Crusades: The Motivation Behind The First Crusade

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

PAPER 3

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO

RODNEY NICKENS

IN COMPLETION OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

CHHI 301

BY

LOY MILAM

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA

December 8, 2011

The origin of the word “Crusade” may be traced to the cross made of cloth and worn as a badge on the outer garment of those who took part in these engagements. Historians generally count Eight Crusades which span from 1095-1270 A.D. In this paper I will show that the primary motivation for these Crusades was a Christian reaction to the Muslims taking control of the Holy Land and hampering pilgrimages to the region. However, I will also show that this simple goal was often overshadowed by the quest for personal gain and political power which…show more content…
It is evident that at the close of the eleventh century the route to Palestine was familiar enough to Western Christians who looked upon the Holy Sepulchre as the most venerable of relics and were ready to brave any peril in order to visit it.

While the basic motivation for the First Crusade may have been to wrestle the Holy Land and it relics from Muslim control and once again clear the way for Western Christian pilgrimages, this is not to say that certain Western leaders did not use this devotional excuse for their own political benefit.
Second Crusade
The motivation for the Second Crusade was the Fall of Edessa, taken by the Sultan of Aleppo in 1144, and the consequent call to Christian crusaders for the Holy Land to again be freed. But once again we see a darker agenda appearing among the participants as the call arose that Jews were to be exterminated along the way. The Second Crusade was preached by St. Bernard of Clairvaux and led by King Louis VII of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, but resulted in near complete…show more content…
n.d. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_crusade7th.html (accessed December 8, 2011).

The Fifth Crusade. 2011. http://www.medievality.com/fifth-crusade.html (accessed December 8, 2011).

The Sixth Crusade. 2011. http://www.medievality.com/sixth-crusade.html (accessed December 8, 2011).

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[ 1 ]. Brehier, Louis. Crusades. 1908. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm (accessed December 8, 2011).
[ 2 ]. Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010.
[ 3 ]. Gonzalez 2010, 346
[ 4 ]. Crawford, Paul. The First Crusade. 1997. http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/crusades/first_crusade.html (accessed December 8, 2011).
[ 5 ]. Ibid.
[ 6 ]. Crawford 1997
[ 7 ]. Brehier 1908
[ 8 ]. Crusader Motives. 2007. http://tenthmedieval.wordpress.com/material-motives-for-participation-in-the-first-crusade/ (accessed December 8, 2011).
[ 9 ]. Gonzalez 2010, 350
[ 10 ]. Ibid.
[ 11 ]. Crawford 1997
[ 12 ]. Gonzalez 2010, 350
[ 13 ]. Alchin, L. K. The Third Crusade. 2008. http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/the-third-crusade.htm (accessed December 8,