The Crusades

The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character that was waged against Muslims. The onset of the Crusades began just before the end of the eleventh century, where the Byzantine emperor Alexius I urgently called for some support from other Christian states in Europe to protect his empire against the invading Seljuk Turks. The Christians aim was to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. Jerusalem was also extremely important for the Muslims as Muhammad, the founder of the Muslim faith, had been there and there was great joy in the Muslim world when Jerusalem was captured. However, while the Crusades began as a move to conquer the Muslims, they became a battle within the Christian faith itself. Many of the Europeans lost their values and religious beliefs and thus the Crusades became a time of re-identifying their faith. To the Muslims and the non-Muslims of the east, the Crusades were a war of a barbarous nature that needed to be repelled. It was a war against their faith and their customs. Nevertheless, the decline of the Arab civilization soon after coming out victorious in the Crusades suggests that there were deeper issues in the conflict between the west and east. One might say that the crusades took place because of the rivalry as well as the clash of cultures between the Christians and the Muslims.

Doubts were raised among Christians about God's will, the church's authority, and the role of the papacy. The religious commitment halted to disinterest, and skepticism. On the other hand, the Crusades did stimulate religious enthusiasm on a broad scale. The Crusades