4th Crusades Dbq Essay

Many have priorly stated that history repeats itself time and time again. This can be seen throughout history but, especially so during the Crusades. This paper will discuss the parallels between the First and Fourth Crusade. We will also take a brief look at the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and how it compares to the aftermath of the Second Crusade.

The fourth Crusade was one of the most astonishing turn of events during the Middle Ages. Each Crusade was called for one purpose, to reconquer the Holy Land from the Muslims. With that in mind, the fourth Crusade was disaster, not only failing to get anywhere near Jerusalem but then to attack and conquer two Christian cities, which had been unprecedented to this time. When discussing these points in history, it is important to discuss how such events came to be, and whilst the sacking of Zara and Constantinople are not in question, what is in question is how much of a role did Pope Innocent III did play in the 4th Crusade? Was he the mastermind, or was control of the 4th Crusade taken from him? This

Another aspect that contributes to the statement that the crusades were not motivated by religious factors is that the crusaders wanted more land. Many Crusaders wanted to govern their own piece of land in a new area, so they decided to fight being guaranteed a piece of land; in this era land equaled money, the more land you had, the wealthier you were—religion didn’t get you very far. By having a new plot of land, in a new area the Crusaders would be able to rise above their social status and experience a newfound wealth that would be next to impossible back in their homeland. Through this, we can see the prime motivation of the Western European’s commencement of the crusades was their aspiration for land. Even Pope Urban II, an example and leader for all the people, wanted to fight just to get the Holy Land back. So if the prime example for the people, a leader that everyone looked up to was demonstrating greed and voracity then it would only be natural for his people to follow. Not only did Pope Urban II and officials express tremendous amounts of self-indulgence, but they very well knew what was going on beforehand; the selection mentions that they worked to “prepare” the people for a crusade by changing conditions within their society and economy. The changing of economic aspects portray that the Crusaders were unhappy with their current state of wealth and the easiest way to fix that was to

“The most obvious effect of these various episodes was the increased distrust between christians and muslims.” (Gonzalez, 352) It is not surprising that the crusades would leave both sides with an unease of each other and this would continue for many years to follow. More importantly though the crusade restored the belief in the church. “When Urban II called for the First Crusade, his authority was in doubt… by the time of Innocent III, when the Fourth Crusade took Constantinople the papacy had reached the apex of its power”(Gonzalez, 353) This assurement in the church was a welcome one for both the church and the noblemen of europe (due to their symbiotic relationship of assuring each other's power) and it therefore restored the balance in the feudal

The crusaders traveled by land and by sea to take back the holy land from the Muslim infidels they tried to set up crusader states to claim more land but they failed. The crusades contributed to the construction of many European castles and missions and gave more power to the church. The crusades also helped contribute to the start of

The crusades that occurred from the 11th through to the 13th centuries were a series of a number of military campaigns. The Papacy sanctioned these campaigns. Originally, crusades were Catholic endeavors that were undertaken to recapture the Holy Lands (McKay et al., 2014). However, through time, some of the wars were against the other non-catholic Christians. The wars that were directed against non-Catholics were inclusive of the fourth crusade, which was against the Constantinople. The Aligensian crusade was

The Crusades required soldiers to travel across the Mediterranean Sea to reach Jerusalem. Hence, Italian merchants built fleets to carry to Crusaders to the Holy Land. According to the Description of the Economic Impact of the Crusades, after the crusades, Italian merchants “used those fleets to open new markets” and “kept these trade routes open” (Document 2). When the Crusaders came back from the Holy Land, new items such as sugar, cotton, and rice entered Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire. Once Europeans were exposed to luxuries, they wanted more and more. Trade increased all throughout Europe, and the West entered a period of economic expansion. However, not only did Europe experience perks from the crusades, but so did the Muslims. The passage Description of some of the Effects of the Crusades describes how Muslim rulers “encouraged trade with European businessmen” (Document 5). Because Europe was in desperate need of the Islamic Empire’s sugar, cotton, and rice, Islam markets experienced new wealth and riches. Thus, both Europe and the Muslim Empire benefited from an increase in

European businessmen.” This is interesting because the rulers didn’t have a place anymore. In conclusion, it’s obvious that the results on the crusades were more negative than positive.

