...The Crusades are traditionally defined as the series of western expeditions against the Muslim lands of Palestine and the Levant which begun with Pope Urban’s call to arms at Clermont in 1095 AD, and all but ended with the Muslim liberation of Acre in 1291. The initial western offensive was sudden and effective. By 1099, Jerusalem was in Christian hands, and remained so until 1187, when it was liberated by Slah al-Din. From then on, European power in the region was very limited, although Frederick II of Sicily briefly conquered Jerusalem again in 1228. The fall of Acre in 1291 marked the end of the European presence in the region. All in all, it was the western Christian that states failed to counter the ultimate rise of Muslim power as-well-as “liberating” any holy lands. It was a war that a man fought another man for the misguided main beliefs of another. Over-all, the Muslim nations that were invaded by those Christian states wanted no part of the hostile take-over of their lands or a forced conversion to their non-Islamic religion. Holy Sepulchre, a city in Palestine was the center of attraction; where the religious practices of Christians were not allowed to enter. The city was under the care of the Caliphs from Bagdad and the Fatimid’s of Egypt. At one point the Caliph presented the keys of this holy place to Charlemagne to lock out the millions of Christians from gaining access. People from Turkey sooner joined the fight to control the holy place as the Arabian community...
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...The Crusades: Salvation or Exploitation? Student’s Name University Affiliation The Crusades: Salvation or Exploitation? The crusades trace their origin to the eleventh century. Europe’s many states were at constant loggerheads over boundaries and territories (Bréhier, 1908). The head of Christendom, on the other hand, embroiled himself in arguments over investitures. At the time, the Pope had managed to keep the Church united. Faced with the threat of the Mohammedan tribes and the Byzantine Empire, the Church came under pressure to suppress the Muslim persecution of Christians in the East. According to Bréhier (1908), the Pope was the only figure who could institute such a conquest. However, his eminent authority was not enough to persuade the Western nations to take up arms to conquer the Holy Land and to regain the Holy Sepulcher (“The Crusades,” 2013). Nevertheless, the sour relations between Syria and the Western Nations favored the Pope’s intentions. According to “The Crusades (1095-1291)” (2013), most historians attribute the beginning of the Crusades to a sermon preached by Pope Urban II in November 1095. The Christian faithful considered these waves of military campaigns as divinely sanctioned and thus Christians executed them with the utmost vehemence. Ten centuries later, the question that lingers in our minds is,” Were the Crusades a quest for Salvation or was there an intention of exploiting the peasants in Europe...
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...The Crusades were a series of wars taking place in Asia Minor and the Levant between 1095 and 1291, in which Western European nations engaged using the propaganda of religious expeditionary wars. The first crusade was called by Pope Urban II of the Roman Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. The background to the Crusades was the centuries of Arab–Byzantine Wars and the Seljuq-Byzantine Wars and the recent decisive defeat of the Byzantine army by Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in 1071. The Norman conqueror Robert Guiscard's conquest of Byzantine territories added to the problems of the Byzantine Empire. In an attempt to curtail both dangers, its Emperor Alexios I sought to align Christian nations against a common enemy, requested western aid, and Pope Urban II in turn enlisted western leaders in the cause of taking back the Holy Land.[1] The crusaders comprised military units of Roman Catholics from all over western Europe, and were not under unified command. The main series of Crusades, primarily against Muslims in the Levant, occurred between 1095 and 1291. Historians have given many of the earlier crusades numbers. After some early successes, the later crusades failed and the crusaders were defeated and forced to return home. Several hundred thousand soldiers became Crusaders by taking vows;[2] the Pope granted them plenary indulgence. Their emblem was the cross — the term "crusade" is derived from the French...
