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Índex

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Cover page : 1 Index: 2 Historical background : 3 Significance of Jerusalem: 5 Game : 6 Our perspective at the crusades :7 7 major events : 8 What was the perception of the other

religious groups : 10 Game : 11 Long term impact of the crusades : 12 Game : 14 Diary entries : 15 WORCK CITED : 21

Historical Background

The Franks lived between the North Sea and Rhine River. They were at first a Germanic Tribe (Barbarians). Their tribe was divided, they had a decentralized government and they were polytheists. But then Clovis became leader of the Franks, turning their tribe into a solid group with centralized government. Clovis converted to Christianity once he won a war that seemed

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impossible to win; he saw it as a Miracle. Because of this event, the Franks stopped being barbarians, and became Christians. Before Clovis, the Franks were Mercenaries for the Roman Empire, they defended them from other Germanic Tribes. But Clovis realized there was another option that seemed more profitable; attacking Rome. They did conquer it, and began calling themselves “The Sacred Roman Empire”. Years passed, and the Kings start losing their power, instead, Major Domo was the person who made important choices for the Frankish Empire. But now, the Franks were facing one of their enemies, the Muslims. Charles Martel, the Major Domo at that time, guided an army to fight the Muslims, and the Franks won. This battle was called “The Battle of Tours”. Charles Martel got recognized not only by the Franks, but by all Christians because he stopped Islam from spreading through Europe. However, he never got to be a king. Instead, his son, Pepin the Short, became king of the Franks, beginning the Carolingian Dynasty. His major achievement was the Donation of Peppin, which was giving land to the church. This made the Pope feel more powerful than the other 4 Patriarchs, and this leaded to conflict between them. Charlemagne was Pepin’s son, and he inherited the Frankish Empire. He was probably one of the best leaders of the Franks, he conquered many land and offered education to both poor and rich. After he died, his son, Louis took power. But he decided to leave the thrown because he believed God didn’t wanted him to be a king. He left the kingdom for his three sons: Louis, Charles, and Lothair, whom then divided the empire. This division of the empire was called the Treaty of Verdun, which left the empire weak. This caused many invasions, and the way to deal with them was by decentralizing the government. The Franks were now using the

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Feudal system, leaving the kings with less power. And because of the decrease of the King’s authority, and because the Franks were facing trouble, the Pope began gaining lot of power. v

Significance of Jerusalem

Christianity believes on the fact that there are two places you can go when you die, hell and heaven. Since the beginning of this religion people has been told the same thing for thousands of generations, if you are bad and commit a lot of sins you will go to the hell where you will suffer for all the eternity, and if you behave well and do the right things you will go to heaven where you will never suffer again. This is why Jerusalem for the Christians had and haves a lot of importance because Jerusalem was a common place where people used to pilgrimage (Travel for religious purposes).They also buried important religious leader (bones or possessions ) and this was the way of avoiding the hell. They believed that if they make a little crusade to pilgrimage and view

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the possessions of an important religious leader they will gain salvation because they think by making that little crusade, all their sins will be forgiven. Jerusalem or also known as the city of justice and faithful was the place where the son of god have grown up and also in where they crucifix him and also where he resurrected and ascend to heaven. So it have a great importance to Christians because they think that the lord have chosen Jerusalem as the central city , they city surrounded by everything and that it was the right to live there because it was their native land and also was the main city for them because they can get salvation by being forgive for their sins.

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Our perspective at theCrusades

On November 27, Pope Urban II gave a speech to the Council of Clermont and some commoners in a cathedral telling them that

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Alexius Comnenus asked him for help because the Muslim group of the Seljuk Turks were attacking them and had already taken Jerusalem and some other cities. The Pope doubted, then he thought about the benefits of helping them. One of the most important things that he focused more on was uniting the Christian faith by making the Orthodox follow him as the Catholics did. The way he thought he would achieve this is by sending the Franks to help the Byzantines in this battles because then they would see that god is in the Pope’s side and the Byzantines would start to recognize him as the leader of the church. So he accepted and the first move that he made was the call of the First Crusade. The Franks main goal was to get back the Byzantine cities conquered by the Seljuk Turks and also the holy city of Jerusalem that the Muslims ruled since 638 AD. During this time Europe was also having some Political, Social and Economical problems like they still struggle about land and power. But, one of the most important social problem that Christians face was that they were fighting against them like Vassals against Vassals and Knights against Knights so the only solution that they found was to tell them to go fight with they´re common enemies and this took Europe to the Darks Ages. The motivations that they had in the First Crusades were a lot but some of them were that they open trade roads, make Jerusalem roads safer and they take back Jerusalem.

