Question

What were the Crusades? * How many were there? * Were they successful? * How do you think the Christians, Jews, and Muslims living in the Holy Lands felt when the Christian Europeans came into their lands? * What are the modern implications of the Crusades in today's world?  Complete an Internet search or visit the library if needed for you to prepare for the discussion. Be sure to write your own original explanation, and remember that it’s not appropriate to copy sentences from the internet.

Answer 1

• The Crusades were military campaigns sanctioned by the Latin Roman Catholic Church during the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages. They started in 1095 when Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to holy places in and near Jerusalem. There were a total of 9 crusades.
• The word "crusade" literally means "going to the Cross." Hence the idea at the time was to urge Christian warriors to go to Palestine and free Jerusalem and other holy places from Muslim domination.
• The first crusade was a grand success for the Christian armies; Jerusalem and other cities fell to the knights. The second crusade, however, ended in humiliation in 1148, when the armies of France and Germany failed to take Damascus.
• The third ended in 1192 in a compromise between English king Richard the Lion-Hearted of England and the Muslim leader Saladin, who granted access to Christians to the holy places.
• The fourth crusade led to the sacking of Constantinople, where a Latin Kingdom of Byzantium was set up in 1204 and lasted for about 60 years. The Children's Crusade of 1212 ended with thousands of children being sold into slavery, lost, or killed. Other less disastrous but equally futile crusades occurred until nearly the end of the 13th century.
• The last Latin outpost in the Muslim world fell in 1291.
• Historians have viewed the Crusades as a mixture of benefits and horrors. On one hand, there was a new knowledge of the East and the possibilities of trade to be found there, not to mention the spread of Christianity.
• On the other hand, Christianity was spread in a violent, militaristic manner, and the result was that new areas of possible trade turned into new areas of conquest and bloodshed.
• A number of non-Christians lost their lives to Christian armies in this era, and this trend would continue in the inquisitions of the coming centuries.
• When judged by narrow military standards, the Crusades were a failure. What was gained so quickly was slowly but steadily lost. On the other hand, to hold territory under a Christian banner so far from home, given the contemporary conditions of transport and communication, was impressive.
• The taking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade had been just short of fatal to the Byzantine Empire, and it cast a blemish on the movement in the West, where there were critics of the whole concept of armed Crusades.
• While Constantinople was not taken by the Turks until 1453, the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade was but a shell of its former self.
• The most important effect of the Crusades was economic. The Italian cities prospered from the transport of Crusaders and replaced Byzantines and Muslims as merchant-traders in the Mediterranean.
• Trade passed through Italian hands to Western Europe at a handsome profit. This commercial power became the economic base of the Italian Renaissance. It also provoked such Atlantic powers as Spain and Portugal to seek trade routes to India and China.
• Their efforts, through such explorers as Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus, helped to open most of the world to European trade dominance and colonization and to shift the center of commercial activity from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
• The sixth crusade laid the ground work for the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire. Today’s Middle East is built on the ruins of the Ottoma Empire.
  
• Another result of the Crusades was the guitar. The Muslims adapted the Greek lyre (kithara) and invented an instrument they called al oud.
• Modern implications of the Crusades in today’s world include increased trade and economy in Europe. The effects of the Crusades influenced the wealth and power of the Catholic Church, Political matters, commerce, feudalism, intellectual development, social effects, material effects and the effects of the crusades also prompted the famous Voyages of discovery.
• During the Crusades, many Crusaders were fascinated by the luxurious goods they found and took them back with them when the Crusades ended. European merchants and traders decided to travel to the Middle East and trade goods. This created the need for port cities throughout Europe. Over time, Europe’s economy became stronger and more stable.
• Although the initial Crusade was successful, later Crusades not only seemed to lose sight of theiroriginal purpose but also appeared to be an excuse for violence and thievery that damaged the reputation of the Catholic Church worldwide.
• The Crusades afterwards were only successful to the Third Crusade because the original crusades had a clear, organized, religious-based purpose, and later crusades outright failed due to ineptitude and greed.