In the 11th century, there was a strong religious enthusiasm in all fields of Western Europe, which was due to the dual influence of Christianity and feudalism in Western Europe, with the development of Christianity, the theocracy of Christianity was established, and the theocracy of Christianity was also consolidated. Its main manifestation in Western Europe was a movement of religious fanaticism of universal significance.
The seeds of the crusaders took root in the medieval land, and the largest and deepest seed was the sacred tradition, which has existed since the 4th century AD.
1. Changes in the traditional form of pilgrimage
"Pilgrimage" is a Christian tradition, and Jerusalem is a major Christian shrine that has historically been favored by many believers. However, in the early days of Christianity, there was little interest in long-distance travel, so a large number of believers gathered together, which was called "pilgrimage to the Holy Land". It seems that it is all about honoring and believing in Jesus.
Therefore, in the late fourth and early seventh centuries AD, as Jerusalem was occupied by the Persians and then the Arabs, the religious activities of Western European societies towards the east also weakened, and the number of people also declined. When the first Arab monarch, Caliph al-Omar, conquered Palestine in 637, much of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean came under the control of the Arab Empire.
During this period, Christianity ceased to have free religious practice, but was replaced by the completely bound management policy of the Arab Empire. Although not banned, the difficulty grew by the day, so attention turned to the sacred places of Western Europe.
Around the 5th century, the idea of "saints" appeared in Western Europe and gradually occupied the mainstream position of religion. In the first century, the church of Saint and Paul made Rome prosperous, and in the fifth century, the bones of the first victim, Stevenson, were transferred to Jerusalem, and Rome has been a place of pilgrimage ever since. Every year on St. Peter's and St. Paul's Day, pilgrims from most countries in Western Europe gather in Rome.
Moreover, temples that existed earlier attracted attention, and the temples built to honor martyrs and saints became the most striking changes of the period. In Aachen, it is believed that in Charles' time, many saints and martyrs' sacred vessels were moved here from Constantinople or Jerusalem, making it a famous place. Since then, many lords, nobles have followed Charlemagne's example and built many sacred places there.
In England, after the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, some religious sites were also established: in honor of King Oswald of Northumbria, the Friar of Melrose, Cuthbert, established religious sites in his domain in 642, and these religious sites are one of the important regional religious sites. Until the end of the ninth century, the temples mentioned above were frequented by Western countries.
Later, Santiago de Composte became famous for his discovery of St. James, and large numbers of pilgrims flocked to him. Until the 11th century, the temple was the largest after Jerusalem. In the 10th and 11th centuries, due to the strong promotion of religious activities by the feudal royal family, regional religious activities were further developed, and "pilgrimage by saints" occupied the mainstream position in the religion of that time.
Religious belief strengthens the authority and dominance of religion, turning religious belief into a means of punishing evil. In the 9th and 10th centuries, this coercion was also reinforced as a means of punishment. People who are considered undisciplined or in violation of punishment are forced by the church to attend a pilgrimage as a sign of punishment for them. In the 10th century, Roman Catholics imposed harsher penalties on those who were hunted down, thus strengthening the worship of the temple of the saint.
In the 11th century, Christian churches in Western Europe established a complete system for managing those who committed crimes, and the general form of repentance was prayer, salvation, or worship. Under the influence of the idea of the worship of saints, the worship of Jesus and Mary by the people became a religious activity. Jerusalem was once again in the sight of human pilgrims.
According to the requirements of the church, the person who has committed sins must be sent to a holy place in Jerusalem and must return with some evidence to confirm that he has fulfilled his mission, such as: the relics of the saints, the certificate of the church, the memorial of the bishop of the holy place.
Second, the new situation of pilgrimage to the Holy City
The church's strong demand for popular religious sacrifice for salvation not only aroused the fanaticism of the pilgrims, but also benefited the secular authorities. During an expedition in 1031, Cnut was forgiven and signed a treaty with King Conrad allowing his caravans and worshippers to come and go freely in the land.
With the encouragement of the temple, the believers go to the holy city, not only can they be pardoned, but their belongings will also be specially protected in the process of going to the holy city, which greatly excites the people who go to the holy city, but the current situation in the holy city is not favorable to the believers. In 1077 the Seljuk Turks captured Jerusalem. Historians hold diametrically opposed views on how the Turks dealt with Christians.
