angus+brookes

1. Introduction
I believe that conflicts come about when someone is greedy beyond the point where they'll listen to other people. Conflicts happen when there is a misunderstanding between the two, or more, parties. The crusades happened because of both of these.

2. Background
The crusades began in 1095 when the Seljuks advanced toward Constantinople. Alexius, the emperor of Constantinople, requested help from the pope. In 1096 in Clermont, Pope Urban called for Christians everywhere. Everyone between the crusaders and Jerusalem was involved in the crusades. Whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew, adult or child, all people were affected in some way. Though the pope was asked by Anna Comnenna's father to protect Constantinople, the crusaders blew right through Constantinople and used this as an excuse to advance toward the Holy Land in order to take control of Jerusalem.

3. Causal Factors
The first thing that led to the massacre that we call the crusades was quite simple, the Christians wanted an excuse to take control of the Holy Land, so when they went to Constantinople, they were already prepared to go and take the land that they believed was given to them by God. The next reason that the crusades began was what Pope Urban told the crusaders, he said that if they took the Holy Land, or even tried, they would be granted immediate entrance to Heaven. Finally, the crusaders weren't necessarily good people, so they knew that there would be plenty of places to loot along the way to Jerusalem, ironically, the crusades actually caused the church to lose money.

4. Most Important Factor
I think that the most important of these factors was the pope's pledge to grant the crusaders entrance into Heaven. Back in those days, everyone in Europe was Catholic, and quite orthodox about it too, so when they were told that they would have eternal salvation, they were pretty psyched about taking Jerusalem from its current owner. Anyway, the crusaders could do anything they wanted, couldn't they? If the pope said that they were going to Heaven for sure, then they thought that they might as well get some money, devastate other religions, and take back the Holy Land in the mean time.

5. Impacts
One group that got impacted a lot was the Muslims. They had to fight for what belonged to them, and for 200 years they had invading crusaders living in their homes and cities until they won back the holy land. In about 1099, the Christians came knocking on the doors of the holy city of Jerusalem after two years of making their way there and capturing cities on the way. "They murdered virtually all of its inhabitants, boasting that parts of the city were knee-high in blood." (Ismail Abaza). Those who survived were forced to leave their home, and it was 88 years before the city was reclaimed by Salah al-Din. Between this time and around 1500, the Christians took many other cities from their Muslim inhabitants including Acre, Edessa, and Granada, the Muslims' last last stronghold. One of the greatest Muslims in the crusades was also one of the most well known: Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub, or Saladin. He had a huge effect on the crusades, and they had a huge effect on him. He not only led the Muslims, but also fought with them to defend the Holy Land. The crusades had a huge impact on Saladin's life. Multiple people that were related to him were killed, including Asad ad-Din Shirkuh, his uncle, and "the death of Nur al-Din allowed him to assert his right to the throne as sultan.(Ismail Abaza)"

** 6. Conclusion** I think that the crusades could have been avoided easily. One of the greediest people in the crusades was Pope Urban, and if he had just told the crusaders to defeat the Seljuks at Constantinople and leave it at that, it would have been a year long affair with minimal amounts of lives lost. But the pope wanted to get back the Holy Land, and we can't turn back time.

7. Works Cited
Abaza, Ismail, Saladin and his Cairo, touregypt.net, 2003, Tour Egypt, 2/25/10, http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/saladin.htm author unknown, Part IV The Arab World And the West in Conflict, clevelandmemory.org, unknown, 2/24/10, http://www.clevelandmemory.org/ebooks/arabs/pg073.html