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7 major events

Before the Crusades. Letter from the Byzantines to the Catholics (Franks) asking for them to help with the Muslim invasion of the Seljuk Turks.

The Council of Clermont. The pope gave a speech to 300 clerics and some commoners about the Crusade, people that wanted to join would either get salvation or get wealthy if they survive

People’s Crusade. this crusade was made up of the commoners that were unprepared and didn’t have enough supplies so they all starved until they killed the jewish community and then went to Nicaea but were massacred and the Muslims thought that the Franks were nomads. This gave an advantage to the Catholics

1st Crusade. Eventually Godfrey and Bouillon lead the prepared army to the Crusades. Attacked Nicaea and because the previous crusade made the Muslims unaware that the Franks were a very good army and the Catholics took Jerusalem and succeeded.

2nd Crusade. Pope Eugene III called another crusade with the goal of taking back Edessa which was previously taken by the Muslims. Instead of taking Edessa, they went after Damascus. At first, they managed to conquer but the Leader of Damascus asked Nur ad-Din for help and he was able to defeat the crusaders and increased his power.

3rd Crusade. Catholics loose Edessa and Jerusalem to the Muslims but still control the important cities such as; Antioch,

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Tyre and Tripoli. 3rd Crusade is called. (Crusade of the kings). 1189 AD Frederic (Germany), Phillip (France), Richard I (England). Frederick Barbarossa drowned. Philip and Richard are alone but in charge and conquer Jaffa and Acre. Philip left. Richard goes after Jerusalem on his way he realizes that he didn’t have enough strength and made peace treaty with Saladin.4th Crusade. 1202. Goal is to conquer Jerusalem but this time they have a new strategy to travel by boat and attack from the back. For this they asked the help of the Venetians to

build their boats. To pay for the boats the Franks has to attack the Venetians competition which was Zara. They didn’t have enough money so they conquered and then the pope found

out that the crusaders attacked a catholic city and excommunicated them. But they had a plan to be included to

the church again.

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What was the perception ofThe others religious groups

The Franks attacked people from different religions in the Crusades, not only Muslims but also Jews and even fellow Christians from the Byzantine Empire. Christians believed that Jews were the ones who killed Jesus and crucified him. Also Jews did unholy actions according to Christianity, for example, charging interests when giving a loan (that was a profanity to Christianity on that time). But the Jews were not the only ones hated, Muslims were also enemies. In fact, they were the most hated. During that period of time, stories of knights and war were told. In these stories Muslims were usually the enemy, and this created acceptance toward war and hatred toward them. Once Muslims got control over Jerusalem, it created much more rivalry between both religions. When the Byzantines got attacked by the Seljuk Turks (group that was part of the Muslim empire), they asked for help of the Franks. With all the hate that the Franks had toward Muslims, they saw this as an opportunity to attack them, take back Jerusalem, and even unite with the Greek Orthodox. At first the Byzantines were allies with the Franks, but after the First Crusade, they began breaking their deal. The Byzantines did not helped the Franks during the Crusades, with the excuse that they only wanted to defend their empire. Then, when the Crusaders (an army of Franks) needed money, they even attacked and conquered the Byzantium. This shows that the Franks, viewed all the other empires as enemies.

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long term impact of thecrusade

The crusades cause many impacts and long term effects over the years. First of all one impact that have happened in now days is the hatred between Christians and Muslims. The recent attacks of Muslims groups to the United States are caused because all of this hatred to Muslims over years ago in the Crusades. The twin towers destruction was caused by Muslims and that’s because the bad relationship that was created between Muslims and Christians. All of this is resumed in a war between civilization and religion. Also the crusades had many effects on things of that time and many of this were really and make them get a new age. First of all the effect that had on the Catholic Church, this was a good effect on it.This made that the church has more power, wealth and a better role. The Pope with this start getting more authority and all people follow what he said, the wealth was gained because the vassals sell their lands to the church and king so they gain the wealth with all this lands they had and finally the people star staying in the clares of the monasteries and the church has more people in there. The second effect was on politics and this made a really big change on the system they had. The feudal chain start breaking up and the king get more power and people too. The crusade took some time to be done and while that time passed Christians get the sufficient strength to recover from previous Muslims invasions. Now the new class of the social systems, The Burghers, start getting more privileges because of the crusades.

