Youre a 10th century European peasant. Your skin is pasty white. Your face is rotting from lack of fruits and vegetables in your diet. The king whips you for not accepting his version of the Bible. The plague has wiped out half of your family, and every year, there's a new lunatic monarch who rapes children and eats his own skin. Your genitals turned black and fell off last month because of frostbite. You're wearing rags and its 20 below.
The Pope says that Jesus Christ loves you and will reward you with eternal life in a warm, happy afterlife, if only you wouldn't mind travelling to Asia Minor to slaughter the Muslim invaders.
"Hmm... maybe I can warm myself with the blood of the infidel."
2007-11-22 04:07:58 · 7 answers · asked by askthepizzaguy 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
First, your chronology is off. The Crusades took place much later than the 10th century (900-999). Also the Crusades tended to be a noble quest with few peasants with some exceptions. The major reason for the Crusades is that the Byzantine emperor Alexius asked for western aid to stem the Turkish invasion of Anatolia. The Muslims were the aggressors here. A second reason was land hunger among the nobility. Also war is the default position, so to speak, for these times. Neither the Muslims or Europeans needed much encouragement to go to war.
2007-11-22 04:17:15 · answer #1 · answered by Timothy M 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Realize that Europe had been "at war" with the Muslims for nearly 400 years before the Crusades began. The "Moors" had come across the northern top of Africa, invading all the nations there, and then crossed into Spain. There had been a series of battles between the two over the time, as the Europeans attempted to prevent the invasion of the rest of Europe. Just before the first Crusade, the Europeans had finally turned the tide (in part due to plagues among the Moors) and finally saw a chance to end the war between the two permanently. They also saw the freeing of the "Holy Lands" where Christ had lived from the Muslims as a worthy goal. They felt that having this land possessed by another religion was an insult to the honor of Christ. So to encourage men to "join the cause", the Pope offered anyone who did absolution (that is forgiveness of all their sins) and any loot or land that they won during the crusade. So the main motivations would have been (1) protecting Europe from further invasions, (2) freeing the Holy Land, (3) receiving absolution and (4) riches. In this way, it was not much different then any other war.
2016-05-25 00:40:42 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seeing your profound knowledge of life in the Middle Age I am not sure which to answer.
Skin is tanned. Because they spend their time in the fields.
They eat mostly fruits and vegetables, because meat is only for those who are either noble or rich enough to buy it.
There's no other version of the Bible because the Crusades happened before the Protestant bible appeared. There were only Christians at that time.
Don't know where you get those ideas about a king's sexual and culinary habits but that was amusing to read, if a bit disturbing.
20C below happens in Eastern Europe mostly. They did not participate in the Crusades.
People were deeply religious in that time with religion being part of every day life in a way that doesn't exist anymore, and if some (mostly nobles) thought of power and loot religion did play a huge role in deciding people to join the Crusades. Seeing what people today are ready to do in the name of their religion what is hard to understand in a religious goal, of freeing the sacred land of your religion from infidels who had invaded them a century or two ago.
2007-11-22 05:21:42 · answer #3 · answered by Cabal 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
End of 11th century in fact.
Few peasants involved - just support for the knightly forces.
most who went did so from the religious impulse. Proof? Because once Jerusalem was captured, most of them returned home.
Of course mercenary considerations played a part with some, but did you know that spoil and plunder is specifically promised to Muslim Holy Warriors?
2007-11-22 06:29:13 · answer #4 · answered by gravybaby 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They had a skewed viewpoint of Christianity; Crusaders were promised eternal life if they died in battle.
Some people couldn't afford to go on crusades because it would mean a loss of livelihood (no way to make money or tend to crops).
2007-11-22 04:29:58 · answer #5 · answered by chrstnwrtr 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're assuming people CHOSE to go on the crusades. The "peasants" you are talking about in many instances were told they would be going by the landowners they were living under. These people were virtually indentured servants and were completely powerless to resist doing as they were told.
2007-11-22 04:28:22 · answer #6 · answered by Who cares 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
For plunder
2007-11-22 04:37:58 · answer #7 · answered by brainstorm 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