Assignment 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assignment 1 - Research Paper Example There was sanctification of the war against the heretics of the Christian church in Western Europe. These however were as a result of the successful Levant campaigns and expeditions. It is therefore worth noting that the success of the Levant’s Crusaders was important and instrumental to the developments that followed. The initial Levant crusaders emerged as a result of revival of the religious feelings as well as the missionary zeal that was evident in Europe during the tenth century. 1Personal, economic and political expansionisms are also thought to have resulted into the coming of the crusaders to Muslim Levant. During this time the crusaders were considered to be fighting the holy wars. The dominance of the worldliness spirits was a major contributor to the nature of holy wars. This is because the priests were seen as very powerful individuals representing the people in another world. In this perspective, they had a lot of influence on the western church as they represent ed part of the papacy’s secular policy that controlled the activities of the western church. However, the popes and the priests had certain reasons why they motivated their faithful to wars against the Muslims. The teachings by the priests and popes were influential since the believers and faithful perceived the war in a different perspective. Most of them believed that it was a direct way to salvation through pilgrimage. However, pilgrimage was not common among the believers since it had been taking place in the European continent. Pilgrimage was witnessed in the theaters where Christians and Muslims shared common frontiers. They included Italy, Spain, Asia Minor, Sicily and the sea. In Jerusalem, there were other groups under arms organized mainly for mutual protection. These represented pilgrimages in Jerusalem and its neighborhood as well and the powerful influence that pope and the priests had on the faithful. 2The other reason why the crusaders went on to Levant was bec ause of the belief that it gives an opportunity to divert the destructive war to a more useful purpose. The idea here is that the warlike energies are channeled away from the destructive endemic among the Christ people. This was good for the Christian community since it helped in the development of the new efforts to enforce God’s peace and truce among the believers, and fight the wicked. They believed that for an individual to proceed to the other world, one had to fight hard and win the war on earth. Fighting hard on earth as well as being obedience to the natural instinct was instrumental in helping the men gain the fruits of asceticism. The objective and the goal of crusaders were to spread Christianity at the available possible cost over the whole world. Generally, the major factor that contributed to the coming of the crusaders to the Muslim Levant was because of the strong and immediate policy that attempted to make Christianity universal even at the edge of sword in a ll parts of the world. The expeditions by the western church to capture and secure the Holy land resulted into the establishment of domains in Levant. This represents a broader struggle between the Christians and Muslims that tested the ability of each religion to control Levant. Christians thought the influence of the Muslim society in Levant