Causes of The First Crusade
by In a meadow outside the cathedral at Clermont Ferrand, Pope Urban II preached his crusade sermon and started a world revolution that was to affect western society for 500 years. The crusades were part of the struggle between Muslims and Christians to control the Holy Land which centred on Jerusalem, the holiest city in the world, revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews. Several events and the political and religious climate at the time were the catalyst that caused the First Crusade.
Massacre of Christian Pilgrims
Pilgrims in the Middle Ages made sacred pilgrimages, journeys to visit distant holy places to worship there and see the relics of the saints, to Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre there that commemorates the crucifixion and Christ’s tomb. Pilgrimages were a religious endeavour but many pilgrims had as much fun as tourists at any time. The city of Jerusalem was under the control of the Saracens and safe passage had, for four centuries, been granted for pilgrims to visit the Holy City but in 1065, Seljukian Turks invaded Jerusalem. The Turks came from the kingdom of ancient Persia and were zealous followers of Islam. They massacred 3000 Christians and insulted and persecuted the rest badly and destroyed the churches or turned them into stables. People throughout Christendom were aroused to indignation and motivated them to wrest the Holy Land from the control of the ‘infidel’.
Image by zatletic via Flickr
Religious Conviction
There was a spirit of religious reform at the time and an increase in popular spirituality. People no longer accepted their religion passively, they wanted to actively participate and do something themselves to honour their god. This led to the feeling that if it was such a good thing to make a pilgrimage to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, it must be even more pious to rescue it from the sacrileges of the infidels. This was reason which changed the pilgrim into a warrior and prevailed for two centuries and stirred Christians so deeply that thousands of Europeans set off for Asia.
Instinct to Fight
Religious conviction was the main cause of the Crusades, the Teutonic people of Europe had a restless, adventurous spirit. The feudal knights and lords, influenced by the growing spirit of chivalry, were eager to join the crusade, which seemed so in keeping with their new vows of knighthood and their desire to fight.
There was relative peace at the time and the aristocracy were losing the importance they had when they had been at war. Their numbers were increasing as they weren’t being killed in battle and they needed more land to bequeath to their children so were beginning to fight among themselves for what land there was available.
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