Download The Crusades were primarily religious wars and, in so

Ancient History-Script-“Why did they
do that?”
Jonathan Riley-Smith is one of the most renowned modern historians specializing in the Crusades,
having written numerous books and directing countless lectures and classes on the topic, made the
following remark, in regards to the Crusade;
“The Crusades were primarily religious wars and, in so far as one can generalize about them, the
best explanation for the recruitment of crusaders was that they were moved by ideas.”
Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, to the segment of tonight’s broadcast called “Why did they do
that?” My Name is Samuel Cox and I’m your host for tonight. In last week’s chapter we analysed the
fall of the Tang Dynasty and why Ten Kingdoms succeeded the Tang Dynasty. In this week’s chapter
we will be analysis the First Crusade, and what motivated the European Christian populous to
participate in this phenomenon. This chapter will be split into three segments, the first consisting of
background knowledge on the First Crusade; the second and third segments will investigate two
prominent reasons behind the huge public response to the Pope’s proclamation of the First Crusade
in the shape of mass recruitment. I hope that you all have your reference booklet with you!
Let’s start the show by gaining some background knowledge on the First Crusade. Let us travel back
to the 11th century. Source #2 provides a map for which you can see various locations, cities and
generally proximity of Empires. In Europe, the concept of Caledonian Christianity has been made
obsolete by the East-West Schism which led to the existence of the two prominent Christian
denominations of the 11th century, namely the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox
Church. In the Middle East, the Islamic conquest was still in motion, which can be observed by
comparing ‘Source #1’, which shows the extent of the Muslim territories in 758 C.E., to ‘Source #2’
which shows the extent of the Muslim Frontiers in 1094 C.E., in three centuries the various Muslims
caliphates had expanded into Spain and had reached the Bosporus strait at the tip of Asia Minor. In
the year 1095, the current Pope, which was Pope Urban II, received a request from the Emperor of
the Byzantine Empire; Alexius I, for military assistance to aid defend the borders of the Byzantine
Empire. By Comparing Sources # 5 and #6 you can see that the Seljuk Turks had taken a large portion
of Byzantine territory by 1094 and had established the capital of their Empire, Nicaea, dangerously
close to Constantinople. This provoked Alexius I to ask for military assistance from the Pope out of
fear that the Turks would cross the Bosporus and besiege Constantinople. However Pope Urban II
used the invitation as a means to raise a force to invade the Middle Eastern region and capture the
city of Jerusalem and “…destroy that vile race [Turkish Muslims] from the land of our friends
[Eastern Orthodox Christians]…” (Source #3). In November, 1095, Pope Urban Proclaimed the First
Crusade at the Council of Clermont and instigated a recruitment force which raised an army of
approximately 120,000 crusaders, consisting of approximately 20,000 illegitimate pilgrims later
known as the ‘People’s Crusade’. Just a year later, in the spring of 1096, an individual known as
‘Peter the Hermit’ led the ‘Peoples Crusade’ to the City of Constantinople to assist Alexius I. Source
#4 depicts a timeline of events throughout the First Crusade. Some important events and dates
include;
1. 1095 First Crusade Proclaimed
2. Between November 1096 and May 1097, the Main Crusading force started arriving in
Constantinople and in April 1097 the Crusaders started crossing the Bosporus.
3. Two month later, the Crusaders surround the City of Nicaea and capture it on the 19th of
June.
4. After a short rest, the Crusaders marched from Nicaea to the city of Antioch. The Siege of
Antioch commenced in the early hours of the 21st of October 1097. The siege lasted until June
the next year.
5. In January 1099 the crusaders marched from Antioch to Jerusalem and on the 13th of June,
the Siege of Jerusalem commenced, which was won by the Crusaders two days later. After
the Siege the Crusaders flooded the city killing almost all inhabitants regardless of ethnicity,
class or religious affiliation.
The Timeline provided in your Source Booklets offers a more detailed series of events that occurred
during the First Crusade and Source # 7 consists of a Map showing the movements of the Crusading
Forces and Muslim forces.
Now it’s safe to say that we know why the First Crusade was proclaimed by the Pope, due to the
impending threat of the dominant Christian European Continent being tainted by Muslim invasion.
In addition to this, we are aware of the important events that throughout the First Crusade. Though
one question still remains; how did the Pope and his recruitment force motivate 120’000 individuals,
including peasants, nobles and knights, to “take up the cross” and embark on the crusade?
Numerous reasons can be accredited to the hefty participation in the First Crusade displayed by
European Christians. Yet these reasons can be summarised by splitting them into two distinct
Categories. The first category observes possible Non-Religious Motivations, and consists of two
prominent sub-categories, which are Legal reasons and Ambition. Although the majority of
participants almost certainly fall under the second category, it should be noted that history has
shown us that when humans are presented an escape from legal punishment or exposed to the
possibility of glory, unexpected and possibly harmful actions ensue. The Pope and his recruitment
force utilized a variety of motivational methods including the likes of earthly rewards. Source # 8 in
your source booklet is an extract from an interpretation of the speech Pope Urban II made at the
council of Clermont while proclaiming the crusade, scribed by Robert the Monk, believed to be
present at the Council. The extract makes direct reference to the “…assurance of imperishable
glory…” This guarantee made by the Pope may well have attracted ambitious young men who
desired fame and glory. However if not seeking fame and glory, yet also having no association with
religious zealotry, another incentive which some crusaders may have taken a liking to could be the
legal benefits associated with crusading. Kevin Bennett, a Christian Minister currently studying a
Bachelor of Theology summarises the legal benefits of crusading in Source # 9 (Display
Legal/Political Reason Quote).To list a few, the benefits included;
1. The Churches protection if the crusader were to be attacked physically or accused of illegal
actions.
