To What Extent Were The Political And Economic Benefits Of The Crusades Dbq

The Political and Economic Gains of the Crusades In 1095, Pope Urban II called upon people to fight the Muslim control of Jerusalem. In response to his call for war, tens of thousands of peasants, nobles, and clergy gathered in Western Europe. From 1096 to 1099, armies of these people, called Crusaders, departed from Western Europe to Jerusalem. This would result in nine major Crusades, from 1095-1291. The purpose of the Crusades were for political and economic gain because of the military threat from the Muslims, potential resulting success, and control of Jerusalem. One of the political and economic benefits of the Crusades was the defeat of Muslim enemies. In Pope Urban II’s 1095 speech that asked for recruits, it stated, “They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire” (Document 1). Pope Urban II wanted Christians to go to the Middle East to fight because Arabs and Turks attacked their fellow Christians and conquered Christian land. This is proved evident in the 1096 book, Solomon bar Samson by a Jewish Chronicler, that stated, “‘Look

In the late 11th century’s “Chronicles of Fulk of Chartres” detailing the financial benefits of the Crusades, it stated, “For those who were poor there, here God makes rich. Those who had few coins, here possess countless besants ; and those who had not had a villa, here, by the gift of God, already possess a city” (Document 3). The Europeans, not necessarily Christians, who went to fight in the Middle East came to inhabit land with money and power to their name. The financial benefits of fighting as a Crusader were inheritance, wealth, and power. It provided an opportunity for many to start anew in the lands they traveled, while they fought righteously in the name of the