The First Crusade
9 Factors that Caused the
First Crusade
Andrew
Knighton
On the surface,
the First Crusade looks like something with a simple cause – the hatred of one
religious group for another.
In reality, the
causes were far more complex. A wide range of factors led to Pope Urban II’s
call to arms in 1095, and to the eagerness of men to follow his lead.
A Violent Society
 |
Madrid Skylitzes illuminated manuscript
depicting Byzantine Greeks punishing ninth-century Cretan Saracens. |
By modern standards, medieval Europe was a terrifyingly violent place.
Physical force was used to achieve all sorts of ends.
Lords used
violence to exert their influence over their subjects and to pursue feuds with
each other for political and financial gain.
Issues of
international politics were frequently resolved on the battlefield. When they
occurred, wars affected everyone in a region through pillage and slaughter.
Banditry was
rife.
In such a
context, men were already primed for violence. Its use was excusable in any
cause they deemed right.
A Struggle the Size of the Mediterranean
 |
| Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent. |
Though few people were in a position to see it, a struggle was
taking place for religious domination in the lands surrounding the
Mediterranean.
From its birth
in the 7th century,
Islam had spread out of the Middle East, with Muslim rulers taking over North
Africa and large chunks of southern Europe.
In the 11th century, Christianity had made a
comeback, as Christian lords took over Muslim lands in Spain and Italy.
One of the few
institutions with the knowledge, intelligence network and broad geographical
and historical perspective to see this was the Papacy.
They could see
the broader trends and act to drive them in the direction they preferred – one
that served both the moral values and the self-interest of the men running the
church.
Prejudices
Most Europeans had so little contact with Muslims that they did not even
have a warped perspective of who they were, never mind an accurate one.
In as far as
Europeans were aware of Islam, they understood it as a strange and disturbing
thing, a religion of polytheistic idolaters.
Stories of
Muslim atrocities were easily believed, as were strange accounts of the Prophet
Muhammad’s life. This made it easy to turn Muslims into scapegoats and targets.
A Cause for Political Cooperation
 |
Medieval
French manuscript illustration
of the three classes of medieval society:
those
who prayed—the clergy, those who fought
—the knights, and those who worked
—the
peasantry.
|
Rulers of European nations had a fragile grasp on their territories.
They could only control them through cooperation with the elites of their
nations.
These men were
as prone to fight authority as to obey it. When an opportunity to create a
shared purpose and greater cooperation came up, it was to the advantage of
rulers to take it.
By supporting
the shared cause of crusade, rulers could foster these bonds of cooperation
with their followers.
An Elite Warrior Culture
Medieval society was divided into three classes – those who fought,
those who prayed and those who worked.
For those at the
top, their identity as warriors was crucially important.
Their sense of
identity and their position in society were tied into martial prowess, and into
a shared culture of physical toughness and military honor.
The only way
they could maintain this status, both as individuals and as a group, was to
keep fighting.
The crusade gave
them an opportunity to do this without disobeying their superiors, incurring
the wrath of the church, or putting their own lands at risk.
It was a perfect
opportunity to live the way of life that they had been told was theirs.
Gregorian Reform
The culture of those who prayed was also important.The church had
just gone through a period of transformation known as the Gregorian Reform after
one of its leaders, Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085).
These reforms
gave the church renewed spiritual vigor and an emphasis on purity that
discouraged tolerance of irreligious behavior, whether that was clerics
breaking the rules – a common target of the reformers – or heathens living at
the edge of Christendom.
As well as
helping to motivate the crusade, these reforms gave Pope Urban II a more
effective church administration with which to mobilize his crusade.
Deeds to Redeem Sinners
The Gregorian Reform, like the struggle for the Mediterranean, was a
broad trend that many outside the church would not have been aware of.
But one
religious concept was familiar to all Christian Europeans, and that was sin.
In the eyes of
medieval Catholics, spiritual salvation was a balancing act. Sinful acts doomed
a soul to hell, but righteous acts could balance this, effectively buying off
the punishment.
One of the most
common righteous acts in this economy of damnation was the pilgrimage –
traveling to a faraway sight of religious significance.
The crusaders
were men who believed by default in sin, damnation, and salvation.
Many of them
knew they had done wrong, and all were keen to go to Heaven instead of Hell.
By making the
crusade into an armed pilgrimage, with sins forgiven for those who
participated, Pope Urban ensured vast enthusiasm for the undertaking.
The Importance of Place in Religion
 |
The Cross of
Mathilde, a crux
gemmata made for Mathilde,
Abbess of Essen (973–1011),
who is
shown kneeling before the
Virgin and Child in
the enamel plaque.
|
Christian religion was closely tied to a sense of physical place.
Rome
was the capital of the church. Pilgrimage destinations were sites
of salvation. Churches and cathedrals were places of holiness and safety,
offering legal as well as spiritual sanctuary.
Medieval
warriors had been taught that holy places mattered, and nowhere was more
holy than the city of Jerusalem.
This created
enthusiasm for crusading to save that city – a level of enthusiasm not stirred
for previous wars.
Primogeniture
Europe was run on primogeniture, the rule whereby the eldest son
inherited all his father’s lands, titles, and power.
This created
stability and helped to forge the great power blocks of the continent. But it
also created a problem – thousands of younger sons of aristocrats without
inheritance or purpose, trained only to fight.
These men provided much of the fighting force for the crusade, which in
return gave them the opportunity to conquer lands for themselves.
This created a safety valve, venting these dangerous individuals into
another part of the world, away from lives of banditry and civil war.
.
The
Children's Crusade
CLICK HERE . . .
.
Muslim
And Roman
Catholic
Church
Battles
CLICK HERE . . .
The Roman Catholic Popes Evil Behavior
CLICK HERE . . .
..
Fairest Lord
Jesus
Jesus
(Crusader’s Hymn)
Words: Written by German Jesuits as Schönster
Herr Jesu in the 17th Century.
Published in the Münster Gesangbuch, 1677, and
translated from German to English by Joseph A. Seiss,
1873.
Music: Crusader’s Hymn Silesian folk song
from Schlesische Volkslieder, 1842; arranged by Richard S. Willis, 1850 (MIDI, score).
Diane
Bish & The Bellevue Baptist Choir
CLICK HERE . . .
lyrics
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of
all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer
still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
All fairest beauty, heavenly
and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of all
the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.
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