Who where the Crusaders?As you know many people joined the crusade for many different reasons. First of all, the Pope promised them that if they died while fighting they would go straight to heaven. One of the Pope’s reasons for starting this Crusade was because many young soldiers were being strained to fight (well) and had begun to turn to each other and fight. He thought he could make a channel for this to stop by having people join the Crusade. At this moment in time, if you were a Christian, going to heaven was one of the most important things to worry about in life.
Hell was one place no one wanted to go once they died. This is a description of hell written by a monk in the 1300s: In place of a scented bath there will be a bath black and foal. In place of a soft couch, they will have a bed more painful and hard then all the nails in the world. Instead of wives they will have toads. Their body shall have a throng of worms. They shall have eternal torment. |
Who Fought and Why?Skipping hell and going to heaven was a common reason to go on and join the Crusade. However, many different people had a Crusade and for many different reasons.
Knights of the Temple (also known as Monk-knights). These were people who were very religious, lived liked monks, went to the Temple and prayed several times in one day. They were different to ordinary monks because of the fact that they were also killing machines who could be very scary since they were fighting for God and would not stop until they achieve their goal or died. Strangely even dyeing was not so bad for them, since they would go straight to heaven. They were led by St Bernard of Clairvaux, who encouraged them to go. CHILDREN. This may surprise you but the Christian children had their own Crusade. In 1212 it began. It all started with a 12 year old boy who dreamed that God spoke to him and said that he should lead a children’s Crusade. The previous Crusades had not succeeded but God told him that this one would. This got many children very excited, that God had spoken to this boy, that they would have their own Crusade and reach their goal: to win back Jerusalem and the Holy Land. So many children and some men and women set off, all without money. Common Soldiers and Knights. Common Soldiers are another example of people who joined/ had a Crusade. They hardly had anything were they were at the moment and the things that they could benefit from the Crusade were quit huge for them. All the property that they owned would be looked after and protected while they were away. If you were a Crusader you would not have to pay any of your taxes and their debts would not have to be paid until they arrived back (if they arrived back). Moreover, if they died they would go straight to heaven. You could also gain money and land; the leaders of the group became very famous especially if they did a good job. |