What Was The Primary Cause Of The First Crusades

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.

The impact of the crusades were more negative because they had bad reasons and because they fought nine times in the 13 centuries and many Christians were fighting against Jews. After the Christians and Jews fought the crusades still attacked each other.It also made lasting war between two religions.

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 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.

Patrick Geary’s “Readings in Medieval History” contains four accounts of the invasion of the Middle East by the Europeans in 1095 A.D. These accounts all cite different motives for the first crusade, and all the accounts are from the perspective of different sides of the war. The accounts all serve to widen our perspective, we hear from the Christian and Middle Eastern side of the conflict. Fulcher of Chartres claims, Pope Urban the Second urged all Christians to intervene in the “East” at the council of Claremont, saying it was a sign of “Strength of good will”. (Readings in Medieval History, Geary, page 396).

The first crusade started in autumn of 1095. Pope Urban II initiated the first crusade by calling upon his Christians to reclaim the city of Jerusalem. The Crusade was also meant to seek revenge on the followers of Islam. The followers were accused of committing crimes against “Christendom”. Pope Urbans crusade was made possible by the work of St. Augustine on Christian Violence in the past. Many Christians joined the crusade because the Pope promised rewards for the afterlife. After the fourth century, Christianity underwent a transformation when it fused with the Roman state for which warfare was essential. St. Augustine and Pope Urban enabled violence to be an option for Christians and it can be described in this quote, “For the first time in Christian history, violence was defined as a religious act, a source of grace.” After the Pope’s Christian tour, many Christians were ready to destroy everything that stood in their way.

The Crusades hold a place in the canon of Western history as valiant wars against the infidel in the East, motivated by an unparalleled pious zeal. Whilst revisions to this history have considered more mundane and ordinary motives, such as a want for land or an attempt to reinforce the Peace of God movement, there is something to be said of the religious motivations of the crusaders. The words ‘conquest’ and ‘conversion’ seem ideologically charged – with conquest being what is done by temporal rulers to physical land and people, and conversion being what is done to the spiritual self, by someone who does not have anything material to gain from the action. However, it can be argued that these lines can be blurred; I wish to present the case of conquest being religiously charged, and the idea that any subsequent conversion is of little importance. By examining the geographical targets of various crusaders, I will conclude that they were more interested in conquest than conversion: but this was not necessarily for earthly reasons alone.

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.

- I think that the crusades more resembled a holy war because they visited many cities that they would have wanted to be a focus of spreading Christianity. Most of the crusaders reached Jerusalem which was a culturally crucial location for the Christians. Something that helps to identify the gravity of their religious feelings is the fact that they aimed to fight for holy land or Jerusalem. Essentially, crusaders began their journey because of their religious values and to reclaim an area that is significantly meaningful to Christians at the time, which is partly the purpose of soldier's journey. Throughout the crusades, the crusaders reached many similar destinations such as Hungary and France maybe to display the strength of their religion,

After Zara, the Crusaders realized their journey couldn't be accomplished without the assistance of Venice. The Crusaders would be alleviated from their financial burden, but also the Venetians would financially profit. Regardless of their circumstance, the Crusaders kept listening to Dandolo, despite the fact that they made a solemn vow to the Church. As the Crusaders were more controlled by the Venetians the authority of the Pope over the army became nonexistent and their connections to the Holy Roman Empire weakened rapidly.

An Examination of the Causes and Success of The First CrusadeReligion has served mankind for thousands of years in our search for meaning and direction. Religion serves as a way of defining our lives and providing a sense of meaning or direction, having done so since the beginning of time. While religion may appear to be a peaceful endeavor, it is an endless source of violence and bloodshed. The duality of religion is accurately portrayed in the Christian crusades. The crusades of the late antiquity exemplified this duality of religion and the horror religion can bring. Thousands upon thousands fought and died, not for king or country, but under God. The kingdoms of Christendom united under the common goal of retaking the holy land and

A major factor that lead to the First Crusade was the presence of a Turkish threat in the Asia Minor. The Seljuk Turks had a strong presence already and after the capture of Baghdad, they created pressure for the Byzantine Empire. After a disastrous attempt to impede the looming Turkish forces with a mercenary army of Franks, Normans, and Slavs that led to the capture of emperor Romanus IV, the Byzantines lost their control over the region. The new emperor Alexius I took further action and

In 1065 Jerusalem was taken by the Turks, who came from the kingdom of ancient Persia. When the Seljuk Turks took control of Jerusalem, thirty-thousand Christians were massacred and the remaining Christians were mistreated. Christians were forbidden from making pilgrimages to the Holy City. The Turks then threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I made a special appeal to Urban II for help. The idea that Europe could be united under one common enemy, and awakened the desire to save the Holy Land and Jerusalem from the Turks, and the hope for acquiring new territory in the East were all causes of the Crusades.

Crusade. A word that creates inspiration in one part of the world and hatred or fear on the other part. For most of the people, their thinking is dictated by others. They only take what is commonly known and repeat it like parrots. They don’t question their source of knowledge. Things they think they know, how do they know that and from where that knowledge came from? We are going to adopt this method in our understanding of the Crusade. There are several questions we will try to find the answers.

The crusades had many factors leading up to these holy wars. Many of them included religious factors since the main reason behind the crusades was religion. The crusades has more than just a religious background, there are many social and political reasons behind the crusades too.