Crusades In Kingdom Of Heaven

The Crusades occurred in November of 1095 because Pope Urban II ordered a campaign to free Holy Land from the control of the Saracens at the church council at Clermont in France. They were motivated by the desire to help Christians in the East. Although the intentions were positive, the war did not turn out positively. According to Hoffman, the Crusades often lead people to believe that Urban wished to gain power or the power of the Roman Catholic Church. Despite the beliefs of many, the true intentions of Urban are unknown. The movie Kingdom of Heaven depicts the crusades with some similarities and differences. The movie is correct on its display of violence; however, the movie added fictional details for creative purposes. The film Kingdom of Heaven is very graphic and violent, which is similar to the actual Crusades. Christians who went to the east often died in their attempt to help their fellow Christians. There was still minimal cruelty amongst the western Christians in the Crusades. The Crusades involved warfare, which is what is depicted in a majority of the film. The Crusades were intended to be a “just” or “loving” war, but ended up killing many Christians. As depicted in the movie, “the Crusading era also included regrettable cases in which Christians and Muslims engaged in criminal, sinful, and
wicked behavior apart from the fighting itself” (Hoffman). There are many differences present amongst the Crusades and Kingdom of God.
The main characters are all people who existed in history, but many fictional details were added for creative purposes. One fictional detail is the romance between Balian and Symbilla. This was not true during the time of the crusades, but it gives more interest to the viewers The film neglects to mention the motives of the battle. The film also fails to mention the religious views or either side of the battle. The religious leaders are not portrayed how they should; they are depicted as fools while they were not. Lastly, the organized religions are not painted in positive
lights. Kingdom of Heaven was a good visualization of the Crusades. Although not historically accurate, it was a very good Hollywood depiction as it was directed by and featured big name stars. I believe it chose to add in inaccurate details to make it more interesting. I also believe it neglected to include religious aspects of the Crusades so it would appeal to everyone. More people would be interested in seeing a violent, gory movie than seeing a religious, historical movie. Kingdom of Heaven was a very good movie, but not very accurate.

Works Cited
Hoffman, Daniel (2006). Hollywood vs. History: Kingdom of Heaven and the Real Crusades. Christian Research Journal, 29. Retrieved from www.equip.org.
Kingdom of Heaven. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, and Liam Neeson. Atlas Corporation Studios, 2005. Film.