Why People Went On Crusade

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Why did so many people go on Crusade?

Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule since the 7th century, but pilgrimages were not cut off until the 11th century, when the Seljuk Turks began to interfere with Christian pilgrims.  For Christians, the very name of Jerusalem evoked visions of the end of time and of the heavenly city. To help rescue the Holy Land fulfilled the ideal of the Christian knight.  Papal encouragement, the hope of eternal merit, and the offer of indulgences motivated thousands to enrol in the cause.

Undoubtedly political considerations were also important.  For many the Crusades were a response to appeals for help from the Byzantine Empire, threatened by the advance of the Seljuk Turks.  The year 1071 had seen both the captures of Jerusalem and the decisive defeat of the Byzantine army at Miniskirt, created fear of further Turkish victories amongst those in the West.  In addition, the hopes of the Papacy for the renunciation of East and West, the nobility's hunger for land at a time of crop failures, population pressure in the West, and an alternative to warfare at home were major impulses.

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However, the Church did not 'con' the warriors into going on crusade. The warriors were already convinced that God approved of their fighting, and that their warrior skills were more valuable to God than the clergy's praying. The warriors took up the concept of the crusade with enthusiasm because it fitted their own ideas about what fighting was for. The warriors' belief in fighting for God is made clear in medieval epic poetry such as The Song of Roland. By the fourteenth century the crusade had become an essential part of every noble knight's career. It was still an act of ...

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