The Crusades introduced many Western Europeans to trading. Many goods flowed along these trade routes such as spices, silk, cotton, paper, medicines and other endless amounts of products. The trade created a high demand

The First Crusades was a military group that was started by Christians in Europe who wanted to gain back the Holy Land that was being occupied by the Muslims. Pope Urban II preached a sermon at Clermont Ferrand on November 1095. Most histories consider this speech to be the spark the fueled a wave of military campaigns to gain back the Holy Land. This speech was meant to unite the Europeans and to gain back what was taken from them. The holy land was a small area on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The First Crusades was a very successful military expedition that was driven by religious faith to reclaim Jerusalem and other holy places that fell under Muslim control. driven by religious faith. They wanted to gain back the Holy Land that was once theirs. Arabs and the Muslim Turks otherwise known as the Seljuk Turks were the Muslims that invaded and conquered land rightfully occupied by the Christian’s. Many European men, women, and children joined the Crusades and fought in the Middle East. Pope Urban II granted forgiveness of all sins to those who died in battle thus assuring them ascendancy into heaven. Which gave those who volunteered to fight assurance. Nobles and peasants responded in great numbers to the call and marched across Europe to the capital of the Byzantine empire. Having the support of the Byzantine emperor helped make them a stronger army. The Crusaders took over many of the cities on the Mediterranean coast and built a large number of fortified castles across the Holy Land to protect their newly established territories. Soon after seizing power the Seljuks face a very different challenge to Islamic civilization. It came from Christian Crusaders. Knights from western Europe who were determined to capture portions of the Islamic world that made up the holy land of biblical times. Muslim political division and element of surprise made the first of the Crusaders assaults, between 1096 and 1099, by far the most successful. Much of

(doc.7) During the crusades, it also resulted in both Muslims and Christians to commit awful acts of violence against each other. (doc.1) During the fourth crusade, they invaded Constantinople, destroying historic artifacts and in doing so part of its culture. This also further divided the Latin and Greek Christian churches which they had initially wanted to reunite.

(Clark, 2001) From the advancement of Europe’s development to tens of thousands of deaths, the crusades had undoubtedly effected Europe and left a reputation of hatred between the Christians and Muslims up until today. (Ellis, Esler, & Beers, 2003, p. 217) It is undeniable that Europe benefited the most from the crusades, with their development of ideas, economic

From 1095 CE to 1291 CE, there was a total of nine Crusades that spanned from Western Europe to the Middle East. The Crusades were military campaigns fought between the Christians and the Muslims, and their justification was to obtain control of Jerusalem: the Holy Land. The impact of the Crusades can still be seen today, as they were an important factor in the modernization of Western Europe’s civilization. The Crusades affected many parts of the world, including the people who fought in these battles and the others who were at home. These wars directly affected the role of the Church in Europe, since the Crusades were fought in the name of Christ and they provided the wealth and power the church gained as a product of the Crusades. Not only

Christianity is beginning to flourish and thrive, Pope Urban II and others were trying to establish Christianity in the Middle East. But initiating this started a war against Islam, with the objective of recollecting the city of Jerusalem. The Franks were famous for defeating Umayyad Caliphate “the Franks were members of a Germanic people that conquered Gaul in the 6th century and controlled much of western Europe for several centuries afterward.” The entire war was more about land instead of religion; this first crusade set a precedent for the rest of the campaigns to come. The origin of the Crusades started off with Pope Urban II’s plea; the Pope wanted to wage war with the Muslims over holy land. In the first crusades, you have two different perspectives. The Muslims and the Christians, at first the Muslims were clueless on who this new enemy was. The Muslims were utterly astonished when their land was invaded and pillaged. On the contrary, Christians looked at the crusades as “God’s will” they looked at the campaign as taking back what rightly belonged to them. These two perspectives are complete opposites, this aiding the war between the Muslims and Christians.

The Crusades began as a result of many Christians being upset with the many invasions by the Islamic people. Pope Urban II saw the loss of the Holy Land as a major threat to the Christian community. At the Council of Clermont in 1095, he reached out to the community for help in retaking the land that was taken from the Christians. The Pope’s call for help did not go unheard. He was pleased to have Christians from all walks of life come to help him retake the Holy Land (“Crusades”). By this time, the Crusades were already set in motion, and there was no turning back. The preparations could begin.