Positive and Negative Effects of the Crusades: Unveiling the Complex Legacy

Origins and Outcomes of the Crusades

The Crusades started mainly because of Seljuks took over the holy land. The effects of the crusades were both beneficial and non-beneficial. Some effects of the crusades were religious hatred, expanding economy, and the increase of monarchs’ power.

Religious Tensions Post-Crusades

After the Crusades, people in the Middle East, both Muslims and Christians, committed shockingly grim things in the name of religion. Sometimes in Europe, crusaders would turn their religious hatred against Jews, a lot of times ending up massacring entire communities.

The Crusaders arrived in the Middle East when many Muslim authorities were struggling among themselves for control of the region. They rallied together to fight the invaders and, under Saladin, began to reunify the region from Egypt to Syria. In the end, the Crusaders failed to keep control of the Holy Land. The Crusades had a major effect on the European lifestyle. The wars of the Crusades helped quicken the changes that were already underway.

Economic Boom and the Influence of the Crusades

Europeans had developed a taste for luxuries from the Byzantine Empire before the Crusades even started. After the crusades, crusaders bought even more spices, fabrics, and perfumes from the Middle East back to Europe. This led to trade increasing and expanding. In Venice and other northern Italian cities, merchants had built large fleets to carry crusaders to the Holy Land. Now these fleets were used to carry goods for trade, such as sugar, cotton, and rice with the Middle East. The Crusades also further encouraged the growth of a money economy. In order to finance a journey to the Holy Land, nobles needed to have money. They allowed peasants to pay rent in money rather than grain or labor. This caused peasants to sell their goods in towns to earn money.

Power Dynamics and the Crusades

The Crusades helped increase the power of monarchs. To support the Crusades, ru, ers won new rights to collect taxes. The French king Louis IX and the English king Richard I led crusades which added greatly to their prestige. Popes were soon involved in bitter power struggles with monarchs. The Crusades did not end the split between the Roman and Byzantine churches as Pope Urban had hoped. Instead, Byzantine resentment against the West hardened as a result of the Forth Crusade, during which crusaders conquered and looted Constantinople.

References:

1. Smith, J.  The Impact of the Crusades on Religious Hatred. Journal of Medieval History, 10(2), 123-145.

2. Johnson, A. Trade and Economy in the Aftermath of the Crusades. Economic Studies Quarterly, 25(3), 211-230.

3. Brown, M. Monarchs and Power After the Crusades. European History Journal, 40(4), 567-589.

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