Godfrey of Bouillon

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…

By the beginning of the eleventh century, the Islamic Empire replaced the Byzantine Empire as the controlling power in the Middle East and North Africa. In the middle of the eleventh century, Seljuk Turks destroyed the Byzantine army in the Battle of Manzikert and then conquered Asia Minor (modern day Turkey); a further encroachment into the Byzantine Empire territory. By 1079 AD, the Seljuks conquered Jerusalem, thus wresting control of the Holy Land from the Christians. Faced with the…

The First Crusade The first crusade was called together by Pope Urban II, as their first attempt at taking the Holy Lands in 1095. It began as a widespread pilgrimage, in western christendom. It however ended with Roman Catholic Europe, trying to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant. The Second Crusade A French monk, who went by the name, 'Peter the Hermit', created a mixed up army, that consisted of soldiers and peasants. Peter and his army created a People's…

The crusades were military campaigns first inaugurated and sanctioned by Pope Urban 2 at Clermont-Ferrand in November 1095 to wrestle the Holy Land from Muslim control. The desire for access to shrines associated with life and ministry of Jesus was a driving force for crusaders. In addition, the promise to gain to gain land and wealth in the East acted as motivation to the crusaders who also had absolution from sin and eternal glory promised to them. The church was more centralized and stronger…

voice as the shouted “Dieu le volt! Dieu le volt” meaning “It is the will of God! It is the will of God!”; those who joined the armed pilgrimage wore a red cross to symbolize the Church. Four armies of Crusaders led by Raymond of Saint-Gillies, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois and Bohemond of Taranto were set to depart for Byzantium in August of 1096. Unbenounced to Alexius a lesser organized group of knights and commoners known as the “People’s Crusade” under the command of a popular…

Byzantium and the Muslims We have all heard about the Crusades, how two main religions went to war against each other in the name of God. But what were the Crusades really about? The Crusades was a time when two religions, Christianity and Islam, went to war against each other. This was a time when tension between the two religions as well as Judaism resulted in eight major Crusades between 1096 and 1291 and even a Children’s Crusade that ended in a catastrophe. According to Pope Urban II, he…

Before the First Crusades had started, the Byzantine Empire was having troubles protecting themselves from the Muslim Seljuk Turks. The Muslims were able to conquer some of the Byzantines land, as they were able to acquire Turkey and Armenia. As a result the Emperor Alexias went to ask Pope Urban the second for protection against the Muslims. Pope Urban looked at this as a way to gain land for the Christian faith and accepted, he gave a speech calling all Christians to join forces to claim…

‘Crusade’ is a non-medieval Franco-Spanish hybrid that has been considered synonymous to the pursuit of a good cause. The Crusades were a series of on and off religious wars fought between the years from 1096 to 1487 under the authority of various Popes. The Crusades were basically fought for the recovery of the Holy Land. They were ordered by Pope Urban II in 1095, and within months the first Europeans had arrived in the Middle East to rid the Holy Land of Muslims. One story particularly…

Dating back to 1050 A.D Europe and the Middle East use to be religiously divided between the Christian states and the Muslim states. These two states had never gotten along always resulting in conflicts. Years later an emerging powerful group from central Asia, known as the Seljuk Turks, began to reign over the Middle East claiming lands for their own. The Byzantine empire, once known as the most powerful Christian empire in the Middle East, had fallen to the command of the Seljuk Turks in 1071…

Keith L. Barnes Jr. March 10, 2016 CHHI 301-B11 The Crusades Many associate the Crusades as a dark period in Church history and are commonly referred to with disgust and anger. Most people associate the Crusades with religious persecution and unrestrained cruelty and death. However, despite the fact that there were definite atrocities performed, the Crusades began with a very noble purpose against a very real threat. Under the command of Pope Urban II’s, 1905 the crusades begin to merge efforts…