The First Crusade Essay -- essays research papers

The First Crusade     As the year 1000A.D. was approaching the strength of Christianity inWestern Europe was growing along with its population. The reinvigoratedly reformed and organised Church began to gain great power. A new Europe was being born withthe Catholic Church as a force in any area of life.     In Christian beliefs, the savior, Jesus Christ was to return to earthand bring judgment on its people. Many clergy members along with lay peoplebelieved this would possess place in the year 1000A.D. . Knowing this, the peopleof Europe awaited the return of Christ and feared the Wrath of God. Religiouspeople wanted to make up for their sins and avoid the horrors of eternaldamnation. Clergy members were often consulted to figure out what would be asuitable self-abasement. " The Church itself still frequently imposed pilgrimages as apenance" (Campbell p.14). A pilgrimage to the Holy Land was not an easy task tosay the least. The ro ad 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 back withtales that planted the seeds for a Crusade.     "The pilgrims that returned from the Holy City of Jerusalem recountedtales, often grossly exaggerated, of the flagitious pollution of the sacred placesat the hands of the Turks" (Campbell p23). Other stories of the destruction ofthe Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the burial place of Jesus, by the Turkssurfaced in the early eleventh century. The countersign 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 asked for the aid of the pontiff to athletic supporter him with hisTurk problem. To the Pope, it would be a strategic move to aid the Byzantineemperor. The Pop e 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 holy 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 by the conquest along with salvation.Economically, the First Crusade was a success for Western Europe. New 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 Empire grew utmost 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 religious to materialistic.     The First Crusade was the first installment in a series that lose their" holiness" and blend in less successful. Militarily, the First Crusade was anutter success. It started a hatred for the West by the Near and Middle Easternpeoples that still is strong today.