Medieval Crusades
... Briggs March 22, 2004 A Critical Essay on the Medieval Crusades The Middle Ages were host to an unprecedented feeling of Christian piety and zeal that concentrated on religious conquest. The Crusades were a collective group of attacks in the name of Christianity in an effort to defend their religious ways of life and also to restore or force lands under Christian control. ... The Crusades were not always motivated by religious fervor; often leaders would use the cause of furthering Christendom to further their own power and attain foreign lands. The stimulating factor behind the Crusades was the strength of the papacy, whose decree could incite thousands to take up arms. During this time, the papacy’s influence was powerful, but once the influence lost its strength the Crusades would eventually come to an end. The Crusades occurred in waves; and from one to the next there were noticeable differences and similarities that set each one apart from one another. ... The Crusades were a coherent movement that occurred in these waves that stemmed from the same ideology and the fundamental principles. ... This belief that God was on the side of the Christians would fuel their cause and fuel future Crusades. ... The conquest of key cities and Jerusalem that the first Crusade brought would lead to a second wave of Crusades. ... Bernard’s claim would only lead to a momentary hiatus before the next wave of Crusades would begin. ... Following the fourth Crusade there would be a movement of crusades (more aptly can be described as genocides against Muslims and Jews) within Europe, but the papacy opposed this because a motive of crusading was one of pilgrimage and conquest. ... The fifth Crusade was highlighted by the crusades of Frederick II, who led yet another crusade into the Holy Land. ... Louis would lead crusades into the region to rectify the mistakes of the fifth Crusade. ... The power of the papacy would slowly decline in the years after the crusades of St. ... Without the powerful influence of the papacy the Crusades would eventually come to an end. ... The Crusades were looked at as somewhat of a failure, and the collective feeling was the lives were unnecessarily lost. The waves that made up the Crusades created a snowball affect, in where the end of one crusade would lead into a reason to start another.