Lizs+crusade+research+CBA+page

1. Introduction--Describe a general cause or causes of the conflict.
There are many different beliefs on how the Crusades were started. I, for one, believe the cause of the Crusades was the thought that the people of your religion were the rightful owners of Jerusalem. Each group, Muslims, Christians, and Jews, thought that they were the owners of the Holy City. And they all would fight to the end for ownership of this land.

2. Background--Describe who, what when and where.
The Crusades effected many groups of people. For example, the Muslims. During the time period of 1096-1292, nearly 200 years, there was a series of wars. These wars were called the Crusades. The Crusade was pretty much just a big fight over which group of people, Muslims, Christians, or Jews, had ownership over the Holy City, or Jerusalem as many of us call it. Most of the war was fought near Jerusalem. Some was fought in Acre, and some in Constantinople.

3. Causal Factors--Describe three factors that led to The Crusades.
Many things led to the crusades. People wanted power, control, and wealth. The Muslims, Jews, and Christians each believed that the Holy City was rightfully theirs, given to them by God. This thought is exactly what started the series of wars. Another factor of the Crusades was when Pope Urban II called a large meeting, or council, at the French city of Clermont. The pope urged the Western Christians to fight against the Muslims in battle. Although, and sorry to ruin it for you, in the end, the Muslims did win the crusades and succeeded in gaining control over Jerusalem. And one more factor that contributed to the Crusades was that the groups thought that they might some how gain money from all these wars. And some did. The Christians raided Constantinople at one point and gained quite a bit of money. So, all in all, the factors that started the crusades were lust for wealth, belief in their right to the Holy City, and when Pope Urban II sent in troops to fight the Muslims; and this action started a whole chain reaction.

4. Most Important Factor--Explain how one factor was more important than the others.
The most important factor was probably that they all thought that they were the rightful owners of the Holy Land. If they hadn’t thought this, then no one would’ve started to fight over ownership of Jerusalem and the Crusades would never have happened.

5. Impacts--Explain how one religious group and an individual within that group were impacted by The Crusades.
Muslims were greatly impacted by the Crusades. For example, plenty of them lost their homes during raids. And during the Spanish Reconquista Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand proclaimed a new law stating that any one living in Spain who was Muslim had to convert to Christianity, leave the country, or be killed or tortured. Muslims who refused to convert were banned from ever returning to Spain.An officer in the Muslim army, Salah al-Din, was one of the many people greatly affected by the Crusades. His career began when he joined his uncle’s, Asad ad-Din Shirkuh, staff in the Muslim army. Asad was an important military commander under the employment of Nur al-Din. Nur al-Din was the ruler of Damascus and Aleppo. Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (which means //Righteousness of Faith, Joseph, Son of Job)// went higher up in rank as he became more experienced. He fought in many battles, including one in which he was able to bring an untrustworthy Muslim to his death. Even when Salah grew old and weak he did not stop fighting until it was physically impossible for him to keep participating in battles. It was said of Salah al-Din:

“In fact, despite his fierce opposition to the Christian powers, Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the 14th century an epic poem about his exploits, and Dante included him among the virtuous pagan souls in Limbo.” (Abaza)

During the wars of the crusades, Salah al-Din’s uncle died, and I would assume that many of his other family members died as well.

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

The Crusades could have been easily avoided if the groups had at least TRIED to live in one city together. They could possibly have split the city into three sections, one for Muslims, one for Christians, and one for Jews. There are probably many other things they could have done to avoid the Crusades, but I would need a lot more space than I have.

7. Works Cited--List your sources in MLA format.
Abaza, Ismail. "Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub) and his Cairo" Tour Egypt.net. Copywright 1999. 2/24/10. Tour Egypt. []
 * Works Cited

Unknown. "Council of Clermont" Wikipedia. 2/8/10. 3/1/10. Ask.com. []**