Preview

The Three Major Societies During The 11th Century C. E.

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1361 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Three Major Societies During The 11th Century C. E.
During the 11th century C.E., there were three major societies that were centered around the Mediterranean. The first society was the Catholic Kingdoms which was located in Western Europe (Crusades Map). The Catholic Kingdoms followed Christianity and the pope was established as the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Popes also claimed papal supremacy which gave them authority over other secular rulers (Ellis 193). These secular rulers practiced feudalism which was a system where lords divided their land amongst lesser lords, also known as vassals. A feudal contract was developed in which the lord granted his vassal a fief, or piece of land, including towns or buildings already on the land and the people who lived there in return for protection, military service, money payments, and advice (Ellis 186). The second society was the Byzantine Empire which was located in Eastern Europe (Crusades Map). The capital of the Byzantine Empire was Constantinople which commanded trade routes linking …show more content…
Both sides were primarily motivated by religious fanaticism. For example, one Crusader describes how God “has wanted to offer the faithful a chance of safety, nay a cause of salvation, so that they who would give up all things for him will find him to be all things for all men” (Reflections of a Crusader Concerning the Sacredness of their Mission). He meant that God is giving them a chance to redeem themselves and prove that they are worthy of salvation. Also, God is seeing who will be faithful and willing to sacrifice themselves for this cause. Many other Crusaders were also motivated by the Crusades being God’s will. Loyalty to God was of utmost important to many, if not all, Christians and not participating in the Crusades was seen as disgraceful. The quote also meant that they were under God’s protection so they would be safe in battle against the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crusade DBQ 01 29 2014

    • 758 Words
    • 3 Pages

    span classtab/spanIn document three, another social impact, the author describes the motivation behind the Crusaders desire to fight in these battles. Some reasons the Crusades…

    • 758 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One of the most significant and remarkable incidents of the Middle Ages was the series of conflicts known collectively as the Crusades. Generally these conflicts were militant pilgrimages to the Levant (though sometimes elsewhere) undertaken by medieval Europeans in the name of Christendom. Though there were many political and social issues involved in the whole affair, the primary theme, however superficial, was religious. The adversaries in these “wars” were non-Christians, namely Muslims, who were widely seen as the oppressors of Eastern Christians. Those engaged in the Crusades, especially the authorities preaching and administering them, believed that the Saracens (Turks, Arabs, etc) were intruding on lands that were inherently Christian. Two important primary source texts which explain this justification for war are Robert of Rheims’ account of Urban’s Speech at Clermont and La Chanson d’Antioche (The Song of Antioch) by Graindor de Douai. Though they are very different types of sources, written at different times and for different purposes, they both illustrate the reasons why Crusaders felt they were fighting for land that was rightfully theirs.…

    • 2423 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feudalism Dbq Essay

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages

    At the top is saposed to be the King but the king did not have much power outside of his own estates. Below the Kings were the powerful lords, they were the vassels to the king. There was not many of them. They were given land grants (fiefs) for military service. Below them were the lesser lords they were the vassels to the powerful lords. There was more of them compared to the powerful lords. The lords were the one who would protect the serfs shown in document one,it shows how the vassels had to work on the churches as well as on thier own farms. Then they had to pay rent to the main house. After them were the Knights the majority of the nobles and were the fuedal armies. At the bottom was the serfs or the peasants which was the majority of the population in the Middle…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Proof that religious motivation was a cause for the crusades is shown through many of these documents. First, document one contains such quotes as, "Christ commands it", "…concerns you and God", and "…preserve the right of church". All of these were said by Pope Urban II and clearly show this documents religious connotation. Document two also portrays religious motivation when Ekkehard says, "enemies of the cross of Christ" and "love of…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    After the fall of Rome, no single state or government united the people who lived on the European continent. Instead, the Catholic Church became the most powerful influence of the medieval period. Kings, queens…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crusades Dbq Essay

