Crusades In The Middle Ages Essay
During the Central Middle ages there existed a number of religious movements that challenged the traditional authority of both the church and state. New Christian movements such as the Crusades, the Knights Templar, the Franciscan order and the Dominicans. These movements challenged the traditional authority of the Church by taking the traditional ideals of the Church and moving them in different directions either to more aggressive techniques or to how the ministry should reach out to the common people. Each movement also had it’s own hand in the economic expansion of Europe during the middle ages because of the direction as to which they handled themselves.
The Crusades during the Middle Ages represent the ferocity at which many would …show more content…
The author of the rules of the Knights Templar, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, stated that the knights of this order should not be as flashy as other knights with encrusted reins, and painted lances and shields and focus all their attentions upon combating all those who work against God. According to Bernard the order was justified in war and killing so long as they did so in the name of the Lord (Chpt 5, Rd. 5, Pg 190). Bernard’s ideology of the Templars represented the extremist of the crusaders as he allows the justification of homicide since “The death he inflicts is Christ’s gain”. Due to the Templars belief in being unpretentious with their expenses their wealth most likely returned to the Church which in turn would go to aiding emerging cities all throughout Europe. The Templar ideology of humility and frugalness came mainly from the Cistercians who were chiefly lead by St. Bernard's methodology. William of St. Thierry described the Clairvaux as being of “modest simplicity” with “unfeigned humility of Christ’s poor”, he recounted how only the sounds of labor and chanting could be heard around the buildings (Chpt 7, Rd 1, A., Pg. 237). Even the belief in striking down those deemed wicked by the scripture was shared, as Hildegard of Bingen wrote to Bernard how she was
The Crusades during the Middle Ages represent the ferocity at which many would …show more content…
The author of the rules of the Knights Templar, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, stated that the knights of this order should not be as flashy as other knights with encrusted reins, and painted lances and shields and focus all their attentions upon combating all those who work against God. According to Bernard the order was justified in war and killing so long as they did so in the name of the Lord (Chpt 5, Rd. 5, Pg 190). Bernard’s ideology of the Templars represented the extremist of the crusaders as he allows the justification of homicide since “The death he inflicts is Christ’s gain”. Due to the Templars belief in being unpretentious with their expenses their wealth most likely returned to the Church which in turn would go to aiding emerging cities all throughout Europe. The Templar ideology of humility and frugalness came mainly from the Cistercians who were chiefly lead by St. Bernard's methodology. William of St. Thierry described the Clairvaux as being of “modest simplicity” with “unfeigned humility of Christ’s poor”, he recounted how only the sounds of labor and chanting could be heard around the buildings (Chpt 7, Rd 1, A., Pg. 237). Even the belief in striking down those deemed wicked by the scripture was shared, as Hildegard of Bingen wrote to Bernard how she was