Title: The Positive and Negative Effects of The Crusades
Headings: Positive and Negative Effects of The Crusades
Positive and Negative Effects of The Crusades
What were the Crusades?
How have the views of the Crusades changed?
What were the positive effects of the Crusades?
The spread of modern banking in Europe
The Crusades weakened Feudalism
The Transfer of Ideas
Expanded trade and urban prosperity
Rise of the merchant class
The negative effects of the Crusades
War and senseless violence
Opened the door for invasion
Rise in antisemitism
Modern justifications for violence
The Verdict
Alan Behrens

Content: What were the Crusades? Before we discuss their impact, you should know what the Crusades were. The Crusades were a series of religious conflicts between Muslims and Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean, starting in 1095. It originated at the Council Clermont from a speech by Pope Urban. In that speech, he made a call to arms to assist the Byzantine Empire in their war against the Seljuk Turks. Included was the demand for an armed pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem. An enthusiastic response met the Pope’s call to action, and European lords sent thousands of soldiers east to fight. Early results led to the establishment of kingdoms like Jerusalem and the Principality of Antioch. Within two centuries, though, the entire Levant was reclaimed after Acre fell in 1291. As a side note, the Reconquista in Spain is a Crusade, but not what historians refer to when discussing this period.