essay about the world

Jotham Kim Crusader Essay 9-3
Word Count:1,452 In ancient Europe, around the 11th century, there were three major kingdoms/empires. The three major kingdoms/empires were the Catholic kingdom, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic Caliphates. The Catholic kingdom was located in Western Europe. In the Catholic kingdom, religion was very important and organized. First, their religion was the Catholic Christianity, and in the church hierarchy, there were different classes. The highest class was the pope, the second was the bishops, and lastly was the priests. Basically, the pope was considered to be the ruler of the Christian world (Ellis 193). Just how the Catholic religion was organized, so was the feudal system in Western Europe. The feudal systems contained social hierarchy, and the highest class was the king. After the king, the next powerful class was the lords, knights, and then finally the vassals (peasants and serfs)(Ellis 188). Although the conditions of the king’s and lords’ environments were luxuries, the vassals’ environment was really poor. They had to live in a manor, with less food, and hard labor (Ellis 190). The most beneficial advantage for the vassals was to live near the river (Class notes December 17, 2013). The reason is because they can catch fish at sometimes, and have additional food than others. Most of the vassals were serfs (slaves that were bound to the land, and can be sold and bought). Other vassals were peasants (people with rights that got paid for their work) (Ellis 189). This was basically the overall image of Western Europe, before the Crusades. Like the Catholic Kingdoms, the Byzantine Empire had its own history. In around 330, the Byzantium Empire started when the Roman emperor of Constantine, rebuilt the Greek city of Byzantium, and named the city Constantinople (Ellis 234). As time passed, the Roman Empire became the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople was an important city, located near the shores of Bosporus that controlled major trading routes and more (Ellis 234). In the Age of Justinian, he made a certain code of laws that influenced various lands in Europe. Justinian ruled the empire as an autocrat, meaning that he was the only ruler with all the authority, and that includes even religion (Ellis 236). The Byzantine religion separated into two regions (Ellis 237). One of the differences between the two regions is that the East region took Easter more seriously than Christmas, and the West region took the East region more seriously (Ellis 237). As these different views of religion grew, the two regions separated in 1054 permanently between the Byzantine, Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches (Ellis 237). This was how the Byzantine Empire was created and developed. The third kingdom in Europe was called the Islamic Caliphates. The Arabs lived in the Arabian Peninsula, which was a desert land, thus making the Arabs nomads (Spielvogel 191). The Islamic religion started the organized community in Arab. Muslims believed a man named Muhammad was a prophet of God(Allah). His influence of the Islamic religion had impacted a lot of Arabs, therefore converting them into Muslims. As years past, Muhammad gained a lot of followers to the point where he had authority over political and religious issues of the Islamic community (Spielvogel 196). Eventually, as Muhammad died, his sons and so on took his place expanding its territory over Arabia and more. During the Abbasid caliphate in which Abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle ruled, a group of nomadic Muslims called the Seljuk Turks grew stronger and conquered the eastern provinces of the Abbasid Empire (Spielvogel 201). This is how the Islamic Caliphate came to be before the Crusades. Around 1071, the Turks got challenged by the Byzantines and that was the start of the Crusades (Spielvogel 201). When the Turks invaded the Byzantine Empire, they burnt down villages, killed people, etc. As a result the Turks took most of the Anatolian Peninsula (Spielvogel 201). Because of this massacre, the Byzantine Empire asked the West, the Roman Catholic Kingdoms for help (Spielvogel 201). Ultimately, what started the Crusades was the mistake that the Byzantine Empire did, which they provoked and challenged the Turks. These were the events that led up to the first Crusade. In 1096, as a result of the invasion by the Turks, the Byzantine Empire asked the pope of the Roman Catholic Kingdoms for help. The pope agreed to help because of two reasons. The two reasons that the pope cooperated is because, “Urban hoped to increase his political power in Europe and perhaps heal the schism, or split, between the Roman Catholic and Byzantine churches. He also hoped that the Crusades would set Christian knights to fighting Muslims instead of one another (Ellis 216). These are the events that led up to the First Crusade at 1096 officially. During the Crusades, there were two main motivations that motivated different kingdoms in Europe to continue the Crusades: Religious fanaticism and land/wealth. What motivated the Roman Catholic Kingdoms was religious fanaticism. Although there were other reasons to be motivated, like running away from home, or having the desire to obtain wealth and land, the main motivation was religious fanaticism. “As the crusading spirit swept through Western Europe, armies of ordinary men and women inspired by fiery preachers left for the Hole Land, too. Few returned” (Ellis 216). This quote shows that people were motivated mainly by religion, because Catholic men and women went to war being inspired by the pope. What the pope wanted to say to them is that they should go to war in the name of God, and if the Catholic citizens were inspired about his speech, then they were by their religion. According to Pope Urban II’s speech to the Catholics, he motivated them by mentioning that if the Catholics die fighting, then their sins would be forgiven and go to heaven, and if they live, their sins would be forgiven anyways receiving wealth and land (Pope Urban II). This was a huge deal for the Catholics, because this was a golden opportunity for Catholics to be both significant, meaning that they can do something good for their religion or God, and they can have a good status in their Catholic community. There were no disadvantages, so that would have tempted the Catholic citizens to participate in the war. This was how the Catholics were motivated.
Although the Catholics were motivated by religious fanaticism, the Muslims were motivated by land. Unlike the Catholics, the Muslims weren’t motivated because of a good proposition and religion. According to Al-Harawii’s speech in 1099, he said “How dare you slumber in the shade of complacent safety, leading lives as frivolous as garden flowers, while your brothers in Syria have no dwelling place save the saddles of camels and the bellies of the vultures? Blood has been spilled! Beautiful young girls have been shamed, and must now hide their sweet faces in their hands! Shall the valorous Arabs resign themselves to insult, and the valiant Persians accept dishonor” (Al-Harawi)? This quote shows various meanings. First, this quote shows how disappointed Al-Harawi was, because while the Muslim soldiers were dying, cities were getting massacred, etc, the Muslim citizens did nothing except get driven by fear, therefore doing nothing. Also, this quote shows how humiliated the Muslims were (Al-Harawi). When Al-Harawi spoke his speech, he did not hesitate or waver, and instead, he yelled loudly in order show the citizens that in a disastrous situation, he didn’t lose hope and that he stood up against the situation head on (Al-Harawi). Based on what Arabian chroniclers wrote, they said that Al-Harawi’s speech inspired the citizens so much that they devoted themselves to help their fellow Muslim soldiers (Al-Harawi). Because of how Al-Harawi shamed the Muslim citizens, they realized what they did wrong, and decided to help out. The Muslims were motivated by land. “Every time the Franks took one fortress, they would attack another. Their power mounted relentlessly until they occupied all of Syria and exiled the Muslims of that country” (Ibn Ammar). This quote shows that the Franks invaded lands/territories of the Muslims. The reason behind to why Al-Harawi was furious and humiliated is because no one stood up against the Franks. Basically, the Muslims allowed the Franks to take their synagogues, exile them, etc. Because of how the Franks took the Muslim’s land, Al-Harawi told the Muslim citizens that they should be ashamed of themselves for not doing anything in order save their land. Eventually, the Muslim citizens got inspired by him and participated in the Crusades. Ultimately, the Muslims were motivated by the land, because since the Franks were exiling them from their own land, they were motivated to take back what was originally theirs. This is how the Muslims were motivated.