The Crusades Points Test 1 - Background to the First Crusade Flashcards
When did Urban II first preach the crusade at the Council of Clermont?
27th November 1095.
What was the primary religious incentive for both nobility and peasantry undertaking to join the crusade?
Remission for confessed sins, act of penance to wipe out consequences of confessed crimes.
What was the ‘knightly dilemma’?
The paradox that killing was a mortal sin, but it was prerequisite/necessary for their career, status and economic subsistence.
Why was Urban II aware of the ‘knightly dilemma’ and how the crusades could appeal to chivalric attitudes?
He was from Northern France/of noble stock, aware of the pressures upon them.
What precedent was there for the Papacy calling for violent campaigning? Give one example.
Gregory VII calling for action against Moors in Spain, or against the Holy Roman Empire in mid-1070s, or Leo IX calling forces against the Normans in 1053.
What was the name of the conflict between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire over episcopal and religious/political authority, in which the papacy honed its militarism/calling for violence?
The Investiture Contest.
What was the name of the enforced peace that the church imposed on violent knights in northern France with mixed success, using popular support, the relics of saints (including bones) and the threat of excommunication?
The Truce and Peace of God.
What other religious motive, with regards to the eastern orthodox church, did Urban II have for calling the crusade?
To remove the schism of 1054 and bring the eastern orthodox church back under the influence/control of the papacy.
Why was the site of Jerusalem so religiously important to Christianity?
Either the site of Jesus’ death, or the place of his resurrection, or of the major parts of his life, or the home of the prophets/future site of last judgement and his second coming.
What percentage, according to Tyerman, died on the crusade?
1/3 of all participants.
How long in kilometres was the journey to the holy land?
3,500km.
Who was the Byzantine Emperor at the time of the council of Clermont?
Alexiusl I Comnenus?
What battle in 1071 had lost the Byzantine Empire Anatolia, the source of much of their manpower and tax revenue?
The Battle of Manzikert.
What council did his ambassadors participate in prior to the council of Clermont, and when?
The Council of Piacenza, March 1095.
Why did Alexius, in his appeals to the west, emphasise the plight of Jerusalem? Why would this have been of less concern to the Byzantines themselves?
He knew this was of central appeal to the Latin west, but to Byzantines the centre of Christianity was Constantinople.
What rough number of knights had Alexius expected to join him?
c.300.
What evidence was there that material wealth was not the principle motive of many crusades?
Either
Most of the crusaders left once Jerusalem was captured.
Or
It cost knights the equivalent of four year’s earnings simply to equip themselves for the journey (according to estimates by Philips).
What theory, developed by previous crusader historiography (e.g. Runciman) but now largely debunked, did this largely disprove?
The ‘Second Sons’ Theory.
Why was the Muslim threat to Jerusalem/the Holy lands perceived as being greater?
The Fatimids had recently lost Jerusalem to the Seljuks (from 1071), who were harsher on Christian Pilgrims visiting the city.
What very important offers of protection did the church give crusaders departing on crusade?
Protection of their property.
Immunity for prosecution.
What clear indication did Baldwin of Boulogne offer that he had material/land interests in the Holy land?
He brought his wife and children with him on crusade.
The death of which Seljuk emperor divided the Islamic world from 1092, providing the Christian world with an opportunity to face a divided Islamic near East?
Malik Shah.
What were the rough estimates of crusader numbers on the 1st Crusade?
50,000-70,000.
What was the derisive name for the group of crusaders led by Walter Sans Avoir and the charismatic preacher Peter the Hermit?
The Peasants’ Crusade.
