2006-10-20 08:14:57 · 9 answers · asked by roberta z 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
No When Pope Urban 11 in 1095 at the Council of Clermont in Southern France called for the First Crusade in addition to religion (to rescue the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks) there was a desire for land, adventure, trade, and the unification of the two Churches- East and West that had divided ealier in the eleventh century. It was also a way for people to escape serfdom and for younger brothers to circumvent the Law of Primogeniture.
2006-10-20 08:21:30 · answer #1 · answered by Mannie H 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
While religion played an important role in the Crusades, there are other factors that aided the Crusades. First, the Byzantine Emperor had been calling for help from the Latin west for nearly two decades to help relieve them from Islamic forces who where knocking on the Constantinople's front door. Second, Europeans were simply bored and were seeking adventure and wealth. That is why you have many people with various backgrounds making their way towards the Middle East. Peter the Hermit, for example, made his way to the Holy Land with a large group of peasants and lesser nobility seeking to change their fortunes on their way.
2006-10-20 20:24:27 · answer #2 · answered by jerryserrano2004 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
PRIMARILY, yes. The proof is that when they had captured Jerusalem, most of the First Crusaders went home. Only a small number had any intention of carving out kingdoms in the east.
All this mud-slinging at the Crusaders gives me a pain. Why were moslems in those countries anyway, if it wasn't by military conquest? And get this - Mohammed specifically promises his followers loot and plunder. Isn't there a double standard here?
2006-10-21 01:18:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The First Crusade was a counterattack against Muslim expansionism, which was at the time knocking at the gates of Vienna. It was successful in getting the Caliphate to pull in its horns, as armies were pulled back from Austria to defend Syria and attempt to retake the Holy Land - which, by the way, had previously been Christian, and had been conquered by the Caliphate.
It took another 400 years to drive the muslims from Europe entirely, with the fall of Grenada in Spain in 1492.
2006-10-20 20:37:19 · answer #4 · answered by Jim P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mannie is right. Also, although there was certainly a religious factor to consider, it was a way to wage war outside the European mainland, and therefore, to get rid of all those feudal combatants that were so often at odds with each other, and for the church, to benefit economically and gain prestige among the population.
2006-10-20 17:34:14 · answer #5 · answered by rtorto 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, 100% true. Don't let some of these others try to fool you. The Roman Catholic Pope at the time said "Take up the Cross(symbolic enough) and wrest the Holy Land from the infidels!" To which the crowd responded "Dieu le veut!(God wills it!)". Seems the Pope and many Catholics were pissed off at the Muslims for taking Jerusalem, so they taught them a lesson or two or four.
2006-10-20 20:49:08 · answer #6 · answered by buccaneersden 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Absolutely
2006-10-20 15:17:36 · answer #7 · answered by Mightymo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GREED AND POWER---THE MORE TIMES CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME.....
2006-10-20 19:30:22 · answer #8 · answered by cork 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, DUH!
2006-10-20 16:15:14 · answer #9 · answered by retorik75 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