Why did people go on a crusade?
Why did people go on crusades?
In 1095, Pope Urban II called for an army to go to the Holy Land, Jerusalem. This was what was later known as the ‘First Crusade’. A crusade is a religious war or a war mainly motivated by religion. The first crusade consisted of 10’s of thousands of European Christians on a medieval military expedition to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. This doesn’t mean that the first crusade was just motivated by religion. Throughout this essay, I will be suggesting the main reasons of why people went on crusades and which different people went for specific reasons and why.
There were a variety of reasons for going on a crusade. One reason was adventure. Many people, especially wealthy knights, would have gone on the crusade as an excuse to maim others without consequences. One source supports this as it tells us that the knights in Europe had very adventurous spirits meaning that they were always ready for a fight. Also, the knights once told by the church were ready to go on the crusades without “angering God” as the priests told them. Another source tells us “… the Franks did nothing evil to them [the women] except pierce their bellies with lances.” The Franks were a combination of tribes from Germany that migrated to France. The source suggests that they were hurting the women for no reason as injuring women would have not helped them win the crusades and thus would have been for adventurous experiences. Therefore, adventure was a powerful motivator because many people wanted a reason to hurt people without being punished. Many knights, especially wealthy ones, would have mainly gone for adventure. This could be because knights are not like common soldiers but their job is their career, so it is lifelong. So to actually do their job means that they don’t have to sit around waiting all day and can actually do their job. However, other knights, especially poorer ones would have not only gone for adventure, but maybe also to gain
In 1095, Pope Urban II called for an army to go to the Holy Land, Jerusalem. This was what was later known as the ‘First Crusade’. A crusade is a religious war or a war mainly motivated by religion. The first crusade consisted of 10’s of thousands of European Christians on a medieval military expedition to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. This doesn’t mean that the first crusade was just motivated by religion. Throughout this essay, I will be suggesting the main reasons of why people went on crusades and which different people went for specific reasons and why.
There were a variety of reasons for going on a crusade. One reason was adventure. Many people, especially wealthy knights, would have gone on the crusade as an excuse to maim others without consequences. One source supports this as it tells us that the knights in Europe had very adventurous spirits meaning that they were always ready for a fight. Also, the knights once told by the church were ready to go on the crusades without “angering God” as the priests told them. Another source tells us “… the Franks did nothing evil to them [the women] except pierce their bellies with lances.” The Franks were a combination of tribes from Germany that migrated to France. The source suggests that they were hurting the women for no reason as injuring women would have not helped them win the crusades and thus would have been for adventurous experiences. Therefore, adventure was a powerful motivator because many people wanted a reason to hurt people without being punished. Many knights, especially wealthy ones, would have mainly gone for adventure. This could be because knights are not like common soldiers but their job is their career, so it is lifelong. So to actually do their job means that they don’t have to sit around waiting all day and can actually do their job. However, other knights, especially poorer ones would have not only gone for adventure, but maybe also to gain