Jonica+Beatie

toc ​​ 1. Introduction--Describe a general cause or causes of the conflict.

 * The Crusades started in 1096, over a city called Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the Holy City for many religions, and these religions were ready to fight if it meant keeping this city. Pretty intense, huh? Well, i hope the following information explains a little more to you about what happened during this time.**

2. Background--Describe who, what, when, and where.

 * **Who: The Muslims, Christians, and Jews were affected by the Crusades. They all wanted to rule Jerusalem, because it was a holy city.**
 * **What: The Crusades were a fight for many things, but especially for power. All religions thought of this city as powerful, and special, and therefore thought whomever ruled it was closer to God, and protected by God.**
 * **When: The Crusades started in 1096 and ended in 1291.**
 * **Where: The Crusades took place in Northern Africa, Europe, and the Holy Lands.**

3. Causal Factors--Describe three factors that led to The Crusades.

 * One factor that led to the Crusades was the want for power. Jerusalem was thought of as very powerful, and rich city. Religion was another cause of the Crusades. To the Muslims, Christians, and Jews, Jerusalem was a holy city. Not only this, but they believed whoever ruled this city, was closest to God, and most protected by God. Therefore this caused the religious to want/need to be here. One more thing that caused the crusades was the instinct to fight. The Europeans, though they had grown as people, they still had a little bit of their barbarian instinct. Therefore they wanted to fight, even if the object of conflict was not as important as it seemed at the time.**

4. Most Important Factor--Explain how one factor was more important than the others.

 * I think the most important factor was the want for power. When 3 large groups of people are fighting over something, and only one can win in the end, it can cause many conflicts. One way to show that is that there were 8 crusades. Clearly, the conflict did not go over easy. Also, the rulers of Jerusalem were thought of as powerful, and special and everyone wanted to be them.**

5. Impacts--Explain how one religous group and an individual within that group were impacted by The Crusades.
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 * One religious group that was impacted was the Christians. An individual that was impacted was Peter the Hermit. Peter was the leader of the First Crusade, otherwise known as the Peoples Crusade. Peter was from France, and his real name was Pierre. He felt very strong about the crusades. He didnt necessarely think they were needed, but would fight for what he believed in. He thought that the Christians should be in power because Jesus was crucified there, and because he lived there aswell. Which made them the most likely to be the ruler.**

6. Conclusion--Explain how The Crusades could have been avoided.

 * I believe the Crusades could have been avoided if there were less greedy people during this time. The greed caused many to crave, and want so much that they were willing to do anything to achieve their goal. And if everyone had relaxed and thought about what they were doing, this mess never would have happened. But since it did, we all have to think about what good came from the Crusades, such as final peace. That didnt last long, but it came eventually.**

** 7. Works Cited--List your sources in MLA format. **

 * **__Peter the Hermit__, middle-ages.org, google, accessed 3/2/10, []**