Joshua Schroeder History 201 Wolford 12/4/14 The Conquest to Reclaim Spain Many know the crusades as simply a quest by Templars to reclaim the holy land in the Middle East. What Joseph O’Callaghan brings to light in Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain demonstrates that the battles Christians and Muslims in the Iberian peninsula that began in the early eighth century was transformed into a crusade by the Christian church during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Popes granted the same benefits to those willing to fight in the peninsular wars as those seeking to reclaim the holy land. O’Callaghan argues that any study of the history of the Crusades needs to take into account a larger view to include medieval Spain. While O’ Callaghan …show more content…
He describes how the extreme papal involvement turned it into something more. “The argument is clear: the precedent of crusade as a religious war can be found in the Spanish Reconquest (notably at Barbastro, 1063). The concept was then elaborated by the Papacy for the first and second crusades, when the attack on Islam was envisaged as a double offensive on both sides of the Mediterranean.”1 He explains how once Holy Land crusades became less sought after, Spanish crusades were at their peak. “During all this period, the indulgences granted to the 'fighting pilgrims' were the same as those granted to those going to the Holy Land. Pilgrimage to Santiago was very closely linked to crusade in Spain, and to the ideology of pilgrimage/crusade to the Holy Land. The papacy always tried to keep Spanish knights preoccupied with engagements in their own territory, while offering the Church and faithful the possibility to finance crusading endeavors throughout the eastern and western …show more content…
He argues that Christian rulers sought to expand their land due to internal growth and therefore wanted to make an expansive thrust.2 He explains the desire to grow in his second paragraph. “Christian Iberia's increasing population and resources, maturing political, social, and economic institutions, tightening religious, cultural, and commercial ties with trans-Pyrenean Europe, and growing confidence that the reconquest was no longer a mere struggle for survival -- all created strong pressures to gain lands and spoils, power, prestige, and satisfaction of religious ideals, across the open frontier to the south.”2 In essence, what started out as a need for expansion turned into an excuse for fight. Princes and Lords seeking fortune and expansion could now use the excuse of it being “holy work” to remove and try to push Muslims out of what were rightfully Christian lands and territories. Though he does mention that the papacy had an influence into turning it into a crusade, most sought out selfish desires rather than strictly church