Introduction
The Pope’s sermon preached at Urban II in 1095 is believed to have sparked the military campaigns to seize the land and set it free from Muslim control. At that time, the Muslim and Christian groups were said to be divinely divided through brutal battles commonly referred to as Crusades. Although the active practice of war seemed to work significantly for God’s people, crusades were considered the first reasons to start with, and this continued for a considerable period. As much as the battle aimed at recovering land from Muslims, most participants did not have the same focus. The move brought a significant debate on why people got involved in the Crusades. This paper describes the reasons why people were involved in the crusades, such as money, power, and faith. The three factors significantly influenced the start and the spread of the Crusades. Most of the critical participants joined the movement with the push of their religious beliefs before changing their focus to their conquest’s need for power and wealth.
People initiated crusades with the aid of Pope II, who aimed to answer the call from Alexios Comnenos and the Byzantine Emperor. Initially, Alexios informed the Pope through a letter requesting him to help recover what a Byzantine land was. During this period, the Pope pursued his missions differently from assisting Alexios to regain its territory1. Pope believed this presented an excellent chance to resolve his issues in Western Europe. He aimed to stop Europeans from attacking each other and focused on a common adversary, the Muslims.
Moreover, Pope’s primary focus was to start a desirable relationship with the new emperor and repair the broken Orthodox Church, which had been slit. He decided to spread the need for crusades for these reasons and other intentions. The move was supported by various themes like damage to the holy places set for Christians, Muslim hostility against Christians, and the anguish of Christians revolting for their survival alongside the familiar promise that participants in the crusades maintain whatever they captured.
Faith Reasons for Crusades
Pope authorized the continuity of Christian warfare in the name of the crusades due to the belief that it was their mandate to safeguard to protect their land, people, and properties against Muslims who were during this time considered non-believers. Most of the ordinary citizens in medieval took vows to continue in battle with the promise that their sins would be forgiven hence attaining free access to heaven.
In several instances, the churchmen were heard encouraging crusade participants to contemplate the material gains resulting from their engagement in the activity. Crusade preachers were often heard complaining about the miserable challenges associated with the crusading; the expected expenses by those who wished to join the movement2. This indicated that most Christians first thought about their wealth rather than their spiritual health before deciding to start the campaign. However, it is essential to realize that not every crusader got rich, as others were killed or lost their property due to the significant expenses involved in the journey.
Power Reasons for Crusades
The first crusade brought about a massive attack on Jewish communities across Germany and France, almost eradicating most of them. During this period, crusaders offered serious Jewish choices to either convert or die. As a result, most of the Jewish were converted to Muslim, and others left the state for their safety while many resisted the push and died from torture. However, it is also evident that the first crusade rescued Jerusalem from the cruel treatment of Muslims because this met them by surprise at their frailest time. During this period, crusaders were deriving their power from attacking and killing their enemies alongside taking over their possessions. This was justified by a claim that the practice was God’s will and a way of ensuring justice among the saints. The meetings clearly indicated a combination of money, power, and faith, which gave the reasons to continue campaigning for crusades. Crusaders had already controlled significant cities like Tripoli, Edessa, and Jerusalem3. Such central lands would not be left in the hands of Muslims at any cost, making Jewish remain united until the occupants got tired.
Most of the subsequent crusades reported a severe defeat of Jewish by Muslims. In this case, serious generals like Zengi and Saladin led the Muslim army in recovering lands that the crusaders had already taken. The fall of the Edessa state marked the beginning of the second crusade movement in 11474. The crumble of Jerusalem to Saladin influenced the start of the third religious meeting in 1189. Although most of the crusade organizations started as spiritual matters, the whole mission was changed as this ended as a war where most of the participants’ lives were lost. The battle issue seemed to fail the priority and goal of the movement, which aimed at protecting the holy land. Another responded to each crusade in Europe after the Muslim occupation of the land.
