Holy Wars: The Crusades

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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. For Muslims it was the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven. These crusades gave the knights something to fight for the peasants a chance to escape their lives, for others a chance to get rich, and…show more content…
The Muslims over time learned the value of united action and in 1144A.D. they captured the city of Edessa. The fall of Edessa made people realize the dangers, which threatened Jerusalem and led to another crusade. The second crusade had a favorable outlook but an unhappy ending. Of the people that left a few thousand escaped annihilation at the hands of the Turks. The armies made an attack on Damascus but have to raise the siege after a few days. This ended the crusade. “Having practically accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned…show more content…
The leader of the children’s crusade was a child who was around twelve years old. He was a peasant named Stephen who was persuaded that Jesus Christ had commanded him to lead a crusade of children to rescue the holy land. The children were all consumed in excitement and flocked to places of meetings. Nothing could stop the purpose of their desire. Most were quite confident that the Holy Spirit was talking to them and that being children they were innocent and god would grant mercy upon them. Others were confident the whole thing was the work of the devil. This crusade shows the most ignorance, and superstition. Most of the children died of starvation or freezing. The few who made it to the Mediterranean Sea believed god would part the waters for them when nothing happened the few who remained returned home. The rest of the crusades ended in the same way. There was no real end to the crusades people became less interested after the unsuccessful 8 crusades before. They then stopped going to war and stopped fighting. By the end of the thirteenth century Emperor Frederick the second had recovered Jerusalem by a treaty for a short time but in 1244 A.D. The holy City became again in possession of the Muslims and had since stayed in there

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