One view was that such persons could still be tolerated, while the other was that they had been treated unjustly. Turkey's increasing taxation of Muslims caused great difficulties for their "holy tombs" and holy sites, while Muslims were plundered and massacred during their journey due to political turmoil. Differences and strife within Islam make it increasingly difficult to worship holy sites.
This difficult life aroused rebellious hearts and believed that fighting heresy was the quickest and most effective way to obtain God's salvation. Christian doctrine was against war, so they changed the Christian doctrine to make it a logical "holy war."
Known as the "Martial Saints", the Crusades were a new religious activity. However, in the early days of Christianity, after converting to Christianity, St. Augustine reinterpreted this doctrine by viewing war as a natural and rational order. When he became High Priest of Hippo in 395, he also suggested that the battle was a method used by God to convert heretical beliefs. In 410, Augustine, in his famous book The City of God, stated that a battle for defense was justified.
Here, Augustine must accept the necessity of fighting cultists who cannot be defeated by the weapons of thought. He called this kind of fighting the "just war," which means: to defend Christianity and "the Christian homeland." After the 9th century, the clergy carried out in-depth research on this doctrine, among which Glancy, in compiling the Compendium of Canon Law, inherited Augustine's view and proposed that the clergy could exercise power by means of punishment and coercion.
The church gradually recognized the legitimacy of the battle to defend the homeland. Since the Saxons were subjugated by Charlemagne, fighting against the infidels was likewise seen as a legitimate act. As the church acknowledges that fighting for Christ is a method of salvation, more and more people believe this. This was often mentioned before the first jihad.
In the late 11th century, Gregory VII redefined this concept, who saw the struggle to defend the church as a sacred war, a kind of just war through which the gift of eternal life could be obtained.
The Pope said in 1075 that those who fought for the Church would "promise them eternal blessings and forgive them all their sins." In 1095, Urban II gave a speech about the Crusaders, in which he stated: "To sacrifice one's life for freedom will be cleansed of all sins in the process." The purpose of this speech is to prove this. Such an interpretation justifies military activity.
Third, new monastic methods appear
In the 11th century, a religious activity similar to the poverty of Kiev arose in Western Europe, especially on the island of Iyan, and thanks to Peter's efforts, they began to march east again to fight heresy, they were so attracted to Christianity that they regarded this activity as a necessity, and in Western Europe people from all walks of life joined it.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, the status of farmers and economic status in Western Europe changed greatly, their business models also changed greatly, they had a great deal of social autonomy, they rebelled against the power of the church, and a new method of practice in the early eleventh century had a group of innovative monks who imitated Yerki, carried crosses, lived a life of poverty, went to Jerusalem, and experienced poverty.
During this period, doubts arose about the divine representation of churches and monasteries in some of the growing sizes, and doubts arose about whether the monks could be saved by God. In the 11th century, tenancy prevailed, and farmers feared that the land they rented would be repossessed by landlords. In the context of this change, the people's identification with the belief concept of "keeping poverty" has naturally strengthened.
The idea of frugality preached by monks following Jesus' example has become a popular social phenomenon, most notably the monk Peter in southern France. Peter's strong charisma played an important role in this war. It is said that Peter once spent one night in the Church of St. Kee, and when Jesus appeared in his dream, he ordered an immediate return to Western Europe and called on the Christians to eliminate the heresy in the holy city.
The next day, he returned to Western Europe, left the village, told them what he had seen in the misery of the Christians, and encouraged them to take them to the holy place. Peter's sermon piqued interest in the religious event, and Peter led thousands of people to follow him and join the crusaders.
Peter's missionary activities are a typical example of individual missionary activity, and in the 11th century, at the bottom of society, people revived faith in the original church and pursued the life of the apostles, which was an important social factor in the widespread spread of individual missionary activity in urban and rural areas. They followed the example of Paul and Jesus, preaching and mission, not centered on the financial situation of society, but only on the salvation of the human heart.
