Western Civilizations: The Crusades

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The Crusades were a very important occurrence to the Western Civilizations. The crusades were a series of holy wars called by popes with the promise of indulgences for those who fought in them and directed against external and internal enemies of Christendom for the recovery of Christian property or in defense of the Church or Christian people. The flow of traffic from Europe to the Holy Land led to the rise of trade and ideas. While Europe came out of the Dark Ages, the East was on the rise with the intellectual Golden Age. Since the crusades lasted a duration of 2 centuries, the cities need many goods and supplies. Merchants returning from the East brought many different supplies in, while raw materials were sent to the Holy Lands to help …show more content…
the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year marked the requirement for additional military reinforcements that the Pope, together with several of the Christian rulers, deemed a crusade necessary. within months, giant armies from England, France, Germany and other smaller nations marched to Constantinople. These armies were led by kings for the first time, specifically Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. Upon reaching Constantinople, they planned the future invasion. they'd cross to Anatolia and destroy the Turkish armies that had been noticed the previous year. Their objectives were additionally to secure the pilgrim pass, recover the County of Edessa and supply reinforcements to Jerusalem which was in great danger as most knights had perished since the first Crusade (1095-1099). there have been two massive armies led by kings and a couple of smaller freelance armies that were scattered throughout the Mediterranean. Upon reaching Anatolia, both kings were soundly defeated individually giving the Turks a victory they badly required. The Second Crusade was a failure, despite some success within the Mediterranean specifically the acquisition of Lisbon and other little settlements. The Second Crusade was a failure as a result of several reasons. First, there was really no communication between the two kings. whereas Conrad marched 1st to attack Iconium, the Seljuk Turks capital, the French stayed behind and attacked another target. This allowed the Turks to quickly march from one place to another while not being overpowered. Conrad was defeated and nearly killed. The French, on the opposite hand, lasted longer however they were ultimately routed and their army virtually destroyed. The Second Crusade had a devastating impact in Europe and was the primary real sign of the decay of the Crusaders States within the