The Crusades Were the Holy Wars of the Christians - Essay Example

?The Crusades The Crusades were the holy wars of the Christians to take back lands forcibly taken by the invading Muslims. The research focuses on the origins of the Crusades. The research includes the political, economic, and social aspect of the contest. The Crusades theme focuses on the evolution of the crusades (an evolution over time) to curtail the rapidly expanding Muslim empire. Origins of the crusades. There are many origins of the Crusades. The Crusades movement is a series of religious wars. The Popes wrote encyclicals and gave orations for the necessity to implement the crusades as Christianity’s antidote to the Turks and other Muslim invaders1. In 1464, Pope Pius personally went to Ancona to lead the Crusade’s attempts to retain Constantinople from the Muslims. Pope Pius died from the plague while waiting for the crusade army to arrive2. The Pope and the Catholic Church approved the Crusades’ war strategy. The main goal of the crusades was to get back access to the holy places. The Crusades had political influence over a significant part of Europe, the Western sector. The Crusades’ soldiers made a solemn vow to the Pope that they will fight for the Cross of Christ. Consequently, the Pope gave each soldier a cross. The cross symbolized the soldier as a soldier of the Church. In 1280, to ensure Muslim success over the crusade armies, Kalavun, the Muslim leader, took advantage of petty disagreements between the different Crusade armies within Jerusalem. Those in Acre supported King Charles and those in Tyre supported King Hugh of Cyprus. Kalavun entered into different treaties with different cities. Kalavun was counting on the factionalism to fit the different parts of the kingdom against one another3. The Ottoman Turks focused their war on the doorsteps of the European countries. Previously, the crusades focused on recovering the Holy Land from the Muslim invaders. During the 1370s, European Christians had to fight the Ottoman Turks who were invading the European nations. The theme was refocused from the Holy Land to reducing the continuing spread of the Muslim faith in Europe. In 1354, the Turks occupied Gallipoli and started entering Europe. In 1361, the Ottoman Turks conquered several European areas, including Bulgaria and most of Greece. The Crusades had economic influence over several parts of Europe, the Western sector4. The best-funded Crusade was the Crusade of St. Louis5. The Christian pilgrims were being persecuted by the Muslims on their way to Jerusalem. With the Christian lands being gobbled up by the Muslims, the economic power of the Pope was also reduced. To recover its former economic power, the Pope, especially Pope Urban II, launched the Crusades to recover the lands from the Muslim invaders. Maalouf insists the Crusades were a drain on the Christian nation’s coffers. Money was needed to pay for the war to proceed6. Pope Urban II made a strong appeal to all Christian rulers in Europe to launch attacks against the Muslim armies. The Pope admonished the Muslim infidels’ desecration of the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem. The Pope described the horrific atrocities and damages of the Muslim infidels plundering of the Holy Land and attacks on the innocent Christian pilgrims going to Jerusalem. In 1368, King Peter tried to raise another Crusade. When King Peter returned to Cyprus, the local barons were mad at the huge amount of money spent on Peter’s crusade. Peter was finally assassinated during his sleep. The people of Europe decried the treachery of the Cyprus traitors and mourned the loss of their crusade’s King7. When King Louis, the Crusade leader, was captured by the Muslim armies, Turan-Shah, a Muslim leader, released the hostages in exchange for 800,000 bezants. In addition, the Crusade armies had to surrender Damietta to the Muslim rulers. The French paid 400,000 bezants to Mamluks for the release of King Louis8. The Crusades had social influence over many parts of Europe, the Western sector. The people rallied to the Crusades. The Christian people intensely aided the Crusades’ soldiers in their fight against the Muslim enemies. The Christian people had an overwhelming religious piety for the Crusades. The author reiterated, “The Crusade remained a central part of life and the restoration of the Holy Land a constant prayer of all the faithful.”9 The Pope emphasized that all Crusade soldiers will go straight to heaven if they are killed during the Crusades. The defeat of the trapped soldiers at the hands of Al-Kamil in Damietta, Egypt in the Fifth Crusade created disgust among the Christian nations10. The fifth Crusade ended with the trapped Christians, under Pelagius, surrendering Egypt’s Damietta to its Muslim Ruler Al-Kamil in exchange for Egypt’s hospitality, food, and safe passage out of Egypt. The Fifth Crusade ended with an 8-year truce between the Christians and Muslims. The Christians lost the fifth Crusade11. Further, the author emphasized that since the 3rd Crusade, the best way to recapture Jerusalem was to conquer Egypt. Egypt was the source of Muslim power12. Frederick II was able to enter into a treaty with Al-Kamil, Muslim leader, to relinquish Jerusalem’s control to Christian rule. The treaty included Muslim control of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount13. However, both the Christian people and Muslim residents of Jerusalem felt betrayed by their leaders, Frederick II and Al-Kamil14. In addition, the Crusades included the long Reconquista war in Spain. The war lasted seven centuries. The war resulted to Spain’s recovery of vast areas of land from the unwelcome invaders, the Muslim Turks. In 1479, the two Christian Spanish states of Aragon and Castille united with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. During the 1480s, the Spanish states combined to oust the last bastion of Muslim rule in Spain, Granada. The Reconquista war ended the Muslim occupation on January 2, 149215. The impact of the Crusades on Europe and the Levant. The Crusades had a great impact on Europe and the Levant. The defeat of the Crusades was very humiliating16. In addition, Frederick’s reconciliation with Pope Gregory IX in 1230 did not increase the palatability, King Frederick’s rule over the Levant17. The Crusades drained the monetary coffers of the European Christian armies and the Levant Christian government. The Reconquista war is one of the longest battles between Christians and Muslims, Spain finally won the war. The crusades ended in an unexpected manner. In the Middle East, the Crusades precipitated to accept the realities of poverty, violence, and corruption. The Muslim attackers overran Three fourths of the Christian Crusade countries18. With the advent of science, technology, and entrepreneurship, most of the Europeans felt that the Islamic attacks were no longer important matters to discuss.19 Based on the above discussion, the Crusades are the Catholic faith’s holy wars between Christians and the Muslims. The crusades were initially aimed to recover the Holy Land from the Muslim invaders. The Crusades had political, economic, and social aspects of the contest trimmings. Indeed, the Crusades theme centers on the evolution of the crusades (an evolution over time) to reduce the rapidly expanding growth of the Muslim empire. Bibliography 1. Allen Amt, Emilie Amt, Crusades, (Toronto: Rowman & Littlefiel Press, 2006) 2. Thomas Madden, The Crusades: The Essential Readings, (New York: Wiley Press, 2002) Read More