Socio-religious activities represented by individual missionaries stimulated widespread public interest in religion, and the division of the East-West Church at No. 1054 stimulated the Roman church's fanaticism for religion and fueled their ambition to "recover" the Eastern Church. Urban succeeded Gregory VII at the end of the 11th century and did everything in his power to uphold the authority of the pope, guaranteeing the dominance of the church in society.
The Pope and his assistants believed that envoys should be sent to Constantinople to proclaim the supremacy of Roman Catholics, but Constantinople saw them as coveted by the West. In addition, the Eastern Temple felt that the Romans violated the rules of the temple and launched a provocation against the supreme authority of the temple, which led to the fall of the temple.
Because of this, Gregory VII, the previous king of Urban II, proposed an offensive under the name "Generals", hoping to establish the papacy in Constantinople, but it was abandoned due to the struggle between the princely states of Western Europe. With the Byzantine king sending an emissary to the West, the implementation of this project was no longer a problem.
Fourth, the opportunity of the crusade has emerged
After the Fattimid dynasty conquered Jerusalem in the late 11th century, the nomads of Bedouin and the sea of Erqi became the main objects of trade and pilgrimage. Urban thought of this when the Byzantine king, in danger of losing more territory, was forced to send emissaries to Rome. Under the attack of the Zairzhu Turks, Byzantium was forced to strengthen its army to defend its territory. The cavalry of Western Europe opened the eyes of the Byzantine king, and a brand new army appeared before him.
On one of the trips back from Jerusalem, one of Flandre's nobles visited Constantinople, and the skill of this cavalry unit amazed the king of Alexei. So the Byting emperor very much wanted to have a resolute and reliable army of feudal warriors as a backing, but he had to have the papal as his backing. Thanks to a flurry of work done by the Western church, the church allowed Christians to fight heresy and allowed them to regain the territory that Christianity had lost.
Pope Urbane issued an order to the heresy in the East. After the Clermont Congress, the Pope spent eight months preaching the holy war concept of "holy city freedom" in Spain and France, and in order to defend the rule and attack of Catholics in the East, he also sent emissaries to Flanders, to Normandy, to England, and to northern Italy.
In Western Europe, many people cannot read or write, so all religions are subject to the sanctification of piety, devotion, etc. Due to the influence of religious beliefs, the role of religious beliefs and religious beliefs in religious beliefs is increasing, the role of religious beliefs in religious beliefs is increasing, and the role of religious beliefs in religious beliefs is increasing. Encouraged by the act of redemption, the pilgrims expanded from monks to laymen.
Under the oppression of the feudal class, because the decline in food production and the impact of natural disasters made people's lives more difficult, most people believed that if they could liberate the sacred land of freedom, they would be given a piece of land. Wearing a cross was tantamount to accepting the promise of the church, so cutting the cross from the humble priestly robe became a regular step in participating in the crusade.
In the 10th century, agriculture and animal husbandry in Western Europe were well developed, but the atrocities of the samurai had a serious impact on church landowners. Therefore, they have to cultivate as many knights as possible. The samurai were to observe Christian doctrine and moral principles. In order to consolidate the temple's secular and religious authority, the temple stipulated that the temple must march towards the temple or crusaders, and promised to wage a war to the east against the temple.
In 1095, Urban received a request from the Byzantine courtiers as an opportunity to unite Eastern and Western sects, while also attacking Muslims and strengthening the power of the king. He encouraged the people to participate in the "holy war" and in the struggle to retake Jerusalem. At the same time, he also used the "system of repentance", suggesting that those who involved sincerity and did not have a utilitarian heart could obtain forgiveness without confessing their sins.
In this way, under the leadership of Peter, this team of civilians began this war, and they were full of fanaticism for the church, which is why this team will take its place in this war.
[References]
1. Thompson, Geng Danru, trans., Economic and Social History of the Middle Ages, Beijing: Commercial Press, 1961 edition, p. 471
2. Cecil Morisson, translated by Feng Tang: The Crusades, Beijing: Commercial Press, 2000, p. 9
3. Ludovico Gato, translated by Zhu Benxiong: Jihad on Horseback: The Crusades, Chengdu: Sichuan People's Publishing House, 2000, pp. 1O-15.