2000 Years of Rich History from Jesus to JP2: The First Crusade

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1096 Ad The First Crusade
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Part 1

Pilgrimage, Holy War, An Expedition of the Cross, the Business of Jesus Christ were euphemisms for what are commonly known as the crusades. The first crusade has been described as a violent and brutal episode that cut a swathe of suffering though Europe and Asia. At first, the crusade was a profoundly religious event. Urban II called on nobility to go to the east and help other Christians defend the attacks from Muslim Turks and to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem. At that point the Turks had taken northern Africa, part of Spain, Palestine, Syria and Jerusalem, and had even once sacked Rome.

How could a Pope enact a war? St. Augustine's guidelines on justified violence determined that it was a greater evil to always resist violence. A Christian could engage in war if it had a just cause, waged under due authority, and the combatant had the right intentions. Pope Alexander created for himself two decades earlier what we would call the secret service or musketeers, called the Faithful of St. Peter. Pope Urban II applied these concepts formally and broadly.

The promise of salvation made staffing the effort an easier task. Many nobles had fought in wars against Christians and welcomed an act of self-sanctification. Those who left were to be relieved of all penance for their sins when making a genuine and full confession.

Nobility were not the only crusaders. Even though the Pope discouraged and in some cases forbade it, often monks, women without husbands, wives of crusaders, elderly, and those in legal trouble pledged for the foreseen benefits. In total, there were around 25,000 people in the organized, church sanctioned effort.

A crusader would vow before a priest or bishop, get permission from his wife, and sew a red cross into his clothing, identifying him as one of the cruce signati. He would face excommunication and outlaw status if he removed the cross before he fulfilled his vow of praying at the Holy Sepulcher and returning home. In fact, if a man died, his son would inherit the vow.

Although the stereotype exists that crusaders were colonizers who went to gain land and wealth, and in some cases that did happen, most if not all knights had to raise four times their income and in that process sold off their lands in order to go.

Thanks to Keith Lewis for writing "The Catholic Church in History"