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..."The idea that a country or a people could somehow be ordained by heaven to commit unspeakable acts in God's name is insane. Unfortunately, history is full of inhuman acts by religious leaders in the name of their dogma or holy war. Only when the world accepts there are no chosen people and no chosen religions will we earn the right to call ourselves human beings." – Zain Winter How people use the name of God as some sort of excuse or alibi to cover their tracks and clear their conscience is rather disappointing and a bad reflection on the part of humanity. About 800 years ago, powerful nations sought after the Holy Land and waged wars against each other. “This war is God’s will” or “Allahu Akbar” (glory to God) was their battle cry, and religion was the justification as to why they were causing chaos and conquering lands. Priests played very important roles, for the Kings often sought advice from them, thinking that the priests communicated directly with God. Not only did the Christians resort to religious practices, but so did the Muslims, for they were also fighting in the name of Allah. The main dispute was that the people believed they were the chosen ones by God, whoever they conceived him to be, that’s why it was necessary for them to rightfully reclaim what’s theirs and convert everyone in accordance to their religion. Religion is the key component as to why people are divided. Religion is supposed to be a good thing, but how humanity perceives it to use it...
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...St. Francis of Assisi Saint Francis of Assisi was born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181. He was the founder of the Franciscan Order. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wetly Assisan cloth merchant. His mother, Pica, is said to have belonged to a noble family of Provence. Francis was one of several children. According to a legend, he was born in a stable that dates from the fifteenth century only, and appears to have originated in the desire of certain writers to make his life resemble that of Christ. At baptism the saint received the name of Giovanni, which his dad changed to Francesco. The child was still able to learn French even though he was renamed. Francis received elementary teachings from the priests of St. George's at Assisi, even though he learned more in the school of the Troubadours. He was not very studious, and his literary education remained incomplete. Francis showed little liking for a merchant's career, and his parents seemed to have indulged him. Thomas was Francis's first biographer, who speaks very fond of him. No one loved pleasure more than Francis. Francis had a ready wit, sang merrily, enjoyed in fine clothes and showy display. He showed sympathy with the poor, and though he spent money lavishly. In 1201 he took part in an attack on Perugia, was taken hostage, and remained a captive there for a year. His mind began to turn to religion, but around 1205 he enlisted in another military expedition, to Apulia. However, he had a dream in which God called...
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...John Foster HIS-109 March 6, 2014 Professor Carta The High Middle Ages The Christian religions rise to supremacy in the middle ages was the result of several factors. Christians had long been persecuted by the Roman Empire because the Romans felt that Christianity challenged and offended the Greco-Roman Gods and the Christians were prone to revolt against Roman rule. Christianity survived because it had many teachings that appealed to the downtrodden in Roman society, these teachings being that even though they were suffering they would gain equality and possibly superiority in the next life, Christianity gave them hope. When Emperor Constantine “converted” to Christianity, this conversion is not fact and often debated, after the Christian God gave him a vision that he would win a battle if he put the sign of Jesus Christ on his soldier’s banners. He did and won the battle decisively giving credit to the Christian God and then proceeded to favor Christianity over all religions in the Empire. Constantine’s favor was the turning point in the Christian religion. Under his rule Roman citizens converted in droves. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed around 476 A.D. all non-religious authority broke down throughout this empire and central Europe. Germanic tribes began to invade and take over these areas and the rule of law became almost non-existent. The Catholic Church maintained its organization giving the Christians a place to look for guidance during this dark...
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...name of eradicating false religions and replacing them with true religion” (Fisher, 2005, p. 28). Problems are caused by religion because each person has their religion, and each religion thinks they are right and the other religions are wrong. Religion is supposed to unite people, teach people to love and respect one another but instead it has created war, and has divided people. With people thinking that they are right, it causes them to hate and kill other people with different beliefs. They will compete with each other on who is right, and who seems to be godlier. The Crusades was an event in the past, it was war between the Christians and Moslems. According to “The Crusades” (n.d.), “The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the holy places of the Palestine from the hands of the Mohammedans” (The Crusades – What were the Crusades). Each religion thought that they had the right to have the holy places which resulted in wars between these religions. Wars have happened because one religion feels they are godlier than the other so try to have all authority or power over the people. Another event was the Spanish Inquisition. According to “Freeman” (2012), “Reasons for the Inquisition included a desire to create religious unity and weaken local political authorities and familial alliances” (How Stuff Works: The Beginnings of the Spanish Inquisition). This led to the people involved in the Spanish Inquisition...
