Student: Grant Mitchell

Student ID: C9901028

Subject: Survey of Church History - HCB101

Lecturer: John Rees

Title: What motivated Christian crusades against Islam in the period 1096-1270 CE?

No. Words: 1807

Due Date: Monday 7^th June 1999

Submission Date:

The Crusades appear at first observation to be religious wars aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Muslim control, "… but in reality the factors leading to them were much more complicated." [1]

Many different factors were at play around the time of the Crusades. The Crusades were a striking example of both the unity and the religious zeal of medieval Europe. [2] The Crusades were an expression of some very earthly impulses - the love of adventure, material gain, territorial advancement, and religious hatred. [3] "The crusades were a compound of Viking lust for conquest and a zeal for the faith. They were also the culmination of a great effort to eradicate war between Christians in Europe." [4]

The intended outcome of the crusades was to expel the Muslims from the Holy Land, and many presume this was the only motivation. There were more reasons for the motivation of the crusades than defeating the Muslims. "Christendom's assault against the Muslims had less to do with the relationship between Christianity and Islam than with the internal stresses and strains of Christian Europe." [5]

In the years preceding the time of the crusades, there was an increasing separation of the Latin church and Greek church - the church in Western Europe and the church in Eastern Europe. [6] The crusades can be perceived as an attempt by the papacy of the West trying to unite the church against a common enemy: "… the popes throughout the period were the primary inspiration for fresh expeditions. They, not the emperors, strove to unite Christendom against Islam… The Holy War was the papacy reaching for universal sovereignty, one united Church, West and East." [7] This proactive part of the papacy could also have been part of an ongoing struggle between whether the church should rule the state, or the state control the church. [8]

In addition to these struggles of disunity, enemies of Christendom were threatening on all sides. During the tenth century Eastern Europe was engaged in wars against the Muslims, the Bulgars, and the Armenians. [9] The people of Christian Europe were not unified and far more susceptible to losing territory, than gaining it. "The Crusades may be seen as part of the expansion of Christian Europe after centuries of being on the defensive against Islam and paganism." [10]

The wars in Eastern Europe were escalated in the eleventh century when the Seljuk Turks, new and fanatical converts to Islam, "… came sweeping and plundering into the Near East … seized Jerusalem from their fellow Muslims and then swept north into Asia Minor." [11] The Eastern Emperor, Michael VII, made an appeal in 1074 to the pope in the West, Hildebrand, for aid against the Seljuks. To Hildebrand "… this seemed to promise the reunion of Greek and Latin Christendom." [12]

The issue of unity was also raised in the address of Pope Urban II at Clermont (1095). In an attempt to cease internal strains and wars in the West, Urban "… also appealed to French honour with the words: 'Recall the greatness of Charlemagne … Let all hatred between you depart, all quarrels end, all wars cease …'" [13] (Other issues were also raised in Urban's address and will be discussed further below.)

The call for a religious war was not the only motivation for the crusades, but still a prominent reason.

Peaceful pilgrims had been traveling from Europe to worship in the region of Jerusalem for centuries. The rise and spread of Islam in the Near East during the seventh century did not have any effect on these pilgrimages. It was only in the eleventh century when the pilgrims began to encounter persecution, especially when the fanatical Seljuk Turks captured Jerusalem and areas of the Holy Land. The presence of the Seljuks in Jerusalem "… made pilgrimages almost impossible and desecrated the holy places." [14]

The eleventh century had been a time of increasing religious zeal. "The piety of the time placed great value on relics and pilgrimages, and what more precious relic could there be … than the land hallowed by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ?" [15] As well as preventing pilgrimages, the Seljuks had seized a most prized relic of the time.

A reform of religious fervour in western Christianity had risen to retrieve this relic of the Holy Land, and in particular to expel the Muslims from the region. [16] It was the loss of Jerusalem that motivated the first Crusade (1096), and then the loss of Jerusalem and of most of the Holy Land again in 1187 that roused Europe to the third Crusade (1189-1192). [17] The need for the Holy Land to be in the possession of Christendom perpetuated the crusades.

The presence of the Seljuks and their persecution upon Christian pilgrims generated tales throughout Europe of mistreatment of Christians by the Turks, "… and though there is evidence that these stories were propaganda, rumors themselves were sufficient to inflame men's minds." [18] The threat, rather than actual presence, of religious terror was enough to bias the crusaders against Islam.

With the interruption of the ancient Christian tradition of pilgrimage to the Holy City came the rise of a more recent concept of holy war, or military expedition blessed by the church. [19][20] With the growing awareness of "Christendom" as coextensive with Europe the threat of the Seljuks generated the belief that Europe possessed the right to defend the faith against the Muslims with military force. [21]

The final turning point before the first Crusade was Urban's address in Clermont. Urban revived the plan of Hildebrand that had been frustrated twenty years before.

Urban built upon the hatred of the Muslims that had been growing in Christendom with the words: "'… an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God … has invaded the lands of those Christians and depopulated them by the sword, plundering and fire.'" [22] Urban's inspiration and words had managed to escalate the incident from that of mere aid to the Eastern emperor to a "… general rescue of the holy places from Moslem hands." [23]

Another powerful motivation that Urban used was that of spiritual rewards for the crusaders: the remission of penance, the forgiveness of past sins, and the promise of eternal life.

