The Crusades

The crusades were holy wars that were put in place by the pope that targeted Muslims and non christians. The Christians who fought were promised to be forgiven of all their sins, so if they died fighting or when they died later, they were guaranteed heaven. They wanted to retake the holy land that Muslims had taken. The wars were very gruesome, with little to no mercy. It began when the Turks, which were islam followers, invaded the Middle East and part of the empire of the Christian emperor, Alexius I. Many years later, he couldn’t stand them there any longer, so he decided he needed a big army to fight them off. When he sent a letter to the pope asking for help, he had no idea what it would create. The pope was more of a political figure, …show more content…
The Christians told their stories, and had their reasons for fighting. While Muslims also had their versions of tales and logic behind their moves. People who believed the Christians weren’t far in the wrong can’t change history. They still committed such horrible monstrosities that no one can deny. Those who saw the Christians as dispicable, may exaggerate what really happened. There isn’t much room for a slant, but there could definitely be some.
The Crusades series we’re watching is very interesting. It gives detail to every thing that happened. It seems a little biased, but it gives a lot of facts. You understand what everyday life was like for the crusaders, and start to understand why they may have become so awful.
The reading we were given, however, doesn’t treat the Christians as the bad guy. It defends Christians by saying the crusades were a delayed reaction to the way Muslims had taken over two thirds of the Christian empire and treated them very poorly. For example it tells of Muslims crucifying sixty Christian pilgrims, and more that were executed as spies unless they converted to Islam. The Muslims ordered Christians and Jews in the holy land to be stamped. Churches were destroyed, monks were beheaded, and crosses