Today we come to the eighth chapter of "The Silk Road: A New History of the World", the Road to Heaven. In fact, this chapter focuses on the development of religion, economy, and culture in the process of the Crusades. Because it mainly revolves around the Crusades, let's first understand what the Crusades are.
In fact, the Crusades were not a single conquest, but a historical event that lasted for nearly 200 years, and the specific time of occurrence was between 1095 and 1291 AD. As we mentioned in previous videos, the rapid power and rise of the Islamic Arab Empire has hindered the development of Christianity. The Crusades were in fact a religious military campaign launched by the Christian states in the name of recovering lost lands.
In the last two hundred years, there were nine crusades before and after the Crusades. Because the cross was a symbol of Christianity, everyone who participated in the conquest wore a cross mark on the chest or arm, so it was called a crusade. The Crusaders established dozens of Crusader states in the areas they occupied, the largest being the Kingdom of Jerusalem, in addition to the Principality of Antioch, and so on.
So why call the Crusades the Way of Heaven? As mentioned earlier, the Crusades were a military operation of a religious nature. At the time of the first crusade in 1095, Pope Urban II, the initiator of the crusades, declared to the Christian population that those who marched to the holy city with the cross would be forgiven by God for their original sins. Anyone who falls in the battle against the pagans will embark on the ultimate path to salvation. The journey of the Eastern Crusade is not only a journey in this life, but also a passage into heaven in the next life. Inspired and inspired by this, devout Christians fought bravely to kill the enemy and successfully occupied the holy city, driving out the Muslims who had ruled the holy city for centuries. This was the first Crusade in history. Here two words are to be explained: holy city and pagan. The Holy City refers to Jerusalem, which is located in the birthplace of Christianity. Paganism, on the other hand, refers to the followers of other religions other than Christianity, mainly Islam, Judaism, and so on.
In the next 2 centuries, the other crusade events and the development of various religions, trade, cultures, etc., were actually carried out to preserve the achievements of the First Crusade.
Let's start with the economic impact. We put the economy first because religious beliefs needed to rely on an economic base and financial support, which was well known to all levels of the Church at that time. The Crusades were a religious war, but they were equally a springboard to wealth and power. The best way to grasp such an opportunity is the Italian city-state. Because the position of the Crusaders after the capture of Jerusalem was not stable, they urgently needed external forces to help them. The Italian city-states took advantage of this opportunity to reap the benefits of a series of agreements and quickly rose to the rank of international power. As a result, Italy entered the process of urbanization in the 12th century.
Let's talk about trade. At this time, there were some people on the Silk Road who were very willing to engage in the trade of expensive goods, not only because these goods were very profitable, but also because there was a huge demand behind them, because the rich people urgently needed to purchase such goods to show their social status. These commodities include the silk of our country. Returning to the text, Jerusalem was not only a political and religious center, but also an important commercial center during this period.
Let's talk about culture. With the crusades, culture was continuously transported to Western European countries. For before that, the scientific attainment and wisdom of the Islamic world had far surpassed that of European countries. Compared with the Islamic world of the same period, these European countries are, in the words of the book: the princes of European countries are vulgar, the bishops are greedy for drinks, the judges take bribes, the patrons are untrustworthy, the customers are inflammatory, the promises are all lies, and the friends are jealous of each other. Therefore, the cultural differences between the two worlds can be seen.
By watching the video at the end of the article, you can better understand the content of this article.
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