Political Effects Of The Crusades

The Crusades that took place in the medieval period between 1096 and 1291 were a series of political and religious wars fought by European countries in order to gain control of the Holy Land. The first call for a crusade was made by Pope Urban II in order to send aid to the Christian Byzantine Empire, which found itself under attack during this period from Muslim Turks. This first crusade lasted from 1096-1102, with the Christian knights taking control of Jerusalem in 1099. In response to the Christian invasions and their occupation of the Holy City, the Muslim’s retaliated with substantial force, which led to continuous subsequent crusades to maintain control of the Holy land. However in 1291 at the end of the final crusade the Muslims regained control of Jerusalem and the surrounding costal areas, which remained under Islamic control until the twentieth century. Due to the vast and all encompassing nature of the crusades, it is appropriate to conclude that they affected all levels of English society, from culture and politics, to technology, trade and economics; no one was exempt from being effected …show more content…
The crusades infiltrated and affected close to every part of daily peasant and noble life in medieval England; from sermons in church and shifts in religious thoughts and ideals, to politics and economics as previously mentioned. What is more, the crusades also affected technological and cultural advancements. We see an emergence of artwork from frescos and mosaics, to sculptures and coins that denote the blending of western and eastern cultures and traditions as a result of the overlap during the crusades. There is also a romanticism surrounding the crusades and the crusaders that appear in histories from various areas as well as epic poems primarily from France and Germany