Kyle Mensch
ARH 101
Exam Essay 2
What originally started as a way to honor their faith and the life of Jesus Christ, Chris”ans from all over
the con”nent of Europe traveled to the lands where Jesus was born and then resurrected. The people
embarking on the pilgrimages were encouraged by the Roman Emperors Constan”ne and Jus”nian to
the point where churches were built along the way to provide shelter and support. As “me passed,
Muslim’s who also lived in the area gained influence in the region and tensions started to rise between
the Chris”an travelers and Muslim landowners to the point where access to the holy Chris“an sites were
denied. Out of the con*ict between the Europeans and Muslims came the start of the Crusades, the
religious wars to oust the Muslim intruders from the lands that Chris“ans considered sacred. (Molloy,
Michael. Experiencing the World Religions. 5th. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 381-382. Print.)
In the year 1095, Pope Urban II was :rst to ini”ate a European crusade to exterminate the Muslim
people from the lands to the east. In his speech to the Council of Claremont, the Pope encouraged men
of all means, knights and foot soldiers to volunteer to fight a war against what he called the barbarians.
The pope’s edict to a;ack was cleverly constructed to point out that God commanded that the ac”ons
be taken and that it is the duty of followers to obey. It’s worth poin”ng out that at the “me of the Pope’s
announcement, there was great social upheaval stemming from feudalism and to distract society with a
common cause was a way to help maintain the power structure of the religious elites. A<er more than
one thousand years, the same techniques are s”ll being used today to maintain order for those that
benefit the most. Thousands of people were so inspired by the Pope that they placed crosses on their
clothing pledging support for the e>ort and helped a;ribute the name Holy War to the e>ort. The
Pope’s promise of eternal salva”on also was mo”va”on to aid the su>ering Chris”ans of the East. In the
pain”ng by Frenchman Emile Signol named Gods Will It, a depic”on of the scene in which Pope Urban
and his entourage are gathered outside of the city of Claremont to incite the crowd to launch a war
against the Muslims with asser”ons that “Deus vult” or God Will It. (“Nobility and Analogous Trad”onal
Elites.” God wills it!”—Blessed Pope Urban II launches the First Crusade. N.p., 21 FEB 2011. Web. 18 Dec
2013. <h;p://nobility.org/2011/02/21/god-wills-it—blessed-pope-urban-ii-launches-the-:rst-crusade/>.
Pope Urban’s proclama”on created the strategy that would characterize the Chris”an eastward
movements for the next two centuries. There were eight total crusade campaigns taking place between
the years of 1096 to 1291 and the :rst encounter was the only completely successful ba;le for the
a;acking Europeans. Most of the land that was the center of a;en”on for the Crusaders is found in the
present day countries of Israel, Syria, Turkey, Pales”ne, Lebanon and Egypt to name a few. In the :rst
crusade, the crusaders journeyed from Europe to Constan”nople by crossing over the Alps or by
following the Danube River. The 100,000 mostly French and Norman knights raided the ci”es to the
north of their goal but ul”mately conquered the city of Jerusalem from the Jewish and Muslims
defenders who had combined forces. In the pain“ng named ‘Capture of Jerusalem during the First
