How Did The Turkss Influence The Crusades

The Islamic world in the early eleventh century was mostly ruled by a large group called the Turks. Many Turks served in the army and one powerful group called the Seljuks sought to overthrow Byzantine and other western civilizations. Once they had control of the Holy Land and Jerusalem, Christians were no longer permitted to travel to Jerusalem or any other religious sites. In hopes of stopping the continuous rule of the Turks, Pope Urban II called a council and was encouraged to create an army to head for Jerusalem. That army was created and told to start a “Holy War”, or crusade. To promote the crusades, the Roman Catholic Church first promised that anyone who died in their quest would go directly to Heaven. They were teaching that they were in the last days of mankind and that a messianic figure would soon come to destroy the enemy and free the Holy Land. They would also promise their armies, consisting of unarmed, undisciplined civilians, that their faith would protect them, ultimately leading many to their deaths. Mu’awiya was the founder of the Umayyad Dynasty, the first Islamic Dynasty. He preferred to bribe his enemies rather than fight them because he
Umayyads favored Arab-Muslims over non-Arab Muslims such as the Persians, Turks, and Africans and imposed a tax on “People of the Book” such as Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. On the other hand, Abbasids did not discriminate against non-Arab Muslims. When the Umayyads took over a territory they left the previous government officials and policies in place whereas when the Abbasids took over a territory they appointed delegates and representatives called viziers to govern them. Lastly, during the Umayyad Dynasty the capital was moved from Mecca to Damascus and then during the Abbasid Dynasty the capital was again moved from Damascus to Baghdad. (Acrobatiq,