Why Are The Crusades Successful

The Crusades were a series of wars that took place from 1095-1272 A.D. during the Middle Ages. During the Crusades, the Christians of Europe made efforts to try and regain control of Jerusalem, which was the Holy Land, as well as expand their kingdom’s territory. The Christians fought against the Jews and the Muslims. The Holy Land was important to the Christians, Jews, and Muslims all for religious reasons. “The Crusades were also a development of popular religious life and feeling in Europe, particularly in western Europe,” (Baldwin et al. 2016). In the end, there were a total of nine crusades and the first crusade was the most successful of all. The Crusades first began when Pope Urban II called for the Crusades at an assembly where
During this crusade, armies of crusaders attacked villages, cities, and killed thousands of Jews and Muslims. The crusaders were able to conquer Jerusalem, and for some time, Jerusalem was under the control of the Christians. Because the crusaders gained control of the Holy Land and were able to achieve their goal much more quickly than previously anticipated, many of the crusaders returned back home to Europe. Those who chose to stay helped to govern the Holy Land, and in order to keep control over this territory more easily, it was divided into four Crusader states, which were Antioch, Edessa, Jerusalem, and Tripoli. After the end of the first crusade, a period full of peace and prosperity was in place, which lasted for 47
“The movement helped both to militarize the medieval western Church and to sustain criticism of that militarization” (Throop, n.d.). In addition to this, the Greek and Latin churches of Europe permanently split into two, and the structure of Europe’s society was completely changed. Because they had fought the Muslims for so long, the Europeans also exchanged many cultural ideas with the Muslims, including their languages and education. The knowledge of the Europeans improved through the adoption of Arabic learning materials. In exchange, the Muslims began to use the military tactics of the Europeans. Overall, the Crusades were unsuccessful, but many cultural ideas were exchanged between both the Europeans and the