Political Aspects Of The Crusades

You are required to write an analytical paper on a historical topic of your choice. You are required to choose a topic within the confines of the course, the years 2000 BCE to 1648 CE. Topics should not be too broad, such as The Fall of the Roman Empire or the Founding of the Catholic Church. 

How far the First Crusade was more political than religious?

Background of the Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars that was fought between the Christians and Muslims. The entire battle was occurred between 1096 and 1291. As a matter of fact, it can be stated that the Crusade was a significant phenomenon in the history of Middle Ages and stretched around the nations of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. There were three battle fought between the Christians and the Muslims named as First, Second and Third Crusades. In an apparent sense it can be stated that the clash was staged on the basis of stretching the religious hegemony. However, there are several layers of understanding that interprets the war in terms of economic and political aspects as well. Based on this understanding, the purpose of this report is to deliver an understanding on the political aspects of Crusade. In fact, for an in-depth analysis the research cares to put focus on the first Crusade more extensively.

In 1930s the battle between the Turks and the Byzantines started in a massive scale when the Sledjuk Turks reclaimed the power and territory of Syria. These incited the Byzantium power to call a war against the semi-nomadic and ‘uncivilised’ Turks. The Byzantine emperor Alexius I Commenus was willing to send a delegation to Piacenza, Italy and asking the Pope Urban II to assist him to regain the control of those lands in the name of the Almighty. The process was not so easy enough because there was a long battle history between the Turks and the Byzantium. Moreover, it required the Christian people to unite in order to safeguard their religion in the hand of the Muslims. Therefore, it can be argued that a religious flavour was used to instigate the common people to cry for a battle against the Muslim empire. In response to this, on 27^th November, 1095 in Clermont, France Pope Urban II made a speech to provoke the mass as well as the aristocrats to march against the Seldjuk Turks. It was called the Crusade. The first one the objected to recapture the city of Jerusalem. At the same time, it can also be claimed that it was the people’s Crusade though was fragmented due to the reluctance from the different emperors.

Religious became part and parcel of the Crusade since its inception. There are many instances that pointed out that religious was used as a tool to unite the army and instigate them to march for reclaiming the city of Jerusalem. For an example, the Pope Urban II asked the people and the nobles to join the Crusade as it was the God’s will. This triggering factor pushed the Christians to call for a war with a goal to reach the Holy Land of Jerusalem, the birth place of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the religious underpinnings were considered to be a driven factor to unite the army and gave support to the Byzantine Empire. There were other religious motives also that contributed a lot in the process of the breakout of the war. For an example, it can be stated that there had been a prolonged clash of religious supremacy that pushed both Islam and Christianity to fight against each other. The Roman glory and prowess symbolised the Catholic doctrine and the Emperor Alexius I pretended to be a descendant and true Christian who was willing to protect the holy land and the symbol of Christianity by any means possible.

Religious Motives Behind the Crusades

As far as the economic and social factors were concerned, it cannot be over-estimated by stating that the decentralisation of the European society was contributed havoc in the context of the launch of the First Crusade. At the beginning of the 9^th century the Carolingians brought peace and prosperity in the Western Europe. Nonetheless, continuous invasion of the Vikings and the successor disputes disrupted the growth. As a result of that disorder and war of succession made the society vulnerable for living. It required a new move, a gateway to live life with a purpose. Crusades provided the right opportunity to take more initiatives into the process.

On the other hand, Harari (2016) advocated that the papal reform of that time also contributed a lot in process of launching the First Crusade. It was meant to be empower the Churches and purify the evil practices that was practiced inside the Churches. Therefore, the churches started to lose its permanence and it needed an opportunity to regain the lost prestige. As a result of that the Crusade served both the social and economic purposes that were desired by the Roman Catholic Churches of that time. The multitude of the First Crusade made it clear that no matter what the consequences and the outcome would be it turned to be a victory for the Catholic Churches to revive itself.

The political factors behind the Crusade were more significant than the religious implications. According to Parsons (2015) the Crusade was more of a political action rather than the religious instrumentation. Though religious played a significant role in the Crusade but entire scenario shaped over the political goals. On the other hand, Housley (2017) advocated that the Crusade was more of a military campaign fermented with the religious fervour. More of a clash between the Western and Easter power could be seen in the Crusade. Based on this, there are some underlining factors that proved that the Crusade was more of political aggrandisement than religious superiority.

At the time of the First Crusade, the Western empire was tore apart due to the war of succession and there was no better ruler to rule out the entire region. Entire Europe was fragmented into pocket regimes. However, it can be stated that there were some courageous and brave kings in the Western Europe like Richard I of England but overall the entire region was upset by the continuous war between France, Spain and England on the question of the supremacy over the entire Western Europe. As a result of that it required a new hope for the people to get united and regained their lost hope by finding out some purposes to live.

Economic and Social Factors

It was depicted in many High Middle Ages accounts about the power and bravery of the knights. The Middle Ages Knights were portrayed as the saviour of the poor and the distressed person and save the country from further attack by the invaders. Armour-clad, riding horses and a true symbol of Chivalry were the titles that were used for the Knights at that times. The middle ages stories mentioned the knights as brave warriors who fought for noble causes. However, the actual scenario was quite different from the chivalric romanticism. As far as the research of Rose-Ackerman and Palifka (2016) it can be argued that the knights were meant to be the symbol of war and violence.  It was the duty of a knight not to bring peace in the land rather promoting war for their own cause. As the knights were skilled with only warfare therefore they were paid only by waging and performing in wars. Therefore, war was a very important aspect in their life. Wage a war or promoting it was quite essential for the knights in order to plunder the cities and towns and made a better life. As a result of that invoking the Crusade was so important to give the knights a purpose to fight otherwise the nobles had to pay them without any reason.

The Seldjuk Turks were succeeded to annex the Byzantine Empire strategically. Although they did not capture the entire Empire but annexing strategic regions and important cities such as city of Edessa, Hieropolis and Antioch cost huge for Byzantium. The attack was so shocking that no one anticipated such a bold move by the Saldjuks. In addition to this, control over Jerusalem, the Holy City for the Christians became more effective for the Turks to rule powerfully. However, the loss of the empire by Alexios I Comnenos made him so vulnerable that he sought help from the Pope Urban II for sending an army. The purpose of the Crusade was not only safeguarding the Byzantine Empire but there were also some political aspirations of the Pope to become the spearhead of Christianity.

Conclusion:

Therefore, it can be concluded that not a single factor was responsible for launching Crusade. All the factors were responsible equally and intricately so that the Crusade had a series of layers in understanding the nature and reasons behind the emergence of Crusade. However, it can be argued that all those factors turned to be a subject of political ambition to expand and increase the power. From that point of view, it is clearly stated that the Crusade was a political war rather than associated with religion.

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