The Crusaders and the Church
The First Crusade began around 1096 and ending around 1099, armies of Christians in Western Europe responded to Pope Urban II to go to war with the Muslims in the Holy Land. They achieved their goal and captured Jerusalem in 1099, Christians set up a few Latin Christian states, though the Muslim vowed jihad on them. Constantinople in 1024 was sacked because of the relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantium Empire (formerly eastern Rome) in the Third Crusade. “Near the end of the 13th century, the rising Mamluk dynasty in Egypt provided the final reckoning for the Crusaders, toppling the coastal stronghold of Acre and driving the European invaders out of Palestine and Syria in 1291.” (1)
The Second Crusade began around 1147 and ended around 1149, they achieved their goal in a very short time and were led by King Louis of France and King Conrad of Germany. They established four states; Edessa, Jerusalem, Tripoli and Antioch, they were guarded by Castles. Eventually the Muslims retook the cities and defeated the Crusaders, and their empire increased by adding Damascus to the empire in 1154.
The Third Crusade was around 1189-1192, the fourth through the sixth was 1198-1229, and Pope Innocent III called for the Fourth Crusade in 1198 to defeat the Byzantium Empire. The Crusaders waged war against Constantinople and the Fourth Crusade ended with the defeat of Byzantine Capitol. There was a Seventh Crusade and they captured Jerusalem but it was short lived. The armies of the Crusaders were only able to hold on to Jerusalem for only about 90 years, the Crusades were bloody and the people were young, old, or even poor that fought in them.
The legacy of the Crusades was it positive or negative?
There were positive and negative results that happened regarding the Crusades. “The Crusades had a positive impact on the architecture, such as the Churches. St. Anne’s, The Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, this Church was rebuilt during the Christian Crusades”. (2) Below is a map of Jerusalem during the time of the Crusades;
Other positive and negative effects were;
1. The role, wealth and power of the Catholic Church
2. Commerce-there now
3. was a constant demand for transportation
4. They helped to get rid of feudalism
5. Political
6. Social
7. Intellectual Development
8. Material Development
9. Discoveries
10. Population doubled
There are numerous more positive and negative effects but these are just a few I found during my research. (Effects of the Crusades)
Benefits to Europe as a result of the Crusades
Some benefits to Europe were
1. People were able to take advantage of the rich East since Ancient Rome.
2. It was an outlet for aggressive population and for youth during those times by sending them off to war. It helped with the internal warfare from the West.
3. During the Crusades the Church regarded the Crusaders as military and they were taking vows to reward them with privileges of property protection and basically protection from Hell. (3)
4. World trade was a benefit to Europe
5. Science, medicine was also a benefit as a result of the Crusades
6. “Architecture was a great benefit, example their Castles became huge massive stone structures instead of wooden buildings as seen in the past.” (4)
Did the Crusades advance the cause of Christ?
They may have advanced the cause of Christ very little, the wars made it difficult to justify the killing in the name of Christ. The Crusades were more about the earthly goods rather than the advance of the Gospel. They seemed to have made matters worse by the fighting and killing rather than trying to save people spiritually. They were all about control and domination, forcing people to turn to Catholicism, forcing rituals and rules instead of the Bible. The Apostles did more in their time to promote Christianity than the Crusaders did. They also caused a split in Christendom, the Crusades actually caused the strive between the East and West Churches. The Crusades gave alternatives, either baptism or death, so people were forced into Catholicism (Christianity)
Not everyone agreed that war was the way to go to convert people, in “1268 Roger Bacon said that preaching was the only way to reach people and that the monks fighting prohibited this process of conversion.” (5) The popes seemed to have bent on forcing people to Catholicism/Christianity instead of preaching to them as Christ and the disciples would have done. They wanted authoritive control over every aspect of one’s life not just spiritual but the physical as well.
People who felt that Christianity was something different; Examples John Wycliffe, John Huss, Calvin, and Luther were all considered heretics because they didn’t believe what Catholicism was teaching at the time.
Were they representative of a Christian Worldview?
