What Role Did Religion Play In The First Crusade War

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The Crusade Wars were holy quests to gain the Holy Land, Jerusalem. It is recognized as a series of religiously sanctioned military crusade wars in Europe. Christianity was the dominant religion of power and wealth. Pope Urban II, initiated the first crusade by responding to a request from the Emperor of Constantinople for military help. Those who took to the crusade would be released of their debts and paying taxes. However, to be more decisive, if they were to join in on the crusade war and take to the cross, the Pope announced their sins would be forgiven. Subsequently, this is why in the first crusade they wore a cross, because they thought they were fighting for Jesus Christ. The first crusade war took place in the eleventh century and originally the aim was to take Jerusalem from the Muslim control. Over the centuries many crusade wars were fought and resulted in loss of life’s, cities, towns and the fall of the Roman empire. Religious feelings were the principal cause of the great crusade wars, driving religious compliance for the Christians to fight regaining the Holy Land for the Catholic Church. The Crusades Motivated Were Primarily by Religious Factors …show more content…

Though, the crusades were an important part of the Medieval European history. The role of religion played a leading factor in the crusade wars, specifically using Christianity and the citizens of Europe. For almost 200 years during the Middle Ages, Christian Crusades wrested control of the Palestine region from the Selçuk Turks through a series of military incursions made up of Christian armies largely from Western Europe. It was during these 200 years that up to nine crusade wars were fought. Christians fought the crusade wars not because of material rewards they would receive, but because the Church would exonerate their sins in exchange for fulfilling their pledge to the crusade or die