The First Christian Crusade: Four Accounts

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.

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 Crusades, a series of wars, are an extremely important part of history in the 12th century, occurring during the Middle Ages. The Middle East or the Holy Land was always a place that Christians traveled to to make pilgrimages. The Seljuk Turks eventually took control of Jerusalem and all Christians were not allowed in the Holy City. As the Turks power grew, they threatened to take over the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I, asked Pope Urban II for help and Pope agreed, hoping to strengthen his own power. He He united the Christians in Europe and In 1095, Pope Urban II waged waged war against muslims in order to “reclaim the holy land.”

At least the Muslims didn't savagely murder Christians, which was the strategy for the Christian crusaders. How did the Christian crusaders re-conquer the territory they considered to be theirs? The Islamic leaders slowly lost control over their lands due to internal factional differences. Therefore, the Christians were able to make advancements towards the campaign of the re-conquista, the conquest.

There were a variety of reasons for going on a crusade. One reason was adventure. Many people, especially wealthy knights, would have gone

The Crusades were great military missions developed by Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the Holy Land of Jerusalem from the hands of the Moslems. Jerusalem was extremely important to the Moslems and Christians at this time. Many religious events happened there, and many landmarks of both religions were located in Jerusalem. There were many Crusades some more significant than others, but in general the Crusades were very important to the spread of Christianity and religious based knowledge. The Crusades are an example of religious rebellion that is timeless and universal throughout the world.

The First Crusades was a military group that was started by Christians in Europe who wanted to gain back the Holy Land that was being occupied by the Muslims. Pope Urban II preached a sermon at Clermont Ferrand on November 1095. Most histories consider this speech to be the spark the fueled a wave of military campaigns to gain back the Holy Land. This speech was meant to unite the Europeans and to gain back what was taken from them. The holy land was a small area on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The First Crusades was a very successful military expedition that was driven by religious faith to reclaim Jerusalem and other holy places that fell under Muslim control. driven by religious faith. They wanted to gain back the Holy Land that was once theirs. Arabs and the Muslim Turks otherwise known as the Seljuk Turks were the Muslims that invaded and conquered land rightfully occupied by the Christian’s. Many European men, women, and children joined the Crusades and fought in the Middle East. Pope Urban II granted forgiveness of all sins to those who died in battle thus assuring them ascendancy into heaven. Which gave those who volunteered to fight assurance. Nobles and peasants responded in great numbers to the call and marched across Europe to the capital of the Byzantine empire. Having the support of the Byzantine emperor helped make them a stronger army. The Crusaders took over many of the cities on the Mediterranean coast and built a large number of fortified castles across the Holy Land to protect their newly established territories. Soon after seizing power the Seljuks face a very different challenge to Islamic civilization. It came from Christian Crusaders. Knights from western Europe who were determined to capture portions of the Islamic world that made up the holy land of biblical times. Muslim political division and element of surprise made the first of the Crusaders assaults, between 1096 and 1099, by far the most successful. Much of

In the 10th century the first crusade took place in the Holy Lands. The crusade was a medieval military expedition that the Europeans created to regain the Holy Lands from the Seljuk Turks. Throughout the first crusade many different countries, religions and people were involved, some of these were Pope Urban II, Christians, Seljuk Turks, Europeans, Muslims and Jews. In 1096-1099 people went on the first crusade to take back the Holy Land. They did this for many different reasons, some of these reasons are money, power, taking back the Holy Land and going to heaven. The people who took part in the pilgrimages to Jerusalem were to wear the sign of the cross. The first crusade commenced with Pope Urban II making a speech at the Clermont in France.

During this time a monk named Peter the Hermit, carried a huge cross town to town and preaching to the people. This made people want to get out and go reconquest Jerusalem. They were starting to get antsy and eventually a horde of poor men, women and children set out on the trip to Jerusalem known as the “People’s Crusade” or “Peasants Crusade”. The name was given to the crusader because they had started their expedition before the great leaders that lead the main crusade. The People’s Crusade was unorganized and mostly unarmed. Women and children were the majority of the tens of thousands of individuals heading to jerusalem. They traveled down the Danube valley and passed through Constantinople before the main crusade was supposed to meet. They were led by Peter the Hermit and a few other higher ranking knights but later became too much for them to control. Along their journey through germany and hungary their number grew shorter due to battles with the natives of the land. When the “People's Crusade” crossed the Asia minor they were surprised and slaughters by the Turks. A few thousand including Peter the Hermit survived and would eventually continue their march to

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.

The Crusades was a very important moment in human history, it showed the clashes between religions for land that most people considered to be sacred or holy. There isn’t one Crusade but rather a series of them, but we’ll be looking primarily at the First Crusade, Second Crusade, Third Crusade, and a little bit of the Fourth. It all starts in Rome (Nov 27th 1095) where Pope Urban the Second receives an important message from Byzantine Emperor Alexios the First where he pleads for help in supressing the Turkish troops. After receiving the message the Pope (standing in a field outside the city of Clermont) calls for the public to join the military excursion to the Middle East, and swiftly declares a Crusade with the primary objective of securing holy sites [Jaspert, Nikolas. The Crusades]. What followed was a large migration of troops from France and Italy on August and September of 1096. The

The Crusades were an important part of World History during the post classical era. Between 1096 and 1270, the Europeans attempted to acquire Christian sacred areas from the Muslims ("The Crusades"). Supported by Western Europe, Christian armies were sent to take over the Holy Land and other surrounding areas ("Crusades"). The Holy Land surrounds Jerusalem and, to this day, contains sacred sites to Christians, Jews, and Muslims ("Crusades"). These sacred sites were very important to people of these religions and many pilgrimages occurred there ("Crusades"). During the eleventh century, Muslims acquired the Holy Land and expanded their empire ("Crusades"). This prompted Alexius Comnenus, the Byztantine emperor, to write to Pope Urban II in need of trying to reacquire this sacred land ("The Crusades"). This prompted the start of the Crusades. There were four major Crusades and several others that occurred ("Crusades"). The first was probably the most significant out of all of them. The First Crusade allowed for the capture of The Holy Land and also prompted an influence of Middle Eastern culture and ideas to Western Europe.

The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks. The

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 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