Moreover, crusading activities aimed at creating power resulted from increased European development. This would not be realized in the absence of the major cities already under Muslim powers’ control. Therefore, the movements focused on militarizing the western church and sustaining its power over any critic. The practice had a significant impact in helping solidify the control of the Pope over the church. In this case, various government bodies started partly to cater to the current logical need of the movement. This ensured its growth due to continued protection by both the participants and the state.
Wealth as a Reason for Crusades
The possibility of financial gains remained one of the primary motivators for most of the crusaders. Crusading was known to have a significant role in European nations’ territorial expansion due to forming central crusade states in places like the Levant, which were initially under Muslim control. Crusading in the Mediterranean Sea resulted in the colonization and conquest of several islands, which ensured the Christian acquisition of various routes.
Although the crusades led to the defeat of most of the European aims, the movement resulted in the increased spread of western civilization and Christianity. The church experienced an immense increase in power and wealth during the consecutive crusade periods5. There was also a reported increase in trade activities alongside transportation due to the crusades throughout Europe. Due to the increased human massacre resulting from campaigns, Islam regarded the movement as bloody, immoral, and savage. The persistent human killings of Christians and Muslims led to bitter resentment that continued for several years.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the crusade movement started as a peaceful movement before losing its initial goal, which led it to end as a long-fought battle. What was introduced as a friendly move to redeem the holy land from the hands of Muslims finally resulted in a war over which group would be in control of the city. During this period, participants were murdered, some crusades societies were eradicated, and most members from the two sides suffered from the outcomes. Therefore, the start of the crusade movement is viewed as a means of Christian’s attempts to acquire wealth and lands from Muslims. Christian armies knew the practice was not in accordance with God’s will; instead, it portrayed an immense need for money and power instead of believing it was God’s doing.
Today, there are many reasons for crusades held by various regions, with most of them holding to the need of their faith to spread the gospel. Campaign participants are said to have unshaken belief in the Almighty and Allah, hence the need to spread the gospel to woo non-believers to join their movement. This is done to make one’s religion dominant among others in the world. Some of the crusaders today believe that continued participation in the activity would create room for them to reach heaven. During this practice, children are excited and encouraged to join the movement to impact religious beliefs at their early stages. In the same manner, the socio-economic factors are also known to be responsible for the continued increase in crusaders. Poverty leads people to join crusades due to increased offerings and other collections resulting from the participants. However, it is essential to note that there is no case of human killings resulting from crusades as witnessed in the past.
References
Cassidy-Welch, Megan. War and Memory at the Time of the Fifth Crusade. Penn State Press, 2019.
Dray, Philip. Yours for justice, Ida B. Wells: The daring life of a crusading journalist. Holiday House, 2020.
Harwood, Sophie. “‘I Will Lead You to the River’: Women, Water, and Warfare in the Roman de Thèbes, Roman de Troie, and Early Chronicles of the First Crusade.” Open Library of Humanities 4, no. 2 (2018).
Nyamnjoh, Henrietta. “Using ICTs to be here and not here: African migrants and religious transnationalism.” Research Handbook on International Migration and Digital Technology, pp. 195-206. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021.
Stoller, Matt. Goliath: the 100-year war between monopoly power and democracy. Simon & Schuster, 2019.
Footnotes
- Nyamnjoh, Henrietta. “Using ICTs to be here and not here: African migrants and religious transnationalism.” Research Handbook on International Migration and Digital Technology, pp. 195-206. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021.
- Stoller, Matt. Goliath: the 100-year war between monopoly power and democracy. Simon & Schuster, 2019.
- Dray, Philip. Yours for justice, Ida B. Wells: The daring life of a crusading journalist. Holiday House, 2020.
- Cassidy-Welch, Megan. War and Memory at the Time of the Fifth Crusade. Penn State Press, 2019.
- Harwood, Sophie. “‘I Will Lead You to the River’: Women, Water, and Warfare in the Roman de Thèbes, Roman de Troie, and Early Chronicles of the First Crusade.” Open Library of Humanities 4, no. 2 (2018).