The First Crusade

The First Crusade

        As the year 1000A.D. was approaching the strength of Christianity in Western Europe

was growing along with its population. The newly reformed and organized Church began to gain

great power. A new Europe was being born with the Catholic Church as a force in every area of

life.

        In Christian beliefs, the savior, Jesus Christ was to return to earth and bring judgment on

its people. Many clergy members along with lay people believed this would take place in the

year 1000A.D. . Knowing this, the people of Europe awaited the return of Christ and feared the

Wrath of God. Religious people wanted to make up for their sins and avoid the horrors of

eternal damnation. Clergy members were often consulted to figure out what would be a suitable

penance. ' The Church itself still frequently imposed pilgrimages as a penance' (Campbell p.14).

A pilgrimage to the Holy Land was not an easy task to say the least. The road to Jerusalem was

jagged. On the way to Jerusalem, pilgrims were often murdered by thieves. They were

defenseless and often did not return. Some pilgrims did return from the Holy Land. They came

back with tales that planted the seeds for a Crusade.

        ' The pilgrims that returned from the Holy City of Jerusalem recounted tales, often

grossly exaggerated, of the horrible pollution of the sacred places at the hands of the Turks'

(Campbell p23). Other stories of the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the burial

place of Jesus, by the Turks surfaced in the early eleventh century. The news of the destruction

of the Sepulcher was mourned in every Christian country. The nations looked to Rome for a

solution to this most serious of Problems.

        The Byzantine emperor asked for the aid of...