The Crusaders' Motivation

Pope Urban II gave a very motivational speech at The Council of Clermont. The speech was so motivational that it even motivated people to embark on the conquest to Jerusalem whom he did not even intend. The quest to recapture Jerusalem from the Turks was not only a religious escapade, but also unified the Christians, promised repentance of sin, promised fortune, happiness, and shame to those who did not serve God.

Before the Pope called for a crusade to recapture Jerusalem, he noticed that the faith of Christianity was being destroyed by everyone, by the clergy as well as the laity. He felt that one of the reasons the Franks were being mistreated by the Turks was because of a lack of faith throughout Europe. He was disturbed by the princes who quarreled amongst each other and the prisoners who were wrongfully put into jail and mistreated.

"Ð'...no one dares to walk in the streets with safety, lest he be kidnapped by robbers by day or thieves by night, either by force or trickery, at home or outside."

The Pope presented his observations to the people of Europe, and revitalized the Christian spirit by offering a solution; to recapture the Holy Land, Jerusalem.

The Crusaders would not only help save their fellow Christians in the Holy Land, but would also reap many benefits. The rewards promised to them for traveling to Jerusalem were grand. People who committed murderous crimes were granted remission of sins by the Pope himself, and therefore would be a guaranteed pathway into Heaven.

"Nay, more, the sorrowful here will be glad there, the poor here will be rich there, and the enemies of the Lord here will be His friends there."

The idea of finding riches in this new land appealed to the poor and also to the greedy rich. Finding happiness also appealed to the rich and poor considering the condition of poverty and brutality that was present in their home towns.

"O how many evils will be imputed to you by the Lord Himself, if you do not help those who, like you, profess Christianity!"

And those who did not embark on the conquest were threatened by many sins by the Lord Himself.

The irony of the Crusades is that the Christians who fought against the "evil" Muslims, acted very violent. They killed every Turk, neither spared women