The Crusades were series of wars during the 11th and 12th centuries that sparked a fire between the Christians in Europe and the Muslims in the Middle East. The holy war resulted in the loss of many lives that brought many historians to wonder why would many Christians wanted to get blood on their hands. This led many historians to ask questions on what motivated these Crusaders. Although there is not much evidence of what brought these Crusaders to fight, sermons and testimonies that were found gave us an idea of what encouraged these people to fight. Crusaders were negatively looked down on, but with the evidence from the primary and secondary sources we can come to conclusions that it was driven by their religious, political, and economic …show more content…
This speech that Urban had delivered shows us what brought the people to fight. “They destroys the altars”, “the abominable rape of the women”, and “they wish to torture people by a base death” were some of the phrases used by Urban to show the ugliness of the Muslims. (4). Pope reminds the people of the Gospel and how they should not sit and be silent and watch their own people die in the Muslims hands. “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me” is a scripture the Urban uses to recruit more of the people to become Crusaders. Their motivation was God and according to them they believed that this would lead them to the path of salvation. Urban was not the only one who motivated the Christians in Europe to fight. Abbot Martin of Paris also used his sermons to encourage the people to do this for Christ and that he will forgive them of their sins. “The Holy Land which Christ traced with his footsteps, in which he cared for the sick, gave sight to the blind, cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead, that land, I say, has been given over into the hands of impious men” (6). Although people knew that in doing this would cause them to loose their lives, they believed that they would inherit a better life in heaven. Pope Innocent III also called the people to fight using the scripture. These holy men used religious tactics inspiring the people to do it for God and in doing so God will reward