Crusade+Motivations

== I really enjoyed veiwing your page. I love the layout of the page. I thought your paper was very well organized. However, I felt that it could have include more concrete information. With more concrete information, I think that I would have better understood the motives for crusades. I was left a little puzzeled.

**Crusade Motivations** ==

**What were The Crusades? **

In November 1095 at the French Auvergne, a decree was issued From Pope Urban II that preceded what was to become many years of Holy War. Christians were challenged to recapture the Holy Land and push back the infidels. The decree was a call to all Christians. This decree stated “Whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honor or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penance” (Tyerman, 14). “Deus lo volt” (Tyerman, 15) which means God wills it, was chanted by the crowd and the pilgrimage was set. Between 1095 and 1291 many lives were taken so that Christ’s Holy Land would remain in control of his people, and not ruled by the Muslim nations. In order to liberate Jerusalem many believed that Christ-like sacrifices would have to be made. To the Christians of the time this was a war that basically answered the call of God.

**When and where were the Crusades? **



**Why would people fight this “Holy War”?** There were different motivations for some to fight this war for the “City of God” (Tyerman, 16). However, amazingly the most common reasons were religiously motivated. The most common reason was so that the individual would receive eternal forgiveness for his or even her sins. This was a motivational effort that was pushed by the clergymen that may have spoke on the behalf of individuals in higher places of authority. The vow to crusade was originally meant for only those who had a militaristic background, and the crusaders wife also had to agree to the husband’s absence since she would have to go without his marital obligations. The indulgence that was promised to the crusader was very motivating seeing as how many people were interested in what happened to them after they passed from this life. This was also a privilege that was abused by individuals that took advantage of their forgiveness. One would think that monetary gain and the greed for power would motivate individuals to trek on this pilgrimage; however, many current scholars do not support this thought or idea. The more widely accepted thought is that these men fought for their beliefs and their way of life, to protect and widen the will of their God.

**The “need” for war **

The first question many may ask is why was there a need for this war? The situation seems to be eerily similar to that of the Vietnam War. In the same vein of thinking used to decide that communism was a threat to the free world of the n1940’s, the kingdom of Christendom seen the Muslim population that was spreading as a threat to Christianity. As the warriors of Islam struck out to conquer the world Christian leaders seen this as a threat and knew that action had to be taken. When “ the Seljuk Turks conquered Asia Minor (modern Turkey), which had been Christian since the time of St. Paul. The old Roman Empire, known to modern historians as the Byzantine Empire, was reduced to little more than Greece. In desperation, the emperor in Constantinople sent word to the Christians of western Europe asking them to aid their brothers and sisters in the East” (Madden, Real History). The majority of men who “took up their cross” (Tyerman, 13) did so to help their fellow Christians and preserve their faith. Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith has argued that crusading was an act of love. “ As Pope Innocent III wrote to the Knights Templar, "You carry out in deeds the words of the Gospel, 'Greater love than this hath no man, that he lay down his life for his friends””(Madden, Real History). Another reason for these battles was for the Christians to preserve the Holy Sepulcher and Jerusalem. The reason for this was the belief that if these things were kept by Gods people then he could restore His reign to the entire World.

Professor Christopher Tyerman on the Crusades []

For more information on the Crusades you can visit the following site: []

Christopher, Tyerman. //The Crusades//. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 2007. Print. The Crusades  By Christopher Tyerman []

Crawford, Paul. "Crusades, Introduction." //ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies// (1997): n. pag. Web. 1 May 2011. [].

Madden, Thomas. "The Real History of the Crusades ." //ARMA// (1999): 1. Web. 1 May 2011. [].

The Crusades: the essential readings

 By Thomas F. Madden  []

Nick

** Critique by April Gentry:  **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">I chose to  critique  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> this research wiki due to the topic. I thought the topic was interesting and I wanted to read more about it. I thought the wiki page format was creative; the art work was a nice touch. The author of the wiki referenced a couple of the 5W’s; however, the two analyses were missing. I thought the links to the other website was more informative and clever; however, the research paper was somewhat informative to a point. I would have liked to learn more about the crusades. Over all I thought the paper was okay; however, more information regarding the crusades would have complete the concept.