Why Were The Crusades?

The purpose of all the Crusades was to reclaim the Holy Land. The Christians wanted to take back Jerusalem (The Holy Land) from the Muslims. it’s where their faiths started.

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 a succession of many wars, which “originally” started as a request from Alexius II for aid after a devastating war in the Battle of Mazikert. This war had taken its ravishing toll on the Greeks in the Middle East. The Battle of Mazikert was a result of the expansion and occupancy of two conflicting empires that

he subject of the crusades is still a very controversial topic that spans across various time periods and has religious, social, and political implications. The first crusade started off as a widespread pilgrimage that ended as a military expedition resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem in 1099. The crusades initiated from a call from help from Alexius for the protection of Constantinople and the recovery of Anatolia. For centuries textbooks have repeated with routine regularity, that the immediate cause, of the Crusades was the Turkish conquest of the Near East, which apparently was a very real threat to Christendom, that had to be countered by military action. With this in mind, the primary purpose of this essay is to identify the various reasons that contributed to the start of the first crusade, while disproving the fact that the first Crusade was a response to a military threat. In discovering the true cause of the first crusades it is necessary to examine it from all aspects from the start to the finish.

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 word “crusade” means “going to the cross.” notice the idea of the name it’s to encourage Christian fighters to go towards the Holy Land and free Jerusalem from the Muslims. Some people may argue that the crusades was actually a

The crusades were a bunch of wars in the Middle Ages when the Christians and Europeans tried to retake control of Jerusalem from the Muslims. Jerusalem was important to Muslims during the Middle Ages because it was believed to be where Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Christians found it important because it was believed to be where Jesus Christ was crucified and rose again.

The Crusades were a sequence of religious and political wars fought for over 200 years for power of the Holy Land. Originally the purpose for the Crusades was to take the Holy Land and Jerusalem away from the Muslims. However, the people who partook in this series of wars were not only driven by their faith, but they were also motivated by their own economical gains. Numerous Crusaders were inspired by the chance to gain wealth, land and power. At the same time the Roman Catholic Church saw the Crusades as an opportunity to gain the Holy Land for Catholics. In all, these examples show that the Crusades were not only driven by religious beliefs but by economic and political gain as well.

With total autonomy to kill and plunder as they please alongside a godly, miracle-like victory in their first ever attempt in a series of holy wars, the Crusades stand out as a key point in the history of both Christianity and the medieval world as a whole. It is undeniable that religious devotion played a factor in the Crusades; in an era where Europe was a land of chaotic violence, a quick chance to absolve oneself from any sin was immensely appealing. Yet from the wars' very origin to their ways of recruiting and actions on the battlefield, this apparent devotion that is the heart of the Crusades is repetitively contradicted. The holy wars would never have reached the height they did – or

The Crusades were Holy Wars during the 11th century that intended to expand Christian territory. The Crusades began when Christians initiated military campaigns to take control of the Holy Lands around the city of Jerusalem. Ever since the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity had been so strong that people were able to spread it through campaigning. Different people from the time period of the Crusades have varying viewpoints on it, a few of which being that the Crusades caused fear and destruction, the violence of the Crusades were justified because of religious reasons, and that the Crusades were not only harmful to Muslims, but Jews and Christians.

Introduction: Provide background information on the Crusades, restate the DBQ question, state thesis with reasons. (include academic vocabulary and underline) The Crusades were a battle between the Muslims and Christians. There were 9 battles for the Holy Land, Jerusalem.

During the 11th century, as the crusades began, Europe’s main religion, Christianity, divided into Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox. During this period of divergence in Europe, Islam flourished. Trade helped spread religion and languages throughout Asia & Africa, while Europe paled in comparison. Given the situation that Europe was in at the time of the crusades, it’s easy to call into question the motivations behind the crusades. The first crusade, supporting the Byzantine Empire, was called for by Pope Urban II, in an apparent combination of Christian Europe behind the image of the Cross. While the results and advantages for Europe springing from the First Crusade may suggest otherwise, the Crusades were called together solely to further

With this information at hand, the idea that the Crusades were purely political is absurd. Without religion, the Crusades would have had a very different outlook and have gone a very different direction. The religious aspect of the Crusades began

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 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