The Crusades centered on the war over the city of Jerusalem and the holy places of Palestine. Jerusalem had a lot of holy significance in the Christian religion. The Christians believed in a Christian god, Jesus Christ, the Hoy Sprit and the Virgin Mary. They also believed in the afterlife, Angels and Hell. Christians believed that the first humans were created in the image of God, but that the bad behavior of Adam and Eve brought negative consequences to all humans to this day.
When Eugenius heard about this matter he sent St Bernard to Vezelay where the King and his court where spending Easter. Bernard had huge success in Vezelay. 'Men begun to cry for crosses "Crosses, give us Crosses! "'(Runciman, 1952, p.253) the material prepared for crosses soon ran out and Bernard tore up his own cloak to make more. Bernard wrote to the pope a few days later: You ordered; I obeyed; and the authority of him who gave the order has made my obedience fruitful.
During the middle of the sermon, the brothers stride towards the front of the church to pray and kiss the body of Christ. It seemed like a natural event, something they do all the time. The Priest didn’t stutter his words nor glance at the brothers, but carelessly continued with his story. It appeared as if the brothers were ready to start God’s plan, to kill all who‘s evil. Furthermore, after every kill the brothers would follow up with a prayer.
Martin Luther, a German monk was born during a time of corruption within the Catholic Church. The Church had upmost power and was highly influential on the adherents. The issues of indulgences, simony and nepotism were becoming major issues and they were pulling the church further away from the true teachings and practices displayed by Jesus. Luther objected to these issues and his protests intensified when a Dominican monk named John Tetzel who quoted “When the money clangs in the box, the souls spring up to heaven”. The Black Death also led to a lack of Christian teachings with uneducated priests and clergy.
If the crusade was successful a potential power vacuum would open up in the East for the determined wishing to better themselves. There were also spiritual reasons why Jerusalem was so significant to the crusaders. It was the centre of the Christian world where Jesus was believed to have lived, died and resurrected. Furthermore it was the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This religious incentive was reinforced by the Popes promise of the salvation/remission of sins for all those who made the journey to Jerusalem.
On page 1226, while Beowulf is preparing himself to battle the dragon, it is written that he “watched and controlled his God-sent strength and his outstanding natural powers.” This is an example of a strong Christian belief that is shown in the poem – everything humans have is a gift from God, the one God who has all the power in the universe. This line from the monks is enforcing this belief, showing that Christianity was slowly taking over Paganism in Europe. Beowulf is a perfect example of how although Europe was adopting new, monotheistic ideas, they were not ready to release their polytheistic beliefs just yet. Although it may seem controversial at times, it is a wonderful work of literature that demonstrates the opposing viewpoints that were arising in Europe around the time of its composition. Stuck in between Paganism and Christianity, Europe was now composed of a combination of these two very different belief systems, which led to drastic changes throughout the
The Roman high officials saw Jesus and his Christian followers as a major threat to the Empire, even though Jesus probably had no intention of becoming a zealot, or political rebel. A high governor and judge, Pontius Pilate, had Jesus arrested and crucified. Pilate accused Jesus of treason, because Roman Emperors were supposed to be thought of
Throughout history, many empirical decisions have affected the artistic world in both positive and negative ways. Arguably one of the most impactful decisions made when Emperor Leo the III instituted the removal of an image of Christ from the cross. This began a dark part of religious art in the Byzantine Emperor known as the Iconoclasm. Debates and arguments over this decision spread ravenously and splits were occurring throughout all classes of power. From the Emperor and his royal people, to the religious leaders and the laity there was disorder.
As the people watched the church decay morally through the Renaissance they became more and more worried about what this meant for them in the afterlife. Thus the Reformation was a direct result of a buildup of social, economic, religious, and political problems that manifested itself into a general animosity towards the Catholic Church. The most important figure of the Reformation is without a doubt Martin Luther. Luther created the rally cry that thousands across Europe answered by criticizing the Catholic Churches practices and carrying on the work of other Christian Humanists like Erasmus. We see an example of one of Luther’s critical writings in Document 8.
Instead of just sending troops, Pope Urban II invited his people to engage in a holy war to take back Jerusalem. People were wildly enthusiastic, even children and old women and men wanted to go. As a result, Alexius received crusaders in answer to his request, and the first