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgment of God that this place should be filled with the blood of the unbelievers, since it had suffered so long from their blasphemies...On this day, the children of the apostles regained the city and fatherland for God and the fathers.”(Document A). The Crusaders also believed that God was on their side which allowed the Christians to stand up victorious. The huge temple became one of the reasons that the city had suffered from “unbelievers” because the temple was built for christian reasons. The document even states that “the children of apostles” were jumping in joy after the victory which showed the importance of the victory. The Document later states that the men had to step over the bodies which can also be interpreted as a lot of loss for the…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This is a topic at is universally agreed on by scholars. The crusader’s would’ve have a preconceived notion of the apocalypse from the Book of Revelations. Marshall states that Urban portrayed the clash between Islam and Christianity as “good” and “evil.” This idea causes apocalypticism to be linked with duality. In every apocalyptic battle, there are good and evil sides, and they are distinctly different from each other. Rubenstein says since Urban was calling for an earthly battle in Jerusalem, and the biblical prophecies had predicted a heavenly battle in Jerusalem- it was impossible to not see the link between the two battles. One motivation for pilgrims joining the First Crusade was that they believed that the Apocalypse was nigh, and they wanted to be in Jerusalem when these events took place. Additionally, some crusaders believed that by going to Jerusalem, they could “set in motion the events of Apocalypse.” Essentially, scholars believe that Urban’s painting of the final battle between good and evil was more crucial to the beginning of the First Crusade, rather than greed. Characterizing the First Crusade as a money grab for the crusaders would be ludicrous, in theory, as Christianity speaks against materialism. Greed was just a distraction that plagued the…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    At one point or another in their life everybody has felt what it feels like to want something so bad they would go to extreme lengths to get it. Maybe it was stealing something from a store, or lying to a parent in order to go out with friends. For the Muslims, Jews, and Christians from 1096 AD- 1200 AD, they would go to extreme lengths in order to have power over Jerusalem, the Holy Land for all three of these religions. These three would persecute, rape, and even kill each other in order to own the Holy Land. The Crusades had a more negative than positive effect on the world because people all over the world were persecuted for their religion.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crusades Advantages

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The crusades were caused by religious devotion, political gain and economic benefit. There has been great debates of historians discovering the motives of the Crusades and have tried to determine which of the two factors had served as a more active agent and catalyst. The Crusades started when the religion of Christianity had to have the city of Jerusalem as Christian property as it was where their God was crucified. However, the aspect of political gain and economic benefit were an additional advantage when participating in the Crusade.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Medieval times were a ruthless time for people. At that time, the world was focused on attaining greed, power, and salvation and the call for a crusade gave these. During the crusade, people could loot the riches from battles they have won. This makes the crusade more of a fast and “easy” way to get rich around that time. The next thing people wanted was power; joining the crusade meant that they would attain riches and a bit of fame. This makes them more reputable towards people and the kingdom they reside in, thus giving them more power which in turn gives them more of a relaxing life. Lastly, the people wanted salvation in the afterlife. Many people back then committed sins that were unforgivable to the Catholic Church so they were…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The two major purposes of the Crusades were the desire to indicate how Christianity is more superior to another religion and domination of lands. The Crusades were prominently known as the Holy Wars between the Christians and Muslims. In addition, religious conflicts and wars between Christianity and Muslim resulted in a prolong battle within the Western civilization. Many people from lower class to higher-class citizens, who strongly believed in Christianity and its interpretation of salvation, were all participated in retrieving the liberation in the Holy Land. Most of the Christians perceived that they needed more lands for their children to inherit, and that Muslims were not worthy to rule the Holy Land. In fact, the Holy Land was prosperous…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ways religious people perceive the crusades in different religion differ from one another. For many Christian the crusades were a force of reconquering the “holy land”. However, for many other people such as Muslims and Jews the crusades were a catastrophic destruction of their beliefs. The crusades during the 11th and 16th for many people had different motives. For people, who were attacked by Christians the crusades meant something very different from the people, who were conquering and killing people on “the name of God”. During these times, people began to feel confuse because they did not know the “real” purpose of the actions of the Christians. On the other hand, Christian felt competent and glorious because they had the power to order and perform on the name of God. In the text by Fulcher of Chartres, one can see how what the crusades signified for the Christian population, and why they perform the way, they did. On the other hand, in text written by Solomon Bar Simson one can experience how the Jews community felt regarding the crusades. In addition, one can see how these texts have differences when describing the reasons behind and why the crusades happened.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Christians believed that the Crusades were justified because of multiple reasons. Being one of the most powerful religions back then and today, they…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes Of The Crusades

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The aspects and the motives of the crusades have caused heated debates where historians are determining the major motives of the Crusades. The Crusades were primarily caused by religious devotion, political gain and economic benefit. The question was that, which of the two factors had served as more of a catalyst. The Crusades were constructed on the basis of devoting to the religion of Christianity and leaders protecting their people and the future of their empire and leadership. Despite there being two motives, the aspect of religious devotion outweighs political gain and economic benefits.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They didn’t only fight for themselves, but for the Church and the Holy Land. “Those who took up the cross were recipients of both spiritual and earthly rewards. The spiritual reward was the indulgence, or forgiveness, of sins. The earthly rewards included plunder from conquest, forgiveness of debts, and freedom from taxes, as well as fame and political power. Crusaders did not only fight for control of the Holy Land; they also worked to secure the Church’s power in Europe”. The wars against the Muslims were promoted by various popes in Christ’s name and led by the Crusaders who took vows and received special privileges and luxury. So people joined the Crusaders for both selfish and selfless…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays