Crusades

history

Crusades are wars with a religious and economic motivation. With their help, Jerusalem and the Holy Land of Palestine were to be liberated from the hands of the unbelievers, the Muslims.

Triggers of the Crusades

The Crusades ended with the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by Caliph al-Hakim (985-1021, sixth caliph of the Egyptian Fatimids) raised in 1009. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is one of the greatest sanctuaries in Christianity and is said to stand on the spot where Jesus was crucified and where his tomb is located should. During the devastation, Christ's rock tomb was demolished. In 1149 the Crusaders rebuilt the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which still stands today.

Not only the wars waged against non-Christians from other countries count as Crusades, but also against people designated as heretics by the Church. These included, for example, the crusades against the Albigensians (Cathars) in southern France. The reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Masons was also a kind of crusade.

Foundation of the Crusades

The basic tenet of the Crusades was the tenet of a just war, a godly war that had to meet three criteria:

• a legitimate authority, for example the Pope, may proclaim it.
• there must be a reason for war. This was the unjust treatment of believers.
• the war must be waged with good intentions, such as divine love.

The Crusades begin at the Synod of Clermon in 1095 with Pope Urban II calling for a Crusade. They end in 1453 with the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II