History And Philosophy of Art and Architecture

Neesaun Naveed BARF-08-20

Why did the Crusade start? Write in detail, various perspectives Regarding the importance of crusades in historical and present time

Contents
Crusades: An introduction A Brief Background Immediate Cause The Crusades Conclusive Analysis Biblography 6 7 1 2 3 4

Crusades: An introduction
From the confines of Jerusalem and the city of Constantinople a horrible tale has gone forth and very frequently has been brought to our ears: namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God, a generation, forsooth, which has neither directed its heart nor entrusted its spirit to God, has invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by sword, pillage, and fire. . . .
Pope Urban II, Proclamation at Clermont, 1095

On November 27, 1095, a speech given by Pope Urban II, at the end of a church council in Clermont, France, called all the Christians together against the attacks of the Muslim and Jewish infidels; the Saracen1. He had pled to the Christian world, to forget the enmities among themselves, and save the Holy Land from them. The outcome of this plea was astonishing, even for the pope himself who had called upon the Holy War. Large numbers of Franks, both noble and common, answered his call with great enthusiasm, and streamed eastwards in several waves retaking Jerusalem on July 15, 1099. The sufferings of the Muslim and Jewish people were too great to ever explain fully. Whole families, generations of people, were whipped off, in the name of the Holy War. It was a ghastly thing to do, but it was justified by those involved in the attacks as an attack to save not only the Holy Land of Jerusalem, but also to save the True religion; Christianity. What had happened? Why had it happened? According to Karen Armstrong, one of the greatest Historians today;
The Crusades, like so much of the modern conflict, were not wholly rational movements that could be explained away by purely economic or territorial ambition or by the clash of rights and interests. They were fueled, on all sides, by myths and passions that were far more effective in getting people to act than any purely political motivation. The medieval holy wars in the Middle East could not be solved by rational treatises or neat territorial solutions. Fundamental passions were involved which touched the identity of Christians, Muslims and Jews and which were sacred to the identity of each. They have not changed very much in the holy wars of today.
Karen Armstrong, Holy War, 1988

These wars had a reason deeper than desperate call to save a land in wrong hands. It was a political, more than a religious move, made by an intelligent man that made the position of Church really strong in the years to come, especially in Europe. In the following pages I have tried to understand not only the reasons and consequences of the Crusades, but also the Crusades themselves.

A Brief Background
Beginning in the first century A.D., the religion known as Christianity arose in Palestine and spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire, in a very peaceful manner.
1

The word used to describe a Muslim during the time of the Crusades.

What started out as a religion of a few people in Arabia, accepted at first only by the Bedouin tribes had grown into quite a strong empire over the years. It had come a long way in the few hundred years separating that time from the time of the Prophet (PBUH). By the time Islam came, the two great powers, Byzantium and Persia, were already exhausted by prolonged conflict with each other. Jerusalem fell in 638 and through the rest of the seventh century, the Arab armies advanced inexorably northwards and westwards. By the early eighth century, the Arab forces had reached the Straits of Gibraltar, and in 711 they crossed into European Spain and defeated the armies of the Christian Visigoths. They only stopped when they were finally defeated at the battle of Tours, in 732 by Charles Martel. For the next 300 years, they engaged in countless battles, and in the tenth century the Byzantines made some limited gains along, but they just could not retake Jerusalem. The Turks replaced the Arabs in the middle of the eleventh century, and they caused major changes in some of the more tolerant rules regarding the Christians Holy Pilgrimage site, Jerusalem. By the second half of the eleventh century, most of the pilgrims were going to the Holy Land as large, armed groups who were very like the crusade rehearsals.

Map 1: Extent of the Muslim Empire versus the Christian Empire before the Crusades

Immediate Cause
"The Crusades were the long-term result of the rise of Islam."
Elizabeth Hallam, Chronicles of the Crusades

And as discussed in previous topic, they clearly were. When Alexius Comnenus took over the Imperial Byzantine crown, he realized that the Muslim power was too great for him to fight off; therefore, he appealed to the Pope. Although the Western and Eastern Europe were not much of friends, but Alexius believed that the Pope would listen to his plea against the Muslims; he was not wrong.
O how great the need of salting! It is indeed necessary for you to correct with the salt of wisdom this foolish people which is so devoted to the pleasures of this -world, lest the Lord, when He may wish to speak to them, find them putrefied by their sins unsalted and stinking. For if He, shall find worms, that is, sins, In them, because you have been negligent in your duty, He will command them as worthless to be thrown into the abyss of unclean things. And because you cannot restore to Him His great loss, He will surely condemn you and drive you from His loving presence.
Pope Urban II, Proclamation at Clermont, 1095

As you can read above, Pope Urban made the Muslims look like some unguided barbarians, whose sole mission in this world was to destroy the Christian world, and to push the world into an abyss of anarchy. He made the Muslims appear as a race of infidels, and the Christians,as a superior race, who had to liberate not only the other Christians, but also the poor helpless infidels. He gave the usual promises of heaven to those who died in battle.
"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion!
Pope Urban II, Proclamation at Clermont, 1095

If looked at from a Christians point of view, he would have been highly emotional at hearing that his very own sacred religion was at stake. He would have done any and everything to save his religion from the so called Pagans. Thus the heavy turnout, even though was a surprise to everyone, but it should have been expected after the beautiful play of words by the pope.

