark stain on the Catholic church and Hierarchies past. The war was brought to the church from there Roman allies who they had tense dealings with. The where seeking aid in the fight against the muslim turks. The church decreed there act holy and justified. The people who were under the churches thumb had no objections to the slaughter that their beloved God had suposably justified.

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.

In recent decades the First four Crusades have become a major era of historical interest, which has led historians to try and explain these dynamic events. While much of this era has remained a mystery, recent years have allowed historians to learn more and answer some of the mysteries of the First four Crusades. Motivated by anything from the prospect of spiritual freedom to the promise of new land, the crusaders invaded and overtook cities from Muslim forces. Contributing factors such as stolen land and vengeance of mistreated Christians fed the fire that fueled the crusaders will to fight. Outcomes varied from crusade to crusade, as did the response from the Islamic state 's, all of which shaped the world we live in today.

The Crusades was a very dark time in history. In case you didn’t know, there was a series of nine wars that came to be known as the Crusades. The Crusades were fought mainly for land. The land that was fought for was Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a holy town where Christians, Jews, and Muslims could go to and worship. They all have their own holy shrines at Jerusalem. The Christians have the Western Wall, the Muslims have The Dome of the Rock, and the Jews have the Great Temples of Harad and Solomon. The Crusades destroyed numerous beautiful buildings, and many people were killed or injured in these bloody wars.

Every society in every age long for order, beauty, and truth. The crusades were a series of several military campaigns, usually sanctioned by the Papacy. The Crusades were an age that longed truth. They were originally, the Roman Catholic endeavors to re-capture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The violent and often ruthless conflicts propelled the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East. The movement is best remembered for the causes that the participants and routes of major crusades, last the effects of the crusades and the highlights of the major of the crusades.

The Crusades were the epic battles for the holy city of Jerusalem, first controlled by Constantinople. In the beginning, everything was at peace with the holy land, when a group of people entered and took over Jerusalem. Soon, in 1095, Pope Urban II called on all the Christians in the land to fight for the city, so that they could take it back. He said that to anyone who fought or were killed in battle, their sins would be pardoned. Therefore, there were many Christians who took themselves and their families to fight for Jerusalem. The first battle must have been very bloody. A man named Raymond d’Aguiliers had accounts of the crusades, having followed the Crusaders and recorded everything he saw. He says it was an extraordinary sight, stating

The Crusaders were Christian Western Europeans who invaded the Middle East to "purify" their holy lands. Byzantine Emperor incentivised Catholic leaders to claim Jerusalem for Christians. The elicit leaders prompted the Middle Eastern incursions, and promised complete redemption of the sins of those who participated. Their mission was to the remove Non-Christians, Muslims in particular.

Author Paul Crawford opens his essay with a quote from former president Bill Clinton the quote refers to the horrific actions taken by Christian crusaders against the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. The crusades invoke and image of Christian warriors arriving in the Middle East in waves of man and beasts intent on getting rich by fulfilling their bloodlust, and under the protection of a Christian Pope who promised eternal salvation for all who kill the Muslim horde. However, Crawford does not believe that Christian west actions were unprovoked, and he writes about the four misconceptions that are often applied to the crusades.

The Crusades were Christian military expeditions undertaken between the 11th and the 14th century to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The word crusade, which is derived from the

The crusaders’ pride for Christianity transcended their nationalism and motivated tens of thousands of people to journey across Europe to the Middle East. This religious pride inspired enough people, many who had never even left their homes, to travel to a foreign land that they had only heard of through stories and in the Bible (Ethics-War). In their eyes, they were rightfully reclaiming their religion’s land and retaking the land where their savior lived and died.

Towards the end of the eleventh century in Western Europe and Eurasia, a range of social, economical and religious influences collectively influenced the sequence of religious wars which we know as the Crusades. Although the series of holy wars against Islam is typically portrayed as the fault of overzealous popes and belligerent kings; the truth behind the clash between Christianity and Islam is far more elaborate. The direct repercussions following two centuries of prolonged warfare afflicted Christendom with the loss of several millions of lives and immense financial expenditure. On the contrary, the Crusades stimulated the fundamental expansion and the ultimate downfalls of nations in both the Western and Eastern fields.

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