The CrusadesQuestion: Describe the historical context surrounding your historical event.
The historical event which is The Crusades were a series of religious wars
between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered
sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and
1291. The Social effects of the Crusades upon the social life of the Western nations were
marked and important. The Crusades afforded an opportunity for romantic adventure. The
Crusades were therefore one of the principal fostering influences of Chivalry. As to the
political effects of the Crusades, the cities gained many political advantages at the expense
of the crusading barons and princes. They also created a constant demand for the
transportation of men and supplies encouraged ship building and extended the market for
eastern goods in Europe. Ready money in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was largely in
the hands of the burgher class, and in return for the contributions and loans they made to
their overlords, or suzerains, they received charters conferring special and valuable
privileges. They helped undermine feudalism. Using an original data set of the geographic
origins of elite crusaders, it was found that areas with large numbers of Holy Land
crusaders saw increased political stability, a higher probability of establishing parliamentary
institutions, higher downstream levels of tax revenue, and greater urbanization associated
with rising trade and capital accumulation, even after taking into account underlying levels
of religiosity and economic development.
Question: Describe a key historical figure or group’s participation in your historical
event.
Four armies of Crusaders were formed from troops of different Western
European regions, the First Crusade was led by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Godrey of
Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois, Bohemond of Otranto, and Robert of Flanders, and a less
organized band of knights and commoners known as the “People’s Crusade” set off before
the others under the command of a popular preacher known as Peter the Hermit. The
Second Crusade was headed by King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of
Germany. Leaders of the Third Crusade included the Holy Roman emperor Frederick
Barbarossa, Phillip II Augustus of France, and especially Richard I (Richard the Lionheart)
of England. Various French noblemen responded to Pope Innocent III’s call for the Fourth
Crusade. The soldiers of the Fifth Crusade followed Andrew II of Hungary and the French
count John of Brienne, titular king of Jerusalem. The Holy Roman emperor Frederick II led
the Sixth Crusade, and King Louis IX of France (St. Louis) led the last two Crusades.
Question: Explain the key historical figure or group’s motivation to participate in your
historical event
On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II made the most influential speech of the
Middle Ages, gave rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against
Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of “Deus vult!” or “God wills it!” He said
that the other Christians who live in the east were in urgent need of their help and they must
hurry to give them the aid which has often been promised them. For, as most of them have
heard, the Turks and Arabs have attacked them. They have killed and captured many, and
have destroyed the churches. If they permit them to continue the faithful of God would be
much more widely attacked by them. On this account Pope Urban II, or rather the Lord, beg
them to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to
carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of their
friends as Christ commanded it. Thus many individual crusaders were motivated by
religious reasons to go on the Crusades.
Question: Articulate how the historical context caused or influenced your chosen
historical event.
As historic context was the information about the period, the place, and the
events that created, influenced, or formed the backdrop to the historic resources, it was an
important part of life and literature, and without it, and memories, stories, and characters
have less meaning. Historical context deals with the details that surround an occurrence.
Accordingly, the Crusades were organized by western European Christians after centuries
of Muslim wars of expansion and their primary objectives were to stop the expansion of
Muslim states, to reclaim for Christianity the Holy Land in the Middle East, and to recapture
territories that had formerly been Christian. However the Crusades change the history of
Europe in which it lessened the power of the popes and increased it for kings; trade
strengthened merchants and towns; tensions among Muslims, Jews, and Christians
brought. There was also an impact of the Crusades in world history as they marked an
expansion of the influence of Western Christendom at the same time that Eastern
Christendom and Byzantium were declining. They stimulated the demand for Asian luxury
goods in Europe.
Question: Explain how connecting your historical event and current event improves
the understanding of your topic.
While modern historians attempted to understand the Crusades by placing them
in the context of medieval religion, culture, and society, popular metaphoric usage dehistoricized the Crusades into ongoing, eternal, yet contemporary conflicts of good versus
evil against AIDS, drugs, poverty, terrorism, and so on. American crusades have been
exclusively metaphoric, and they have carried positive connotations. The titles of 20thcentury English-language books demonstrated just how popular Crusade metaphors would
become, encompassing crusades against tuberculosis, drink, crime, capital punishment,
slavery, and terrorism, along with crusades for justice, education, total freedom, humanity,
women’s rights, and the environment. However for Arabs and Muslims, the Crusades have
highly negative associations of medieval Christian aggression and modern Western
imperialism and colonialism. In other words, the ultimate power, significance, and meaning
of Crusade and its usefulness as a metaphor depend, on one’s cultural heritage and point of
view.
References
https://www.sps186.org/downloads/basic/409908/Effects%20of%20the%20Crusades%20
https://www.history.com/topics/middleages/crusades#:~:text=The%20Crusades%20were%20a%20series,occurred%20between%
201096%20and%201291.
https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/HistoricContext.pdf
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pope-urban-ii-orders-firstcrusade#:~:text=On%20November%2027%2C%201095%2C%20Pope,or%20%E2%80%9
CGod%20wills%20it!%E2%80%9D
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-historical-context-1857069
https://www.britannica.com/event/Crusades/Crusade-as-metaphor