The definition of Christian Worldview: “Christian worldview (also called Biblical worldview) refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Each domination seems to have their own definition of Christian Worldview. A similar thematic representation of Christian worldview in the Reformed tradition has been formulated as Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation” (6) So no they would not have a Christian/Biblical Worldview, they hated the Jews, Muslims, heretics and pagans, anyone that was not Catholic/Christian or did not believe the way they did were basically on their hit list to destroy. They went so far as to condemn the Jews for “The Black Death” and went on a murder spree killing thousands of Jews. Their anger and hatred was very narrow-minded and their hostile attitudes were the complete opposite of the Gospel message to people. Christ showed loved to ALL humanity and they did not see it that way, everyone else was infidels and pagans. The Medieval Christians felt that if they were fighting against God’s enemies, then why not kill them all or annihilate them, the enemies of God living with them? They also claimed that they were seeking vengeance speaking of the Jews, for killing Christ, whom they called “Christ-Killers”.
Bibliographies
http://www.lordsandladies.org/effects-of-crusades.htm
http://www.medievalwarfare.info/crusades.htm
By E. Glenn Hinson/the Church Triumphant: A History of Christianity Up to 1300/Copy write 1995/Mercer University Press, Macon Georgia 31210
By Marvin Perry, Myrna Chase, James Jacob, Margaret Jacob, and Theodore Von Auer/Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society 10th Edition/Wadworth Cengage Learning/Boston, MA/pages 248-249
Western Civilization, A Brief History by Marvin Perry/pages 152-156/10th Edition/[i]
Footnotes:
(1) http://www.history.com/topics/crusades
(2) http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/what-were-the-crusades-and-how-did-they-impact-jerusalem/
(3) http://www.medievalwarfare.info/crusades.htm
(4) http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/churchhistory/crusades_wikipedia.aspx#effectoneurope
(5) http://books.google.com/books?id=cY1SymrAGeEC&pg=PA435&dq=Did+the+Crusades+advance+the+cause+of+Christ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NTUSU9O_K-y80AGaj4DoCw&ved=0CCkQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Did%20the%20Crusades%20advance%20the%20cause%20of%20Christ&f=false
(6) http://www.ask.com/wiki/Christian_worldview
The First Crusade began around 1096 and ending around 1099, armies of Christians in Western Europe responded to Pope Urban II to go to war with the Muslims in the Holy Land. They achieved their goal and captured Jerusalem in 1099, Christians set up a few Latin Christian states, though the Muslim vowed jihad on them. Constantinople in 1024 was sacked because of the relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantium Empire (formerly eastern Rome) in the Third Crusade. “Near the end of the 13th century, the rising Mamluk dynasty in Egypt provided the final reckoning for the Crusaders, toppling the coastal stronghold of Acre and driving the European invaders out of Palestine and Syria in 1291.” (1)
The Second Crusade began around 1147 and ended around 1149, they achieved their goal in a very short time and were led by King Louis of France and King Conrad of Germany. They established four states; Edessa, Jerusalem, Tripoli and Antioch, they were guarded by Castles. Eventually the Muslims retook the cities and defeated the Crusaders, and their empire increased by adding Damascus to the empire in 1154.
The Third Crusade was around 1189-1192, the fourth through the sixth was 1198-1229, and Pope Innocent III called for the Fourth Crusade in 1198 to defeat the Byzantium Empire. The Crusaders waged war against Constantinople and the Fourth Crusade ended with the defeat of Byzantine Capitol. There was a Seventh Crusade and they captured Jerusalem but it was short lived. The armies of the Crusaders were only able to hold on to Jerusalem for only about 90 years, the Crusades were bloody and the people were young, old, or even poor that fought in them.
The legacy of the Crusades was it positive or negative?
There were positive and negative results that happened regarding the Crusades. “The Crusades had a positive impact on the architecture, such as the Churches. St. Anne’s, The Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, this Church was rebuilt during the Christian Crusades”. (2) Below is a map of Jerusalem during the time of the Crusades;
Other positive and negative effects were;
1. The role, wealth and power of the Catholic Church
2. Commerce-there now
3. was a constant demand for transportation
4. They helped to get rid of feudalism
5. Political
6. Social
7. Intellectual Development
8. Material Development
9. Discoveries
10. Population doubled
There are numerous more positive and negative effects but these are just a few I found during my research. (Effects of the Crusades)
Benefits to Europe as a result of the Crusades
Some benefits to Europe were
1. People were able to take advantage of the rich East since Ancient Rome.
2. It was an outlet for aggressive population and for youth during those times by sending them off to war. It helped with the internal warfare from the West.
