‘The crusades were more about land and power than religion’
‘The crusade’ is a war between two religions that fight for land, power and religion. The crusade is a holy war. Both religions explore many things during their first crusade till now, however in this essay three important themes will analysed further; Land, power and religion. Land for the crusaders also sparked debate about the rightof taking lands and possessions from pagans. Power means you gain a heroic reputation and also could be rewarded with land and title. Moreover religion is a holy land for all three religions. The purpose of this essay is to examine three major key reasons why the first crusade happened.
Power is the possession of control or command over others. Taking back Jerusalem was the main reason why Crusades occurred. The church thought that since Jesus had lived and died there that it was theirs. So the church had to make up a new rule saying to all the people that god told the Pope that it is alright to kill or even better, rewarded to kill Muslims. This was actually not true, god had never told the Pope that they would be rewarded to kill a Muslim, and not rewarded for a Christian. The Pope had simply made it up so that the Christians could once again take over Jerusalem. This is why most peasants, lords, knights, kings, wives and even children went on Crusades. For example the Pope Urban II’s sermon in 1095 said, “Brothers, I speak as a messenger from God. Your fellow Christians in the East desperately need help. Thus, power was and still is a big factor and certainly is a reason to battle on a crusade!
Land is an area of ground with specific boundaries.“Brothers, I speak as a messenger from God. Your fellow Christians in the East desperately need help. The Saracens have attacked them and have pushed deep into Christian land. They are killing great numbers of Christians. They are destroying churches and land. In the name of God, I beg you all to go and help your people. Your own land has too many people… Go out for Jerusalem and take the land… And make it your own!”(Pope Urban ii, 1095) Thus, land is a vital reason why crusades battle out and highlights many extraordinary battles all fighting for land.
Religion is a set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a
