Download The Crusades & Church Reform

The Crusades & Church
Reform
I. The Crusades
 Palestine = “Holy Land”
 600s: Muslim Arabs conquered Palestine
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Tolerated others
 1000s: Saljuq Turks (warlike, from Central Asia)
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Conquered Palestine & attacked Asia Minor (Byz)
Threatened Constantinople
Appealed to Pope
A. The Pope’s Call for a Crusade
 Pope Urban II
 1095: meeting of Church leaders in Claremont, Fr.
 “God wills it!!!”
 Crusaders—sewed a cross of cloth on garments
 Crusades = expeditions to regain Holy Land
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1. inspired by faith---you go straight to Heaven if killed
2. the lure of lands & plunder
3. merchants = money
B. The First Crusade (1096-1099)
 Led by Fr. & Norman nobles
 Crossed Euro. to Const.
 Met some resistance at Const.
 Crusaders suffered severely
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Unprepared
 Army of 12,000 reached Jerusalem
 July 15, 1099: captured Jer. – terrible massacre
 Crusaders set up four small states:
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Edessa
Antioch
Tripoli
Jerusalem
 Introduced feudalism
 Euro. trade developed
 Acculturation
C. The Second Crusade (1147-1149)
 Turks recaptured Edessa & threatened Jer.
 King Louis VII (Fr.) & Conrad III (H.R. Emp)
 Did not join until Damascus (Turks held)
 Failed to capture Edessa
D. The Third Crusade (1189-1192)
 Salah al-Din (Muslim leader—recaptured Jer.)
 Led by:
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King Philip II (Fr.)
Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (H.R. Emp.)
King Richard the Lion-Hearted (Eng.)
 Failed
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Barbarossa drowned
Philip & Richard quarreled (Philip went home)
Richard was outmatched
 1192: King Richard & Salah al-Din agreed to a
truce
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Jer. remained under Muslim control
Unarmed Christian pilgrims could freely visit
E. Later Crusades
 Pope Innocent III = Fr. Knights embarked on
the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)
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Venice (transportation)
 Attack Zadar
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Christian city but commercial rival of Venice
Army was excomm.
 Venetians & crusaders attacked Const.
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Supported one faction of the Byz. royal family
Const. = $$$$$
 1204: crusaders looted Const.
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Christian relics taken back west
 Byz. regained Const. 50 yrs. later
 1453: Turks seized Const.
1. A Spanish Crusade
 Moors controlled most of Spain until 1100s
 Reconquista: Spanish effort to liberate Spain
of Muslims
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1492: last Muslim kingdom of Grenada fell to
the Christian army (Ferdinand & Isabella)
 Inquisition: Church’s attempt to suppress
heresy
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Heretics?
2. Children’s Crusade
 1212: thousands of children embarked on
crusades to Jer.
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Stephen of Cloyes (Fr.)—12 yrs. old
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30,000 kids under 18
Many died of exposure & starvation
Nicholas of Cologne (Germany)
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20,000 kids & young adults
Many died crossing the Alps to Rome
Once in Rome, pope said, “Go home!”
2,000 survived the journey home
 Crusading spirit slowly died
 Additional crusades took place after 1204
until 1291 (Muslims captured Acre)
F. Results of Crusades
 Military: all crusades failed except the First
 Euros. learned much militarily
 1. the crossbow
 2. siege tactics
 3. gunpowder
 Power of kings & middle class strengthened
 Feudalism declined
 Nobles died fighting
 Some mortgaged or sold land to finance
crusade
 Papal prestige was enhanced (assumed political
power)
 Commercial changes
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Italian cities benefited by transporting crusaders
Euros. became more familiar w/new products
II. The Age of Faith
 Monasteries led spiritual revival
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Cluny, Fr. (910) –return to the basic principles
of Christianity
 New religious orders
A. Problems of the Church
 Some priests were nearly illiterate
 Some popes had questionable morals
 Many bishops cared more about being feudal
lords than spiritual leaders ($$$$$$$)
 Many issues of concern:
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1. priests married w/children
2. bishops sold positions in church (simony)
3. lay investiture
B. Reform & Church Organization
 Pope Leo IX & Pope Gregory VII enforced
church laws
 1100s & 1200s: Church was restructured to
resemble a kingdom
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Pope & Curia
Canon law
Friars: diplomats for the pope traveled thru
Euro. dealing w/bishops & kings
Collected taxes = tithes
C. Heresy
 Church did not allow the questioning of the basic
foundation of Christianity
 Heretics: unbelievers guilty of the unpardonable
sin of heresy (eternal damnation)
 Religious orders:
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Franciscans: 1209 –St. Francis of Assisi
Dominicans: 1216 –St. Dominic
Friars: traveled, lived, preached among people
Mid 1200s: Dominicans led the Inquisition