The Crusades: Definition, Religious Wars and Facts
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated and carried out by various medieval Christian kingdoms throughout Europe during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. During this time, Catholics and Orthodox Christians waged fierce battles against Muslim forces in the Middle East and North Africa, in the attempt to recreate major holy sites that had previously been under Muslim control. Though these campaigns, called the Crusades, are often romanticized in literature and film, they were brutal and bloody affairs that effected millions of lives within the regional populations.
Definition of the Crusades
The word “crusade” originates from the Latin term “cruciata,” which was adapted from the French “croisade,” and was used to refer to the expeditions and wars waged by Europeans against Muslims from the 11th to 13th centuries. While viewed as holy wars by many medieval Christians, the campaigns were actually initiated for a variety of reasons, including politics, economics, expansion and religious beliefs.
Religious Wars
The primary objective of the Crusades was to regain control of the holy land and sites sacred to Christianity, such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other nearby areas in the Middle East. These wars were conducted in response to the Muslim conquest of these regions and effectively sealed off access to the holy sites to Christians. This prompted widespread outrage in Europe and helped inaugurate the formation of the First Crusade in 1095 by Pope Urban II.
For Christians, much of the inspiration behind the campaign stemmed from the Biblical verse in which Jesus commanded his followers to seek out converts, reclaiming the Holy Land from Muslim control and returning it to Christian control. These objectives were reinforced heavily by the Catholic Church, which declared that those who fought in the Crusade would be provided with forgiveness for their sins by God. This brought about numerous believers, who responded with ferocity against the reigning Muslim forces.
Facts about the Crusades
The wars of the Crusades were some of the most bloody and destructive conflicts in history, resulting in the deaths of millions of people. The first Crusade, initiated by Pope Urban II in 1095, was the most successful, resulting in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. Here are some other key facts about this period of religious warfare:
• The original Crusade (1096–1099) was followed by a series of nine further Crusades that continued until 1272.
• The Crusades were a combination of political, religious and military campaigns conducted by the Christian powers of Europe against the armies of the Middle East.
• The Crusades led to the establishment of a number of Crusader states along the eastern Mediterranean coast, primarily in the areas of present-day Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.
• Although the campaigns were considered by many to be holy wars, the underlying motivations were related to politics, economics, and the struggle for power and religious control.
• While the primary objective of the Crusades was to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslim control, the campaigns also helped to unite the European powers and opened up the Mediterranean Sea to European trade.
• The failure of the Crusades to achieve any permanent success led to the decline of the Crusader states and to the eventual rise of the Ottoman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean.
• The Crusades left a lasting legacy in the form of increased hostility between the Islamic and Christian worlds, as well as a number of cultural, religious, political, and economic exchanges between the two civilizations.
The wars of the Crusades marked a major turning point in European history and had a lasting impact on the region. Though the campaigns initiated by the Catholic Church were intended to restore control of holy sites to Christian rule, they ultimately only served to inflame hostilities between the Islamic and Christian worlds. The lasting legacy of the Crusades was a period of interim cultural, religious, and political exchanges that brought unprecedented religious conflict and cultural exchange to the region.
