The Crusaders and Muslims in PalestineEssay title: The Crusaders and Muslims in PalestineCrusaders and Muslims in PalestineThroughout time, history has had a tendency to repeat itself. It has done so in good means as well as bad. People learn from the past and apply it to their every day lives. Although people try to do the right thing and not follow mistakes that have been already made, they just seem to come about. Today, our country is experiencing a situation that is extremely similar to the situation occurred in 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. Crusades now can be defined as well all wars undertaken in pursuance of a vow and directed against infidels. Back in the middle ages, it was known as any military expedition undertaken by the Christians of Europe. The history of the crusades is filled with the mercilessness of the crusaders and the kind-heartedness of the Muslims. The Muslims were massacred everywhere the crusaders arrived, while the Christians were treated kindly by the Muslims. The Christians and the Muslims were fighting against one another in order to spread their religion, or end the other.
The event leading up to the start of the holy wars was the invasions of the Holy Land, Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a holy site for the Christians as well as the Muslims. For the Christians, it was a sacred place because Jesus was crucified and on the site where his body was placed in a tomb. They built a church of Holy Sepulchure which stands of the hill where Christ was believed to have been crucified, died, buried, and where he rose again. For the Muslims, this place was cared because they believed that the founder of their religion, Muhammad, was able to visit heaven from there. For that reason, they built many masques and the most famous one is the Dome of the Rock. Islam was spreading very fast. Europes greatest threat came from the forces of Islam. These threats became real. Battles broke out and these battles turned to wars that lasted from 1095 to 1229. These years of bloodshed were led by men of power to gain control over the Holy Land of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was extremely important to the Muslims and Christians at this time. Many religious events had happened there, and many of the landmarks of both religions were located in Jerusalem. It was all over for one city, Jerusalem the Holy Land. At first, Christians occupied Jerusalem. The Christian people head out from giving up their land to their invaders, the Muslims. In February of 638, the Christian bishop of Jerusalem, Sophronus, was forced to surrender the city. By the 11th century, the balance of power began to swing toward the West. The Church became more centralized and stronger. Europes population was growing, its urban life was beginning to revive, and both long distance and local trade were gradually increasing. A growing population created more wealth that meant a greater demand from elsewhere. The interests coincided with religious feeling about the Holy Land and so the crusades began. The Muslims treated Christians well at fist. They just thought of them as people who were misguided in their choice of religion. They encouraged them to convert to Islam, but never forced them. The Christians who did not convert were than known as mawali meaning brother of Islam. Those who did not convert were called djimmis meaning the protected people. Even thought the Christian people were able to keep their religion, they had to take certain rules that came along with that. They had to pay extra tax called jizya, as well as having to abide by extra rules such as not being allowed to marry a Muslim, or to own arms or horses. They were allowed to keep their churches. At this point of time, Europe was in what is known as the Middle Ages of the Dark Ages. This is when the land was separated by manors. All the neighboring manors would be in wars with each other. Each lord was trying to gain more land. Pope Urban II, in a speech of Clermont in France in November 1095, called for a great Christian expedition to free Jerusalem from the Turks, a new Muslim power that had recently begun actively harassing peaceful Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. Urbans speech appealed to thousands of people of all classes. This started the first crusade.
The appeal for soldiers to fight for Jerusalem was very successful. Great nobles, clergy and peasants from all over Europe began preparing for the trip. Most of the people who were going were going for the most important reason, a religious reason. They thought that God had wanted them to. The Crusaders mission was to regain Jerusalem from the holiest ground of the Christian faith from the grasp of the Muslims. The official crusading armies did not head of the long journey until the middle of 1096. There were three main bands from Northern France, Southern France, and Southern Italy. The crusading army arrived in Byzantium over a period of several months early in 1097. Throughout
The Crusader camp is visible on the map. While the map is clear you can clearly see several key areas on the map.
A general view of the Crusader camp. One of the camps in Byzantium. The camps are the most prominent locations on the map. The general view is seen in the below map.
The Crusader camp of Byzantium. The three main camps are on the map.
In another picture, several pictures in different places on the map show different ways of arriving at the Crusader camp that is visible on the map.
The Crusader camp (center of the map).
The Crusader camp in Byzantium.
The Crusader camp of Byzantium (right).
Calls of the people at the Crusader camp (center of the map).
Calls from the people at Crusaders camp (left, a very large group of people), starting to arrive.
Calls from a group of people coming along the journey from the Crusades to Byzantium.
The two main camps from Crusades into Byzantium.
On the right a list of calls of people arriving from the Crusades to Byzantium are shown. The left one shows the actual people arriving from the crusades to Byzantium. The “Pray for the People” calls with Christian friends and family in their hearts.
Christian friends from the churches.
A collection of calls from people in the Holy Land.
A list of those people who came to the Holy Land in 1089 .
Religion and the history of Europe.
Christian religion in the Holy Land.
The history of European religion in the Holy Land.
Christian religion in Medieval Europe.
Christian religion in the Holy Land: a few of the earliest Christians.
Some of these call from Christians.
An early Christian pilgrimage to Europe.
In the map above, some of what looks like Crusaders arriving from Europe into Byzantine Russia is being shown. The main camp is shown as an open camp. The second camp of Byzantium (right) is a short distance from the main camp. The third camp is seen as a large camp and surrounded by the mountains of Bulgaria. One can see the main camp of Byzantium under the same lines, while two other sides have different faces and the camp of Byzantium is an irregular line. The same lines are seen along a lot of the routes. Both sides of two large camps have different faces in each case along with two