ANALYZING THE FIRST CRUSADE: THE PERSPECTIVES OF TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES

When analyzing the course of the First Crusade, we find that there were many influences on either side, referring to the Christian Knights and the Islamic Warriors, that had greatly affected the actions and decisions of the warring opponents through their religious beliefs, political climate, cultural practices, and societal structure. While both groups were vastly different, some of their foundational beliefs were quite similar. Both sides held the belief that they had been commanded by their God’s to participate in the wars; for example, Christians understood their commands to be to conquer Jeruseleam and retake the Holy Land due to its religious significance. The Muslim people simultaneously believed they had been commanded to defend their grasp on Jeruselam due to its religious signifigance in Islam. Politically, both Christian and Islamic leaders had been searching for new pathways to expand their respective empires, and wanted to find ways in which the common citizen could be recruited to participate. One of these ways had been in promises of plunder and glory, where those who fought for their Kingdom would surely line their pockets with wealth and their names would hold fame. Finally, with the structures of both societies, where there were multiple class levels, it was seen that the upper echelon of society seemingly used the lower masses to further their goals in battle. The “wealthy” still participated, but did not see as much bloodshed as those below them in society, this was seen on both sides. 

When looking at the Christian people and their motivations for war, we can begin at the moment Pope Urban urged a complete mobilization of an army towards their Holy Lands. Going through persuasion efforts by using God’s commandments as the source, speaking to his people explaining how Jerusalem belongs to them, for they are Gods chosen people “That land whicheth the scripture says ‘floweth with milk and honey’ was given by God into the possession of the children of Israel, Jerusalem is the Navel of the world.” (Translation by Robert the Monk, para. 4). Not only do we see religious leadership using deeply held beliefs as an effort to persuade the Christians into a crusade, we then see Pope Urban create promises not made in any Christian texts, but rather creating them himself and using ideas of divine right to give him the authority to do so “All who die by the way, whether by land or sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have remediate remission of their sins” (Translation by Fulcher of Chartres, Para. 5). Comparing this to the Islamic peoples and their views, we see that Jerusalem held great religious value to them as well. In Jerusalem, there had been both Christians and Turkish muslims living side by side in relative peace, for many years. Following the beginning of total Islamic rule within Jerusalem, we see the Muslim people persecuting greatly the Christians, through fear, violence, and torture. This aggression had been a build up between the two cultures living in such close proximity for so long, it was only a matter of time before one of the groups got the upper hand. Examples of this tension buildup (regardless of the time it had occurred) can be found in The Book of Contemplations, in an interaction between Usama and a Christian European “One day, I went into the little mosque, recited the opening formula ‘God is great!’ and stood up in prayer. At this, one of the franks rushed at me and grabbed me and turned my face towards the east, saying, ‘Pray like this!” (Usama Ibn Munqidh pp. 147). While the Christians sought war based on religious beliefs, and the matter of Christian persecution within the Holy Lands, the Islamic peoples sought to hold their power within Jerusalem, understanding the importance of Jerusalem in their religion as well, continuing to persecute the christians based on rising tensions, and the idea of Christian aggressors arriving from western Europe.

Examining the perspectives of either group during the First Crusade, we find complex situations branching from the political climates and societal structures of both the Christian and Islamic kingdoms. The expansion of both an Islamic and Christian empire, had been well sought after by both groups; Leaders searched for new pathways to recruit common citizens for the fight, one of these methods had been through the promise of plunder and glory (glory both from God and mortal man). Looking at the actions of the crusaders, when it is understood that most soldiers had been poor farmers prior to entering the war, the concept of the promises of plunder and gold become more obvious as their actions are made clear, we see that “for they (the Christians) learned they could find Byzants in the stomachs and intestines of the dead saracens” (Fulk of Chartres, Chapter 28, Paragraph 1). Not only had the crusaders plundered the very bodies of the men they had killed, we also see that destruction continued after each battle “with the carnage over, the Crusaders entered the houses and took whatever they found in them… thus many poor men became rich” (Fulk of Chartres, Chapter 28, Paragraph 2). Again, we see from the Christian side of things, the promises of wealth made by European leaders had been incredibly true, poor farmers had formed entire armies in order to gain this wealth, and in due time they had achieved these goals. Looking at the Islamic warriors, adhering to promises of eternal glory to be found in battle against the franks, made by their leaders, we find that they had found this glory in guidance from angels sent by God “I dismounted and stood there, utterly incapable of walking. Just then a man came down and grabbed me by the hand to help me climb, my pack horse led in my other hand. And no, by God, I don’t know who he was and I never saw him again.” (Usama Ibn Mundiqh pp. 107). While we see in the texts of the Christian perspectives that leaders encouraged the masses to fight through the promises of gold and wealth, along with religious motivations as well, the Islamic peoples already had control of these wealthy lands, and their leaders demonstrated the idea of a non-physical wealth, that of glory; and that this glory was recorded by Islamic fighters in the beliefs that God had been helping them directly, and they had been experiencing the glory of a direct connection to their God and receiving his aid.

In conclusion; the efforts of both the Christian and Islamic peoples during the first crusade had been greatly influenced by multiple factors within their groups, from their religious practices to societal structures. These factors both varied greatly in some cases and aligned nearly perfectly in others. We see how both sides used persuasion efforts to encourage the participation of the economically lower classes, often using the peoples own religious beliefs against them. While the end outcome saw the pyrrhic victory of the islamic peoples, after extreme loss of life on both sides, we also saw the expansion of trade networks due to the spread of european peoples in the east, a trade of science and mathematics, and an assimilation of cultures over the following decades. Both the accounts of Ibn Munqidh and those provided by the European translations, can be used to examine the First Crusade, from both the perspectives of the Christians and Islamic people, all the way down to the views of each economic and political class.