DBQ: Question: Were the Crusades caused primarily by religious devotion or by the desire for political and economic gain? Document Usage: Political (3, 6), Economic (3, 4, 6) Counter: Religious (1, 2, 5). The Middle East was the powerhouse of the world, and due to Rome collapsing Europe lost some of their power. Christians desired missionaries and more power, they noticed the wealth in Dar-Islam and wanted it for themselves. Muslims holding control of Jerusalem angered Christians. The Byzantine empire asked the Pope of the Western empire for help in taking control back. The Pope agreed and promised wealth and forgiven sins for those who fought in the war. Even though Christians completely showed their loyalty to Christ during the Crusades …show more content…
Places were sacked (robbed) and pricey belongings were taken from people. (Document 6) Men went to relieve their poverty and be free from all debts. (Document 3) People who were poor became rich, those who rented land could own their own land. (Document 4) Considering the context of this time, people were hungry for money and power, and if they were in lower social classes, they were hoping to advance in the social hierarchy. Since the writer from document 3 was anonymous, they had nothing to personally gain from sharing their perspective on the Crusades. Although, it did add to the motivation to crusade, as it promised people a rank up in the social system. Given that the speaker of document 4 was a French priest, it was only natural that they would use God to defend the people’s genuine motivations, which was economic gain. The Crusades were motivated by the wealth and high technology of the Middle East at the time, and Mesarites, a church official was able to demonstrate how people stole from others in document 6 because of this. Political gain also played a role in why the Crusades were …show more content…
Pope Urban II called upon all Christians into this war, calling those who don’t believe in God Heathens and providing reason to take control of Jerusalem again. Also assuring that the soldiers of this war will get an admission into Heaven. (Document 1) Christians, no matter the empire or region were being united by the Crusades through their love of Christ. (Document 2) French and German crusaders invaded a Jewish City, killing people for sanctification of the Lord. (Document 5) Jerusalem was the Holy city for Christians, which is why they wanted control over it again. Therefore, the Byzantine empire asked the Pope to call upon his people into war. Painting people as “Heathens” also fueling their desire to conquer Jerusalem, showing how unholy people don’t deserve to have control over the Holy Site. Many Christian empires already considered non-Christians as barbarians, so this added fuel to the fire. This brought community among Christians and stopped at-home wars, turning their focus onto Muslims and Jews. The recalling of the event from a Jewish scholar also solidified this. On the way to Jerusalem, they murdered thousands of Jewish people in the name of the
The greatly needed stability for the Holy Roman Empire motivated the political leaders for the undertaking of the Christian Crusades. At this time the Holy Roman Empire was a poverish and the majority of the people who were in the middle and lower class were not able to live comfortably. In addition the government was not strong enough to advance let alone support the people. The fairly new feudalist government created a separation within the classes the made the lower class serfs, Middle class knight and the upper class lords and kings fight for mobility and power. In result of this violence and chaos erupted.
The Crusaders didn't always attack the Muslim Empires. Sometimes they attacked each other. Document 1 states that, “In Europe, Crusaders sometimes turned their fury against Jews, massacring entire communities.” This is relevant because the Crusaders were supposed to be fighting the Muslims to get land, but instead they decided to attack the Jews and destroy their communities.
The Crusades was a war between two religions , which were Islam and Christianity. They both were fighting for the holy land in Jerusalem. For the Christians the holy land meant that Jesus was born there. For the Muslims the holy land was where Muslims believe Muhammad the prophet was taken to heaven by Allah which is called The Dome Of Rock. In our opinion the Crusades were a failure because it was a waste of time and a lot of lives were lost.
The Crusades affected the lives of the followers Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. However, the Jews were impacted the most during this time in the Crusades with only negative outcomes. Almost all of the people following the Jewish faith were tortured by Christians because of what the forefathers had done in which they were getting back at the Jews for killing Jesus for no reason. The Jewish chronicler in 1096 stated, “Let us first avenge ourselves on them and exterminate them from among our nations so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered, or let them adopt our faith,” (Document D). The Christians forced the Jews to either leave, die, or adopt the Christian faith.
Introduction: Provide background information on the Crusades, restate the DBQ question, state thesis with reasons. (include academic vocabulary and underline) The results of the Crusades was probably more negative than positive. In “Doc 4”, It states that “Moreover, the assault of one Christian people on another, when one of the goals of the Fourth Crusade was reunion of Greek and Latin churches, made the split between the Greek and Latin churches permanent.” The Crusades had a lot of hatred to the religions, and by 1204 the Crusaders had lost some of their appeal because the knights agreed to attack the Byzantine Capital instead.
