The Crusades: A Turning Point In History

The Crusades was a turning point in history because it depleted the population, made the relationships between religions very strained, and introduced a variety of new ideas and products to the Europeans/Crusaders. The Crusades began after Emperor Alexius requested Pope Urban III to find him a couple of hundred mercenaries who would help him take back the Holy lands after the Muslims had taken it over and had limited their access to their biblical sites. He supported their claim to the crusades by saying that God owns all the land and that it was meant for his children, but since the Muslims stole and inhabited his land, so they must take it back. Pope Urban III gave a speech to all of western christendom, saying, “This royal city, therefore, situated at the center of the world, is now held captive by His enemies, and is in subjection to those who do not know God, to the worship of the heathens. She seeks therefore and desires to be liberated, and does not cease to implore you to come to her aid.”. His speech inspired tens of thousands of people to set out on the crusades, mostly peasants, which was a lot more than Emperor Alexius had expected. From there the Crusades began, continuing all the way to 1204 in the fourth crusade. The first Crusade was the only successful raid of them all, mostly because the Muslims didn't realize that they were attacking until it was too late. But the next three crusades undid all the progress

In the end, the Crusades were very important because even though they did have a lot of negative effects, without them it would have taken many more years to get out of that dark hole that they were trying to climb out of and with the crusades they achieved just that with the destruction of feudalism, enlightenment in culture, and a new found spirit for their