The Medieval Crusades Essay

According to the Christian Faith Jerusalem holds significant religious importance due to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and many other important religious sites. This is detailed in The Capture of Jerusalem by John France “Jerusalem had a special place in the religion and culture of medieval europe for it was the place Christ had died and his empty tomb in the church of the holy sepulchre was the very symbol of christian belief”. Pope Urban II called for the crusades to secure these sites for christians in that area and around the world. These sites also hold a religious importance to the Islamic Faith to this day, which is also seen in The Capture of Jerusalem “For Jerusalem is sacred to islam: its name al-Kuds, ‘the city of the sanctuary’, refers to the important shrine we now call the

Christianity during the early century was very difficult for many Christians. As many Christians were persecuted for not worshipping pagan gods.

Three of the world’s most powerful religions had gone to war during the Crusades, the same war that is responsible for an estimated 1.7 million deaths. The Crusades were a series of Christian military expeditions that lasted through nine Holy Wars. The first crusade, in 1095, was called upon by Pope Urban II in an attempt to stop the Muslim expansion to the Holy City of Jerusalem. Through this, the Christian, Catholic, and Muslim churches will go into a time of warfare as an attempt to both show their religious superiority and have a religious expansion. The western side of Europe was the most significantly impacted by the Crusades because of the 4th Crusade, the foreign influence from the East, and Europe’s economic relations with the world.

As the ragtag army set out on their campaign, one of their most important goals was retaking Jerusalem. Also, the Pope claimed that the crusaders would be fighting the “Holy War” to win back Jerusalem, which was closely associated with the Christian idea of heaven and the apocalyptic war. According to the Bible, “The New Jerusalem appeared only after the final cosmic war between good and evil, after the plagues, the persecutions, the death, the destruction” (Document 3). Pope Urban convinced people that the Crusades were the prophesied apocalyptic war, and this news motivated many crusaders to campaign. The crusaders assumed that in order for the “New Jerusalem” to appear, they must attack and reconquer the holy lands, kicking off the apocalyptic holy war by battling the “evil” Muslims.

At the beginning of the second crusade the Christians and the Muslims lived side by side, but then the Muslims got greedy and said that they needed more power and land. The Muslims took over jerusalem many times, and annoyed people. Many times, such as in the 1st crusade, the Muslims captures the holy land because they got greedy and wanted more land. They took over the holy land many times and they lost it many times because they had to fight. They got greedy so they fought many battles and won so they were undefeatable.

1. Just in case you guys don’t about the history of why the crusades are happening, it’s all about Jerusalem and the Holy Land, or Palestine, have a complicated history. The Holy Land sits at the intersection of three continents, near the birthplace of some of the world’s oldest civilizations. It also borders the Mediterranean Sea, a major artery of conquest and trade. The region is valued as much for its location as for its religious history. The location itself may have been reason enough for people to settle there. In turn, those people developed civilizations that gave rise to the religions that have spent centuries competing for the sacred soil. The three competing monotheistic faiths-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-met in Jerusalem. Despite their common roots, the differences among the three religions-and their peoples-often sparked conflict.

The Crusades were a series of holy wars that began in 1095 CE. These wars were fought between Christians and Muslims to gain control over the sacred land. The Turks moved into the middle east during the early part of the 11th century CE. Most of the Turks served the Islamic armies and would invade land rapidly using combat forces. This alarmed the Greek emperor and caused him to seek out Pope Urban II and ask for mercenary troops to confront the Turks. The Pope called a council and had 300 attendees to show up. During this council, the Pope made a plea to free the Holy Land, which received an enthusiastic response. After this, Pope Urban II promptly waged war against the Muslims and took armies of Christians to Jerusalem to try and

Jerusalem was originally conquered in 638 under the control of Omar. At this time the Pact of Omar was written in order to establish a sense of peace between Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Christians wrote to Omar seeking the protection of the Muslims. The Pact of Omar revealed the Christians’ promises to the Muslims in order to keep pleasantries between them. Some of theses promises dealt with the building and affairs of churches.

In a perfect world, everything would go exactly the way you wanted. But that’s the problem. There is no such thing as a perfect world, and the Crusades were the exact opposite. Back in medieval times, Christians felt the need to conquer Jerusalem. At the time, Jerusalem was being protected by Muslims.

The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power

A major turning point in Medieval history were the Crusades. The Crusades were a series of wars fought between the Christian Europeans and the Muslim Turks, which occurred between the years of 1096 to 1272. In this Holy War the Christians goal was to obtain the Holy Land from the Turks, in which they did not succeed. Although the Christians did not meet their goal, many positives did come out of their attempt. Due to the reason that they did not meet their goal, yet numerous positives came out of their effort, many refer to this as a successful failure.

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

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 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.

When Muhammad died a caliph, or successor, assumed leadership. The two caliphs succeeding Muhammad furthered the Islamic cause by conquering vast territory. Their culture infiltrated lands "from the Pyrenees and Atlantic coast in Spain to the Indus Valley of India and China's far western borders (Andrea 88)." Their world community called Dar al-Islam spread across land and included non-Muslim peoples. Muslims allowed the Christians living in this realm to continue practicing Christianity. However, the Pact of 'Umar, a political document, succinctly laid out the requirements of Christian observance within the presence of Muslims. Although it was a restricted existence for the Christians, the Muslims did practice and offer tolerance towards this disparate religion.