First Crusade Essay

The First Crusade brought about a new nature of war that was seen as a new way to salvation by many of the warriors who fought during this time. This holy war was fought in the name of God, and created in a sense, an ethical revolution that caused the idea of violence to be viewed much differently. Many of the Christian warriors believed that they would be placed in heaven for killing their enemies in the name of God, and viewed the slaughter of their adversaries as righteously just, adding to their name as warriors of Christ. In the Old Testament there are set guidelines on how one should fight in the name of God found in Deuteronomy, pronounced by Moses himself on the eve of the Israelites entrance into the Promise Land. Urban II’s call to crusade also gives several reasons why one should fight in the name of the Lord, and plays a main role in creating this new concept of holy war. Its gives a new meaning, to what crusaders believed to be …show more content…
One of which is the way he presents foreigners, mainly the Persian Kingdom, to be hostiles and as a “generation whose heart was not steadfast and whose spirit has not kept faith with God.” This allows the concept of holy war to be seen as a virtuous event because warriors now see their enemy as sinful and opposing to God, validating why they should be killed in the name of the Lord. Warriors also felt they were given abilities and talents to kill their enemies by God and were opposing God if they didn’t use them. This is particularly shown when Urban II mentions how God has given them great abilities to kill the enemy, such as physical skills, strength and fame at arms. This begins to influence crusaders to fight because now they feel compelled and obligated to use their gifts from God, or be viewed as not worthy of the