The First Crusade began in 1096 after Pope Urban II’s speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095. One version of Urban’s Speech at Clermont was recorded by Fulcher de Chartes, a priest who also participated in the Crusades. While this version of Pope Urban II’s speech is one of the more reliable sources of the said speech, there is still a great chance for bias especially as Fulcher de Chartes was a crusader himself. This one speech, whether or not it was an accurate recording of what Pope Urban II actually said, was one driving force behind the First Crusade. This First Crusade was, at least officially, an effort to help the Byzantine Empire to reclaim the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks. In addition, this speech led to other
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At the time that the First Crusade was called, there were power struggles between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope. Calling the First Crusade could produce both enforce papal power as well as creating religious enthusiasm that would be led under the Church, and thus the Pope (Munro 349). As there was constantly a battle between Church and State in medieval Europe, taking a bold move such as calling the Crusades, which was essentially starting a war, helped to sway the power towards the Church. This power was further enforced by the Pope calling the Crusades a Holy War, the will of God, and offering remission of sins if one died while on the crusades. All of these actions were those that the Holy Roman Emperor could not take himself, thus giving Pope Urban II some advantage over him. Throughout all the Crusades, there is an increase in papal power both due to the power gained by Popes through the Crusades and by the weak monarch structure in Western Europe at that time, proving this motivation of the Crusades to be a successful one (Munro 349). Another secular motive for the Crusades, on both Pope Urban and Frankish lords’ parts is the desire to obtain land. The recent agricultural revolution which included advances such as three field crop rotation, the heavy plow, the planting of beans and the padded horse collar led to a large increase in food production and a population increase soon …show more content…
Firstly, due to the many different accounts and perspectives of the Crusades, the Crusades show a prime example of how multiple perspectives must be analyzed in history in order to get the most accurate information possible. In addition, the Crusades show how biases must be considered from all sources, as it is clear that different groups of people will have different reactions and views to situations. If the Crusades are looked at from solely a Western perspective, which they unfortunately oftentimes are, a true understanding of the Crusades cannot be gained. In order to truly understand what happened throughout the Crusades, Western European, Jewish, Byzantine and Islamic viewpoints must be considered as well. This lesson is one that is critical when studying all events in history and helps display the importance of studying the Crusades. Another important reason for studying the Crusades is to learn how to look below the surface of stories when studying history. When looking at primary sources for example, such as Pope Urban’s Call to the Crusades, just reading the story without analyzing the context of the speech as well as the author and setting does not allow for a full grasp of what the significance of Pope Urban’s speech actually was. When looking deeper at this primary source, there is evidence of the ulterior motives of the
At the time that the First Crusade was called, there were power struggles between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope. Calling the First Crusade could produce both enforce papal power as well as creating religious enthusiasm that would be led under the Church, and thus the Pope (Munro 349). As there was constantly a battle between Church and State in medieval Europe, taking a bold move such as calling the Crusades, which was essentially starting a war, helped to sway the power towards the Church. This power was further enforced by the Pope calling the Crusades a Holy War, the will of God, and offering remission of sins if one died while on the crusades. All of these actions were those that the Holy Roman Emperor could not take himself, thus giving Pope Urban II some advantage over him. Throughout all the Crusades, there is an increase in papal power both due to the power gained by Popes through the Crusades and by the weak monarch structure in Western Europe at that time, proving this motivation of the Crusades to be a successful one (Munro 349). Another secular motive for the Crusades, on both Pope Urban and Frankish lords’ parts is the desire to obtain land. The recent agricultural revolution which included advances such as three field crop rotation, the heavy plow, the planting of beans and the padded horse collar led to a large increase in food production and a population increase soon …show more content…
Firstly, due to the many different accounts and perspectives of the Crusades, the Crusades show a prime example of how multiple perspectives must be analyzed in history in order to get the most accurate information possible. In addition, the Crusades show how biases must be considered from all sources, as it is clear that different groups of people will have different reactions and views to situations. If the Crusades are looked at from solely a Western perspective, which they unfortunately oftentimes are, a true understanding of the Crusades cannot be gained. In order to truly understand what happened throughout the Crusades, Western European, Jewish, Byzantine and Islamic viewpoints must be considered as well. This lesson is one that is critical when studying all events in history and helps display the importance of studying the Crusades. Another important reason for studying the Crusades is to learn how to look below the surface of stories when studying history. When looking at primary sources for example, such as Pope Urban’s Call to the Crusades, just reading the story without analyzing the context of the speech as well as the author and setting does not allow for a full grasp of what the significance of Pope Urban’s speech actually was. When looking deeper at this primary source, there is evidence of the ulterior motives of the