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...Monique Hall English 101 LOU Actions that Christians Should Take to Preserve and Restore the Environment Claim The topic of discussion weighs heavily on anthropologist, activist, politicians and those whose movement is geared to the preservation of the environment. As a result of the decomposing environment, the question of whose responsibility has moved from environmentalist those driven by scientific finding to Christians those whose love for Christ must now include the earth and inhabitants. God has supplied all our needs on completion of creating the earth, now the environment is at risk due to advance technology, pollution and climate control. As a believer of Christ there has to be a way that we can protect and restore what is being done to the Holy land. Forest are being destroyed to build up communities to meet the needs of our growing population. In which the land is suffering from the loss of trees that produce oxygen and keep the animals safe. According to Tikell, if something happens rapidly it is hardly recognized, but if it happens at a slower rate that is when it is noticed. (Tickell, 1990) The growth of a tree does not happen overnight, there is a process from seed time to the full development of a sprouting tree. In the same manner, the decomposition of the earth through decades of unfiltered toxins, fuels, limited regulations on air quality has sparked the...
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...The Crusades In 1095 an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. Messengers from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus had urged the pope to send help against the armies of Muslim Turks. On November 27 the pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The response of the assembly was overwhelmingly favorable. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates of the Near East. "God wills it!" That was the battle cry of the thousands of Christians who joined crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims. From 1096 to 1270 there were eight major crusades and two children's crusades, both in the year 1212. Only the First and Third Crusades were successful. In the long history of the Crusades, thousands of knights, soldiers, merchants, and peasants lost their lives on the march or in battle. 1095: Beginning of the Crusades In 1095 an assembly of churchmen called by Pope Urban II met at Clermont, France. Messengers from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus had urged the pope to send help against the armies of Muslim Turks. On November 27 the pope addressed the assembly and asked the warriors of Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. The response of the assembly was overwhelmingly favorable. Thus was launched the first and most successful of at least eight crusades against the Muslim caliphates of the Near East. The...
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...Nizaris, but to the rest of the world, had become known by a different name - the Hashashin, or Assassins. The sheikh who presided at Alamut, nicknamed "the Old Man of the Mountain" since Hasan-i-Sabbah's time, was rumored to command a secret legion of fedayeen, or holy warriors, perfectly trained in the arts of espionage, infiltration, and murder, who were willing - indeed, expected - to give their lives to destroy designated enemies. The Assassins were murderers for hire, able to infiltrate the most tightly guarded palaces and royal entourages, and to assassinate kings, noblemen, and generals, Christian or Muslim, if the price was right. They were active and unpredictable players in the power politics of Christian and Muslim during the crusades, and Henry of Champagne had stopped at Alamut to see whether the Old Man of the Mountain would be amenable to an alliance. One day during his visit, Count Henry and the sheikh of the Assassins were strolling outside the fortress, when the conversation turned to military obedience....
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...had a major impact were the crusades. The Crusades were a bunch of religious wars that were called on by the Pope and the Catholic Church in order to defend Christianity against the Muslims and get closer to the holy cities and other places in ancient Palestine. So what exactly does “crusade” mean? The word comes from an old French word “crois”, which means cross (if you haven’t guessed it). The crusaders (men who take vows to fight for Christianity) were not usually under a single banner, they all attached a cross to their clothes, but joining a crusade was usually voluntarily (depending where you were from). The Lords would get a notice that the Pope has called a crusade, and if they didn’t have any local problems of their own, they would go and fight the Byzantines. But the King of a country was still the same old mean guy, and if a lord or a noble died while fighting in the crusades, his land was possessed by the king, and other nobles were so righteous that they sold off their lands in order to buy weapons and armor to fight in the crusades. Not everything was so grim, the crusaders were facing a superior force and they had to adapt, they learned for example how to use a compass or how to build better ships. And while warring with other country’s they picked up some loot along the way, like silk, spices, sugar and brought the spoils back home, which enticed the Europeans to trade to gain more of these luxury good. In total there were 9 crusades, with varying degrees of success...
