Why Were The Crusades Dbq

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.

Another aspect that contributes to the statement that the crusades were not motivated by religious factors is that the crusaders wanted more land. Many Crusaders wanted to govern their own piece of land in a new area, so they decided to fight being guaranteed a piece of land; in this era land equaled money, the more land you had, the wealthier you were—religion didn’t get you very far. By having a new plot of land, in a new area the Crusaders would be able to rise above their social status and experience a newfound wealth that would be next to impossible back in their homeland. Through this, we can see the prime motivation of the Western European’s commencement of the crusades was their aspiration for land. Even Pope Urban II, an example and leader for all the people, wanted to fight just to get the Holy Land back. So if the prime example for the people, a leader that everyone looked up to was demonstrating greed and voracity then it would only be natural for his people to follow. Not only did Pope Urban II and officials express tremendous amounts of self-indulgence, but they very well knew what was going on beforehand; the selection mentions that they worked to “prepare” the people for a crusade by changing conditions within their society and economy. The changing of economic aspects portray that the Crusaders were unhappy with their current state of wealth and the easiest way to fix that was to

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.

The crusaders traveled by land and by sea to take back the holy land from the Muslim infidels they tried to set up crusader states to claim more land but they failed. The crusades contributed to the construction of many European castles and missions and gave more power to the church. The crusades also helped contribute to the start of

One of the motives for European Christians, was religious, they wanted to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim occupation and control. The Pope promised that anyone who went on Crusade would be absolved of all his or her previous sins, and anyone who died while on Crusade would automatically go to Heaven. In a society where the prospect of eternal Hellfire was a very real belief of everyday life, this was a powerful motivation.

The main objective of the first crusade was overcome by a secondary objective which later became the reason why we call it the First Crusade. The initial objective was to respond to the Byzantine Emperor who requested western volunteers to help fight against invading Turks. In The reconquest of jerusalem and the holy land soon became the main objective of the Crusade. Pope Urban in 1095 called upon his people telling them to go jerusalem and liberate the church of God out of devotion and not for honor and wealth. Calling the crusade increased the popes standings in a papacy which was struggling at the time due to the investiture controversy. During this time, religion was very important and people took it very seriously. Jerusalem was the

The crusades were a big part of the 11th century, as wars had came and go people were joining for money or religion. For religion people were promised to go to heaven and live a blessed holy life, and god would always protect him or her, but they were just promising things they couldn't help or control. Then when it came to the money factor of the Crusades, they were promising more than they could give, however they did deliver the minimum but after people got the money, furniture, goods and etc. people just wanted more and more, and they didn't have enough give give more and more as the people wanted. So there are many different ways ad things you could argue but I think that it was more an economical gain, because again they got want they wanted and said but they didn't care about God they were greedy and wanted more and more.

These reasons resulted in what became a prosperous first crusade led by the Pope himself. The political reasons ranged from a desire for adventure to the land of Jerusalem, wanting to gain more power, and other economic rationales. By the end of the first crusade, the Crusaders were victorious in stripping “more than forty silver candelabra and more than twenty gold ones” in the Dome of the Rock. The economic reasons included gaining more wealth, land, riches and multiple goods. The Pope claims that the Crusaders must “...rush quickly as [they] can to the defence of the Eastern Church” and that it’s “...a beautiful thing to die for Christ…”. The religious reasons the Crusaders thought to be true was that the crusade was God’s call for the Christian brothers to accomplish their attack on the Muslims. The Muslims were filled with grief as the Arab Historian, Ibn al-Athir, recalls that “...the Franks slaughtered more than 70,000 people…women and children taken prisoner, the homes pillaged…”. Unlike the rejoice in the documents and articles from the Crusaders’ perspectives, the Muslim perspective felt sorrow for those who died innocently. The Crusaders destroyed an extensive portion the Jerusalem land and population, taking away valuable riches and treasures from the Holy Land. While later crusades failed to accomplish that of the crusade led by Pope Urban III, I greatly believe that the first crusade was a great

The crusades actually had a positive effect on the economic system at that time, some of the trades at that time still impact us today. Document 8 states that, ”When crusaders returned to Europe, they brought back things... Nobles and merchants enjoyed the new luxuries and wanted more of them.” This is important because it kept trade alive and rebirth

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

The Crusades were a series of holy wars that were fought between Muslims and Christians and the main goal of these wars were to recover Jerusalem. The Christians wanted it because it is where they believe that Jesus was born, the Muslims wanted it because it is where they believe prophet Muhammed rose up to heaven. There were three main Crusades (first, second, and third crusade)

Many people consider the Crusades as wars of bloodlust, greed, and power. War can be described as an escalated conflict, most commonly over money or other resources. The outcome of war is usually the advancement of one society due to its newly acquired resources or knowledge. If one were to look at the Crusades, and their original purpose, which was to assist Constantinople and free the Holy Land from Muslim control, then one may make the conclusion that the Crusades failed. Although the Christians did not win over the Holy Land, Europe as a whole benefited greatly from the revival of East to West trade, and new inventions and innovations that arose during the time of the Crusades.

I believe that greed was why the Crusades continued. Every time another army would win over Jerusalem, there would be another Crusade. This was also prevalent when a separate nation than the one holding Jerusalem would conquer a nearby town or area. Another Crusade was launched because greed overcame the religious nations and they wanted more land. An example is the first and second Crusades. The Christians were able to conquer Jerusalem and gain control. Later, the Muslims captured a city nearby, and the Christians army wanted

Religious factors in the first crusade were significant and can be argued as a reason for the campaign’s success. However, it is more down to a combination of different factors to why it was so successful, when compared to the later more unsuccessful Crusades. The time of the First Crusade, medieval Europe was a place of hardship, with frequent famine and plagues with many wanting to escape the idea of normal life. With the start of the First Crusade many responded with extreme enthusiasm and it really highlighted the religious hysteria in Europe at the time. What was to follow was a campaign built upon the foundations of Christianity, which would lead to the persecution of another religion and the deaths of thousands of Muslims, Jews and Christians alike. Religious factors are the reason for the success of the Crusade and can be seen to be the reasons for continuous successes throughout the campaign.