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But the crusades had other effects than just the ones above. Something that made a big impact was the effect on commerce; all types of transportation increased in big numbers. They transported men’s, ships and supplies. The market also extended to the East and trade with people from the Mediterranean. They bring jewels, new species,etc...It had a little effect on the Feudalism system as said before King start getting the lands that vassals and knights sell, something important from this effect was that the fights between vassals stopped because they were concentrated in the crusade and preparing for it. But in the crusade it doesn't only had a change on society, but people also changed. As the journey continued the soldiers visited new cities, huge palaces and many new things so when they came back they returned with finer tastes, broader ideas and a better attitude. The science and learnings also were better because the new influence people has in this journey. The crusade inspire travelers of later centuries such as Columbus or Vasco da Gama and new expeditions to Asia. With these Asia made an impact on Italy and let the people know things from Asian cultures like new arts, inventions and manufactures. All of this helped get the new age; The Renaissance.

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diary entries

Winter, 1095

Last week I got a very interesting letter from Alexius Comnenus asking me to help him with a Muslim invasion of the Seljuk Turks. Alexius is the leader of the Byzantine empire which is Christian, just

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like my empire. I, Pope Urban II have always remained loyal to what is most important to me. So I have decided to help my brothers. The only obstacle is my friend, Alexander, he does not agree with me in any decision I make, such as eating an apple or a pear. I do enjoy talking to my friend but when I told him about the letter, Alexander was constantly trying to ruin my plan. For almost 80 hours I told him about the motivations that would go public; Christians would stop fighting each other and will instead fight Muslims, stop the invasion of the Seljuk Turks which will also prevent them from getting to the Frankish Empire, the last public motivation is that the road to Jerusalem will finally be safe and my dear Catholics can perform their pilgrimages. But after almost 3 days I had enough and I talked to Alexander with the hope that after what I told him he would stop trying to change my mind--I was scared it might be working. When we talked I gave a final attempt to tell him about the public motivations but I realized that Alexander needed more; that was when I gave away the secret motivations. The secret motivations were my encouragements to pursue the crusades but for one reason or another they must remain private. The first secret was that I wanted to take Jerusalem back, Jerusalem is very important for us because Jesus was raised there, he died there, he resurrected and there are also many temples that make the city holy. Therefore, Jerusalem belongs and should always belong to us. Secondly, I intend to unite the Catholics and the orthodox but I would become their leader and therefore more powerful. Also, I want to end feudalism which is slowly consuming the religion and concentrate on trading that could benefit greatly the Frankish empire. The last reason that I of course didn’t tell my friend is about Isabelle. She is the most beautiful woman on the planet. We have been together two years since I became a pope and they have been the happiest days of my life. You see, before Isabelle my job was dreadful, I was stressed, angry and desperate but then, she came and my life changed. I had been

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sad for too long…. too long had I been eager for love and when I found a solution my life, my religion, my people, and mostly everything seemed unimportant compared to my newfound love, Isabelle.

The day came to give my speech to the honorable Council of Clermont and some commoners. I was tired because I had to travel to southern France, send letters to 300 clerics, and I had a 3 day meeting with the council discussing topics like clerical marriage which is the law that states that clerics cannot marry (it was ironic how I had forbidden other clerics to love when I have Isabelle in my life) and Simony which is the act to sell spiritual things like tithes which have saved the Frankish empire from splitting and disappearing forever. But I had to forget about my tiredness and continue with the meeting to the next important subject. The speech. I began by stating how Christians are fighting Christians and this is sin. Then the speech continued by saying that our brothers, the Byzantines, had requested our help because the Muslims were invading their territory and that we had to join and fight. I encouraged everyone in the room to go and pursue others, spread the message to join the crusades. Then I finished my speech. I remember feeling joy and pride, my speech had been so complete and encouraging that instead of questioning about all the reasons there were to begin the crusades and wonder if they knew all the motivations. When I finished a very important and powerful cleric came to me and congratulated me for being so supportive to Christianity. After our friendly chat, he had to go and I stayed for a while longer because so many people came to thank me and congratulate

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me. Even as Pope, you never get used to being such a star. It is overwhelming. Anyway, among the ones that congratulated me was a vassal who said that I had his full support and that all of his friends and workers would go as an obligation. I am sure that all the other vassals saw this chat and wanted to get along with me, not to brag but I was very important and powerful at the time and carrying along a relationship was just good business, so all the vassals followed the other and told me that their workers, family and friends would go to the crusades. When I left I felt that I was complete, my mission was successful and now I had to plan for the crusades and make sure that the crusaders could yell victorious cheers and that the Catholics had fulfilled all of our purposes (both, public and private). Then I left France, enjoyed some vacations but everything happened so fast. All of a sudden it was 1096, the year of the crusades.

