The Crusaders and the Church
The legacy of the Crusades, whether positive or negative, has been contested among Christians and non-Christians alike. Although there were clearly political, intellectual, and technological benefits to Europe as a result of the crusades, can it be said that the Crusades advanced the cause of Christ? Research the motivating factors of the various movements and determine whether they where representative of a Christian worldview.
This essay will serve the purpose of attempting to answer the questions of whether the Crusades advanced the cause of Christ, what were the motivating factors for each Crusade and were they carried out with the approval of the rest of the Christian world. When the topic of the Crusades of the Middle Ages arises during the course of conversation, in my experience, it has usually been the case that it is being referred to by someone who is not necessarily a Christian and would like to use the fact that the violence and loss of life that resulted from the crusades, “if that is what Christianity is about”, as a scapegoat for denying the faith. So with that being said I personally have mixed reservations about the Crusades and there effectiveness as a tool for advancing the cause of Christ, although I can not deny the fact that at least externally or commercially the Crusades of the Middle Ages were without question instrumental in the spread of the faith. Whether the right approach was taken in spreading the faith is an argument that has gone on for centuries and will continue to go on, more than likely until Jesus Christ our LORD returns.
Before we begin to address the topics listed in the above paragraph I believe it is appropriate for us to become more thoroughly familiar with the who, what, when, where and why of the Crusades. Who were the facilitators of the Crusades of the Middle Ages? The Roman Catholic Church and the Christian states of Europe at the time were the facilitators of the, “Holy Wars”, a title that is sometimes used to refer to and justify the fighting that took place. 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 Muslim during the time of the Crusades.” What the Crusades were has been described above as a series of Holy Wars and this is because the intent of the Crusades was to re-capture or re-establish rule of the Palestine territories, that Christ and his disciples frequented, after these territories were placed under Muslim control and consisted of a total of nine conflicts in all. “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.” When did the Crusades occur? The Crusades occurred from the early part to roughly the middle of the second millennium after Christ walked the earth. The Crusades were sponsored by the Catholic Church from roughly 1100-1400 AD. Where did the Crusades take place? The Crusades took place in the Mediterranean Area or Middle Eastern part of the world. “The Crusades were military or quasi-military expeditions launched by Christian secular and religious rulers against Muslims in the Middle East.” Why did the Crusades occur? The Crusades were the result of a growing desire for increased monetary stature and religious zeal as the Church begin to populate the globe. Religious fervor was an extremely important factor in arousing the Christians to organize military expeditions, as was the hope of gaining immense riches and increased power. Now that we have discussed the related information surrounding the origins of the Crusades or “Holy Wars” of the Middle Ages, we can begin to delve more deeply into the motivating factors for each Crusade and the effect that each of the nine Crusades had on advancing the cause of Christ from the period that the Crusades first occurred up until this present day. The first Crusade was in the year 1096 and was a direct result of the Byzantine Army being destroyed by the Turks in 1071 coupled with 3000 Christians being massacred in Jerusalem from 1085 to 1095 AD. In 1095 AD an embassy was sent to Pope Urban II regarding the atrocities in Jerusalem and resulted in the Pope calling the great council of the Church at Placentia to consider the appeal for assistance, although no decision was to be rendered until later that year at the “great council of the clergy” in Clermont France where Pope Urban II called for a Crusade against the infidels on 24 November 1095. In the summer of 1096, armed forces gathered to embark on the first Crusade, effectively capturing the city of Jerusalem by scaling the walls of the Holy city and returning one of the principal areas where Christ preached to the Christian empire on 15 July of 1099. The second Crusade was conducted from 1147 to 1149 AD and was instigated by the fall and massacre at Edessa, which was the “bulwark of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem on the side towards Mesopotamia which was taken by the turks and the entire population slaughtered or sold into slavery. The apostle of the Second Crusade was the great abbot of Clairvaux, St. Bernard who was aided by King Louis VII of France and Conrad the III of Germany who was motivated to entrust the affairs of his kingdom to his subordinates and take up the cause of Christ. King Louis’s motivation to join the Crusades stemmed from righting an earlier act of cruelty that he had apparently undertaken against some of his disgruntled and revolted subjects. Unlike the First Crusade the Second Crusade was not a success and culminated with a joint attack executed by Louis and Conrad which was spirited but far short of victorious. The failed joint attack of Damascus effectively caused the siege to be raised and ended the crusade. It was said by one chronicler that having practically accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned home. The strength of both the French and the German division of the expedition was wasted in Asia Minor, and the crusade accomplished nothing. The Third Crusade was conducted from 1189 to 1192 AD and was a direct result of Jerusalem being captured in 1187 by the Muslim world who found in it a leader by the name of Saladin who was the sultan of Egypt and whose character was that of a typical “Mohammedan, very devout in prayers and fasting, fiercely hostile toward unbelievers, and full of the pride of race. To these qualities he added kindliness and humanity that was not surpassed by any of his Christian foes.” King Richard I of England was the central figure among Christians in this Crusade and was key in the raising of finances to support the cause. Notable events of the Third Crusade include the death of Frederick Barbarossa, the German Emperor nearly 70 years old who had a zeal for crusading and drowned during a march that consequently disheartened the army and resulting in it returning to Germany, the Siege of Acre (one of the longest and costliest sieges), only to see the success not capitalized on by King Phillip and King Richard respectively of France and England who could not get along. King Richard and England remained in the Holy Land longer than the average length of stay for a Christian crusader due to a truce reached with Saladin which permitted Christians to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem without paying tribute after which he set sail to England, effectively ending the Third Crusade, however ironically he was later captured by the duke of Austria, whom he had offended at the siege of Acre and forced to pay a ransom for his release that was said to be twice that of what the annual revenues of England was at that time. The Fourth Crusade was marked by a dispirited and or distracted effort that was taken up by French Knights and set in motion by the famous Pope Innocent the III who revived the wishes of Pope Urban the II. The Fourth Crusade resulted in the capture of Constantinople instead of Jerusalem. The remaining Crusades were considered to be minor in fact even the Fourth Crusade was said to be of little effect, however we can see that there was evidently a great passion and root of belief within each sides of the Crusades that their faith was the true faith and effectively demonstrated the lengths that each side were more than willing to go to ensure the spread and domination of these beliefs. As a Christian I can’t help but to think of the time in the gospel of John 18:10-11 when the when Jesus was approached by Judas Iscariot and the multitude in an attempt to take him and Simon cut off the ear of the high priest only to have Jesus communicate that it was more or less necessary for him to have done what would be done. Else where Christ states that his kingdom is not of this world and that if he so desired he could have angels take up the cause. So while the spread of the Gospel has been assisted by the Crusades I feel when I speak to a non-believer or someone who is not in the faith and they bring up the Crusades, where violence was enacted on both sides, it robs the message of the cross to some effect.
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