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Grant des Rosiers

Ms. Stankard

World History

June 17, 2008

The Political, Social and Economic Benefits of the Crusades

The Crusades are everywhere, from movies to books to action figures. The fact that the

Crusades failed in their mission is evident through such media. What is less evident is that these

holy wars provided impressive political, social, and economic benefit to the West, many of which

continue today. This research paper will present such information on these benefits.

Political

Today the Pope does not have an excessive amount of political power. Back in the

11thCentury, however, Pope Urban II ruled thousands of men, both physically and mentally. At

the end of his famous address at Clermont in November 1095, everyone stood and shouted “God

wills it!” (Rice 16). Indeed, the first Crusade can be seen as act of Urban II’s will. In response to

Urban II’s encouragement, men becamewilling to die for their countries, the ultimate act of

patriotism, and their Church, the ultimate act of faith. This all happened under the command of

the Pope, recognized as a holy, rightful man. Surely, this represents an increase in papal power

(Kotker 83). This change caused all the kings and nobles of the Westto answer to the Pope. That

every man fighting in the East would then answer to a man infallible in matters of faith and

morals certainly made the massacre of Jerusalem more acceptable to the knights responsible

(Kotker 79).

Similar to thegain in papal power, the Crusades also led to increased authority and respect

for the monarchs of Europe. A.G. Lehmann states that a monarch must be seen in public and
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treat his entire country with fairness in order to be trusted and successful(Lehmann 240). The

Crusades were a period in which numerous monarchs heeded this advice for their benefit and the

benefit of their people. A good example of this is stated by Kotker, “The saint [Bernard of

Clairvaux] offered up his own gown and cowel to be cut to provide more material . . . [to make

cloth crosses].” (Bernard was a Monarch) (Kotker 83). Such a gesture inspired his people and is

evidence of a successful monarch (Kotker 83). A direct personification of the increased trust

placed in monarchs is the story of Alexius I, the Byzantine emperor during the First Crusade

(Bridge 41). Because of his peoples’ trust for him, Alexius I was able to keep his subjects from

rioting without being stern even during very difficult times (West45). Indeed, his people stayed

very productive and artistic until the moment the city was destroyed (Rice 11).

One benefit from the improved leadership provided by the monarchs during the Crusades

was their consolidation of control over the numerous nobles who had ruled previously. Langer

describes this benefit as follows: “A fortunate set of political transformations in Western Europe

reduced risk and uncertainty while encouraging productive investment (Langer 776). This

“political transformation” meant the people distancing from the nobles and following more

closely the single monarch.(Langer 776). This transformation occurred in the 13thCentury, the

very time of increased freedom for the common people of Europe. This increase in freedom was

marked by the end to serfdom as discussed below. (Kotker 85).

The women of Western Europe also gained authority as a result of the Crusades. The

women of the Crusades faced a tough decision; whether to travel with their husbands or stay

home (Pernoud 109). The women who stayed home gained in authority and stature in the society

of the time because they were forced to rule in their husbands’ absence. These womenwere often

left in charge of the lands and houses of their fathers and husbands. It is worth noting that the

respectable Crusaders of the Westalmost certainly would have had a house and wife of their own.
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Only the poor rabble of Peter the Hermit was exempt from this description due to their lack of

social and political standing (Pernoud 44). The women left in charge of their houses took on the

authority of ruling and as a result had more power in society (Pernoud 110)

Social

The Crusades also provided important social benefits in the areas of safety, freedom,

culture, navigation and medicine. In the year 1095 immediately prior to the First Crusade, the

townspeopleand serfs faced rioting in the streets led by the dangerous nobles and their knights.

Pope Urban II, granted infallibility on matters of faith and morals, jumped to take action to right

this wrong (Pernoud 39). Urban II in his famous speech discussed above called for the First

Crusade in part to remove these dangerous nobles and their knights from the West (Pernoud 40).

Thousands of these knights and nobles in fact took up Urban II’s call and left for the East. This

exodus altered the lives of the common people for the better. Having these rambunctious knights

take up the cross in the East made the West safer (Langer 557). The common people traveled

and carried on their lives without fear of being kidnapped or assaulted and were therefore able to

maintain a better way of life in the West (Bridge 73).

The benefits to serfs during and after the Crusades was not limited to safety. At the time

of the Crusades, serfdom was the basis of the feudal system. Around the time the Crusades came

to an end, the reliance on serfdom also began to end. After the Crusades, the masters of the

house were in need of money due to the changed economy discussed below and the incoming

period of arts, technologies and freedom now known as the Renaissance (Bishop 322). Because

of this need for money, many nobles and merchants sold their serfs and servants their freedom

(Kotker 85). The now free serfs benefitted from their freedom, but so did Western European

society as well. These now free men picked up trades of their own and were the driving force
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behind the building of the large bustling cities of Europe. In such a way, the Crusades in some

way paved the way for one of the staples of modern life, the large city (Kotker 85).

