Political And Religious Reasons: The Causes Of The Crusades

What comes to mind when you think of the Crusades? Probably something like how they were a series of wars and how it was fought between two different religions, namely Christianity and Islam. This essay is going to mainly focus on the religious part of that. A lot of people are starting to think that, maybe, the Crusades were caused by something other than religion, but I don’t think this is the case. The Crusades were primarily caused by religious devotion because of prestigious religious benefits and the fact that their holy city was taken, although some think it was mainly caused by political and economic gain.
Everyone loves a reward, and especially when you are promised something that you have wanted your whole life, you will do anything. …show more content…
These people believe this because they think that people wanted more trading to be happening. According to Document Six, “When Crusaders returned to Europe, they brought back things such as silks, sugar, and spices.” Yes, Crusaders did get valuable things from the Crusades, but people who believe this is a cause aren’t looking at one particular thing: these were effects of the Crusades, not causes. Another quote from Document Six that supports this is, “... Although the Crusades failed to free the Holy Land, they had a lasting effect on the way Europeans lived.” This quote literally says a lasting effect, and not a cause. The question is what caused the Crusades, not which had more effects after the Crusades. Also, people who believe that the Crusades were caused by political and economic gain say that there were other people besides Christians who went on the Crusades. Document Six says, “... others were looking for adventure for estates, or for commercial opportunities.” While there were outsiders fighting for unknown reasons, most of the Crusaders were Christian. Document Two states, “It was truly an army of ‘crusaders,’ for they bore the sign of the cross on their garments…” Ekkehard states that most of the army was made up of Christian, so how could somebody say the Crusades were fueled by a different source? While some parts of the Crusades were political and economic based, it cannot be the primary source of the Crusades seeing how most political and economic things were effects of the Crusades. Also, maybe there were some people who went on the Crusades for peculiar reasons, but most warriors were aroused by the passion of saving their religion from