The church had claimed the power to remit part of the act of penance when sins were confessed. Urban offered total remission "… for crusaders who headed for Jerusalem 'out of pure devotion.'" [24]

Much more could possibly have been interpreted of this reward by the crusaders at Clermont, namely "… nothing less than the full remission of the temporal penalties due to sin, or - perhaps - even the full remission of the sins themselves". [25] The crusaders believed that Urban had promised them full forgiveness of their past sins. [26]

These expectations of remission and forgiveness for the crusaders convinced many that they "… had made a contract with God and had assured themselves of a place in Paradise." [27] War was not only for the defence of the faith, and the right of the faithful to exercise their faith, but also a means to assure the rewards of their faith; [28] "… they thought they were doing something of the highest importance for their souls and for Christ." [29]

Whatever the actual content or motivation of Urban's address at Clermont, the crusader's response of "God wills it!" [30] shows that they were convinced that the need for holy war was a divine calling. It is upsetting to see that this high calling of the conquest of the infidels of the Holy Land "… somehow excused the total disregard for non-combatants and prisoners." [31]

In a negative way, the crusades were partly motivated by the need for possession of land and by the need for conquest. "Unfortunately the popes never held two basic truths that we must never forget: Christianity's highest satisfactions are not guaranteed by possession of special places, and the sword is never God's way to extend Christ's church …" [32] The provision of these motivations by the papacy was an unwise move.

Another upsetting observation is that the crusades were not motivated by the need for evangelism: no "… single crusade [had the] conversion of Muslims as its express aim." [33]

Urban urged Christians to take up the cross and strive for a cause that promised not merely spiritual rewards, but material gain as well. [34]

Misery and unrest prevailed widely - there had been many years of famine in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and the need for a new environment was being felt. [35] This made promises of material gain even more enticing.

Europe had become land-hungry. Urban's promises at Clermont was "… that those who went on crusade would be able to keep as their own the lands which they conquered." The prospect of material gain would also bring economic and social independence. [36] Some of the leaders appeared "more interested in carving kingdoms than in reaching the Holy City." [37] The papacy also issued other incentives to go on crusade, such as "… immunity from taxes and debt payment, protection of crusaders' property and families." [38]

These incentives appear selfish, but it could not simply have been a single self-centered wish that motivated many of the crusaders. "The lure of booty, of an adventure shared with comrades in arms, and of the mysterious Orient, with it fabulous wealth and exotic luxuries, all played their part amongst the heady mixture of religious and worldly motives which drew the knights of Christian Europe into battle with Islam." [39]

The motivation for the Crusades was a combination of factors, originating from the papacy seeking unity, down to the religious and material wants and needs of the people. The events of the Crusades reflect a very different understanding of religious zeal when compared with modern Christian thought, and may also reflect an element of selfish ambition. However, despite the combination of right and wrong motives, the motivation for the Crusades was for far more than just the defeat of Muslims and for far more than the retrieval of the Holy Land.

1 Robert G. Clouse, et. al., Two Kingdoms (Chicago, USA: Moody Press, 1993), 171.

2 Tim Dowley, ed., The History of Christianity (Berkhamsted, Herts, England: Lion, 1977), 270.

3 Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church (Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark, 1959), 220.

4 Roland Bainton, The Penguin History of Christianity, Volume 1 (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1967), 208-209.

5 John McManners, ed., The Oxford History of Christianity (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1990), 175.

6 Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 2^nd Ed. (Dallas, Texas, USA: Word, 1995), 176.

7 Shelley, 191-192.

8 Ibid., 177.

9 Dowley, 268.

10 Ibid., 269.

11 Shelley, 187.

12 Walker, 220.

13 Dowley, 271.

14 Walker, 219.

15 Ibid., 219.

16 Shelley, 186.

17 Walker, 222.

18 Shelley, 187.

19 McManners, 177.

20 Dowley, 269.

21 Clouse, et. al., 172.

22 Dowley, 271.

23 Walker, 220.

24 Shelley, 189.

25 McManners, 177.

26 Shelley, 187-188.

27 McManners, 177.

28 Bainton, 209-211.

29 Walker, 220.

30 Shelley, 187.

31 Ibid., 188.

32 Ibid., 192.

33 McManners, 189.

34 Shelley, 187.

35 Walker, 219.

36 McManners, 177.

37 Bainton, 213.

38 Dowley, 269.

39 McManners, 177.

 

Bibliography

Bainton, Roland.

1967 The Penguin History of Christianity, Volume 1. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books.

Cairns, Earle E.

1981 Christianity Through The Centuries. 2^nd Rev. Ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan.

Clouse, Robert G., Perard, Richard V., Yamauchi, Edwin M.

1993 Two Kingdoms. Chicago, USA: Moody Press.

Dowley, Tim (ed.).

1977 The History of Christianity. Berkhamsted, Herts, England: Lion.

McManners, John (ed.).

1990 The Oxford History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Shelley, Bruce L.

1995 Church History in Plain Language. 2^nd Ed. Dallas, Texas, USA: Word.

Walker, Williston.

1959 A History of the Christian Church. Edinburgh, Scotland: T. & T. Clark.