Crusades 4 Essay Research Paper Introduction In

Campaigns 4 Essay, Research Paper

Introduction In the twelvemonth of our Godhead 1095, Pope Urban II started what we know as the Holy Wars or the Crusades. Over the period from 1095-1464, a series of military expeditions were fought to take back the Holy Land, Jerusalem, from the Seldjuk Turks. There were eight campaigns which were spurred for many different grounds by many different people that left a permanent consequence to the universe. These old ages of bloodshed were led by work forces of power to convey money, greed, and celebrity to themselves at the disbursal of others. Although it brought a lasting edginess between the two faiths, but trade with the East increased and feudal system became scarce. The reformers failed to recover the Holy Land, but the Eastern connexions opened Europe to a brighter apprehension of optimistic ways of life and thought. This began the formation of modern Europe. Overview: The leaders and the consequences During the Middle Ages, Christians visited Palestine, known as the Holy Land, which was the part where Jesus Christ had lived. The Muslims had captured this land from the Christians, but still allowed spiritual pilgrim’s journeies. Towards 1071 the ferocious Seldjuk Turks started suppressing the East. The Turks had become Muslims ( ) , but the Turks made it hard for Christians to make the holy topographic points. The military expeditions planned and fought by western European Christians that began around 1095 are known today as the Crusades. The psyche intent of these expeditions was to catch and derive control of the Holy Land, Jerusalem, from the Muslims. & # 8220 ; Deus vult! ( God wills it! ) & # 8221 ; was the conflict call of the 1000s of Christians who participated in the event of the Crusades. It was Christian belief that destiny was to derive control of the Holy Land for the glorification of God. The beginning of the Crusades was a consequence of the Turkish enlargement in the in-between E ; the Turks invaded the Christian imperium, Byzantium, and therefore the reformers were sent out to retrieve the land which was truly theirs. Around 1071 the ferocious Seldjuk Turks started suppressing the East. The Turks had become Muslims ( ) , but the Turks made it hard for Christians to make the holy topographic points. The Turks decided to go on their reign of panic. In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus asked Urban II, Catholic Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, for aid in contending the Turks ( ) . Urban II agreed with two ends in head to support Christianity against the Muslims and to retrieve the Holy Land. First Crusade ( 1096-1099 ) The first campaign was initiated by Pope Urban II. On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban preached to his followings outside the metropolis of Clermont-Ferrand about the action which needed to take topographic point. Preaching words about how God would take the manner because they would be making his work, Pope Urban urged action to take topographic point. In response to his address, the people cheered and planned their campaign to recover control of the lost metropolis. Urban brought all the bishops and urged them to promote their friends and fellow villagers to take portion in the expedition. Small self-directing groups began to organize, each be aftering their ain way to Constantinople ; that was where they would run into and organize integrity. Their program was to assail the Turkish forces in Constantinople and recover control of the metropolis. The Christian ground forcess conversed with the Byzantium emperor, Alexius I Comnenus, and agreed to return any of the old land that was recaptured. The ground forcess were diffident about this understanding, nevertheless, they agreed to the pact anyhow. The first onslaught by the reformers was on the Turkish capital, Anatolian. During the same clip frame, the Byzantians were besides doing an effort to recover the metropolis of Anatolian. The Byzantians used the campaigns to their advantage to accomplish their end in capturing the metropolis. Later in the twelvemonth, Anatolian surrendered the metropolis to the Byzantians, non the reformers. The reformers so met one time once more and together defeated the Turkish ground forces, hiting a great triumph. Afterwards, the reformers went and captured the metropolis of Antioch, and so moved on to their primary end & # 8211 ; Jerusalem. Jerusalem was under heavy guard by the Egyptians at the clip period when the reformers were about to do their onslaught. The reformers set up siege machines and called for supports, and finally, the Egyptians surrendered to them. All who dwelled in the metropolis were massacred in belief that the blood of former owners purified the metropolis. For the following coevals or so, the reformers kept control over the Holy Land and invited their people to come populate the metropolis. They began to colonise and put up provinces ; the four major provinces which were set up consisted of: Tripoli, Antioch, Edessa, and Jerusalem. The reformers used the scheme of isolating and cutting off supplies that could take to beef uping to the Muslims and Egyptians. However, as the following coevals came approximately, the kids of the original reformers were non rather as motivated and determined as the original fleet, so the Muslims escaped the isolation and regained power. The Muslims, under the leading of the extremist leader, Zangi, found triumph in assailing Edessa. The Muslims destroyed churches, places, edifice, and murdered many reformers, and regained control of the metropolis. Second Crusade ( 1147-1149 ) The Pope, seeing the events that were taking topographic point, declared yet a 2nd campaign to recapture the lost district one time once more. Armies from France and Germany set out to run into one time once more in Jerusalem and articulation forces. However, the German reformers were ambushed during their ocean trip consuming their supplies and horse. The few staying joined the Gallic fleet in Jerusalem, and together attempted an onslaught on Damascus. Bing severely defeated, the Gallic ground forces returned place, while the Germans remained with the settlements of the former reformers. The provinces established by the reformers were easy being destroyed, and therefore, the failure of the 2nd campaign led into a 3rd. Third Crusade ( 1189-1192

