THE CRUSADES of popes reorganized the church and exercised greater influence over Christians than had their predecessors These developments were affected by changes in the Holy Land and in the Byzantine Empire In 1071 the Seljuq Turks defeated Byzantine armies at the battle of Manzikert and extended their control over much of Asia Minor They persecuted Christians and attacked Christian holy places They seized control of Jerusalem from the Muslim authority there The previous previous rulers had allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy City but the Turks who were recent converts to Islam did not Seljuq expansion southward continued and in 1085 the capture of Antioch in Syria one of the patriarchal sees of Christianity was another blow to Byzantine prestige 8
WHAT LED TO THE CRUSADES Before the year 1000 most Christian pilgrims journeyed to the holy sites of Europe including to the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome and to the city of Santiago de Compostela in north-western north-western Spain where the tomb of Jesus apostle Saint James was said to have been supernaturally revealed during the ninth century The social effect of religious belief at the time was complex Religion was moved by tales of signs and wonders and it even attributed natural disasters to supernatural intervention JOURNEYS TO THE HOLY LAND As a greater focus was given to the human Jesus and on the places associated with him journeys to Jerusalem Jersusalem became increasingly popular Some people believed that they were living at the end of time and they thought it best to be in Jerusalem when Jesus 9 Chapter 1
Sites of worship that were revered during the Crusades are still being preserved in the modern era A 4 million restoration project within the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was completed in early 2017 The church encloses the tomb in which Jesus was buried 10
WHAT LED TO THE CRUSADES returned at the Last Judgment Numerous expeditions were made to the Holy Land where many Christian pilgrims visited the Holy Sepulchre the tomb in Jerusalem Jerusalem in which Jesus was buried As the Seljuq Turks expanded their power in the eleventh century the turmoil of these years disrupted normal political life and made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem Jerusalem difficult and often impossible Stories of dangers and molestation reached the West and remained in the popular mind even after conditions improved Furthermore Furthermore informed authorities began to realize that the power of the Muslim world now seriously menaced the West as well as the East It was this realization that led to the Crusades HOLY LAND HOLY WAR Closely associated with the popular religious practice of pilgrimage was the Western concept of holy war As the power of the Turks continued its spread in the East Alexius I Comnenus the Byzantine emperor sent a plea for aid to Pope Urban II at Rome The pope called a council at Clermont France in 1095 The Council of Clermont where Urban II called for the First Crusade renewed a movement known as the Peace of God that had been initiated by the medieval church to ensure peace and public order It may seem contradictory that a council both promoted peace and officially sanctioned sanctioned war but the movement was designed to protect 11
