History of the Crusades - Essay Example

The Crusades as a Holy War ID: Due The Crusades remain a famous and pivotal event in history both for the Christian and for the Muslim world. Yet, what lay at the true heart of the Crusades is a matter of perception. Some people argue that the Crusades were a Christian Holy War that aimed to take back the Holy Land, the region where Jesus taught, died and was buried. Others argue that the Crusades was far from a Holy War, instead participants joined the war for many reasons, including the prospect of gaining wealth or the desire to secure their salvation. However, while the latter perspective may explain the reasons that some individuals joined the Crusades, the war remained at its heart a religious crusade between two worlds that had substantially different perceptions of God, and the world around them. The holy nature of the Crusades can be seen in the religious differences between the two sides, the language that was used to promote and explain the war and the way that incentives to join the Crusades were given in religious terms. One of the key aspects about the Crusades was the radically different viewpoints that each side had on religion. These differences were critically important in explaining why the Crusades occurred, and the perception of the Crusades as being a Holy War. The Christians perceived the land that the Muslims occupied as being holy and sacred to their religion. Because of this, they believed that they were fighting against enemies of Christ, and to liberate Jerusalem (Herbipolenses). The differences between the Christian and Muslim faiths were some of the underlying reasons concerning why the Christian’s viewed the Muslim as enemies, and why the Christians were prepared to fight the Muslim’s in order to reclaim Jerusalem. Christianity has its basis in the teachings of Jesus, which followed a peaceful missionary approach and avoided violence. In contrast, Islam made ready use of violence in order to ensure that they achieved political control. The differences between Christian and Islamic perspectives were what moved the Crusades from being a territorial dispute to being a Holy War. Both sides believed that they were spiritually correct, and that their God was supporting their efforts. As Jones argued, the war retains is spiritual significant for the Muslim world even in the present day and have become upset at parallels being made between the Crusades and the modern war against terrorism (Jones). Thus, throughout the Crusades and into the present day, religion played an important part in the reasons that the Crusades came about and in the minds of those fighting the war. A second reason that the Crusades were a Holy War was the religious emphasis that was used in the language surrounding the war. One place that this can be seen is in the call for the Second Crusade. At this point in time, an important principality had fallen to the Muslims, and the focus was on reclaiming this land. In this summons, the language used was strongly based around the Christian religion, and the holy nature of the war. An example of this is the use of the term pagan to refer to non-Christians (Eugene III). In the bible, pagans are separated from Christians, and the term has a strong negative connotation. By referring to the Muslims as pagans, the author was able to stir up strong emotions in Christians and convince them that the war was holy and just. The religious focus that Christian’s placed on the Crusades can be seen in accounts from the war itself. One of these is the account by William of Tyre on the liberation of the Holy City. In this account, the author talks about the abundant grace of God, spiritual gladness and spiritual pride (William of Tyre). These aspects show that the Christian and the spiritual perspective was critical for the people who were a part of the war, and that they truly believed that they were doing God’s purpose, and were part of a Holy War. Finally, the approach used to convince people to participate in the war was also presented in spiritual terms. The predominant way that this was argued was that if a person took part in the Crusades for God’s purpose, then their action would take the place of penance. Indeed, one set of instructions directly stated that participating in the Crusades would result in the remission and absolution of sins that a person had done (Munro). Much of the rhetoric surrounding the Crusades focused on the overall religious purpose that it served, by redeeming the Holy Lands, and defeating the pagans. While this remained a significant part of the rhetoric surrounding convincing people to take part of the war, this second aspect also emerged. Convincing people that fighting in the war would help their personal salvation does not detract from the concept of the Crusades as a Holy War, and instead enhances this argument. By making personal salvation an issue, the promoters of the Crusades were able to increase the interest that people had in participating, and also to increase how much they spiritually cared for the war. This method meant that more people felt that the war was holy, and consequently approached it in this way. For Christians the Crusades was an unusual time, as it involved a violent attack against an enemy despite the fact that Christians tended to be peaceful. Nevertheless, the Crusades were a strongly Holy War, and both the participants in it and their leaders believed that they were fulfilling God’s purpose. This can be seen by the strong differences in perspective that each side held about religion, which made it a personal and important war, the religious language and rhetoric that was used to talk about the war, including by those people who were in it, and the way that people were encouraged to participate for their own salvation and religious benefit. All of these aspects strongly show that faith and religion were the primary components of the Crusades for participants and for their leaders. Works Cited Eugene III. “Summons to a Crusade, Dec 1, 1154”. Trans. Ernest F. Henderson. 1996. Web. October 1 2012. Halsall, Paul. “Evolution of Crusader Privileges, 1095-1270”. 1997. Web. October 1 2012. < http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/cde-privs.asp> Herbipolenses, Annales. "Annales Herbipolenses, S.A. 1147: A Hostile View of the Crusade" Trans. James Brundage. 1997. Web. October 1 2012. . Jones, Arthur. “Memories of Crusades Live on in Today’s War”. National Catholic Reporter. 2001. Print. William of Tyre. "William of Tyre: Godfrey of Bouillon Becomes "Defender of the Holy Sepulcher". Trans. James Brundage. 1997. Web. October 1 2012. . Read More