The Crusades THEMATIC ESSAY REVIEW

The Crusades as a turning point The Crusades were a series of wars between European Christians and Middle Eastern Muslims over the Holy Land during the Middle Ages.

The Pope sent armies to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims. Muslim armies defended their territory from the invaders.

Despite multiple attempts, the Europeans were unable to gain lasting control of the area.

The Crusades are a turning point in world history for completely different reasons than the wars started.

Before the Crusades Europe was a mess. Governments were too weak to provide order. The economy was feudal.

Feudalism is when peasants farm land for nobles in exchange for protection. Nobles provide this by supplying warriors called knights.

Feudalism is subsistent, meaning that peasants get just enough food to barely keep alive. Feudalism causes a cycle of poverty as peasants can never earn enough to buy their own land.

During feudalism, people never traveled more than ten miles from their home.

Manors, which are the villages people lived in during this time, were self-sufficient. Everything people needed was made there and there was virtually no trade in Europe during the Middle Ages.

The Crusades changed all of this. Many Europeans traveled for the first time and were introduced to many new things.

The introduction to many new goods while in the Middle East caused a demand for these items after the Crusades.

Consequently, trade was revived in Europe, pulling it out of feudalism.

Led by the northern Italian city-states, European traders transformed the economy. There developed need for currency and governments began to coin money again.

Those involved in trade amassed wealth unheard of in the Middle Ages (outside of the Church). They began spending this money on extravagant things, like paintings and sculptures.

This caused the Renaissance as there was an explosion in the arts fueled by the money generated from trade with the Middle East.

European governments were also more stable. Kings and queens began to consolidate their power and restore law and order.

So the Crusades caused Europe to change, not just economically, put also socially and politically.

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