The Crusades: Crescent And The Cross

The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross provided detailed information regarding the ongoing battle between the Christians and the Muslims. Christians set out to take back the Holy Land from the infidels. In the 7th century Jerusalem was forcibly seized by Islam. It was 400 years later Christians decided to take back Jerusalem. The textbook Our Western World states Christians did not appreciate being taxed by the Turks when visiting Jerusalem. This area was considered a holy place and sacred which should have a tax restriction. Aside from taxation Christians had other motivating factors for participating in the Crusades. In Our Western World textbook it tells us the Byzantine Christians were threatened by the Seljuk Turks. Our book also tells

The Christians and Muslims both wanted control of Jerusalem but Muslims retained control in the end. Jerusalem meant a lot to the Muslims because this is where they believe Muhammad descended to heaven. For the Christians this is where the Messiah was crucified. For the Jews it is where Jesus died and the most important point of salvation took place there. It is also the site of the great temples of Solomon and Herod. Christians believed the Crusades were a spiritual war and would purify their sin. They were also told by Pope Urban that if they participated in the Crusade then it was a guaranteed ticket to heaven. If they did not participate in penance for their sins, then they would go to hell. They viewed participation as an opportunity for salvation. The crusade was like having an entire city moving eastward toward Jerusalem. Once they arrived to Jerusalem they had to figure out how to get over the wall around the city which stood fifty feet high and ten feet thick. They needed to make ladders and somehow located four hundred pieces of timber in a hole in the ground. They built two fifty foot siege towers to attack Jerusalem and were successful in taking over. Eventually they took control of Jerusalem. On July 4th the Battle of Hattin took place and the Christians were defeated by the Muslim army. The King of Jerusalem was now a slave of Saladin’s. Surprisingly once Saladin was in control he allowed Jerusalem to be

I knew they were violent but not to the degree learned from the video. Apparently it was acceptable to murder anyone as long as they were considered an infidel including children, women and elderly. The meaning of an infidel is anyone who was not a Christian. I now understand the sacrifice these men and women made in order to be part of The Crusades. The number of miles traveled by foot and horse almost seems impossible. The Crusaders took an unlikely route to Jerusalem so they would not be ambushed again. This route required them to travel in single file to cross a mountain. This would explain why so many died from dehydration due to warm temperatures and lack of food and water. Other people died from disease. When the Crusaders reached Antioch their leader locked out any Christians that were presently residing in the city. Now outside the city walls were the Crusaders along with the additional Christians that were put out of the city. They were there for eight months so eventually resources were depleted and they resorted to drinking blood drained from their horses. One of the most barbaric events I was not aware of was in 1098 one of the cities they arrived in the Crusaders killed people by lighting them on fire. They ran out of food so the men proceeded to cut the dead humans and eat them. During the third crusade Richard the Lion Heart committed what some considered a war crime