In 1096, the first crusades were launched against …show more content…
In the Augustine collection, Historicity and Holy War: Putting the crusades in context, by Jonathan Colans, explains that the crusades were launched by the Holy Roman Catholic Church against Islam, claiming to do so under God’s command in order to take back the holy land of god away from the Islamic People. This article explains that, as claimed by the Catholics, the sole reasoning behind the crusades was the reclaiming of the holy land, for God, and with God. If it was under God 's supervision and was in order to reclaim the holy land, then the crusades were, essentially, a holy war. In the book, The Crusades, by Jonathan Howard, he explains how the ‘Holy War’ was started by religious strains. The war was not a result of an attack or a yearn for money, but because of religious strains. Jonathan explains that if it hadn 't been for the religious strains between these two religions, then, most likely, the crusades wouldn 't have ever occurred, and thousands of men wouldn 't have died for something as trivial as religious strains and conflicting beliefs. Another source providing a similar argument is Khan Academy, informing its users about how the crusades were caused by the fights and strains between two of the biggest religions of their time, The Holy Roman Catholics and the Islamic people. Because of the religious strains, the crusades started, showing this to be a holy war between two religions. Again, referencing back to the letters of the crusades, the pope, among other people, talk about Islam. The letters include how the catholic people viewed the Islamic religion as inaccurate, terrible, and offensive, and how it needs to be destroyed. The crusades were not only to reclaim the holy land back and take it ways from the Islamic ‘barbarians’,