The First Crusade as a Feudal Obligation or Social Phenomenon

Question 1

what are 3 reasons the first crusade could be considered a social phenomenon?

Answer 1

• Kinship
• Feudal Obligation
• Adventure

Question 2

how did kinship impact the first crusade?

Answer 2

People often undertook the crusade because of family ties; kinship was common in the lower ranks as well as the leadership

Question 3

give an example of crusaders for whom kinship was a major motivator in joining the first crusade

Answer 3

• Bohemond and Tancred were nephew and uncle
• Godfrey and Baldwin were brothers
• Stephen of Blois’ brother in law was Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders was his wife, Adela’s, cousin - Adela placed enormous pressure on him to participate

Question 4

how did Urban II take advantage of feudal obligation in the first crusade?

Answer 4

Urban II knew if he recruited powerful nobles, then the knights in service to them would feel obliged to go on the crusade with their masters

Question 5

give evidence that feudal obligation motivated people to join the first crusade

Answer 5

• Raymond of Toulouse, Stephen of Blois, Godfrey of Bouillon and Robert of Flanders took many of his knights
• Some nobles - e.g. Fulk IV of Anjou - did not go themselves, but pressured their knights to participate

Question 6

how did the idea of adventure motivate people to join the first crusade?

Answer 6

• The crusade generated a great deal of excitement in Western Europe; it opened the possibility of adventure to exotic Eastern lands
• Adventure was appealing to European knights in an age when the previous heroic actions of legendary figures like Charlemagne and Roland were increasingly idealised through the Chansons de Geste
• Those who returned from the crusade could expect to be treated as heroes