THESIS STATEMENT:
Julia Maslin
92
Topic #2
INTRO
The Crusades were a series of 8 Christian military wars fought against the Muslims for the Holy Lands between 1096 and 1270. The word Crusade comes from the Latin word crux which means cross and Crusader meant to “take up the cross”.
The beginning of the start of the Crusades was when the Seljuk Turks, a new group of Muslims came, into the Holy Lands and took control of them including the holy city of Jerusalem (which was for the Jews, a place where Abraham was promised this land for G-d, where Jesus was crucified for the Christians. It is also where Muhammad amended into the heaven to meet Allah. All of these religions each believed that Jerusalem was their own holy city and that it was promised to them by their G-d. Up until 1095, when the Turks came in, there was no violence in Jerusalem. Since the 600s, the Muslims were in control of the area and they allowed the Jews and the Christians to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. However, this flow was interrupted when the Seljuk Turks came in and invaded the Holy Lands and took control of them.
When the Seljuk Turks came in and took control over the Holy Lands they closed off the permission to the Jews and the Christians to make their pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In the process of closing off the pilgrimage privileges to the Christian and the Jews, the Seljuk Turks murdered 3000 Christians, leaving the remaining Christians to be treated terribly. The fact that the Christians were treated so terribly, was one of the many motivations that the Christians had to fight in the Crusades.
The Emperor of the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I was becoming concerned that the Seljuk Turks will come in and conquer the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine Emperor, appealed to Pope Urban II for military help to use in his fight against the Seljuk Turks, and the Pope agrees to help Alexius.
“In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control.”1 (https://www.history.com/topics/Crusades ) This is what led to the start of the first Crusade.
Pope Urban II inspired the Crusaders to fight in the Crusades, because in his speech he said, “All who die by the way, whether by land, or by sea, or in battle, against the Muslims, shall have immediate forgiveness of sins.” This shows the motivation of their desire to take the Holy Lands back and away from the Seljuk Turks.
As a result of the Crusades, the Seljuk Turks were victorious and controlled the Holy Lands. The Crusades had a very large impact on the economic, social, and political state of Western Europe.
Another motivation for the Christians to fight in the crusades were for the economy. They wanted the chance to trade and make money by claiming riches in the Holy Lands. Also, They were motivated by the possibility of opening up new trade routes between Europe and the middle east.
One of the economic effects were the establishment of lending institutions across the continent, standardized methods of taxation and an increase in European trade. The wars made a consistent interest for provisions and transportation, which brought about ship-building and the assembling of different supplies.
“As to the political effects of the Crusades, they helped to break down the power of the feudal aristocracy, and to give prominence to the kings and the people.” 2 (www.lordsandladies.org/effects-of-crusades.htm) The Crusades conveyed a considerable measure of progress to the way Western Europe's government and politics. The underlying objective of feudalism was to pick up control of Palestine since that is the place Jesus lived and was a critical, religious city. The crusades helped separate the feudal power and offer noticeable quality to the kings and people, yet it took away power from the nobles. Toward the finish of the crusades, feudalism was not anymore a piece of European government. The European government turned out to be more brought together and the church lost some of its power.
A result that affected a large amount of the western European civilization, was the Black Plague. The Black Plague was a deathly diseased that spread around Europe after the crusades ended. When the Crusaders went to Asia to fight, while they were there black rats with a life-threatening disease manifested in them sunk into the ships of the men. When the crusaders returned back, the rats multiplied and were released into Europe causing the disease o spread throughout them. Also, since the crusaders were on the ship with them, they unknowingly spread the disease through Europe as well.
“The Crusades afforded an opportunity for romantic adventure. The Crusades were, therefore, one of the principal fostering influences of Chivalry. Contact with the culture of the East provided a general refining influence.” 3 (http://www.lordsandladies.org/effects-of-crusades.htm )
CONCLUSION