Christendom and The Crusades
Key Points
The Crusades (1095 - 1291) were, initially, a response to the collapse of Byzantine power in Asia Minor. However the Crusading movement gained a momentum that became a central part of Medieval military and religious culture.
The First Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II in 1095 and was aimed at returning Jerusalem to Christian control. This was achieved in 1099.
However Jerusalem was lost in 1187 and the Christian power was smashed on the Horns of Hattin in the same year. Christian power in the Holy Land from that point continually dwindle until the fall of Acre in 1291. This was despite several Crusades trying to recover this power.
This movement inspired generations of knights, nobles and kings to plough resources into either capturing and re-capturing holy sites in order to attain redemption in the next life.
It was the Church, particularly the Papacy, that continued to promote Crusading as a way of gaining grace and entering heaven, especially if you died whilst on Crusade. There was also Crusades in Europe against heretics, the Albirgensian Crusade in 1209-1229.
Whilst this shows there was a strong religious motive for Crusading there was also a realpolitik element which rulers used to gain favour with the Papacy or power and prestige for themselves.
There was also a strong popular movement for Crusading, such as the Children's Crusade in 1212 and the Peasants Crusade that set off prior to the First Crusade.
Whilst it could be said that the Crusade, with the First Crusade excepted, did not achieve its aims and was a waste of human life, resources and caused religious and cultural enmity it also expanded European horizons and brought them into to contact with other cultures and learning.
The Crusades (1095 - 1291) were, initially, a response to the collapse of Byzantine power in Asia Minor. However the Crusading movement gained a momentum that became a central part of Medieval military and religious culture.
The First Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II in 1095 and was aimed at returning Jerusalem to Christian control. This was achieved in 1099.
However Jerusalem was lost in 1187 and the Christian power was smashed on the Horns of Hattin in the same year. Christian power in the Holy Land from that point continually dwindle until the fall of Acre in 1291. This was despite several Crusades trying to recover this power.
This movement inspired generations of knights, nobles and kings to plough resources into either capturing and re-capturing holy sites in order to attain redemption in the next life.
It was the Church, particularly the Papacy, that continued to promote Crusading as a way of gaining grace and entering heaven, especially if you died whilst on Crusade. There was also Crusades in Europe against heretics, the Albirgensian Crusade in 1209-1229.
Whilst this shows there was a strong religious motive for Crusading there was also a realpolitik element which rulers used to gain favour with the Papacy or power and prestige for themselves.
There was also a strong popular movement for Crusading, such as the Children's Crusade in 1212 and the Peasants Crusade that set off prior to the First Crusade.
Whilst it could be said that the Crusade, with the First Crusade excepted, did not achieve its aims and was a waste of human life, resources and caused religious and cultural enmity it also expanded European horizons and brought them into to contact with other cultures and learning.
Selected Further Reading
- Runciman, S, A History of the Crusades 3 vols. (Cambridge 1951-4)
- Asbridge, T., The First Crusade (London 2004)
- Asbriadge, T., The Crusades (London 2010)
- Riley-Smith, J.S.C., The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (London 1986)
- Riley-Smith, J.S.C., What Where the Crusades? (2nd ed. London 1992)
- Gillingham, J., Richard I, 2nd ed. (Yale 1999)