2. Release from excommunication allowing the reintroduction to Christian society.
3. The entitlement to Church hospitality.,
These benefits could have attracted the attention of individuals who had been given certain legal
punishments such as excommunication or those suffering from financial issues) Italian historian,
politician, and diplomat from the Renaissance era, Niccolo Machiavelli states that “Men rise from
one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack
others.” The methods of ‘ambitious men’ described in the quote can be compared to the course of
action taken by crusaders with possible non-religious motives. The procedures are corresponding;
primarily the crusaders sought to assure the security of their persons, which was provided by the
Church through the various legal benefits granted to crusaders. After the assurance of security, the
Crusaders proceeded to invade foreign lands and attack others. It is valid to assume that a
percentage of the crusaders could’ve credited Non-Religious reasons as the source of their
participation in the First Crusade. Yet, as I mentioned before, the number of crusaders who can
attribute their motivational catalysts to Non-Religious reasons would be minute in comparison to the
number of crusaders who fall under the second motivational category, which is Religious Reasons.
Surprise!
Professor Jonathan Phillips, the Head of History at the Royal Holloway University of London makes
the following observation of medieval Europe,
“[Medieval Europe was] one of the most guilt-ridden societies in history where images of fire and
torture so frequently depicted on churches reinforced the fear of eternal damnation”.
To fully understand the reason why so many European Christians were persuaded through use of
Religious encouragement, we must gain a sense of how important religion was to the society of
medieval Europe. Professor of History at the University of Glasgow’s School of Humanities, Simon
Newman give a brief description of the role that the church played in medieval society. This
description can be found under Source # 10 in your booklets. Simply put, the Church was the lifeline
of many citizens, providing food, education, public services and spiritual guidance. To the peasants
of Medieval Europe, The Church was the only institute providing necessities and answers therefore
the Church could easily monopolises and manipulate almost every aspect of life, including the
proposed ‘will’ of God. In fact Pope Urban II used this tool to promote the First Crusade to the
population of Europe. One example is from an extract from the ‘Deeds of the Franks’ (‘Dei gesta per
Francos’) which was a recount of the first crusade scribed by Fulcher of Chartres. The extract can be
found under Source #11 in your booklet and reads; “…carry aid promptly to those Christians and to
destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends…Christ commands it!” By exclaiming that Christ
has commanded the action to be done, The Pope would have invoked two probably outlooks. Either
a sense of fearful submission, where the crusader is fearful of the punishment of not fulfilling a
command from Christ therefore submitting, or content servitude, where the crusader is happy to
serve his God regardless of what is asked. The use of ‘God’s Will’ was accompanied by the
“immediate remission of sin” to the individuals who participated in the Crusade. Another extract
from the ‘Deeds of the Franks’ (‘Dei gesta per Francos’) which can be found under ‘Source #12’
proclaims the following;
(Display Quote on Screen) “All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against
the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with
which I am invested.”
Let’s refer back to the quote made by Professor Jonathan Phillips, which can be found under ‘Source
#13’ in your booklet. Europe in the early 11th century was a ‘Guilt-ridden land’ where the numerous
Churches ‘reinforced’ the concept of ‘eternal damnation’. Remembering that the church was the
fundamental source of moral and spiritual guidance for peasants in Medieval Europe, the idea of
eternal damnation would have been hammered into the conscious of the European population.
Therefore the chance to expunge spiritual records would have attracted virtually every illiterate and
zealous individual in Europe, which coincidently happened to make up the majority of the European
population during the medieval period.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of accurate primary sources, no exact reasoning behind the hefty
participation in the first crusade can be found. A key issue with evidence in regards to the Crusades
is that there is very little primary evidence that is lacking in contemporary distortions. Historians
throughout time have recorded the Crusades with various mind states, where as Medieval observers
would recount the crusades from a strict Spiritual perspective, compared to a later interpretation
which made the Crusades an exotic romance, illustrating Heroic Crusaders fighting barbaric Muslims
or Vice Versa. Therefore, as with most ancient history, all we can do is interoperate the evidence
that is available keeping in mind possible biased distortions and our common sense.
That’s the all for now Folks. In this Chapter we’ve observed the First Crusade, looking at some of the
background knowledge, and analysed some reasoning’s behind the considerable participation
displayed by the European Christian Population, which we split into two distinct categories, being
Non-Religious Motivations and Religious Motivations. I hope to See you next time on “Why Did they
do that?”
Have a great day!