The Crusades

Yep. The Crusades. Such a wonderful moment in world history. Rampant warfare, disease, destruction, and the whole litany of mans inhumanity to each other. Yet taken as a whole, they represent an era which shaped the course of reality. This week on my World Civilizations discussion board there was a response so bone headed I had to respond.

First the Discussion Question: Discuss the development of the Roman Catholic Church.   What effect did it have on society?   Why did the church call for a Crusade, or holy war? What were the overall results of the Crusades?   Were they a successful military venture?   How was the holy war perceived by other societies?

My classmates response:

Discuss the development of the Roman Catholic Church, and what effects did it have on society?

The Catholic Church was outlawed until the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious toleration throughout the Roman Empire. Only then did they slowly start to have an effect on other societies.

It continued to united the early societies under a central power, as the Roman government loss increasing power in those societies. The Roman Catholic church had become more Romanist in its organization and held similar laws by this time

It continued to united the early societies under a central power, as the Roman government loss increasing power in those societies. The Roman Catholic church had become more Romanist in its organization and held similar laws by this time.
The church encouraged the development of local rulers that had adopted Roman Christianity and were loyal to the Church. This eventually lead to the Holy Roman Empire.

Why did the church call for a Crusade, or holy war?
To free Jerusalem from Islam.

Were they a successful military venture?   How was the holy war perceived by other societies? Wars are never successful, and there were no other societies of note who cared.

So I had to respond. Usually I wouldn't even consider doing so, but being that I'm feeling rather confident as of late, I couldn't let this naivete and disregard for even attempting to do the homework slide. Why pay for school if one is not even going to try?

Melodye,

I respectfully disagree with your conclusions to the final two questions. You stated, “wars are never successful.” There are many wars that have been successful, that have shaped the nature of our reality. Without the victory of the thirteen colonies over the might of the British Empire or the bloody sacrifice of the American Civil War, would there be a United States of America? How different would a world map look if the Allies had not won Second World War? Even the war in Vietnam was successful if one looks at it from the point of the North Vietnamese. However, I suspect your response to the question is more in regards to the humanitarian cost of war. In those regards, I think we are in total agreement. The destruction and loss of life is deplorable. No sane person thinks that what the world needs is more wars; yet true world peace seems to elude us as a species.

The original discussion question was, “Were the Crusades a successful military venture?” I sure in the eyes of those who fought it, thought it was successful when they captured Jerusalem. However, 900 years later we know this to be a temporary victory. These wars were fought over a time span of centuries and facilitated an exchange of ideas, trade goods, and technologies (Bentley et al, p.314). So while not militarily successful in the end, the Crusades did help to strengthen the emerging successor kingdoms of the Western Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. 

You further stated, “there were no other societies of note who cared.”  The Muslim societies of the time certainly had reason for concern, as did the Byzantine Empire. The Turks, Egyptians and other Muslim societies became more unified because of the Crusades (Bentley et al, p. 314). The Crusades were the beginning of the end for the Byzantines. The crusaders captured territory and even conquered Constantinople before being expelled (Bentley et al, p. 189). The last remnant of the Roman Empire and bastion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity was faced with Muslim nations that were becoming more powerful because of the Crusades. In a larger sense, societies as far away as China may not have had any direct interest in the actual outcome, but certainly would have noticed the increase in trade and communications coming from Western Europe and Mediterranean Basin.

Again, no disrespect intended.  -Josh  

 Bentley, J., Ziegler, H., Streets, H. (2008). Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

To Harsh? Nah. Seriously though. Assuming there is a humanity to look back at this era 900 years from now, what will they say of our own Crusades?

Mix