This contributed to the shame of the event. Many inspired Christians “often pursued violence against other non-Christians”, they were brutal and left many for dead (Document #2, “The Crusades Assignment”). Crusaders were merciless and it was just shameful that they treated other religions this way. Along with violence their emotions they felt towards their actions were shameful. After reaching their goal, Jerusalem, they were filled with “mad with joy” and after killing many Muslims and Jews to get their they were also “full of happiness and weeping with joy” (Document #3, “The Crusades Assignment”).
The Crusades were a violent series of battles that Christians fought against Muslims in order to gain back the holy land, Jerusalem. The Christians felt threatened by the intimidating rule of the Islamic Empire, and their response was the first Crusade. These attacks continued and grew unsuccessful throughout many years, and are often due to the intense bond between Christians and God, however there are other influences, like wealth and power. Some argue also that the actions committed during these events were not necessarily “barbaric”, considering the historical time period. The Crusades should be remembered as a series of attacks with a variety of motives and influences that were violent and barbaric.
Up to approximately seven major Crusades, the Muslims and Christians went through bloody days, and many attacks on each other. After many years of victories and misplacements, the Holy Land was claimed by the Muslims. It is perceptible that the Crusades were caused primarily by religious devotion because Jerusalem had a Holy significance, They wanted to signify their loyalty and cause of their God, and to guarantee
However, there is more support for the fact that these wars were driven by desire for political and economic gain in the long run. The religious parts were just to trick those who believed so strongly in their faith to fight so the large surviving army could bring back wealth and to impact the Silk Road trade in their favor. A document from a Christian Monk who had participated in the Crusade talks about people’s motivations to join the Crusades, stating, “for they bore the sign of the cross on their garments as a reminder that they should mortify the flesh and in the hope that they would in this way triumph over the enemies of the cross of Christ…” This line from the text shows how dedicated they were to fight against “Christ’s enemies”, which were the Jews and the Muslims, and how much they desired to claim the town of Jerusalem. Now, that was the original reason for those people to head out and serve.
With the goal of reconquering the Holy Lands of the Middle East, many Western Europeans supported a series of military conquests called the Crusades. As seen in the documents the religious figures who supported the Crusades had an idealized vision of the unification and religious zeal the Crusades would bring to the Christian faith, but for many of the actual crusaders, the cause of the crusades was a hope for economic gain through pillage. Although one of the original causes of the Crusades, according to religious figures, was to support the Byzantines and perhaps reunify the Eastern and Western churches, they resulted in increased feelings of tension in the Christian churches and actually aided creating a closer connection between different
Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont in 1095 was a call to crusade given outdoors to the nobles, commoners and church leaders of the Western European Christians (the Franks). The people were moved by this speech and it changed history, launching the first crusade to capture Jerusalem from the Muslim Turks. After hearing Pope Urban II’s speech, thousands of Western European Christians were moved to embark on the dangerous journey and fight in the crusade. I believe the main reasons they were moved and persuaded to fight was; 1) they felt it was their Christian duty, 2) Pope Urban promised them absolution for their sins and 3) they felt compelled to defend Christianity, their holy land and the Eastern Christians.
The purpose of the Crusades were for political and economic gain because of the military threat from the Muslims, potential resulting success, and control of Jerusalem. One of the political and economic benefits of the Crusades was the defeat of Muslim enemies. In Pope Urban II’s 1095 speech that asked for recruits, it stated, “They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire” (Document 1). Pope Urban II wanted Christians to go to the Middle East to fight because Arabs and Turks attacked their fellow Christians and conquered Christian land.
Ibn al-Athir described the First Crusade as violent and terrible, because the Christians killed lot of people while they also robbed a lot of valuables from the Muslims. The primary purpose of the Crusades of the Christians was to get rid of non-Christians, non-Christian
important to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, this change . affected very many people. When the change in power . occurred, Jews and Christians were no longer allowed to live . in Jerusalem.
The Muslim people were the ones being attacked and had opposing viewpoints of what was going on. The views of the crusades were vastly different from two of the largest religious groups of their time, the Christians and the Muslims. The Christians looked at the crusade as their religious and personal mission and duty. After all, the Christians were the ones who were leading the crusades and they were the ones who were the biggest advocates of them.