Western Civilization Final

Western Civilization

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Western Civilization

The history about western civilization was marked by various significant issues. One of those issues were the Crusades, which were series of military campaigns by various religious bodies. They were majorly experienced during early 11th century all through to 13th century. The main reasons for championing the crusades were to reclaim Jerusalem City alongside other Holy lands in the Levant from the Islamic groups. The second aim was to control various threats to Christianity such as Islam. “Insinueteded that the Muslims were a threat to Christian world order,” (The Crusade, 2019, Pp. 8). The history captures eight major crusades that are believed to have occurred from 1096 to 1291 (The Crusades, 2019). Major players in the crusades were the European Christians because their status was propelled by the violent, bloody, and ruthless conflict that were main characteristics of the Middle East Wars that are popularly known as the Crusades.

The origin of the crusades is traced back to 1096 when the European Christians were ordered by their Pope in southern France to help Byzantines in reclaiming Jerusalem that had been seized by the Muslims. Initially, Western Europe had emerged as a significant power by the end of the 11th century. This situation occurred at a time when Byzantium, one of the remarkable Mediterranean civilization, had lost its territory to Seljuk Turks. Byzantium loss was marked with civil wars and chaos before its throne was seized by Alexius Comnenus in 1081, who then consolidated the control over parts that were left unrolled by Emperor Alexius I (The Crusades, 2019). Alexius sent envoy to Pope Urban II in 1095 to seek for mercenary troops from Europe to assist in encountering the Turkish threat. In November the same year, Council of Clermont from the southern parts of France, the Pope, instructed the European Christians to take their arms and help Byzantines in recapturing the Holy land from the Muslims. This decision marked the origin of the crusades.

Various areas were studies that encourage the idea of the crusade, one of them being the fall of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is captured in the history of western civilization as a Holy land (Asbridge, 2010). By studying it, it was realized that it attracted the interest of two major religious groups namely Christians and Muslims. This notion makes the fall of Jerusalem significantly crucial for nurturing the idea of the Crusades by creating a conflicting ground for religious bodies. The second area that was equally important in nurturing the idea of the Crusade is the Mamluk, a dynasty that emerged and took power in one of the Islamic blocks, Egypt (Tyerman, 2015). The Mamluk encouraged the idea of Crusades actively by being forced into Palestine and managed to halt the Mongols advancement over the leadership of Gengish Khan. Last yet important, effects of crusades as an area of study also fueled the idea of crusade by affirming that the latter in deed happened, and that it had significant impacts such as destruction of life and properties.

Alexius Comnenus ask Pope Urban II for assistance because he wanted to conquer the lost lands of Byzantine. For example, his main motive was to source for a reliable power that would definitely help him in invade the Muslims and reclaim the Holy land (Asbridge, 2010). Secondly, he wanted to stop the oppression of Christians by the Muslims.

The Pope used this situation as a pretext for urging the First Crusade because he saw it as an opportunity to unite all the Christian groups including the Orthodoxy, Paulicianism, Catholicism, and Iconoclasts. Secondly, he aimed at fighting a common enemy and stop the oppression of Christians in the Middle East.

Mass murder of the Jews is primary accounts possessed by historians and students that displays the brutality of the first crusade. Having set their foot in Jerusalem, the European warriors murdered thousands of people and equal number were rendered homeless, forcing them to flee the land to seek refuge from King Kolomon of Hungary, whose army had also killed some of them and exiled the rest. Some Jews were also slaughtered during the onset of the first crusade (Tyerman, 2015). This brutality his further expressed by lbn Al-Athir as he says, "For three days the slaughter never stopped; the Franks killed more than roo,ooo men and took innumerable prisoners" (The Crusades, 2019, Pp. 8). Hence, mass of and displacement of the Jews marked the brutal nature of the first Crusade.

Conclusion

All in all, the crusades refers to the series of wars between the Muslims and Christians over the Holy land of Jerusalem, that started to occur the 11th century and continued all through to the 13th century. Those wars originated from Pope Urban II’s order to the European Christians to take arms and help Alexius in reclaiming the Jerusalem land from the Muslims in 1096. The idea of Crusade is nurtured by various areas that were studies such as the Jerusalem land, which was a religious land of war. Notably, asked for assistance from Pope Urban II because he wanted to regain the lost land of Jerusalem. Nonetheless, little did he know that his request would lead to a brutal scene. For instance, the first world was marked by killing and displacement of thousands of Jews.

References

Asbridge, T. S. (2010). The Crusades: The authoritative history of the war for the Holy Land. Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers.

Tyerman, C. (2015). The Debate on the Crusades.

The Crusades. (2019). The crusades. Retrieved from: http://www.docs.writing4money.com/uploads/orders/pecm0tgu821avte27qeaf4csl0---the-crusades.pdf