The Crusades Research Paper

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The Crusades: A Catalyst for Exploration
“God, glory, and gold--not necessarily in that order--took post-Renaissance Europeans to parts of the globe they had never before seen.”, states Larry Schweikart and Michael Patrick Allen at the beginning of their book, A Patriot’s History of the United States (Schweikart). Discoveries stemming from the Crusades’ driven hunger for gold and righteousness are explored in this paper along with contemporary examples of discoveries made to meet wartime needs. The Crusades began in 1095, launched by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont. They were a series of military campaigns designed to conquer the Holy Land for the Church. The Crusades affected every aspect of European life. For example, crusaders …show more content…
The merchants of these cities had a profitable trading relationship with China and India for 200 years via the Silk Road. When the Mongol Dynasty was overthrown by the insular Ming Dynasty they put an embargo on foreign trade. Without the infrastructure and protection provided by the Mongols, merchants were vulnerable to thieves and the dangers of the road. This made the Silk Road too dangerous to do business on, causing the sea navigators of the Mediterranean to look West in search of a new route to the East (The Silk Road Bridges East and West). At the same time Europeans were beginning to doubt the morality of the Crusades. Troubadours and scholars alike wondered if a military campaign was the way to spread God's message of love. Peaceful missionaries went to schools of Eastern languages in hope of learning enough to convert the leaders of the East to Christianity (Prawer). The demand the Crusades created for Eastern goods combined with the crusading spirit of conversion launched Europe into the Age of Exploration. The Crusades created the economic demand that lead to the discovery of North America. Italian merchant cities became prosperous transporting crusaders across the Mediterranean Sea to the Levant and shipping back …show more content…
“Columbus and the age of exploration.” World and I, Nov. 1998, p. 16+. World History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A21249634/WHIC?u=msjacad&xid=dd03aeac. Accessed 31 Mar. 2017.
Prawer, Joshua. "The Crusades Precipitated the Discovery of the New World." The Crusades. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2000. 183-87. Print. Turning Points In World History.
Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to America's Age of Entitlement. New York: Sentinel, 2014. Print.
“The Silk Road Bridges East and West.”Science and Its Times, edited by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer, vol. 1, Gale, 2001. World History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CV26345006796/WHIC?u=msjacad&xid=af636523. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
Tulloch, David. "Colossus I." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, vol. 1, Gale, 2004, pp. 242-243. U.S. History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3403300166/UHIC?u=msjacad&xid=f040c405. Accessed 6 May 2017.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. Third ed., New York, NY, Routledge,

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