The Crusades
Large numbers of poorer knights and peasants answered the call immediately and set off without proper preparation. This sort of participation was not expected; so no one was prepared to deal with these people. These were the ones, who being more enthusiastic than anyone else, first massacred the Jews on the theory that the battle against Christ's enemies ought to begin at home. This was not allowed by the church, so it became quite a problem to cover up. However, when they reached the ranks of the Turks, they were defeated very easily, as the Turks had a long history of warfare. This episode was termed the Peasants crusade. The Frankish barons who were accustomed to war and its necessary preparations, departed at a predefined time; summer 1096, and then set out in several large units, taking multiple routes.

Map 2: The routes taken by the Crusaders

Some of the great names involved were; Bohemond of Taranto, Raymond of Toulouse, Hugh of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin of Boulogne, Robert of Flanders, and Robert of Normandy.

After a long journey, crusaders finally reached Jerusalem; the final result of the First Crusade being the establishment of four Latin "states" or "kingdoms" in the Middle East: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The first Muslim leader to recover from this was Zengi. On Christmas Eve, 1144, Zengi's troops took the capital of the County of Edessa and destroyed the oldest Crusader state. Thus many wars, entitled the crusades were fought between the Muslims and the Christians, until in 1291, the Christians were driven from their last strongholds. The Holy Land was once again lost to Christendom. The following timeline explains it very well.

Conclusive Analysis
What had begun as one mans calling of a people to save the Holy Land, became a war that reigned over the world for the next 200 years, until in 1291, the Christians lost their Holy Land for the last time. If looked at from a Christians point of view, it was a war that justified all the damage done, all the lives taken and all the families ruined, by the armies. It was all justified, because they had fought to save the Holy Land. The Muslims, who have begun speaking out in modern times, have a very different point of view. It was a symbol of western hostility towards them. It was motivated by their greed and hatred for Islam. According to historian Peter Mansfield,
Assaulted from all quarters, the Muslim world turned in on itself. It became oversensitive [and] defensive attitudes that grew steadily worse as worldwide evolution, a process from which the Muslim world felt excluded, continued.

Although no war had been declared against the Jews, they suffered as well. The Muslim leaders tried to protect them in the Holy City, but they were still put through too many atrocities to explain. A blog post by one named aegri_somnia, explains a very different point of view is explained;
This idea that Pope Urban II was just an opportunist and wanted the Holy Land for all of Christendom is not so farfetched of an idea. Urban II was presented with a really good opportunity to recapture the Holy Lands when the Byzantine emperor Alexius I called for the churchs help. Seeing that the church acted upon this opportunity is evidence that recapturing the Holy Land was on the church's agenda. Why not expand Chritendom a little?
Available at < http://historyportal.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html>

The crusades were however, overall not an experience for anyone of those involved to be proud of, or to remember. Painful memories would strike up, wherever the crusades were mentioned; especially the Muslims of that area were affected not only then, but for generations to come. They were not talked about by the Europeans for a long time, because they were not proud of what they had done either. So, it was a matter that had at the time seemed an important step for survival, but if looked at now, it was somewhat of a pointless struggle between two sects; between which a third one got crushed, and one of which is still suffering to an extent.

Bibliography
Books cosulted and refered to
1. Hollister, Warren. C., Bennett, M. Judith. Medieval Europe: A Short History. New York: McGrawHill Companies, 2002. 2. Armstrong, Karen. Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Todays World. New York: Anchor Books, 2001. 3. Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. London: Phoenix Press, 2002. 4. Alfred J. Andrea. "Encyclopedia of the Crusades". Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003 5. Helen Nicholson. "The Crusades". Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004 6. Corliss K. Slack. "Historical Dictionary of the Crusades". Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2003 7. Riely-Smith Jhonnathan. The Crusades, London; Continuum, 1987

Internet Articals and sites cosulted and refered to

1. Crawford, Paul; Crusades, Online reference book for medieval studies
Available at < http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/crusades/crusade_intro.html >

2. Lecture 25, The Holy Crusades

Available at < http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture25b.html>

3. Crusades
Available at < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades>

4. Historiography of the Crusades

Available at < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_of_the_Crusades>

5. Crusade for a Crusade, Sunday, February 25, 2007

Available at < http://historyportal.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html>

Maps And timeline refered to

1. Map1: Extent of the Muslim Empire versus the Christian Empire before the Crusades
Available at <http://www.hennesy.id.au/quentingeorge/archives/00058.htm>

2. Map2: The routes taken by the Crusaders

Available at < http://historyportal.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html>

3. Timeline
Available at < http://gratefultothedead.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/the-crusades-step-by-step-througha-spectacular-mess/>