) Nur ad-Din, the new Muslim leader, motivated the Muslims into believing that they should take back what was thought to be theirs. However, the newfound leader died a few years proceeding, and yet another leader, Saladin, came to power. With the newly revived army, Saladin led his army in an attack to recapture Jerusalem in 1187. In early October, Saladin defeated the crusaders and gained control of Jerusalem. Pope Gregory VIII then called for a third crusade. Frederick I, Roman Emperor, Philip II, French king, Richard I of England, all joined together to assemble one of the most powerful armies during the time of the middle ages. However, due to the many misfortunes the crusaders faced, they were not able to recapture control of Jerusalem. Returning home, the Roman, French, and English armies accomplished none of the goals which they had set. Other Crusades (1202-1464) Almost immediately upon being elected pope, Innocent III assumed the leadership of the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204). He organized a crusade to attack the Muslims in Egypt. However, almost immediately, Innocent lost control over the Crusade. The original plan if the Fourth Crusade to meet in Venice and ship hosts to the Holy Land, however, financial problems formed because of the expenses involve in shipping so many. The Venetians agreed to give up the ships if the crusaders would help them capture the city of Zara. After capturing Zara, the Venetians urged to take control over the city of Constantinople. Innocent forbade this expedition, however, most of the crusaders went anyhow; in July 1203, the crusaders took control over Constantinople. The Fourth Crusade was not a crusade that was bound for the Holy Land, but only an event of political and commercial greed. Following the Fourth Crusade was the Children’s Crusades. Singing and shouting, French children marched out across the countryside to the edges of the Mediterranean Sea, where old, rotted merchant ships provided free transport across to the Holy Land. However, the ships were sunk by a storm, and all aboard the vessels drowned in the icy waters of the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, children in Germany began a march to convert the atheists to Christianity. However, these children also faced tragedy and death, for they were not equipped for the hardships of the Alps to Rome. After the fall of Acre, the Christians last stronghold, in 1291 many Christians lacked the enthusiasim to continue with more disappointing crusades. Instead other men made small expeditions to the Holy Land in later years to try and get a little piece back. Though the wars continued to 1464, the last battles were minor and not consider crusades. Results The definite results of the Crusades on European History is certainly debatable. What is certain is that the Crusades had very little impact on the East, except for their castles. Though it was spurred by the clashing of two cultures, it most likely brought a broadening perspective to everyone. The real effects of this were in Italy and Spain. The Italian ports began to see a substantial amount of economic growth of the Genoa, Venice, and Pisa. Although the great wealth and growing population made this war possible, the Crusades certainly enhanced trade, but did not revive it. The Crusades had one other strong effect on Europe, it managed to reduce the number of quarrelsome and contentious knights. The Crusades provided an outlet for knights to become one and fight for a common good. The monarchs were able to consolidate their control more easily now that the warrior class had been reduced. Causes of the Crusades To understand some of the motives behind the Crusades, we must look at the fascinating political and religious balance of power that dominated the medieval world. By the end of the 10th century, the spread of Islam had all but stopped and a comparatively stable state of affairs existed between Muslims, Jews and Christians with the latter able to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, which was at that stage under Muslim rule. This state of affairs came to an end however, with the aggressive expansion of the Seljuk Turks, a race of nomadic shepherds from the steppes of central Asia. They had been converted to Islam as they moved westwards, and by 1055 ran a huge empire which stretched from central Asia and southern Russia to the northern borders of Syria. The Turks inevitably rubbed up against the eastern borders of what was then the greatest Christian power-base in the world, the Byzantine Empire, with its capital in Constantinople (now Istanbul). In 1071, the Turks defeated the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert, leaving the greatest city in the world vulnerable and weakened. The Turks were also ambushing parties of Christian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. The various routes to Jerusalem had been relatively safe and these sudden attacks alarmed the European Christians for whom pilgrimages were very important. The Christian world at this stage was split in two. In the middle of the 11th century the Emperor and Bishop of Constantinople had excommunicated the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), who in turn excommunicated them. There was no longer one Holy Roman Empire. But with the Byzantine Empire under threat from the Turks, the Emperor Alexius swallowed his pride and sent a request to Pope Urban II in Rome for help. This cry for help was a perfect opportunity for Pope Urban to regain some influence over Constantinople and also fulfil his obligation to protect the rights of Christendom. Conclusion The years of bloodshed that was spurred by greed and power ended up with no Holy Land and an ongoing rivalry towards the Muslims. Despite the harsh feelings between both cultures, they both gained economically due to the improvement of trade between the West and the East. Many rulers came along and fought for their own causes, but known were successful. These Holy Wars aided in the shaping of European History and left a lasting effect on the world.