Taylor+Murray

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I believe that the Crusades started out of greed. Christians, Muslims, and Jews all wanted to have control over Jerusalem. None of them wanted to share the power because they were too focused on having the Holy Land for themselves.======

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

 * The people that mainly fought in the Crusades were the Christians, Jews, Muslims, Mongols, and Persians.
 * The idea formed in 1069 and ended around 1291.
 * The Crusades ranged from being in Jerusalem to England, from Spain to Germany, Palestine, Syria, Iberian Peninsula, Toledo, Cordoba.
 * A war fought between the European Christians and Arab Muslims over the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem belonged to the Jews at this time putting them in the middle of the fight, fighting to defend and protect their city

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

 * 1) Both Muslims and Christians wanted Jerusalem but the Jews had it.
 * 2) Some people believed God was telling them to lead a Crusade to the Holy Land, so they did.
 * 3) The Seljuk Turks were attacking the Byzantine Empire

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I think the most important factor was the fact that they all wanted Jerusalem. I think it was the most important because its what drove them all to start the Crusades, and some other factors sort of tie into this fact. For example, because they all wanted Jerusalem they felt God urging them to fight for it, and the Seljuk Turks were attacking Byzantine which is near the Holy Land. So its the most important because its the biggest factor. ======

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The Crusades impacted the Christians in numerous ways. For one, because the Crusades are looked at as a dark moment in history, most anti-Christian forces will cite them as rhetorical proof against Christianity. Anna Commena, a Christian from Crusade times, was not happy with the fact that Urban II did not want to take direction or advice from her father who had passed away. Anna was a writer. She wrote about her family history at that time, though she focused a lot of her writing on Crusaders from the West. Anna saw the Crusaders as uneducated and horrible manners for such wealthy people. The Christians were willed on; "God himself will lead them, for they will be doing His work. There will be absolution and remission of sins for all those who die in the service of Christ" (Dr. E.L. Skip Knox). ======

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The Crusades could have been avoided many ways. I think the main way it could have been avoided was just agreeing to share Jerusalem, so no one group of people had complete control over it. It could have been avoided many other ways to probably but I think this is the main one.======