Assess the Reasons Why There Was a Crusade in 1095

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Assess the reasons why there was a crusade in 1095 Jessica Dudley In this essay I will be assessing the reasons for why there was a crusade in 1095 by drawing on evidence from Irene Merrall’s “The Crusade” and from multiple resources online such as “The Christian Crusaders,” “Spark Notes” and “The History Learning Site”. No historian ever believes that for every event in history there was only one reason, after doing a lot research it is shown that for the crusades there was in fact multiple reasons whether it was religious zeal, feudalism, personal ambition or the desire for land or material goods. I believe that the most important reason for the crusade in 1095 was Pope Urban II’s motivation. In November 1095 the Byzantine leader, Alexius, sent a request for military assistance against the Seljuk Turks that were threatening to invade at their borders. He also appealed to Urban to go to the aid of the Christians that were being harassed by Muslims, he stressed to Pope Urban that many cities were under the control of the infidel (Muslims), especially Jerusalem. Urban called the Council of Clermont to discuss the matter further, once they were all together the Council lasted 10 days from the 18th of November to the 28th. Many things were discussed such as reforms of the church and the extended excommunication of Philip I of France for his adulterous marriage to Bertrade of Montford. On November 27th the Pope spoke of the problems in the East, he declared “bellum sacrum” against the Muslims that occupied the Holy land; it had now become a holy war. There are accounts of a speech made by Pope Urban II however, these were all written after the success of the first crusade so it is not, necessarily, reliable. What is clear is that it was very successful as it led to 40,000 crusaders marching their way across Europe to help and rescue the Holy land. Urban promised
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