In this paper I will attempt to discover why the Crusades began, what where the motives, and have the Crusades furthered the cause of Christ. HISTORY The Crusades started during the time of the Middle Ages. The reason for the Crusades was to start war with the Muslims over the Holy Lands. Christians wanted to regain
The Crusades were a series of holy wars that was started by the Christian states of Europe against the Muslims. The Crusades started in 1095 when Pope Claremont declared the first crusade. The start of the crusades led to an immediate sewing of the cross to peoples garments. The crusades were undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe to rescue the holy places of Jerusalem from Mohammedans around 30,000 men volunteered and left Western Europe to fight. For Christians Jerusalem was the place where Jesus was crucified and ascended to heaven.
The military expeditions planned and fought by western European Christians that began around 1095 are known today as the Crusades. The main purpose of these expeditions was to overtake and gain control of the Holy Land, Jerusalem, Pope Urban II initiated the first crusade. On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban preached to his followers outside the city of Clermont-Ferrand about the action, which needed to take place. Preaching words about how God wouledition. Small groups began to form, each planning their own path to Constantinople; that was where they would meet.
There may also have been the idea of taking revenge on those (the Muslims) who had desecrated Christ’s Holy City, and his people, the Christians. Reclaiming Jerusalem was a main religious factor that encouraged people to Crusade. In 1076, it had been captured by the Seljuk Turks, which was a big problem for Christians. Jerusalem was a Holy place of worship for many religions, most especially Christians. At this time, Jerusalem was shown to be the navel of the world: in most medieval maps, Jerusalem is placed at the very centre, the place where there was a connection between god and man.
In the mid-12th century, the Turkic ruler Saladin rose to lead the Seljuks and succeeded in uniting the fragmented Muslim armies of Southwest Asia and North Africa. To Saladin, the Christian armies were the infidels that had to be evicted. When Saladin’s forces took Jerusalem, the call went out across Europe to launch another crusade. Three kings came forward-Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, King Phillip II of France, and King Richard I, later known as Richard the Lionheart of England. Held in 1187-1192.
The Crusades Throughout time, there have been many events that have changed our lives but the Crusades or “holy wars” have had the most effects on us, and have helped change the world to what it is today. There have been many causes for the Crusades. I know that one of the causes for it was that; the Kings and the Church saw it as an opportunity to get rid of quarrelsome knights, because these knights threatened the peace of the kingdom, as well as the Churches property. Another cause for it was that nobles and knights saw it as an opportunity or way of obtaining more land and a position in society. They also wanted to regain control of their “holy land.”Another cause was that Italian city-states of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice hoped to win control of key trade routes to India, Southeast Asia, and China
Another reason feudalism lost power was the mercenaries that fought for the English king. After the first of the many treaties during the war was signed in 1360 by France, the English king did not want to release his unruly soldiers on his own land. Instead, they were loosed on France where they were free to loot and pillage as they pleased. Castles that belonged to lords took a beating as the mercenaries took them over and then sold them back to the lords for a large price. New weaponry made in the war made the king stronger against nobles.
It can be assumed, however, that Christianity would have continued to flourish in the Middle East and Asia if the Mongols who had invaded in the 12th century had not thoroughly converted to Islam by the 13th. Being more inclined to dominate rather than coexist, the Mongols had at first they set out to destroy any hint of Islam in the area. However, after their conversion, these Muslim Mongols became determined to bring about the destruction of the Christian population that had been vitally influential to the Asian and Muslim cultures for so many centuries. Small, rural populations of Christians would survive in China until the Ming Dynasty began in 1368 and the regime set out on a campaign to return China to its traditional beliefs and
The Crusades took place between the 11th and 13th centuries. They were a series of religious military campaigns. They began after Islamic Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire and took control of Christian Holy Lands and the Christian church. In response Pope Urban II
NATIONALISM AND RELIGION IN EUROPE Before 1517, all of Europe acknowledged the authority of the Pope, and allowed the Papacy to act as an international court. As the Reformation spread throughout Europe and there was a definite break with Rome by Martin Luther in 1517, Europe became divided into Catholic and Protestant countries. The universal authority of the Pope was restricted to Catholic countries. Protestants felt free to explore and found colonies in parts of the world hitherto held to belong to Portugal or Spain. The Catholic Church launched a Counter-Reformation to win back lost souls.