Cause of the Crusades

The reason and cause of the crusades was a war between Christians and Moslems
which centered around the city of Jerusalem and the Holy places of Palestine. TheCity
of Jerusalem held a Holy significance to the Christian religion. The Church of the
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem commemorated the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of
Christ's burial. Pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages made sacred pilgrimages to the
Holy city of Jerusalem and the church. Although the city of Jerusalem was held by the
Saracens the Christian pilgrims had been granted safe passage to visit the Holy city.
In 1065 Jerusalem was taken by the Turks, who came from the kingdom of ancient
Persia. 3000 Christians were massacred and the remaining Christians were treated so
badly that throughout Christendom people were stirred to fight in crusades. These
actions aroused a storm of indignation throughout Europe and awakened the desire to
rescue the Holy Land from the grasp of the "infidel."
Cause of the Crusades - 3000 Christian Pilgrims massacred in Jerusalem
Among the early Christians it was thought a pious and meritorious act to undertake a
journey to some sacred place. Especially was it thought that a pilgrimage to the
landthat had been trod by the feet of the Saviour of the world, to the Holy City that
had witnessed his martyrdom, was a peculiarly pious undertaking, and one which
secured for the pilgrim the special favor and blessing of Heaven. The Saracen caliphs,
for the four centuries and more that they held possession of Palestine, pursued usually
an enlightened policy towards the pilgrims, even encouraging pilgrimages as a source
of revenue. But in the eleventh century the Seljukian Turks, a prominent Tartar tribe
and zealous followers of Islam, wrested from the caliphs almost all their Asiatic
possessions. The Christians were not long in realizing that power had fallen into new
hands. 3000 Christian Pilgrims were insulted and persecuted in every way. The
churches in Jerusalem were destroyed or turned into stables.
Cause of the Crusades - Religious Conviction
If it were a meritorious thing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, much more
would it be a pious act to rescue the sacred spot from the profanation of infidels. This
was the conviction that changed the pilgrim into a warrior, this was the sentiment that
for two centuries and more stirred the Christian world to its profoundest depths, and
cast the population of Europe in wave after wave upon Asia.
Cause of the Crusades - The Instinct to Fight
Although this religious feeling was the principal cause of the Crusades, still there was
another concurring cause which must not be overlooked. This was the restless,
adventurous spirit of the Teutonic peoples of Europe, who had not as yet outgrown
their barbarian instincts. The feudal knights and lords, just now animated by the
rising spirit of chivalry, were very ready to enlist in an undertaking so consonant with
their martial feelings and their new vows of knighthood.
Cause of the Crusades - The Preaching of Peter the Hermit
The immediate cause of the First Crusade was the preaching of Peter the Hermit, a
native of Picardy, in France. Having been commissioned by Pope Urban II. to preach
a crusade, the Hermit traversed all Italy and France, addressing everywhere, in the
church, in the street, and in the open field, the crowds that flocked about him, moving
all hearts with sympathy or firing them with indignation, as he recited the sufferings
of their brethren at the hands of the infidels, or pictured the profanation of the holy
places, polluted by the presence and insults of the unbelievers.
Cause of the Crusades - The Threat of the Turks
Whilst Peter the Hermit had been arousing the warriors of the West, the Turks had
been making constant advances in the East, and were now threatening Constantinople
itself. The Greek emperor (Alexius Comnenus) sent urgent letters to the Pope, asking
for aid against the infidels, representing that, unless assistance was extended
immediately, the capital with all its holy relics must soon fall into the hands of the
barbarians.
Cause of the Crusades - Pope Urban II & the Council of Clermont
Pope Urban II called a great council of the Church at Placentia, in Italy, to consider
the appeal (1095), but nothing was effected. Later in the same year a new council was
convened at Clermont, in France, Pope Urban purposely fixing the place of meeting
among the warm tempered and martial Franks. Pope Urban II himself was one of the
chief speakers. He was naturally eloquent, so that the man, the cause, and the occasion
all conspired to achieve one of the greatest triumphs of human oratory. Pope Urban II
pictured the humiliation and misery of the provinces of Asia; the profanation of the
places made sacred by the presence and footsteps of the Son of God. Pope Urban II
then detailed the conquests of the Turks, until now, with all Asia Minor in their
possession, they were threatening Europe from the shores of the Hellespont.
Cause of the Crusades - "It is the will of God"
"When Jesus Christ summons you to his defence," exclaimed the eloquent pontiff,
"let no base affection detain you in your homes; whoever will abandon his house, or
his father, or his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his inheritance, for the sake of
my name, shall be recompensed a hundred-fold, and possess life eternal." Here the
enthusiasm of the vast assembly burst through every restraint. With one voice they
cried, "Dieu le volt! Dieu le volt!" meaning "It is the will of God! It is the will of
God!" Thousands immediately affixed the cross to their garments as a pledge of their
sacred engagement to go forth to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre. The fifteenth day
of August of the following year (1096) was set for the departure of the expedition - the
Crusades had begun.
Cause of the Crusades
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