+
THE THEOLOGY OF VIOLENCEORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE CRUSADES“The aim of Christianity is not to fill the earth, but to fill heaven”
+The Evidence: Range of Sources
Latin West
Frankish East
Muslim
Byzantine
Hebrew
+The Evidence: Type of Sources
Narratives
Official documents
Letters
Charters (deeds of land transactions)
Poetry
Songs
Art
Archaeology
+THE DEBATE ON THE CRUSADES Carl Erdman reopened investigations into the origin and nature of the
Crusades.
The origins and nature of the Crusades had tended to be ignored or taken as a given.
Erdman saw the Crusades as having deep roots in Western European society but strangely denied the centrality of Jerusalem, which he regarded as simply a recruiting device.
Since Erdman the debate has evolved into the two ‘armed camps’ of the PLURALISTS versus the TRADITIONALISTS (although Giles Constable identified a number of variant positions).
Pluralists argue for a wide geographical scope for Crusading and emphasize the religious nature of the Crusades (Crusading as a penitential act directed by the Papacy).
Traditionalists focus on the liberation of the Jerusalem and the Holy Land and emphasize secular aims and motives.
Aspects of 11th century society
Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Reform Papacy and its struggles with secular powers for control of
ChristendomViolence and anarchy
of 11th century Europe
Collapse of Byzantine rule in Asia Minor
after Manzikert 1071 A desire to re-capture Jerusalem for Christians
New ideas of relationships between
clergy and knights
Just war tradition in Christian thought (from Augustine
onwards)
Concepts of penance and the idea of
milites sancti Petri
Political changes in the Middle East – rise of the
Seljuk Turks
ORIGIN OF THE CRUSADES
+Christian Justification for War
Justification largely through authoritative texts:
1. Argued violence not intrinsically evil but morally neutral – qualified by intention of the perpetrator
2. Christ’s wishes for mankind - universal transcendental state ruled by him through his agents on earth:
CHRISTIAN REPUBLIC – commitment to its defense seen as amoral imperative
Recent tradition of papal involvement in warfare
+Criteria for Justified Violence
Worked out as early as fourth century using the writings of Saint Augustine of Hippo:
1. RIGHT INTENTION – actions should express love of God and neighbour (proper motivation)
2. JUST CAUSE (right circumstances)
3. LEGITIMATE PROCLAMATION by qualified authority (Christ was believed to authorize crusades through his chief representative on earth –the Pope)
+Pilgrimage and its historical roots Life seen as a pilgrimage
Early sites associated with Christ’s life, tombs of saints,
places sanctified by martyrdom.
Changed from being entirely devotional to become,
in part, pentinential and were prescribed as penances for sin
In 10th and 11th century pilgrims gained a recognisable status and pilgrimages to Jerusalem increased
Took vows, enjoyed official Church protection, right to hospitality, immune from arrest, tax and toll exempt.
CRUSADES WERE MORE THAN AN ARMED PILGRIMAGE but…
+Pilgrimage and crusading
Penitential nature and association with Jerusalem gave crusaders status of pilgrims
Pilgrimage terminology often used by them
Similar privileges to pilgrims
+The Vow
Every crusader took a vow as a PENANCE
Attempt to repay God the debt owed on account of sin
INDULGENCE – privilege granting remission of sins distinguished crusading from other forms of Christian warfare
Penance remained at the heart of crusading – benefiting the church was secondary
+The Purpose of Crusading
The recovery of Christian property
In defense of the Church or Christian people
Muslims had occupied Christian Lands
Muslims had imposed infidel tyranny on Christians who lived there
Crusades to East had most prestige (land sanctified by Christ himself)
+The context of Crusading
The elements that together form the idea of crusading developed from familiar aspects of 11th and 12th century European society
MAP
+Overview of Western Europe
Highly localised with poor transport links
Mediaeval allegiances tended to be with local lord, saint and church rather than emperor or pope,however;
GROWTH AND CONSOLIDATION OF CENTRAL POWER APPARENT IN SECULAR AND ECCLESIASTICAL SPHERES
Literacy was limited
Importance of religion
Violence endemic and localised warfare a constant threat (attempts at control through TRUCE OF GOD MOVEMENTS)
+Centrality of Religious Beliefs
Miracles
Terrors of the afterlife
Growth of religious observance powered by CLUNY
Financial support of lay nobility in their quest for salvation
Pilgrimage
The cult of the Saints
Relics
+Images of Hell - Autun Cathedral
+Images of Hell - Autun Cathedral CLOSE UP OF THE TYMPANUM
+Images of Hell - Conque Abbey
+Images of Hell - Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180)
+Seeking God’s Favour
Desire to atone for one’s sins was a message hammered home to Christians by Church
Stimulus to promulgation of Church’s message was the rise of the REFORM PAPACY
+THE REFORM PAPACY
Church attempting to free itself from the control of secular authorities – THE INVESTITURE CONTEST
Reforms presented as return to the old ways but were, in fact, novel.
Reforms laid out in 2 major documents – Dictatus papae and bulla Libertas ecclesiae.
