The Crusades must have been well understood by everyone that European countries marched to West Asia under the guidance of the Church and competed for the holy place in their hearts, Jerusalem.
This war, which lasted for nearly two hundred years, is an important part of human history. But anyone who knows a little about history knows that the Crusades seemed sacred, but in fact the process was full of dross, and the Europeans invaded Jerusalem, slaughtering young and old, and plundering day and night.
Some people may think that the First Crusade was still very formal, and with the development of time, the Crusaders became corrupt. In fact, long before the regular Crusades, the actions of some people have proved that the crusades are just a plunder and farce full of scum, which is the civilian crusades, a crusade that is both sad and ridiculous.
In the 11th century, the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt began to suppress the Christians in Jerusalem, an act that indirectly justified the Crusades for European countries.
At the same time, the churches in Europe urgently needed this goal in order to pass on contradictions and plunder wealth. In 1095 AD, the protagonists from all over the world held a meeting in Italy, at which they identified their target, Jerusalem, and determined the symbol of the army as a cross, which is the origin of the crusade.
The participants of this meeting, in addition to the nobles, were actually quite a few commoners, and they were equally attracted to the meeting because they learned that the crusades could gain wealth. Pope Urban II planned to assemble and set out on August 15, 1096, but the civilians seemed impatient, not to mention that Europeans were enduring plague and hunger. Under the guidance of a priest named Peter, the civilians advanced their plans.
Looking at the situation in Europe at that time, the orthodox medieval period was also one of the darkest periods in Europe. A terrible plague raged on the earth, and people could only endure hunger and fear. At the same time, the witch trial movement also took place during this period, which in turn gave a lot of terrifying creatures to the lives of Europeans at that time.
So fleeing Europe became the first choice, and the plan of the Crusades was a perfect opportunity. From another perspective, the Crusades also gave hope to these Wests living in misery, but that hope was a little slim.
So a crusade of civilians set out, saying it was a crusade, but it was more like a migration movement. They are suffering in Europe and wish they had left this ghost place sooner. Therefore, it is basically a matter of dragging the family and acting in a row, and people who do not know the situation do not think that these people are going to war, not to mention that they do not have decent weapons and armor. Along the way, their ranks continued to grow, reaching nearly 40,000 at their peak. Every time they went to a city, they subconsciously thought it was Jerusalem and plundered it, and now they were no different from the homeless.
Before arriving in Constantinople, they had already lost thousands of people for various reasons. The lords of Constantinople were a little surprised to see them, what about the crusaders who had agreed to it before? How come a bunch of homeless people.
Then, in order to dispatch these people, the lords sent them to Asia Minor to deal with the Huns, to put it bluntly, to push them into the pit of fire. And these people also happily went to the Jerusalem of their hearts, of course, waiting for them was the result of the slaughter.
Since then, the European knightly class has gathered and carried out a decent crusade, which can be regarded as a certain success. But after all, the essence was there, and the next few crusades did not achieve the desired effect, and many even ended in fiasco. Later, with the rise of the Mamluk dynasty, the Crusaders completely abandoned the idea of the Crusades, and several crusader states established in Western Asia were destroyed one after another.
References to the Crusades