Page 50 - History of Christianity I - Student Textbook

hundred hymns and love songs, and of course penned letters to Héloïse.

Peter Abelard was a highly gifted man with a natural magnetism and a fierce intellect. His teaching set the
course of philosophical thought for the remainder of the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, “knowledge puffs up” (1
Corinthians 8:1). Abelard’s pride was his downfall, and his theology was questionable. His conflicts with the
Catholic Church were not based so much on theology or practice as on philosophy and the place human reason
holds in the discussion of theological matters. (https://www.gotquestions.org/Peter-Abelard.html)

The Crusades - 1095-1204

The Crusades were a series of Holy Wars launched by the Christian states of
Europe against the Saracens. The term 'Saracen' was the word used to describe
a Moslem during the time of the Crusades. The Crusades started in 1095 when
Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade at the Council of Claremont. The
Pope's preaching led to thousands immediately affixing the cross to their
garments - the name Crusade given to the Holy Wars came from old French
word 'crois' meaning 'cross'.

The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of
rescuing the holy places of Palestine from the hands of the Mohammedans. They were nine in number, the first
four being sometimes called the Principal Crusades, and the remaining five the Minor Crusades. In addition there
was a Children's Crusade. There were several other expeditions which were insignificant in numbers or results.

The Objectives of the crusades was at first to release the Holy Land, in particular Jerusalem, from the Saracens,
but in time was extended to seizing Spain from the Moors, the Slavs and Pagans from eastern Europe, and the
islands of the Mediterranean.

The word "crusade" literally means "going to the Cross." Hence the idea at the time was to urge Christian
warriors to go to Palestine and free Jerusalem and other holy places from the Saracens. The first crusade was a
grand success for the Christian armies; Jerusalem and other cities fell to the knights. The second crusade,
however, ended in humiliation in 1148, when the armies of France and Germany failed to take Damascus. The
third ended in 1192 in a compromise between English king Richard the Lion-Hearted of England and the Muslim
leader Saladin, who granted access to Christians to the holy places. The fourth crusade led to the sacking of
Constantinople, where a Latin Kingdom of Byzantium was set up in 1204 and lasted for about 60 years. The
Children's Crusade of 1212 ended with thousands of children being sold into slavery, lost, or killed. Other less
disastrous but equally futile crusades occurred until nearly the end of the 13th century. The last Latin outpost in
the Muslim world fell in 1291.

Pope Urban II promised those who would take up the fight against the Saracen could also
get benefits from God because, according to the pontiff, if they died in their self-described Christian
“holy war”, they would gain a glorious entrance into heaven avoiding any refining fires of Purgatory.
Never before in the history of the Church had a religious leader offered a reward for violent behavior.
Years previous, Muhammad told his troops that they would find favor from Allah and salvation in
paradise with many virgins if they were willing to kill or be killed in jihad. Pope Urban II used the same
evil tactics to encourage the slaughter of 1.7 million people who were killed in the several crusades…all
in the name of Christ.

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