Gregory VII devoted himself to reforming the Church and enhancing its status in relation to the Holy Roman Emperor and other lay rulers.
Gregory driven by the belief that the Church was founded by God to rule over all human institutions and embrace all mankind.
+THE INVESTITURE CONTROVERY
The principal conflict began in 1075 between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor
The Papacy gained the upper hand.
+TRUCE AND PEACE OF GOD
One of the ways that the Church attempted to Christianize and pacify the feudal structures of society through non-violent means
The Peace of God or Pax Dei was a proclamation issued by local clergy that granted immunity from violence to noncombatants who could not defend themselves. A limited Pax Dei was decreed at the Synod of Charroux in 989 and spread to most of western Europe over the next century.
The Truce of God or Treuga Dei extended the Peace of God by setting aside certain days of the year when violence was not allowed. Where the Peace of God prohibited violence against the Church and the poor, the Truce was more focused on preventing violence between Christians, specifically between knights. It became a convention among the seignours of Roussillon and Catalonia and was first proclaimed in 1027 at the Council of Toulouge. ( presided over by Oliba, Bishop of Vic)
An initial ban on fighting on Sundays and Holy Days was extended to include all of Lent and even every Friday.
+Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of around 800 years during which Christian Kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the peninsula from Muslim control. The Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom (711AD) extended over most of the peninsula. However, by the 13th century all that remained was the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada which was conquered in 1492
+RECONQUISTA
+Fragmentation and Division:Western Christendom divided
Limitations of the Capetians and their rule
Power of the dukes of Normandy, Aquitaine and the Count of Toulouse
German Empire
INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY
Papal Lands
1054 SCHISM
+The Islamic World:MUSLIM CONQUESTS
+BYZANTINE LANDS
+The Byzantine Empire
The Battle of Manzikert – resulted in the loss of most of Asia Minor and weakened the Byzantine Empire
ALEXIUS COMNENSUS – Emperor who eventually restored order in the empire.
+APPEAL TO THE WEST
ALEXIUS COMNENSUS
As early as 1090, Alexius had taken reconciliatory measures towards the Papacy, with the intention of seeking western support against the Seljuks.
In 1095 his ambassadors appeared before Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza.
The help which he wanted from the West was simply mercenary forces and not the immense hosts which arrived.
+URBAN II’S SPEECH
To liberate Christians
To liberate a place: Jerusalem
By making Jerusalem the goal, Urban gave the crusade the character of a pilgrimage and a just cause
Need for vengeance familiar to nobles of feud-ridden society
Asking for immense commitment
Effectiveness of appeal evinced by scale of the response
Individual motives impossible to ascertain but secular motives played a role as well – land, booty, profit, curiosity, membership of noble household, etc
+A Penitential Act
Urban laid great emphasis on crusading as a penitential act
PENANCE is arguably at the heart of the idea of crusading
INDULGENCE opened a new path to salvation for the layman
Pope Urban fitted the skills and aspirations of the knightly classes to the idea of crusading
+Putting things together
Rejuvenated papacy
Layman’s need to atone
Ecclesiastical direction of violence through Peace of God
Ties between lay nobility and Church
Expanding Catholic Europe with conquests in Iberia, Eastern Europe, southern Italy and Sicily
Important INNOVATION in the way for layman to attain salvation
+Towards a definition of Crusade
Adaptable and sophisticated concept that developed over time
Geographically flexible concept but key ideas and rewards defined to all by the time of the Second Crusade
Gulf between ideology of theologians and forces that move ordinary people (Helps explain why Church found it difficult in fully controlling the passions it aroused)
Importance of the spiritual motivation of crusaders and its roots in 11th century society
Connection between local nobility with their religious drive and ecclesiastical institutions ( crusading traditions in families)
Supranational ethos key element although in some respects, a Frankish enterprise
Theatres outside Levant important but lacking same prestige as Jerusalem
+Working Definition(s):
Pluralist view: AN EXPEDITION AUTHORISED BY THE POPE ON CHRIST’S BEHALF, IN WHICH THE LEADING PARTICIPANTS TOOK VOWS AND CONSEQUENTLY ENJOYED THE PRIVILEGES OF CHURCH PROTECTION AND THE INDULGENCE. – Motivation of the crusaders was predominantly, if not exclusively religious.
Alternative: A HOLY WAR IN THE FORM OF AN ARMED PILGRIMAGE IN WHICH THE LIBERATION OF THE HOLY LAND WAS THE MAJOR FOCUS. – Motivation of the crusaders was mixed and included materialist and chivalric goals.
+The Appeal of the First Crusade
The crusade appealed to people from every level of society across Christian Europe –‘God Wills it’
Urban II speech provoked huge reaction
Drew together key concerns and trends in 11th Century society
Prominence of SPIRITUAL ISSUES in intensely religious age
- Saint’s cults, feast days, monastic life, PILGRIMAGE
- Need for atonement of sin in violent society
+Routes followed to the Holy Land
+A different type of Crusader
The caped Crusaders:
Top Related