The Crusades

Lecture 31

I

t can be argued that the 11th through 13th centuries represent the high
water mark of the European civilization called Christendom, shaped
by specifically Christian values and institutions. As much as in the
monasteries with their schools and the cathedrals with their chapters, and
as much as in the universities that we will talk about in the next lecture, the
vibrancy and vision of this Christian society is expressed by the series of
military expeditions against the Muslim occupiers of the Holy Land. The
Crusades—part popular movement, part political calculation, part religious
fervor—began in 1095 and extended, both literally and symbolically,
for centuries.

Backdrop to the Crusades
• Like the building projects described in the previous lecture,
the expeditions known as the Crusades expressed a new sense
of power and self-confidence in “Christendom”—that is,
European Christianity.
o In the 8th century, Europe as a whole had barely escaped
coming under Muslim rule during the great expansion of Islam
that had swallowed all of the East (except Byzantium), North
Africa, and Spain.

o Charles Martel had stopped the advance of Muslim armies at

the Battle of Tours in 732. His victory was the foundation, as

we have seen, of the Frankish kingdom, the prominence of the

papacy, and the feudal system that structured medieval society.

•    In the 11th century, the time seemed right for payback—to reverse

the conquests of Islam and take back at least the places that

Christians regarded as especially holy and worthy of pilgrimage.

•    As for an armed expedition, Christianity had long since grown

comfortable with the notion of “holy war”; recall that Charlemagne,