The Crusades Essay

The Crusades were a series of attacks from Europe to aid the Byzantines and to take the Holy Land. The Byzantines, The Eastern half of the former Roman Empire, were under attack by the Seljuk Turks, a Muslim dynasty. The Byzantines called Pope Urban II for help and the Pope decided to help them. The Great Schism that separated the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians left the Pope with many lost followers of Catholicism. The Pope used this advantage to spread Catholicism, thus gaining in popularity because of the increased number of followers, and to capture the Holy Land on the way. The Pope decided to use religion to fuel these Crusades and why the Crusades were originally a Christian pilgrimage. There were four big Crusades for this

The fourth Crusade was the most erratic and the Crusaders lost control of their actions. The Crusades were horrific events of military expeditions of different parts of Europe to the East Mediterranean that had significant impacts on society in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean coast because of violent acts and religious oppression. The Crusaders caused many violent actions toward all groups related to the Crusades through their conquests of helping the Byzantines and capturing Jerusalem. The Crusades caused many religious oppressions for many different groups related to the Crusades who were not of their religion. Muslims and especially Jews were targeted the most. Overall, the Crusades should be remembered as a horrible event in history.

The Crusaders caused many violent actions toward all groups related to the Crusades through their

Muslims and especially Jews were targeted the most. According to Solomon Bar Simson, “[Then in Mainz (German town)] the streams of blood touched and mingled, and the blood of husbands joined with that of their wives, the blood of fathers with that of their sons, the blood of bridegrooms with that of their brides….. the blood of babies and sucklings with that of their mothers ----- all killed and slaughtered.” The horrific behavior of the Christians is unjustified as even the Churches told the Crusaders not to kill the Jews, but some Crusaders chose not to listen. The Crusaders’ behavior toward the Jews shows the ignorance of the Crusaders and why they shouldn’t have been trusted to do a Crusade in the first place. The specific details that Solomon Simson gives show the extreme brutality and violence of the Christian Crusaders. According to From the Crusades to New Muslims Empires, “In Europe, anti-Semitism, or hostility to or discrimination against Jews, spread among non-Crusaders, as well. Religious prejudice was mixed with resentment of Jews who were wealthy bankers and traders. Riots and massacres broke out in many cities. By the end of the Crusades, the Jews’ place in European society had deteriorated.” Anti-Semitism against the Jews was a huge cause of Jewish deaths during the period of the Crusades. The Crusaders took huge steps to make sure