Christian Brutality: The First Crusades

 

In this week's readings, I, along with many others, was shocked to learn about the extent of the carnage that the Christians brought upon Jerusalem during the Crusades. To them, there was to be no stone left unturned, meaning that men, women, and children all faced the same fate under the Crusaders' swords. According to our reading, Armstrong points out that among the rubble of the city, there were also “piles of heads, hands and feet.” (Armstrong 274) While this is terrible and something that should never be glossed over in the history books, Christians seemed never truly to be held accountable at the time for their actions. They could walk all over the Jerusalemites without any fear at the time. However, retrospectively, we can see how this action by the Christians goes against all they stand for. To me personally, as a Christian, what they did to the Muslim and Jewish communities goes against every single one of our values. It is difficult for me to see how there was any sort of justification for this atrocity. Why or how did the Christians of the time believe these actions were deemed necessary or even morally correct?

Looking at the beginnings of this movement, we find the leader of the First Crusade. The person primarily responsible for the concept was Pope Urban II. The entire reason for this movement was that the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos thought they should fight back against the Muslims who had robbed them of land in Asia Minor. Among this area would have been Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the holiest of cities to the Christians, and this became the biggest reason for initiating the attack. Knights then traveled on land from all across Europe to take what they believed to be rightfully theirs. Toppling many communities along the way, the Christians left a wake of death behind them and never looked back. In my research, I understood no real reason for taking Jerusalem. The conquest was purely for making a point and hitting a symbolic target. 

When the Christians finally reached the holy city, they engaged in a truly brutal battle. However, this was more than a battle. This was an extermination. The Christians breached the walls of the city and began killing everyone: Jews, Muslims, and even Christians (specifically of the Eastern Orthodox faith). There are, as previously mentioned in Armstrong’s book, many accounts of the streets running with blood as the Christians went about indiscriminately killing men, women, and children. To many Christians today, this event is looked down upon for its extreme use of force and lack of morality. The worst part about this is that the Christians needed no proper justification for a conquest of this sort. During the medieval ages, violence and bloodshed were commonplace. People would not think twice and believed the only way to solve problems of difference was to kill.

Works Cited:

Armstrong, Karen. Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. London, Harper Perennial, 2005.

Cartwright, Mark. “The Capture of Jerusalem, 1099 CE.” World History Encyclopedia,

                   www.worldhistory.org/article/1254/the-capture-of-jerusalem-1099-ce/.