3. During the Crusades the Church regarded the Crusaders as military and they were taking vows to reward them with privileges of property protection and basically protection from Hell. (3)
4. World trade was a benefit to Europe
5. Science, medicine was also a benefit as a result of the Crusades
6. “Architecture was a great benefit, example their Castles became huge massive stone structures instead of wooden buildings as seen in the past.” (4)
Did the Crusades advance the cause of Christ?
They may have advanced the cause of Christ very little, the wars made it difficult to justify the killing in the name of Christ. The Crusades were more about the earthly goods rather than the advance of the Gospel. They seemed to have made matters worse by the fighting and killing rather than trying to save people spiritually. They were all about control and domination, forcing people to turn to Catholicism, forcing rituals and rules instead of the Bible. The Apostles did more in their time to promote Christianity than the Crusaders did. They also caused a split in Christendom, the Crusades actually caused the strive between the East and West Churches. The Crusades gave alternatives, either baptism or death, so people were forced into Catholicism (Christianity)
Not everyone agreed that war was the way to go to convert people, in “1268 Roger Bacon said that preaching was the only way to reach people and that the monks fighting prohibited this process of conversion.” (5) The popes seemed to have bent on forcing people to Catholicism/Christianity instead of preaching to them as Christ and the disciples would have done. They wanted authoritive control over every aspect of one’s life not just spiritual but the physical as well.
People who felt that Christianity was something different; Examples John Wycliffe, John Huss, Calvin, and Luther were all considered heretics because they didn’t believe what Catholicism was teaching at the time.
Were they representative of a Christian Worldview?
The definition of Christian Worldview: “Christian worldview (also called Biblical worldview) refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Each domination seems to have their own definition of Christian Worldview. A similar thematic representation of Christian worldview in the Reformed tradition has been formulated as Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation” (6) So no they would not have a Christian/Biblical Worldview, they hated the Jews, Muslims, heretics and pagans, anyone that was not Catholic/Christian or did not believe the way they did were basically on their hit list to destroy. They went so far as to condemn the Jews for “The Black Death” and went on a murder spree killing thousands of Jews. Their anger and hatred was very narrow-minded and their hostile attitudes were the complete opposite of the Gospel message to people. Christ showed loved to ALL humanity and they did not see it that way, everyone else was infidels and pagans. The Medieval Christians felt that if they were fighting against God’s enemies, then why not kill them all or annihilate them, the enemies of God living with them? They also claimed that they were seeking vengeance speaking of the Jews, for killing Christ, whom they called “Christ-Killers”.
Bibliographies
http://www.lordsandladies.org/effects-of-crusades.htm
http://www.medievalwarfare.info/crusades.htm
By E. Glenn Hinson/the Church Triumphant: A History of Christianity Up to 1300/Copy write 1995/Mercer University Press, Macon Georgia 31210
By Marvin Perry, Myrna Chase, James Jacob, Margaret Jacob, and Theodore Von Auer/Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society 10th Edition/Wadworth Cengage Learning/Boston, MA/pages 248-249
Western Civilization, A Brief History by Marvin Perry/pages 152-156/10th Edition/[i]
Footnotes:
(1) http://www.history.com/topics/crusades
(2) http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/what-were-the-crusades-and-how-did-they-impact-jerusalem/
(3) http://www.medievalwarfare.info/crusades.htm
(4) http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/churchhistory/crusades_wikipedia.aspx#effectoneurope
(5) http://books.google.com/books?id=cY1SymrAGeEC&pg=PA435&dq=Did+the+Crusades+advance+the+cause+of+Christ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NTUSU9O_K-y80AGaj4DoCw&ved=0CCkQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Did%20the%20Crusades%20advance%20the%20cause%20of%20Christ&f=false
(6) http://www.ask.com/wiki/Christian_worldview