The Crusades

Paper Summary:

The paper reveals that although many people have romantic notions of the Crusades, in reality, the Crusades were a series of military campaigns. The paper describes the nine Crusades that were religious in nature. The paper explains that the Crusades began as a Roman Catholic effort to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims, but also targeted other religions and minority groups within Europe, including Jews and non-Roman Catholic Christians. The paper explains that while the Crusades were unsuccessful at their goals of ending Muslim occupation of the Holy Lands, they did play an important role in the history of Western Europe and the Middle East.

From the Paper:

"Given the political events of modern times, it is not difficult to understand the type of religious fervor that would give rise to a religious-based military campaign. However, one can better understand the Crusades if one understands the developments that were happening in Western Europe throughout the Early Middle Ages. (Wikipedia). While much of the Dark Ages was characterized by constant struggles between European countries over borders, by the Early Middle Ages borders had stabilized. In addition, during the Dark Ages, much of Western Europe was still under the influence of pagan religions. However, by the Early Middle Ages, the Vikings, the Slavs, and the Magyars had been converted to Christianity."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baldwin, M.W. Editor. A History of the Crusades, Volume I. Madison, Wisconsin: Universityof Wisconsin Press, 1969. Accessed online 15 Mar. 2006<http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.CrusOne>.
• Brehier, Louis. "Crusades." The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV. 2005. New Advent.15 Mar. 2006 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm>.
• Halsall, Paul. "Selected Sources: The Crusades." The Internet Medieval Sourcebook. 2001.Fordham University. 15 Mar. 2006 <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1k.html>.
• Knox, E.L. Skip. "Second Crusade: Calling of the Crusade." History of the Crusades. 2005. Boise State University. 15 Mar. 2006 <http://crusades.boisestate.edu/2nd/01.shtml>.
• Wikipedia. "Crusade." Wikipedia.org. 2006. Wiki Media. 15 Mar. 2006<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_crusades>.

More papers on The Crusades:

• Book Review # 135389 : "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes"
• Essay # 124879 : "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes"
• Analytical Essay # 61835 : "The Crusades"
• Book Review # 117835 : "The Crusades" by Hans Eberhard Mayer"

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