The Crusades also proved very beneficial to the West because of the many new ideas in

the areas of music, navigation, medicine and language brought back by the Crusaders and

merchants returning from the East. One of the most important ideas brought back to the

Westwas navigation. Navigation was very important in the Arab culture and these practices

spread rapidly (Holmes 32). Importantly, the use of the navigational tools used in the Arab

world, such as the astrolabe (Rice 43), the compass and the sextonalso spread. (Bellis)

Another social benefit from the Crusades was in the area of music. The Crusaders were

introduced to the simple string instrument of the lute and brought it back to the West. With this

instrument, Europe’s 12th century minstrels then created beautiful music. This music was

“invented or borrowed from Arabic – the impassioned love lyric, brief and intense.” (Kotker

287).

Another very important social benefit introduced to the Westby the Crusades was in the

area of medicine. During the Crusades, Arabic and Jewish doctors “were shocked by the

crudeness of Crusader surgeons, especially those who simply cut off a leg with an axe.” (Rice

43). In contrast, Eastern doctors stressed hygiene, and they used many natural herbs and

medicines in treating their warriors. They also used tools like the scalpel. These medical

improvements soon were returned to Europe with the influx of Western merchants (Rice 43).

Economic

The Crusades also fostered significant economic benefits, both during and after the

Crusades ended. Europe gained new trade routes, a plethora of new goods and, most

importantly, new merchants to travel those routes and trade those goods.
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Trade in Europe strongly picked up around 1200 AD, less than 90 years before the

Crusades ended and just over one century after the First Crusade began(Kotker 85). The

Crusades “coincide[d] more or less with the rediscovery of trade” during this time because the

merchants of the day learned how to travel through the East(Kotker 85). The land routes were

forced open, sea routes were plotted (with the navigational tools brought from the East), (Rice

43), and word spread of the wonders of the East (Bridge 247). Thus, the merchants became more

influential, traveling to and from locations such as Antioch bringing Western products such as

wool and gold work, including the famous Marco Polo (Langer 555). Sometimes the sea faring

merchants transported the Crusaders themselves and returned home with a load of bartered

goods.

Another reason for the increase in trading during this time was the importance of having

a trade in 13th century Western society. In the year 1200 AD, when trading really started to take

off, Paris had roughly 30 guilds of tradesmen. In 80 years time, Paris had four times that many

guilds(Noble 370). Increased trade explains this explosion, as Europe’s merchants needed more

goods and services to do business along the trade routes (Noble 37). The merchants’ increased

demand for ships is a good example of this growth. The merchants needed more and more ships

to trade with the East and the building of ships required the contributions from many of the new

trade guilds.

Even today, if one visits a foreign country, oneis sure to find interesting goods or

products that do not exist back home. The same scenario applied to the 11thcentury Crusaders.

When the nobles and knights started to settle in the East, such as Bohemond in Antioch, they fell

in love with Eastern spices, art, food products and the like (West 64). The Crusades thus

provided access to many important goods (Rice 42). After these goods were lodged into the

heart of many of an “old settler” (Kotker 80), the 12th century brought the swarm of Western
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merchants to the Arab world and these merchants brought these goods back to Europe. The spice

cinnamon provides an excellent example of the effect that this importation had on Europe.

Western cooking advanced out of the dark ages because of this lovely brown spice, as well other

spices such as paprika brought back from the East (Kotker 80). Rice states that “during and after

the crusades . . . new styles of decoration were found in Europe.” Western culture also took

Arabic style and made it their own, mingling it into gothic architecture (42).

Opening up the Arabic trade routes not only paved the way for European merchants to get

Arabian commodities, but it also led to the opening of the Silk Road, the important pathway to

access many Chinese exports, such as gun powder and tea. Returning the holy cities to Western

hands ensured that many important trade routes stayed open (Holmes 226). This shows that one

lasting benefit of the Crusades is that, for the first time, they truly connected the world for

commerce.

Conclusion

The above research looked at the political, social, and economic benefits of the Crusades.

In all nine subsets, it is apparent that the Crusades were highly important in shaping history as

we know it.
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Works Cited

Bellis, Mary. “The Compass and Other Magnetic Innovations.” About.com. 2008. June 13, 2008.

<http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Compass.htm>

Bridge, Anthony. The Crusades. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982.

Kotker, Norman. The Horizon Book of The Middle Ages. New York: American

Heritage/Bonanza Books, 1968.

Langer, William L. et al. Western Civilization. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co.,

Inc., 1968.

Lehmann, A. G. The European Heritage. Spain: Phaidon 1984.

Pernoud, Régine. The Crusaders. Enid Grant, trans., San Francisco: Martin Secker and Warburg,

Ltd, 1962.

Rice, Christopher. Crusades. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2001.

West, Anthony. The Crusades. New York: Random House, 1954.