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...• Question 1 1 out of 1 points The Fourth Crusade was diverted from Jerusalem and ended up sacking Answer Selected Answer: Constantinople. • Question 2 1 out of 1 points The Domesday Book could best be described as a Answer Selected Answer: a manual of chivalry. • Question 3 1 out of 1 points Under William of Normandy and his son Henry I, medieval England Answer Selected Answer: developed a strong, centralized monarchy. • Question 4 1 out of 1 points Female monasticism in the twelfth century Answer Selected Answer: saw the number of women joining religious houses increase significantly. • Question 5 1 out of 1 points The investiture controversy was resolved in 1122 by a compromise agreement known as the Concordat of Answer Selected Answer: Worms. • Question 6 1 out of 1 points Scandinavia by the twelfth century Answer Selected Answer: had accepted Christianity through the agency of local kings who wished to better organize and govern their states. • Question 7 1 out of 1 points The investiture controversy concerned the issue of Answer Selected Answer: who could bestow a church position on a man. • Question 8 1 out of 1 points Saint Francis of Assisi stressed that Answer Selected Answer: his followers must accept strict vows of poverty and live by working and beg for...
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...Account for the resurgence of Muslim power between 1144 and 1187 The latter half of the 12th century can be distinctly marked and understood as the gradual and dynamic process of the unification of the Islamic Middle East. By 1187 this resurrection of Muslim authority was albeit confirmed, manifesting itself in its fundamental intent; the reclamation of the Holy City of Jerusalem. And yet while a Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem remained in the Levant till 1291 with the fall of Acre, it was crippled, never to reclaim its former holdings nor its dominion or aspirations in recreating a Christian Holy Land. As William of Tyre aptly noted of the situation in the 1180s “the strategic balance in the Near East had tilted decisively against the Franks“. Throughout the 12th century, this process of resurgence was the conjunction of several contributory factors throughout the period, both that of growing Muslim unity and strength, attached with underlying instabilities and structural ailments of the Crusader States. The impact and the role of the succession of the prodigious leadership, notably that of Zengi and his successors Nir Al-Din and Saladin, in facilitating the rise of Muslim ascendency in Syria and Palestine can be distinctly identified as a powerful driving force in this process. Ultimately therefore from 1144 to 1187 what this period highlights is the complex backdrop from which the narrative of Muslim resurgence is built upon. As noted, the succession of exceptional and charismatic...
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...Jaida Rodgers History A Impact of the Crusades The Crusades were a very important part of history. It has been said that The Crusades are what started the beginning of modernization. Not only were they what started the beginning of modernization, they also had many impacts on Europe. The four major areas of impact on Europe were in the Economic, Political, Social, and Religious parts. Though all the areas were impacted, not all were good impacts. One of the areas that will be focused on is the Economic area. The Crusades were very commerce. Commerce is the activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale. The Crusades were always in demand for transportation for not only men, but their supplies as well, would always edge ship-building on, and also had the market extend for Eastern products in Europe. Cities that had benefitted from this are places such as Cairo, Alexandria, Damascus, and Mosul because of all the trade that had been happening with the Italian seaports across the Mediterranean Sea, they were making more money. Many believe that the Economic area was the most important part of the Crusades, but many believe that they are wrong and it is not one of the most important parts of the Crusades. The next area that will be focused on is the Political area. There were bad and good impacts on the Political impact of the Crusades. The Crusades actually took down aristocracy and wanted to show the importance of the kings and the people. It is said that many...
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...Impact of Crusades in European History The time referred to as the High Middle Ages in Europe in the 11th century was in stark contrast to the Europe of the Renaissance. The continent was divided into kingdoms of weaker monarchs fragmented into small fiefdoms. The political landscape was dominated by the powerful aristocracy and even more powerful men of the religion. Life conditions were dismal for most of the population, trade was nearly nonexistent. In terms of arts and sciences, European civilization was dwarfed by those of the Middle East and Asia. Yet, in a couple centuries Europe would become one of the most powerful, sophisticated civilizations in the world. This change can be attributed in no small part to its interaction with the Orient though Crusades that spanned from the end of the 11th century to the end of the 13th century. The 35,000 men that joined the first Crusade embarked on a journey to a world that was very different than Europe. After capturing Jerusalem and settling down in various places in the Middle East, they saw that the Muslims lived luxurious lives. Their civilization was hundreds of years ahead of their own in terms of culture, technology and sciences. The Arabs had spent centuries in major cities copying the texts of classical Greek philosophers and making additions on the existing body of knowledge. The works of philosopher scientists such as Ibn Sina and Biruni were taught in European centers of learning emerging at the time of the first...
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