There hasn’t been a movement more momentous than the First Crusade. The First Crusade was a pilgrimage turned military expedition to Jerusalem that was sponsored by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clement in November 1095 in the aspiration to set out from the west to the recover the holy city from the hands of the Muslims. The aim of this paper is to examine the causes …show more content…
The impact of the battle had started the collapse of Byzantium, with internal battles and conflict in the east becoming common occurrences, plus the whole empire itself was treasury bankrupt and its armies were ill equipped to fight back. This defeat loomed over Byzantium and other Western European regions, showing that Christianity isn’t the only dominant religion, with Islam soon becoming a religion that has unity and military might. The results of this factor indicates the failure of Christianity, as Muslims would start to capture additional Christian states and eventually Jerusalem, which would prompt the First Crusade and produce more tension between the two religions. All in all, the consequences that came out of the battle of Manzikert were indirect yet influential in the beginnings of the First Crusade and would further trigger Christians and Muslims to engage in extensive warfare to claim there superiority over one another. Byzantium fell into the hands of the Muslim Turks who started to spread through the east to ultimately conquer the holy city of Jerusalem. Furthermore, the battle of Manzikert essentially paved the way for this epic crusade and the fallouts caused Christians and Muslims to become increasingly distrustful of each other, as they both recognized …show more content…
The Roman Catholic Church longing for power over the Byzantium Empire maybe perceived as a major factor that formed the First Crusade, nevertheless the significance of the battle of Manzikert, Pope Urban II’s speech and the supposed threat of the Muslims in Europe are undeniably crucial in the launch of this historical event. By Christians losing a important battle that resulted in more tension with the Islam, and the Pope Urban II creating a damaging, biased image of Muslims people in order to allow and encourage Christians to commit the sin of murder for the sake of God’s wishes, and above all demonizing Islam so Christianity can remain the most powerful religion, thus intensified the already strained relationship between these antithetic religions. Although this isn’t the first conflict between Christianity and Islam, this episode single handily set these two religions on a path towards deep-seated animosity and enduring enmity that would last for centuries. The causes and effects of the First Crusade have greatly impacted the view of Christianity and Islam because one is seen as associated with what is right and moral, whereas the other even today is still pictured as being deviants and corrupt. The roots of this ongoing struggle of power between Christianity and Islam have left both religions in a state of endless antipathy. Perhaps the factors that prompted First Crusade can be seen