The First Crusade
As the year 1000A.D. was approaching the strength of Christianity in
Western Europe was growing along with its population. The newly reformed and
organized Church began to gain great power. A new Europe was being born with
the Catholic Church as a force in every area of life.
In Christian beliefs, the savior, Jesus Christ was to return to earth
and bring judgment on its people. Many clergy members along with lay people
believed this would take place in the year 1000A.D. . Knowing this, the people
of Europe awaited the return of Christ and feared the Wrath of God. Religious
people wanted to make up for their sins and avoid the horrors of eternal
damnation. Clergy members were often ...
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from the Holy City of Jerusalem recounted
tales, often grossly exaggerated, of the horrible pollution of the sacred places
at the hands of the Turks" (Campbell p23). Other stories of the destruction of
the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the burial place of Jesus, by the Turks
surfaced in the early eleventh century. The news of the destruction of the
Sepulcher was mourned in every Christian country. The nations looked to Rome
for a solution to this most serious of Problems.
The Byzantine emperor asked for the aid of the Pope to help him with his
Turk problem. To the Pope, it would be a strategic move to aid the Byzantine
emperor. The Pope realized that this offered the opportunity to re-establish
the universal Church and establish the supremacy of Rome. In 1095, at the
Council of Clermont in southern France, "Urban II challenged Christians to take
up their weapons against the infidels and participate in a holy war and
recapture the Holy Land" (Spielvogel,p344). Pope Urban II ...
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international military force, with a large nucleus of knights from central
and southern France, Normandy, and Norman Sicily, made its way across the
Balkans and assembled in Constantinople" (Hollister,p.189). The warriors of the
First Crusade numbered around 25,000 or 30,000. The number of troops may seem
minuscule by today's standards it was " immense in the eyes of contemporaries "
( Hollister,p.189). Pope Urban II appointed Adhemar of Le Puy, a French bishop,
to lead the Crusaders into the Holy Land. The First Crusade was underway.
There were many reasons for knights to venture out to the Holy Land.
Many joined the Crusade for the Pope's pledge of the remission of sins and ...
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"The First Crusade." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 20 May. 2008. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-First-Crusade/83964>
"The First Crusade." Essayworld.com. May 20, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-First-Crusade/83964.
"The First Crusade." Essayworld.com. May 20, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-First-Crusade/83964.
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