The First Crusade Essay -- essays research papers

The First Crusade     As the socio-economic class 1000A.D. was come up the strength of Christianity inWestern Europe was growing along with its population. The impertinently reformed andorganized perform began to gain great power. A pertly Europe was being born withthe Catholic perform as a force in every area of life.     In Christian beliefs, the savior, deliverer Christ was to return to earthand bring judgment on its people. some clergy members along with lay peoplebelieved this would take place in the year 1000A.D. . Knowing this, the peopleof Europe awaited the return of Christ and feared the pettishness of God. Religiouspeople wanted to make up for their sins and avoid the horrors of unwrap(a)damnation. Clergy members were often consulted to figure out what would be asuitable penance. " The Church itself still frequently imposed pilgrimages as apenance" (Campbell p.14). A pilgrimage to the Holy Land was non an easy tas k to swan the least. The road to Jerusalem was jagged. On the way to Jerusalem,pilgrims were often murdered by thieves. They were defenseless and often didnot return. Some pilgrims did return from the Holy Land. They came screening withtales that planted the seeds for a Crusade.     "The pilgrims that returned from the Holy City of Jerusalem recountedtales, often grossly exaggerated, of the horrible pollution of the sacred placesat the hands of the Turks" (Campbell p23). Other stories of the devastation ofthe Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the burial place of Jesus, by the Turkssurfaced in the early eleventh century. The saucilys of the destruction of theSepulcher was mourned in every Christian country. The nations looked to Romefor a solution to this most serious of Problems.     The Byzantine emperor butterfly asked for the aid of the pope to help him with hisTurk problem. To the Pope, it would be a strategic can to aid the Byza ntineemperor. The Pope realized that this offered the opportunity to re-establishthe universal Church and establish the supremacy of Rome. In 1095, at theCouncil of Clermont in southern France, "urban II challenged Christians to takeup their weapons against the infidels and participate in a consecrate war andrecapture the Holy Land" (Spielvogel,p344). Pope Urban II addressed the Frenchtelling them of the horrors im... ...m the clutches of non-Christianrulers. They successfully carried out the wishes of the Pope and , moreimportantly, what they believed to be the " Will of God ." The crusadingknights gained new powers through the oppression along with salvation.Economically, the First Crusade was a success for Western Europe. advanced ports onthe Mediterranean were in the hands of Western lords, opening new gates fortrade.     On the other hand, the First Crusade could be seen to be a failure inmany ways. Relations with the Byzantine imperium grew far more distant. ThePopes dream of unifying the eastern and western churches could not be achieved.The gruesome display of barbarism on behalf of the Crusaders could also be seenas a failure in morals. It seemed that the Crusaders, for the most part, losttheir way. Their goals switched from spectral to materialistic.     The First Crusade was the first installment in a series that lose their" holiness" and become less successful. Militarily, the First Crusade was anutter success. It started a hatred for the West by the Near and Middle eastpeoples that still is strong today.