DATE 1096

I, Pope Urban II, have officially initiated the 1st crusade with the motivation of stopping the fight between Christians, stop the terrible invasion of the Seljuk Turks (which is a big threat to all of us), unite the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church as one, and the most important of all… Take Jerusalem back. Of course people

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who join this crusade will be rewarded, the ones who die, will receive salvation, and the ones who return alive will get wealthy. Therefore, everybody wins. To complete this big mission I gave a very important and motivating speech encouraging people to join the crusade. Anyways, a friend of mine (Alexander) warned me, this was a very dangerous journey for everybody, many people could be murdered and I wasn't even sure this plan could end victorious, I ended up ignoring his opinion and continued with my original plan. Even so, I like my decisions because God speaks to me and I transmit his words to the people, I don't regret any decision, not even Isabelle... my secret girl friend, us two have kept this secret for too long and I love her so much, I know she loves me back, I know that as being a pope I should not have a girl, but it is just meant to be. I'm not blowing this relationship up because she is always there for me encouraging every decision I make and helping me organize and make this crusade successful. Oh, but if someone found out about this, everything will turn into a disaster, I can even lose trust of the ones that are with me, a lot of people who had already joined the crusade will turn their back to me and leave me, ending up unsuccessful. That is why is have to think about the religion and keep Isabelle as a secret. As a pope I know how disrespectful this might seem but nobody can fight love, it is something i feel deep inside and I’m glad to know that Isabelle feels the same way about me, she’s always supporting me and makes me a better person every day. i love her, i love her a lot. I've been in this relationship for too long 2 years after i became a pope, I’ve loved her since. We have made many sacrifices in order to make this relationship work such as keeping this as a secret, it even surprises me that till now no one has been suspicious about us two, we spend a lot of time together apart from my secret girlfriend she is also my best friend…. we try to make people think we are just very good and close friends. I can't even imagine life without her,

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she just helps me a lot with all my decisions. I would not change a thing about her.

DATE 1096

I, Pope Urban II, have officially initiated the 1st crusade with the motivation of stopping the fight between Christians, stop the terrible invasion of the Seljuk Turks (which is a big threat to all of us), unite the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church as one, and the most important of all… Take Jerusalem back. Of course people who join this crusade will be rewarded, the ones who die, will receive salvation, and the ones who return alive will get wealthy. Therefore, everybody wins. To complete this big mission I gave a very important and motivating speech encouraging people to join the crusade. Anyways, a friend of mine (Alexander) warned me, this was a very dangerous journey for everybody, many people could be murdered and I wasn't even sure this plan could end victorious, I ended up ignoring his opinion and continued with my original plan. Even so, I like my decisions because God speaks to me and I transmit his words to the people, I don't regret any decision, not even Isabelle... my secret girlfriend, us two have kept this secret for too long and I love her so much, I know she loves me back, I know that as being a pope I should not have a girl, but it is just meant to be. I'm not blowing this relationship up because she is always there for me encouraging every decision I make and helping me organize and make this crusade successful. Oh, but if someone found out about this, everything will turn into a disaster, I can even lose trust of the ones that are with me, a lot of people who had already joined the crusade will turn their back to me and leave me, ending up unsuccessful. That is why is have to think about the religion and keep Isabelle as a secret. As a pope I know how disrespectful this might seem but nobody can fight love, it is something I feel deep

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inside and I’m glad to know that Isabelle feels the same way about me, she’s always supporting me and makes me a better person every day. I love her, I love her a lot. I've been in this relationship for too long 2 years after i became a pope, I’ve loved her since. We have made many sacrifices in order to make this relationship work such as keeping this as a secret, it even surprises me that till now no one has been suspicious about us two, we spend a lot of time together apart from my secret girlfriend she is also my best friend…. we try to make people think we are just very good and close friends. I can't even imagine life without her, she just helps me a lot with all my decisions. I wouldn't change a thing about her

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"Pope Urban II Orders First Crusade." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pope-urban-ii-orders-first-crusade>.

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