Hayley+Harmon

//1. Introduction--Describe a general cause or causes of the conflict. //
= = It all started with the Seljuk Turks invading other cities and lands. Pope Urban II became worried, and gathered an army to fight of the Turks. Therefore, the First Crusade. From there it all went downhill. A battle here, a war there, and that is the Crusades. Three wars within the greatest war, all fighting for one grand city. Some know it as the Holy Land, or Jerusalem.

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

 * The three groups of people that were involved in the Crusades, were the Muslims, Jews, and Christians.
 * They all wanted to call Jerusalem, or The Holy City, 'theres'. Therefore the Crusades began.
 * The Crusades started in 1096, and ended in 1291. Including the Children's Crusade in 1212. That's a total of 195 years!
 * The first Crusade occured in Antioch, Syria. The second Crusade was held in Edessa and Damascus. The third Crusade happend in Acre. The Children's Crusade had kids from both France and Germany. Then there was the Reconquista.

//3. Causal Factors--Describe three factors that led to The Crusades. //
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 * The first factor, was that everyone was greedy. All of the Crusaders believed that the Holy Land belonged to their Religious Community.
 * The second factor is jealousy. The Crusaders didn't want anyone to have the Holy Land except for them. And whoever "owned" the Land at the time, the other Religions were jealous.
 * The last factor is power. All three groups wanted power over Jerusalem. They would not stop fighting until they got the Holy City for themselves. Pretty much nothing could stand in their way.

// 4. Most Important Factor--Explain how one factor was more important than the others. //
The most important factor, is power. This factor is the most important, because if none of the Communities wanted power, then they wouldn't have wanted to fight over Jerusalem. But, because of them, they created more damage and war than what was already going on. So overall, in some minds power, may be the only thing they think about, but in the end, it destroys so many people, even if they had nothing to do with it.

//5. Impacts--Explain how one religous group and an individual within that group were impacted by The Crusades. //
The Jews were impacted by the Crusades, by having Christian Crusaders breaking into their houses, and destroying their holy books, and synagogues. Many Jews were murdered, sometimes whole communities. The only way that Jews could survive, if Crusaders caught them, would be to convert to Chrisitanity. Otherwise, Jews would kill themselves, and their children, to save them from having to convert. One individual that was impacted by the Crusades, would be Eliezer Ben Judah, also known as Elazar Rokeach, or Elazear of Worms. A major event that happened is his eyes was: "Eleazar underwent great sufferings during the Crusades. On the night of 22 Kislev, 1196, he was engaged on his commentary on //Book_of_Genesis// (he relates that he had reached the Parshah Vayeshev), when two crusaders entered his house and killed his wife Dulcina, his two daughters Belat and Hannah, and his son Jacob. His wife had conducted a business in parchment scrolls in order to support the family and enable him to devote all his time to study." Christian Crusaders broke into his house, and killed his Wife, and Children, and he was left badly injured. He later wrote a book on his "experience."

//6. Conclusion--Explain how The Crusades could have been avoided. //
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I think the Crusades could have been avoided, if the Seljuk Turks hadn't invaded other cities and lands. But, because of them being so greedy and selfish, and wanting more power, then they were the ones who caused the Crusades. Also, if Pope Urban II hadn't worried so much about his land being taken over, he wouldn't have gathered they armies so quickly. So he is also to blame for the beginning of the Crusades.

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 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Jacobs, Joseph. "The Crusades." jewishencyclopedia.com. The Kopelman Foundation. Accessed February 24, 2010. [|<http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1003&letter=S]>
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"The Crusades: The Impact on Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Jews." May 29, 2007. newworldencyclopedia.org. Accessed February 25, 2010. <[]>
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wikipedia. "Elazar Rokeach." wikipedia.com. MediaWiki. Accessed March 3, 2010. <[]>