The Religious Motivations Of The Crusades

When analyzing the events of the first crusade it is essential to first uncover the flame that ignited the spiritual motivation. Although there ought to be numerous events that contributed to the fire, a general church council at Clermont in France is credited for starting the crusading movement. In response to Alexiu 's plea, Urban delivered a sermon intended to call upon European Christians to rescue the Holy Land from Muslim occupation. As the crowd likely wrestled with the idea to start, he continued to provide justifications for the conquest. To accomplish this, he

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.

The Crusades took place in the Middle East between 1095 and 1291. They were used to gain a leg up on trading, have more land to show hegemony, and to please the gods. Based upon the documents, the Crusades between 1095 and 1291 were caused primarily by religious devotion rather than by the desire for economic and political gain.

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 First Crusade was called in 1095 by Pope Urban II in November. It was here that the Pope made a proposal: “Whoever for devotion alone, but not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penane” (Phillips, 21). Pope Urban II saw the first crusade as a chance for knights to direct their energy towards a spiritually rewarding experience, namely the recovery of the Holy City of Jerusalem from Islam. Knights were told that in return for their efforts their sins

L. The main reason the crusades started was to take Jerusalem from the Turks. Before 1087, Christian pilgrims frequently traveled to Jerusalem, “the holy land”. However, according to document 6, “from 1087 onwards, turks stopped christian pilgrims from entering Jerusalem.” Basically, the Turks claimed Jerusalem as their own, and prevented any pilgrimages. Pope Urban II was not happy about this. He called European Christians to war in 1095 to recapture Jerusalem. According to Document 1, he says, “I, or rather, the Lord, beseech you as christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich….to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends.” Basically, Pope Urban II is urging the people to fight the Turks, and win back Jerusalem.

The crusades between 1095 and 1250 had not only changed the way crusading was carried out, but also the purpose of it. Cynical self – interest, finance and religious passion were key aspects for the popularity of crusading. The main purpose of The Crusades was to recover or defend territories such as The Holy Land. Geographically the Holy Land was in a position of frequent attacks due to Palestine lying along the Mediterranean Sea, thus Muslims having easy access there. The meaning of the word crusade means ‘going to the cross’, therefore this explicitly emphasises that the Crusades sole purpose and popularity would be to restore the Holy Lands from the Muslim Turks, emphasising religious passion. The four Crusades consisted in success, humiliation

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).

Since the beginning of time, religion has remained at the center of people’s life providing a source of spiritual direction and purpose as well as a ground zero understanding of the man and woman’s true essence. Yet, while religion is mostly attributed to an environment free from strife, the aftermath of the first crusade and those that followed led to nothing but bloodshed, violence and wickedness demonstrating the polarities of good and evil which can spring from the church and its religious beliefs. The end of the eleventh century generated social, economic and political change which each played its part in the First Crusade. Namely, the defeat of the Byzantine Army, the papal authority as well as the role of religion and the preaching of Peter the Hermit are few of many contributing factors and

The emergence of the medieval crusades was spearheaded by the historically influential speech of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont. The meeting was a result of Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus enlisting in help from Urban in the Greek war against the Turks. In the year 1095, French knights assembled at Clermont to listen to Urban’s call for reform. Here Urban II urged the people to fight off the Muslim Turks and reclaim the Holy Land as he insists this was God’s will. This particular assembly played a crucial role in beginning a series of significant crusades against the Muslim people (Britannica n.pag.).

The Crusades were a movement of broken military fights in the years from 1096 to 1487, approved by various Popes. Amid these circumstances Islam and Christianity were the more well known religions and their perspectives of religion contrasted from various perspectives. This brought about strain and division between the two. The Pope conveyed a call for kindred Christians to go along with him against the Muslims in war. This was the begin of the Crusades. One of the Pope 's primary objectives was to guarantee access to the Holy Land that was under Muslim control. Another of his objectives was to rejoin the Eastern and Western branches of Christendom, segregated after their split in 1054, and develop himself as pioneer of the United Church. The devotees of these gatherings where brisk to join for what they believed was for their God. The subject of this paper is to show what drove the general population to join and stay in the battle.

The Crusades were a set of military expeditions, beginning in 1095, called by Pope Urban II to reclaim Jerusalem from the Infidels. Although the Crusades are hailed as wars fought in the name of God, one begins wonder whether the Crusades were truly intended as the holy wars they are made out to be. The expression cui bono, literally meaning, “for whose benefit”, can be used to explain the motivations of the Crusades. Although The Crusades were committed in the name of God, their true purpose differed strongly with that of religion. Through the Crusades, Pope Urban II acquired unconstrained power over the people of Europe, as well as great wealth for the Church.

Catholic Church leaders including Pope Urban II regarded the Crusades as an ideological battle for religious superiority and control of the Holy Land. Urban emphasized the religious emancipation of the Crusades in his speech to thousands at Clermont-Auvergne in France, where he implored, “Undertake this journey eagerly for the remission of their sins, and be assured of the reward of imperishable glory in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Durant 587). However, just as religion can be attributed to the reason for Urban’s crusade, so too can the financial and economic goals of both the Church, nobility, and common folk. Changing economic structure in the medieval period fostered a need for change in commerce and trade. With that, came an ambition from the lower class to change their socio-economic status. The emergence of the merchant class, desire for commerce and trade among centralized empires, and the lure of financial freedom and prosperity propelled the Christian Crusades to regain the holy land and control of eastern territory against the Moslem “infidel”.

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