How the Crusades affected History

Kemal Karataş
Nov 3 · 4 min read
source: Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

After Ancient Rome had fallen, people were stuck in a bad situation. There was the only Vatican as a superior.

As the Pope claimed the need to secure Holy Land in the middle east, the knights and leaders initiated the First Crusade in the last decade of the 11th Century. I think nobody could understand the Crusades’ effect on history.

As the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire still has kept the power, the crusade began as easy as possible. While in Anatolia the Seljuk Turks; who ruled Asia Minor, resisted the attacks. However, the Crusaders captured the Holy Land (Modern Israel or Palestine) with brutal assaults.

What was the real reason for the Crusades?

When society is in a desperate situation, people chose to be religious. If you didn’t want to choose to be a self, you could be a soldier or a monk. As the Eastern Roman Empire was still keeping the power, The Vatican tried to balance the gap with the Crusades.

Kılıç Aslan was the sultan of the Seljuk Turks. He was trying the open new education institution all over the Anatolia and searching for the possible assaults. As they lost power in Asia Minor, people just thought we were going to work harder to get the land again.

source: Photo by Moss on Unsplash

After the Crusaders occupied the Holy Land, they killed Muslim and Jewish people whether they obeyed or not. I think there was a raging feeling at that moment. There was a tactic used by Seljuk Turks as the light cavalry soldiers attack the Crusaders’ camp. If you have survived the pain; you could do worse than those tactics.

Whoever wants to be pure from the sins, choose to be a part of the army, whether you are a royal family person or not, didn’t make you more vital than another person. Poor or hopeless people had chosen to die or live like an average person.

When the Crusaders settle the holy land, they had built new fortified castles to protect the area and pilgrims. The weak/hopeless people had the power and anything they requested. Some of the knights began to secure holy land like the government’s police. They settled nearby the old Jewish temple platform, so their name was the Knights Templer.

The conflict between the settlers and Muslim society

If Muslim rulers can’t protect the Holy Land, how could Islamic pilgrims visit the hajj places?

When the Muslim pilgrim came to the Holy Land, he had to visit the Templers’ office and deposit all his. precious stuff. In exchange, the Templer officer would give him a paper that defined his status. When the hajj was finished,the Muslim visited the office to get the things back.

Hence, there was a significant conflict between Muslim society and the Knights Templer. After the First Crusade, more people came from Europe. Thus more people experienced Eastern culture.

The Knights Templer became more capitalist each day. The more money pilgrims paid the Templers, the more land they bought in Europe. The Templers became a significant power, lending money, and establishing the first bank account system. They were the first bankers of the Continent — the more cultural heritage brought by them.

There were two more Crusades to support to the Holy Land. However, the Crusaders’ psychology changed with the prosperity, upcoming Europe countries. As the fortified cities got more power in Asia Minor, they began to understand how they can unite as a Europe identity.

The people in Europe cared more than the residents in the region as the Muslim society gathered around Saladin. There was a ceasefire period between them. From the first crusades to the end of the period, anyone looked around the region. What was happening? Was there any upcoming power to affect them all?

To sum up the issue: the conflict has vital results for every part of the war. Europe continent idea had become possible for artists and thinkers. As people had learned to live with each other, crusaders became like eastern people day by day. However, they realized that it was too late to live like a crusader. Local people understood that nobody has too much power to be successful in every possible assault.

Crusaders brought gun powder, Ancient Greek documents about various subjects, and the eastern mind to Europe. The Seljuk Turks couldn’t control the Asia Minor because they became tired of the conflict. There’s always something to learn: even for the Europe.

Lessons from History

Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing.

Kemal Karataş

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I’m tech support for a long time and interest in technologic issues: I’d like to learn from you because it’s a must.

Lessons from History

Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing.

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