The Crusades Essay

Way back in 1096, the Seljukian Turks decided to march into Jerusalem and begin to persecute and insult 3,000 christian pilgrims who travelled on a pilgrimage to the most holy site on Earth. Combine this factor with the preaching skills of peter the hermit and with the europeans believing that it is the will of god that they go and liberate jerusalem from their non-christian enemy. Christian peasants at the bottom of the feudal hierarchy were compelled and driven by the belief that they would receive holy merit for participating in the war. They were marched to Jerusalem and immediately began to fight against the Turks to unroot them from their holy site. Despite the millions of casualties that occurred during the war, the crusades led Europe to move away from feudalism and convert to governing with a monarchy. Additionally, Europeans loved the idea of romantic adventure; which in turn promoted chivalry. The crusaders left their straw huts in villages and stone castles to see golden palaces, great …show more content…
While the end of the crusades brought new, flourishing concepts to the west and east, these events severely damaged the relationship between christians and followers of the islamic faith. The bloody conflict and massacres caused Muslims and others in the middle east to view the western people as bloodthirsty, immoral savages. At first, the crusades were meant to only unroot the Turks from Jerusalem for their barbaric behavior, but as more crusades happened the church began to arrange crusades against any people who were considered enemies of the church. This developing mentality led the crusaders to massacre Jews and other non-christians who lived in the cities they passed through. Despite causing significant damage to interfaith relations, the crusades overall helped to usher Europeans into an