The First Crusade

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the economic impact of the First Crusade on Europe, especially the Mediterranean. It looks at how the Muslims and Jews flourished before the Christians declared war to recapture Jerusalem and how, as a result, many crusades occurred, and economic growth followed due to the increased trade links between Europe and the East. It also looks at how taxation was introduced, money lending increased, and how there was literary progress that lead to greater economic development in Europe.

From the Paper:

"Christian Europe was determined not to allow the advances of the Turks to continue so successfully. The cruelty practiced on the Christian pilgrims who journeyed to the Holy Land of Palestine by the Turks drove the European princes and kings to forge alliances in order to make war (257). This war, the First Crusade (1095-1131) was one of the most astonishing episodes in the history of the Middle Ages. Responding to the call of Pope Urban II, a mass movement of armed pilgrims marched almost 2000 miles from western Europe to the Holy Land to get back Jerusalem from Turkish invaders. In the eyes of these crusaders, they were undertaking a Christian pilgrimage and penitential war through which they hoped to win salvation, glory, and treasure; in the eyes of others, however, the crusaders were savage barbarians who understood little of the sophisticated civilizations they encountered and who butchered innocent Jews, Muslims, and fellow Christians in God's name (Goldberg). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Analysis of the First Crusade." History. Cyber Essays. 9 July 2001. <www.cyberessays.com>.
• Barber, Malcolm. 1992. The Two Cities, Medieval Europe 1050-1320. Routledge.
• Constable, Giles. 1982. "The Financing of the Crusades in the Twelfth Century." Outremer.
• Child, John, et. al. 1994. The Crusades. New York: Peter Bedrick Books.
• "Crusades, The." 1993. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. VI. Studies in the History of the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem presented to Joshua Prawer. Ed. Benjamin Z. Kedar, Hans Eberhard Mayer, and R. C. Smail. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute. 64-88.

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