This paper is supposed to contemplate and dispute the issue of crusades which are considered to be holy wars against infidel. Were the crusades which took place in the period between 1095 and 1272 really motivated by merely religious aims? There are a lot of doubts in this respect nowadays.
Before we start considering the crusades and particularly their goals, it is necessary to define what the holy war is. Thus we will be able to make a conclusion as for the essence of crusades.
George Dennis defines holy war according to three criteria. “A holy war has to be declared by a competent religious authority, the obvious examples being a Christian pope or a Muslim caliph. The objective must be religious; again, two obvious examples are the protection or recovery of sacred shrines or the forced conversion or subjection of others to your religion. There could, of course, be other goals. Finally, those who participate in the holy war are to be promised a spiritual reward, such as remission of their sins or assurance of a place in paradise”. Consequently, from these three perspectives, crusades could be viewed as holy wars for they were initiated by the Pope Urban II, its initial and hypothetic objective was really the recovery of sacred lands, and indeed the participants of the crusades were promised pardon of all their sins. But when the real goals and motives are to be contemplated, they definitely lie in more than in simple recovery of Jerusalem.
George Dennis believes that it is very strange of the people (both nobility and the commons) to leave their homes and travel thousands of miles in order to protect some abstract land. There is not seen any other motivation than their religious devotion. But this can be true for a small number of common crusade participants. The reason for this doubt consists in the certain amount of facts. Many of the noblemen (and even peasants) longed for some kind of a gain whether it be land or power for themselves. The reason for this is evident: the younger sons of European nobility who were not supposed to obtain rule of their family lands had to search for their own lands. As for the commons, they were poor, and that is the reason.
Other reasons for the crusades seem far from religious, too. But they can rather be defined as the lust for power over the lands which became stronger and more influential in many aspects, religions among them. The Christian religion developed in the East and its center was Constantinople but not Rome with its Papacy. The Popes could not allow that for they wanted the entire Christian world to be under their control. What is more, Muslim religion started its expansion in the East: Asia Minor and North Africa. The Christian Popes could not allow the spread of Islam and the process of Muslims settling in Europe (South Italy) which could threaten the power and rule of Rome. For that reason the fight against Muslims became sacred and the lack of remorse of these “religious” people made Islam followers believe that Christian religion is not an acceptable religion. Consequently, the conflict of these two religions started, which continues to the present day. The Muslim perspective of war is to inculcate Islam while the Christian vision of war is protection and extolment of Christianity which justifies and excuses cruelty and murders. Here killing enemies (whether they be Muslim civilians or armies) is righteous.
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