The Crusades 2
The crusades, a series of campaigns that were initially launched by Pope Urban II in 1096 were one of the bloodiest and most ineffective militaristic missions in history. The death toll can not be accurately counted but it is estimated in the millions. It started simply as a plea for help by the emperor of Byzantium to the Roman Catholic Church, but turned into a huge migration. Officially there were seven crusades within a period of two or three centuries, but historical evidence reveals that there was a constant stream of armies, soldiers, and commoners eastward through-out the time period, with slight ebbs and flows. (Heer, Friedrich. The Medieval World p128) When the Seljuk Turks of the Middle East converted to Islam and took control of Jerusalem and began to attack the Byzantine borders, the emperor in Constantinople, Alexus, asked the western world for help. The church in the west had attempted to help Byzantium, but to not much effect. That was, until 1096 when Pope Urban II delivered a sermon in the French town of Clermont. In the sermon he spoke of redemption in the form of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to regain the Holy Land in the name of Christ. (Duggan, Alfred. The Story of the Crusades p20) This differed fro
Finucane, Ronald C. Soldiers of Faith. London: The Chaucer Press, 1983 Knox, Dr Ellis L. "The Crusades." The Classroom. http://crusades.boisestate.edu/eou/ classroom.html 4/6/00 Pope Urban II's sermon was widely received all over Europe by peasants and noblemen alike. Crusaders were supposed to mark themselves by wearing a small red cross on their clothing, usually the chest or shoulder. All of Europe soon talked of the crusades and there was a lot of excitement surrounding the whole event. Many prepared to journey to Jerusalem. This was despite the fact that many did not know the way to Jerusalem, let alone its geographic location. The first army was supposed to meet in August of 1096 however the lords and knights of Europe were slow to answer Urban II's summons. The atrocities and the disasters, the immeasurable suffering, and the apparently meaningless sacrifices that accompanied the crusades all cast a heavy shadow over the West. The crusades had opened up a new world to the people of Europe. Contact between the Muslim and Christian had been very sparse aside from the rare border skirmish. The launching of the crusades opened up a floodgate of people, and with them, their ideas, inventions, and beliefs, between the Middle East and Europe. The Muslim knowledge of the Greeks and Romans slowly began to trickle back to the feudal western world. This marked the beginning of the end of the Middle Ages and was one of the main causes of Europe's renaissance. The First crusade truly began when the feudal lords finally began their march to the Holy Land. Some sold their estates while others entrusted theirs to heirs or others to hold for them. This first wave was large in number, well experienced, and very well armed. They too stayed in Byzantium for a period, but were met with almost equal distaste as those of the People's crusade. Their first victory came in 1097 when they final
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Approximate Word count = 1280
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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