The Crusades were armed expeditions of the peoples of the Christian West organized by the Church and the Papacy of Western Europe to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslims and subjugate these lands. Historians distinguish eight crusades of 1095-1270, and there were many companies under the auspices of the church, but none of them was as successful as the First Crusade. It was indeed a violent time when people have undergone numerous threats. Kings, emperors, European nobility, as well as thousands of knights and ordinary soldiers participated in the campaigns. Even though all stakeholders had different attitudes and goals to the Crusades, all this significantly affected the participants and led to numerous deaths, broken destinies, destroyed lands and a waste of resources.
From the beginning of their military campaigns, the Crusaders attacked not only Muslims but also fought battles in the Middle East. The first campaign began with mass beatings of Jews in northern France and Germany: some were merely killed, while others were offered a choice of death or conversion to Christianity. Once the Muslim visited the crusader’s state where all the mosques were shifted to churches, the streets and roads were crowded, and the air was filled with impiousness and disbelief (Allen and Amt 110). Therefore, those who experienced invasion felt vulnerable and had no choice but to give up to the intruders.
The first crusade had a set of political, religious, and violent ideas that later became the driving force of subsequent campaigns. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos wanted to enlist military support to repel the Seljuq who fled to the territory of Byzantium in Asia Minor. When the Turks captured Jerusalem (from the Arabs, who lost the city more than a century ago) in 1087, this served as another reason for active actions on the part of Western Europe. Pope Urban II responded to the request of the Byzantine emperor (Kirshner and Morrison 159). He wanted to strengthen the position of the papacy and become the undisputed head of the Christian Church, including in the Orthodox East. Meanwhile, all the soldiers who went on that campaign have sworn an oath to the Pope to protect Christians and their faith; as a reward, they would receive absolution of all sins which instilled hope in them.
The ideals of chivalry and the just cause were one of the motivators of the Crusades. There was also pressure from peers and family, thirst for freedom and wealth, obtaining lands and titles, as well as the opportunity to travel. However, many warriors had less optimistic plans: they were forced to obey their master; some wanted to get rid of debts, persecution, and feudal dependence, while others simply wanted to live with dignity without starving (Kirshner and Morrison). This prompted the recruits to join many crusades and fight for their rulers.
During all the crusades, kings and nobles were ready to provide financial support. For instance, “Pope Eugenius III had authorized to mortgage their fiefs to monasteries in order to finance the Second Crusade” (Allen and Amt 108). Other elites viewed crusades as a way to expand their influence, so they wanted to sacrifice their current possessions to gain even more. Joubert of La-Ferté-Sur-Aube has given all he possessed to either die during the crusade or enjoy the new lordship after the victory (Allen and Amt 109; Cole and Symes). Hence, the nobles viewed these affairs as long-term investments that could provide them with more profitable opportunities and expand their lands in case they won.
Even clergy members were among the major stakeholders of the crusades. They actively participated in the discussion of financial issues and were interested in them more than in the matters of Jesus Christ. Clergy people were the ones to pay the crusade entry fees and could lead the troops. Their interest was to expand the influence of Christianity and convert as many people as possible (Allen and Amt 84). As a result, they participated in several crusades during the rules of Godfrey and Baldwin.
Moreover, the knight who fought constant battles has suffered a lot. They claimed that the war raged by the spiritual strength caused worse consequences and was against spirituality (Clairvaux 34). The knights stated that “the death which he inflicts is Christ’s gain, and death that he suffers is his own” (Clairvaux 39). The statement implied that there were many sufferings they had to encounter either while killing in self-defense or vengeance.
In conclusion, the crusades had a tremendous impact on history. In addition to the bloody losses and destruction, the campaigns were treated differently by its participants. All elites, eastern Europeans, and crusaders have dramatically suffered from the conflicts. While kings and nobles perceived crusades as a means of gaining influence, the attacked had to defend their possessions. In general, the huge costs of the Crusades led to the strengthening of the influence of royal houses in Europe, and the role of the nobility significantly decreased.
Works Cited
Allen, S. J., and Emilie Amt. The Crusades: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Clairvaux, Bernard. In Praise of the New Knighthood. Gorgias Press, 2010.
Cole, Joshua and Carol Symes. Western civilizations. 5th ed., vol. 1, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.
Kirshner, Julius and Karl F. Morrison. Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 4: Medieval Europe. Chicago University Press, 1986.