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THE CRUSADES AS CULTURAL ENCOUNTER

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THE CRUSADES AS CULTURAL ENCOUNTER

The Crusades were wars between the Christians from the Latin church and the Muslims. They were carried out by the Western Christians to retrieve the Holy Land and rescue the Eastern Christians from the grasp of the Islam rule. Pope Urban II initiated the Crusades in his speech at Clermont. The main message of his address was to band the warriors and knights of Europe by explaining and subsequently persuading them of what the Turkish Muslim forces were doing to their people and rightful land.

Part I

From the different primary sources provided in the “The Crusades as Cultural Encounter Analysis,” it is clear that religion influenced the traditional people’s worldview.  Foremost, the occidentals stopped viewing the Crusades as acts of sin; instead they believed it to be righteous. In the speech at Clermont, Pope Urban II states that the soldiers are part of the Holy Church and are supposed to be the knights of Christ (Krey, 1921).  They are, therefore, expected to help other Christians and defend the Eastern church. He goes further and states that it is less wicked to strike the Muslims, and God shall reward those who die while partaking in the Crusade. Additionally, the pope brings the perception that Jerusalem is a Holy Land. The city is termed sacred because it is where the tomb of Christ rests, it is filled with the footsteps of the Savior and blessed by Christ’s mother holy presence. More so, the apostle’s meetings and drinking of blood that was shed by the martyrs were done there. Although Pope Urban II initiated the Crusades to help their brothers and regain their lands, the behaviors of the armies were too changed (Krey, 1921). They became barbarians, and Nicetas Choniates utters that they vomit bile at each unpleasant word. The Crusades made them wicked, as seen when they attacked their brothers – Jewish and the Eastern Christians.

The Knights and warriors who ganged up to achieve the goals of the Crusades were bearing an alien religion, Christianity of the Latin Church. It is because the dissemination of the faith had started some centuries before their series of war. After achieving the goal envisioned by Pope Urban II, their occupation made them become Orientals. Individuals from Roman inhabited Palestine and Galilean, while those from Chartres or Rheims became citizens of Antioch or Tyre. Their experiences in these occupations are discussed in detail in Krey’s work (1921). First, the conflict between the two faiths ceased. The exchange of goods and services between the two rivals continued. A Frankish knight called a Muslim warrior “brother,” (Krey, 1921) as written by Maunqidh and al-Qaysrani penned poems for celebrations which were based on the aesthetic nature of the Crusader’s churches. Furthermore, from the Fulcher of Chartes (Krey, 1921), the Crusaders or armies settle permanently in their Holy places as they even married wives from the Saracens and Syrians.

Part II

The European Crusaders’ posture towards the Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Christians had a similar trend. On their Crusade expedition, they brought havoc to the Jews and justified themselves by claiming that the Jews are enemies of the Christian faith. Although the Crusaders army involved individuals from a variety of Kingdoms – England, France, Cologne, Flanders, among others – the Cologne are the ones that initiated the first slaughter to the Jews. The westerners continued with their killings even to those who had sought haven in Bishop Rothbard. In reaching Jerusalem on the 15th of July 1099, they mass murdered over 70,000 Muslims that were in the Masjid al-Aqsa (Gabrieli, 1996). A substantial proportion of these people were Muslim scholars and Imams- individuals devoted to living in pious seclusion in the scared place. Their barbaric nature continued, and in 1204, they solidified the hostility between them and the Eastern Orthodox Christians (Gabrieli, 1996). The distrust between them and the other branch of Christendom culminated as they were approaching Egypt. They become frustrated and diverted their route and brought by the Sack of Constantinople City. They raised their swords to anyone who opposed them, even as little as a telling them unpleasant words.

Therefore, they brought mayhem to the three groups of people- Muslim, Jews, and Eastern Christians. However, their reason for doing so in the three groups was different. They attacked the Jewish because they believe they are nonchristians, the eastern Christians because of minor violence and mutual distrust, and the Muslims because of taking away their lands and keeping their people as captives.

Part III

In the speech of Pope Urban II, all he wanted is for his people, and their land returned to them. Moreover, he only advocated for the slaughtering of the Muslims and not their brothers (Krey, 1921). The Crusade had multiple outcomes; some would please the pope, whereas others will do the opposite. One of the consequences that would excite the pope includes winning the war with the Muslim in 1904. Thus recovering the Holy land and saving their people from oppression. Secondly, the actions of Saladin. In 1187, a leader named Saladin unified the Muslims in the Middle East and successfully pushed out the Crusaders. However, in doing so, he granted the Franks assurance of safety as long as they pay a certain amount within 40 days – men 10 dinars, women 5 dinars, and children were to pay 2 dinars (Gabrieli, 1996).  Saladin stuck to his word even though the Franks carried with them enormous treasure and quantity of money (Gabrieli, 1996). From the work of Krey, Munquidh is pleased and heartened by the devotion and zeal of the Christian piety (2012). He witnessed the Christians taking an oath while facing the east and giving hospitality to the needy. Urban II would, too, have been delighted with these actions as it means his people have not lost their ways even after being ferocious.

On the other hand, outcomes of the Crusades that would have appalled him include the barbaric nature of the crusaders’ army towards their brothers. They raided and attacked the Jews and the Eastern Christians, and Pope Urban II had warned them of doing it. Further, the second eviction of his people, or rather the crusaders from the Holy City, would be unpleasant to Urban II.

Part IV

A long history of hatred characterized the Jews and the Roman Catholic Christians. The beef between the two had emancipated from the old notion that Jesus’ death was linked to the Jews. It was reinforced by the Jews’ religious and economic marginalization (money lending and collection of tax) practices. A combination of these aspects led to the development of negative images towards the Jews. They include the belief that: the Jews possessed magical powers obtained from synergy with the devil; desecrating the communion wafers that are employed in Catholic worship; and Jews killed and consequently drank the blood of the Christian children. These stereotypic understandings of the Jews are revealed in Krey’s work (1921). The understandings of this people are, therefore, not genuine. Further, they believe in the old testament, like Christians, thus a nuance between the two faiths.

 

Bibliography

August C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1921.

Francesco Gabrieli, Arab Historians of the Crusades. University of California Press, 1996.

 

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