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The Crusades - What were the Crusades?
The Crusades were a series of Holy Wars launched by the Christian states of Europe against the
Saracens. The term 'Saracen' was the word used to describe a Moslem during the time of the
Crusades. The Crusades started in 1095 when Pope Claremont preached the First Crusade at the
Council of Claremont. The Pope's preaching led to thousands immediately affixing the cross to their
garments - the name Crusade given to the Holy Wars came from old French word 'crois' meaning
'cross'. The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe
for the purpose of rescuing the holy places of Palestine from the hands of the Mohammedans. They
were eight in number, the first four being sometimes called the Principal Crusades, and the remaining
four the Minor Crusades. In addition there was a Children's Crusade. There were several other
expeditions which were insignificant in numbers or results.
Cause of the Crusades
The reason and cause of the crusades was a war between Christians and Moslems which
centered around the city of Jerusalem and the Holy places of Palestine. The City of
Jerusalem held a Holy significance to the Christian religion. The Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem commemorated the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of Christ's
burial. Pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages made sacred pilgrimages to the Holy city of
Jerusalem and the church. Although the city of Jerusalem was held by the Saracens the
Christian pilgrims had been granted safe passage to visit the Holy city. In 1065 Jerusalem
was taken by the Turks, who came from the kingdom of ancient Persia. 3000 Christians
were massacred and the remaining Christians were treated so badly that throughout
Christendom people were stirred to fight in crusades. These actions aroused a storm of
indignation throughout Europe and awakened the desire to rescue the Holy Land from the
grasp of the "infidel."
Cause of the Crusades - 3000 Christian Pilgrims massacred in Jerusalem
Among the early Christians it was thought a pious and meritorious act to undertake a
journey to some sacred place. Especially was it thought that a pilgrimage to the land that
had been trod by the feet of the Saviour of the world, to the Holy City that had witnessed
his martyrdom, was a peculiarly pious undertaking, and one which secured for the pilgrim
the special favor and blessing of Heaven. The Saracen caliphs, for the four centuries and
more that they held possession of Palestine, pursued usually an enlightened policy towards
the pilgrims, even encouraging pilgrimages as a source of revenue. But in the eleventh
century the Seljukian Turks, a prominent Tartar tribe and zealous followers of Islam,
wrested from the caliphs almost all their Asiatic possessions. The Christians were not long
in realizing that power had fallen into new hands. 3000 Christian Pilgrims were insulted
and persecuted in every way. The churches in Jerusalem were destroyed or turned into
stables.
Cause of the Crusades - Religious Conviction
If it were a meritorious thing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, much more
would it be a pious act to rescue the sacred spot from the profanation of infidels. This was
the conviction that changed the pilgrim into a warrior, this was the sentiment that for two
centuries and more stirred the Christian world to its profoundest depths, and cast the
population of Europe in wave after wave upon Asia.
Cause of the Crusades - The Instinct to Fight
Although this religious feeling was the principal cause of the Crusades, still there was
another concurring cause which must not be overlooked. This was the restless, adventurous
spirit of the Teutonic peoples of Europe, who had not as yet outgrown their barbarian
instincts. The feudal knights and lords, just now animated by the rising spirit of chivalry,
were very ready to enlist in an undertaking so consonant with their martial feelings and
their new vows of knighthood.
Cause of the Crusades - The Preaching of Peter the Hermit
The immediate cause of the First Crusade was the preaching of Peter the Hermit, a native
of Picardy, in France. Having been commissioned by Pope Urban II. to preach a crusade,
the Hermit traversed all Italy and France, addressing everywhere, in the church, in the
street, and in the open field, the crowds that flocked about him, moving all hearts with
sympathy or firing them with indignation, as he recited the sufferings of their brethren at
the hands of the infidels, or pictured the profanation of the holy places, polluted by the
presence and insults of the unbelievers.
Cause of the Crusades - The Threat of the Turks
Whilst Peter the Hermit had been arousing the warriors of the West, the Turks had been
making constant advances in the East, and were now threatening Constantinople itself. The
Greek emperor (Alexius Comnenus) sent urgent letters to the Pope, asking for aid against
the infidels, representing that, unless assistance was extended immediately, the capital with
all its holy relics must soon fall into the hands of the barbarians.
Cause of the Crusades - Pope Urban II & the Council of Clermont
Pope Urban II called a great council of the Church at Placentia, in Italy, to consider the
appeal (1095), but nothing was effected. Later in the same year a new council was convened
at Clermont, in France, Pope Urban purposely fixing the place of meeting among the
warm tempered and martial Franks. Pope Urban II himself was one of the chief speakers.
He was naturally eloquent, so that the man, the cause, and the occasion all conspired to
achieve one of the greatest triumphs of human oratory. Pope Urban II pictured the
humiliation and misery of the provinces of Asia; the profanation of the places made sacred
by the presence and footsteps of the Son of God. Pope Urban II then detailed the conquests
of the Turks, until now, with all Asia Minor in their possession, they were threatening
Europe from the shores of the Hellespont.
Cause of the Crusades - "It is the will of God"
"When Jesus Christ summons you to his defence," exclaimed the eloquent pontiff, "let no
base affection detain you in your homes; whoever will abandon his house, or his father, or
his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his inheritance, for the sake of my name, shall be
recompensed a hundred-fold, and possess life eternal." Here the enthusiasm of the vast
assembly burst through every restraint. With one voice they cried, "Dieu le volt! Dieu le
volt!" meaning "It is the will of God! It is the will of God!" Thousands immediately affixed
the cross to their garments as a pledge of their sacred engagement to go forth to the rescue
of the Holy Sepulchre. The fifteenth day of August of the following year (1096) was set for
the departure of the expedition - the Crusades had begun.