The Causes of the First Crusade
Many are interested in the causes of the crusades that happened in the medieval period. There are numerous reasons why the Crusade occurred. So, before diving deep into what happened on the battlefield, let’s discover the causes of the First Crusade.
Stay tuned and read more to find out about it.
Early Europe And The Middle East
In 1050 AD, Europe and the Middle East were divided as Christian states, aka Christendom, and Muslim states, respectively, as shown in the map below. They were hostile neighbors with frequent clashes against one another.
Interestingly, even the Christian states were divided at this time, fuming with regular conflicts. Because the Roman Catholic Church dominated Western Europe, and the Orthodox Church controlled much of Eastern Europe. One such significant conflict was the Great Schism in 1054.
At the forefront of the eastern wing was the Byzantine Empire, which ruled Anatolia, Turkey today, Greece, and parts of Italy. The Byzantine emperor was a major Christian force in the east.
Seljuk Attack
However, on the verge of the 11th century, a new force called Seljuk Turks emerged from central Asia, threatening this Byzantine empire’s existence. The Seljuks were originally from Central Asia, converted to Sunni Islam, and then migrated to the south(see the map below) to establish a large empire.
Still, they were hungry for more power and inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Byzantine Empire in 1071 in the battle of Manzikert.
At this time, Most Byzantine forces were mercenaries who only signed up just for the pay to fight. So As a result, when they saw the Seljuk forces, they withdrew from the battlefield, leaving the Byzantine Empire to the mercy of the Seljuks.
So, the Byzantine Empire fell apart, and Seljuks conquered most of Anatolia, including the cities of Antioch and Nakia, which had a strong Christian heritage.
In 1092, the great Seljuk empire, Sultan Malik Shah, died, and its empire began to fall. But the Seljuk war loads were unwilling to accept defeat easily and once again attacked the remaining Byzantine empire.
Requesting Pope For Military Aid By Alexios
With these subsequent threats, in 1095, Alexios I Komenous of the Byzantine Empire wrote to Pope Urban II asking for military aid from their fellow Christian brothers in the West to combat the threats from the Seljuk Muslims. This was, however, not the first such request for military aid.
And this time, too, Pope Urban II didn’t answer Alexios’s request immediately. Many Western Europeans saw the Byzantine Empire as their enemy because Byzantine’s brand of Orthodox Christianity conflicted with the West’s Roman Catholic Church.
In fact, when Pope Urban II received the message, he led the council of Piacenza in Italy with church leaders and barons to resolve most of the disputes in Europe.
Claremont Council Of France
Then, Pope Urban II went to France once again to address a council, this time in Clermont, to resolve church disputes and discuss Alexios’s request. So he asked all the abbots and bishops to bring all the critical lords in Western Europe to the Clermont Council in 1095.
Finally, the Pope saw this as an opportunity to not only drive the infidels (Muslims) from the eastern Christian lands but also to reclaim Jerusalem, which the Muslims conquered 400 years before that. Also, it was an excellent opportunity to heal the wounds between Eastern and Western European Christians.
So he called on Christian knights and foot soldiers to march to the east to help their Christian brothers fight the infidels and free Jerusalem from the Islamic rule.
The council lasted ten days, from November 18th to 28th in 1095. On the 2nd day of the council, the Pope gave a lecture on the desperate need to defend Christianity from the hands of Islam and how the Seljuk Turks harassed the Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy City.
Motivation For The First Crusade
In return, the pope promised a unique spiritual incentive:
“Whoever for devotion alone not to gain honor or money goes to Jerusalem to liberate the church of God can substitute this journey for all penance.”
Since most of the soldiers had committed cruel and violent acts on their previous battlefields, they saw this incentive from the pope as an opportunity to wash away their sins. Furthermore, reclaiming Jerusalem from the rule of Muslims even boosted their morale to the highest degree.
Also, Pope Urban’s appeal was spread across Europe, igniting waves of religious rousing. At the end of the last day of pope’s speech people were shouting “Deus vult,” (God wills it) in support of the holy war. Thus Thousands of knights, soldiers, and ordinary people determined to carry the cross and fight for the sake of Christ. So, most people, rich or poor, aided the Crusaders in fighting the enemy in the name of Christ. Finally, the crusade was officially declared by Pope in Claremont.
Conclusion
I hope you liked this article. If you did, please be generous enough to provide your support with an optimum number of claps and comments, and furthermore, follow me for more exciting stories on history. Thank You.
