The Crusades Essay

The Crusades were a time of religious disputes between a hostile Christian group and a couargeous Muslim group that lasted over two centuries. This confrontation led by violence and the annihilation of broken cities and societies to secure the Holy Land. While the Crusades caused much destruction in both ways of life, the Crusades united people through cross-cultural trade and a central goal that gave people an identity with their religion and civilization. The culture and trade exchange connected the societies of both sides to new ideas in life. During the Crusades, Christians were given a feeling of being part of a specific society involving their religion and its goal. The Crusades describes a tale over a holy site that linked groups against

Since the Crusades began with Pope Urban II's call for a resurgence of the Holy Land, Christians had a feeling of unity within one another. In Pope Urban II’s speech, he called it “Deus vult” or “God wills it” for the Christians to wage war against the Mulisms (Pope Urban II). Pope Urban was uniting all the Christians to have a common cause in fighting the Crusades as one (“Pope Urban II order first Crusade”). Christians came from England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and more to join as one against the Muslims. While the armies of the Christians went into battle, each social class, from peasants to knights and merchants, resembled the troops. Peasants felt they had a sense of identity and purpose within their religion and the armies they fought for. The idea that the peasants, merchants, and knights were working side by side for a common goal gave every one of them a sense of unity and an identity as a whole group (Dickson, Baldwin, and Madden). While the battles of the Crusades were transpiring, many trade routes were constructed between the opposing sides. Muslims and Christians would trade across various paths to get unique and exotic items from one another. The trading of goods and ideas from one civilization to the next merged the people