The Crusades And Politics

Francisco Trejo Pérez-Gil Ms. Rossignol

World History Honors

23 March 2023

Politics are a main component of society that unites people. Many times religion has intertwined with political affairs. Throughout history, many political affairs took advantage of people’s faith to fit an agenda. One example of this mix of political and economic affairs are the Crusades that took place in Europe and the Middle East. Though many people took the cross due to their religious devotion, political and economic interest from the clergy and nobility led to the Crusades. This was demonstrated by the desire for wealth and land from the nobility and the Catholic Church wanting political power over Christendom.

The eleventh century was a time of uncertainty for

These differences in the way they practiced religion caused the Schism of 1054 where the leaders of the East and the West excommunicated each other; creating the Eastern Orthodox Church. For many years, pilgrimage to the Holy Land was permitted, however when the Seljuk Turks took over, they banned the Christians’ pilgrimage. In response, the Catholic Church sent people to take over the Holy Land. Nobles, peasants, and their families decided to take the cross and embark on the dangerous journey to Jerusalem. After much struggle and bloodshed, the crusaders finally took over the Holy Land. After the First Crusade, there were many attempts to reclaim the Holy Land, however, none of them were successful.

The Catholic Church wanting political power over Christendom illustrates the political and economic intentions of the Crusades. This is seen by the desire to unify the Eastern and Western Churches, and the church acting as the central government in Western Europe. First of all, Ekkehard, a German historian who went on a pilgrimage

This was revealed by the conquering of Edessa and the desire for Byzantine land by the nobles. The daughter of Alexius, Princess Anna Komenne, wrote a memoir about her father’s reign. Though she was clearly biased against the crusaders, her role as a third party in the Muslim and Catholic conflict gives an insightful view of the Crusades. Anna Komenne wrote that Bohemond, one of the leaders of the First Crusade, went on the crusade with the “intent of gaining a kingdom for himself, or rather, if it were possible, to follow his father's advice and seize the Roman [Byzantine] Empire itself” (Document 5). The Byzantine Empire had an economically advantageous location in Southeastern Europe where trade around the Mediterranean flourished. By taking land from the Byzantine Empire, Bohemond could utilize the land to increase his wealth by having control of the riches and trade of Edessa. Though it is unclear if Bohemond wanted to take the Byzantine Empire for himself, he did attack it later on and took control of other advantageous lands, which illustrates how land was his motivation for taking the cross. Furthermore, another leader of the Crusades was Baldwin of Boulogne, who took part in taking over the city of Edessa. Edessa was a city with immense riches that were incomparable to Europe’s. The ruler of Edessa adopted Baldwin and placed him as his heir. In return,