The Crusades
... Crusaders were driven out of Constantinople without having accomplished what they first came to do. (The Crusades). While in Constantinople the Crusaders conquered the Byzantine Empire. Almost all following crusades were unimportant and didn’t accomplish much of anything. The only one having any impact was The Sixth Crusade (1228-1229). Saladin’s nephew made a treaty with Roman emperor Frederick II in which Jerusalem became ruled by Christians again, but the pope saw this treaty as a compromise with the devil. (Jantzen, 1994). All of this fighting was over the Holy Land, Jerusalem especially. They fought for their religions. Which leads into the relationship between The Crusades and religion. The Christians fought against Muslims for control and ownership of Jerusalem and other holy lands. Though they fought against each other it was mainly because of misunderstandings of religious beliefs. Muslims and Christians actually have many similarities. Both Christians and Muslims revere Jesus (Wolfe). They each have a holy book. The Christians have the Bible and Muslims have the Koran. They are both monotheistic: they believe in only one God of which the Muslims call Allah. Although they have many similarities they also have differences. “Muslims, it must be said, part company with some Christians over the portrait of Jesus developed in the fourth and fifth centuries. Certain fictions, Muslims think, were added then. Three of these come in for special mention: First, Muslims consider monastic asceticism a latter-day innovation, not an original part of Jesus' way. Second, the New Testament suffers from deletions and embellishments added after Jesus' death by men who did not know him. Third, the description of Jesus as God's son is considered by Muslims a later, blasphemous suggestion.” (Wolfe). Whereas Christians believe above almost all things that Jesus is the son of God. This opposite view causes a lot of confrontation not only with Muslims but with just about every other religion in the world. One thing that is to be noticed is that, “Despite these important differences, however, the Qur'an repeatedly counsels Muslims not to dispute with other monotheists over matters of doctrine. People, it says, believe differently for good reasons. In fact, that is a part of Allah's will” (Wolfe). I believe that in itself explains the role of what happened in the crusades religiously. In my own quick explanation; the Christians wanted everyone to believe what they did and those who didn’t they tried to either change or destroy, saying it was “god’s will”. While other religions accepted differences but still stood up for their rights to keep their own beliefs. The benefits to religion in the crusades were few. The decline of Feudal power, increased religious power and expansion in trade. The worst element of the Crusades was the number of people that died over disagreement in religion, especially when a truce was possible but Christian leaders were to stubborn to work together with the Muslims. Which is why Christians and Muslims to this day have many problems. “More than nine centuries after Urban II called the first Crusade, the legacy of misunderstanding and animosity is still with us today.” (Curry, 2002, 42) Because of religious disagreements and stubbornness Christian and Muslim people are still fighting to this day. We see it on the news every day. Terrorism, the War In Iraq, and Especially in almost everything President George. W. Bush has to say about it. “In the West, many of the most lasting misperceptions of Islam stem from that time. In the Arab and Muslim world, the Crusades have made an unfortunate rhetorical comeback. “such analogies are really not very helpful to un...