Albigensian Crusade

The First Crusade “Wake up Darius!” yelled from outside the tent. I stood straight up and ran to the guard who yelled. “What’s wrong? Did the king die? Or, or…” “Nothing’s wrong you idiot, our lord called for us to go forth to the pope’s palace. “Why did he call for us?” I asked. “You’ll know soon.” replied the guard. Standing forth in front of the crowd, stood the pope along with some of the greatest lords. The pope explained how the city, Jerusalem, is the holy city where Jesus prayed…

There is an abundance of scholarly literature centered upon the contemporary state of Israel in relation to its Arabic neighbors. Politically, economically, and religiously disconnected from its territorial surroundings, with heavy reliance on Western powers for security and growth, Israel almost parallels the experience of the Christian Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Though despite being territorially surrounded by, and economically and militarily inferior to, its Arabic and orthodox…

desire. Lauper’s stance is that death is the permanent deterrent to ones achievement of unfulfilled desires. Immanuel Kant would say that the Squire was noble. The squire was is faith servitude to the Knight. This includes following him into the crusades. His unwavering support for his Lord was in direct conflict with his rational will to live. His purpose was to protect and serve his leader. Thus, in sacrificing his safety for him, he became a noble…

The First Crusade started in 1096 and ended in 1099. It began when the Byzantine Emperor Alexio I Komneos sought after military assistance from Pope Urban II because they were losing the battle against the Muslims in Turkey. The Western Church and the Byzantines were not on the best terms, and the church had no reason to help them. So, the Byzantines persuaded the church with zealous letters, and after some considerations, the church decided to assist the Byzantine Emperor in defeating the…

Pope Urban II’s Speech at Council of Clermont With the purpose of spreading the territory of the Catholic Faith (Christianity) and the control of the Holy Sea in the East, Pope Saint Gregory VII had by now urged the devoted Christians to take up weapons toward the Muslims, the Pope himself pledging to guide them to Asia. In his letters, St. Gregory VII conversed on exactly how the grief of the Crusaders in the East had affected him to the place that he anticipated fatality. He believed that he…

The Fourth Crusade : The Byzantine Perspective The sacking of medieval Constantinople by the Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade was an event that shocked the people of the medieval ages and triggered a domino sequence that eventually led up to the destruction of one of the most beautiful civilizations in the history of mankind, Byzantium. The reasons behind the barbaric actions taken by the Latin Christians when they attacked their fellow Christians, instead of defending Christianity and the…

The wealth of the Italian peninsula was generated by the commencement of the First Crusade in 1095, which also provided for the expansion of Italian cities (Bartlett, p. 26). The Crusade was called by Pope Urban II at Clermont in 1095 as a result of the rapid increase of population during the 10th century (Bartlett, p. 26). The population increase among the warrior nobility, along with…

disagreeing with the Church. (heretic) Crusades were implemented to seek out all heretical nonconformist and bring them to justice. Tribunals are then mandated in order to bring swift justice to the infidels. A guilty verdict would render fines, persecution, imprisonment, torture or even death. After hundreds of years of crusades, tribunals and killings, the world was still infected with heretics. Pope Gregory IX conjured up a…

According to the first four accounts by Fulcher of Chartres, Robert the Monk, Baldric of Dol and Guibert of Nogent in chapter two of The Crusades: A Reader Pope Urban II called upon all of the Christians (the wealthy, the poor, knights, farmers, father, son) in Europe and neighboring regions to come together as one force and to travel to the Jerusalem (The Holy Land) to take it back from the wicked and sinful who have apprehended it and take it back from those who oppose Christianity. Though the…

Many believe the crusaders of the First Crusade set out to claim land, gold, or wealth, and for some this is true. However, for others this is not the case. Bohemond of Taranto set out on crusade for pious and not opportunistic reason. He led his men throughout the battles they encountered and they made him their leader for his leadership abilities; he actually led the whole crusading mission. He set the example by willingly devoting his allegiance to Alexius I Comenus, who he had a strained and…