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THE THEOLOGY OF VIOLENCEORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE CRUSADES“The aim of Christianity is not to fill the earth, but to fill heaven”

+The Evidence: Range of Sources

Latin West

Frankish East

Muslim

Byzantine

Hebrew

+The Evidence: Type of Sources

Narratives

Official documents

Letters

Charters (deeds of land transactions)

Poetry

Songs

Art

Archaeology

+THE DEBATE ON THE CRUSADES Carl Erdman reopened investigations into the origin and nature of the

Crusades.

The origins and nature of the Crusades had tended to be ignored or taken as a given.

Erdman saw the Crusades as having deep roots in Western European society but strangely denied the centrality of Jerusalem, which he regarded as simply a recruiting device.

Since Erdman the debate has evolved into the two ‘armed camps’ of the PLURALISTS versus the TRADITIONALISTS (although Giles Constable identified a number of variant positions).

Pluralists argue for a wide geographical scope for Crusading and emphasize the religious nature of the Crusades (Crusading as a penitential act directed by the Papacy).

Traditionalists focus on the liberation of the Jerusalem and the Holy Land and emphasize secular aims and motives.

Aspects of 11th century society

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Reform Papacy and its struggles with secular powers for control of

ChristendomViolence and anarchy

of 11th century Europe

Collapse of Byzantine rule in Asia Minor

after Manzikert 1071 A desire to re-capture Jerusalem for Christians

New ideas of relationships between

clergy and knights

Just war tradition in Christian thought (from Augustine

onwards)

Concepts of penance and the idea of

milites sancti Petri

Political changes in the Middle East – rise of the

Seljuk Turks

ORIGIN OF THE CRUSADES

+Christian Justification for War

Justification largely through authoritative texts:

1. Argued violence not intrinsically evil but morally neutral – qualified by intention of the perpetrator

2. Christ’s wishes for mankind - universal transcendental state ruled by him through his agents on earth:

CHRISTIAN REPUBLIC – commitment to its defense seen as amoral imperative

Recent tradition of papal involvement in warfare

+Criteria for Justified Violence

Worked out as early as fourth century using the writings of Saint Augustine of Hippo:

1. RIGHT INTENTION – actions should express love of God and neighbour (proper motivation)

2. JUST CAUSE (right circumstances)

3. LEGITIMATE PROCLAMATION by qualified authority (Christ was believed to authorize crusades through his chief representative on earth –the Pope)

+Pilgrimage and its historical roots Life seen as a pilgrimage

Early sites associated with Christ’s life, tombs of saints,

places sanctified by martyrdom.

Changed from being entirely devotional to become,

in part, pentinential and were prescribed as penances for sin

In 10th and 11th century pilgrims gained a recognisable status and pilgrimages to Jerusalem increased

Took vows, enjoyed official Church protection, right to hospitality, immune from arrest, tax and toll exempt.

CRUSADES WERE MORE THAN AN ARMED PILGRIMAGE but…

+Pilgrimage and crusading

Penitential nature and association with Jerusalem gave crusaders status of pilgrims

Pilgrimage terminology often used by them

Similar privileges to pilgrims

+The Vow

Every crusader took a vow as a PENANCE

Attempt to repay God the debt owed on account of sin

INDULGENCE – privilege granting remission of sins distinguished crusading from other forms of Christian warfare

Penance remained at the heart of crusading – benefiting the church was secondary

+The Purpose of Crusading

The recovery of Christian property

In defense of the Church or Christian people

Muslims had occupied Christian Lands

Muslims had imposed infidel tyranny on Christians who lived there

Crusades to East had most prestige (land sanctified by Christ himself)

+The context of Crusading

The elements that together form the idea of crusading developed from familiar aspects of 11th and 12th century European society

MAP

+Overview of Western Europe

Highly localised with poor transport links

Mediaeval allegiances tended to be with local lord, saint and church rather than emperor or pope,however;

GROWTH AND CONSOLIDATION OF CENTRAL POWER APPARENT IN SECULAR AND ECCLESIASTICAL SPHERES

Literacy was limited

Importance of religion

Violence endemic and localised warfare a constant threat (attempts at control through TRUCE OF GOD MOVEMENTS)

+Centrality of Religious Beliefs

Miracles

Terrors of the afterlife

Growth of religious observance powered by CLUNY

Financial support of lay nobility in their quest for salvation

Pilgrimage

The cult of the Saints

Relics

+Images of Hell - Autun Cathedral

+Images of Hell - Autun Cathedral CLOSE UP OF THE TYMPANUM

+Images of Hell - Conque Abbey

+Images of Hell - Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180)

+Seeking God’s Favour

Desire to atone for one’s sins was a message hammered home to Christians by Church

Stimulus to promulgation of Church’s message was the rise of the REFORM PAPACY

+THE REFORM PAPACY

Church attempting to free itself from the control of secular authorities – THE INVESTITURE CONTEST

Reforms presented as return to the old ways but were, in fact, novel.

Reforms laid out in 2 major documents – Dictatus papae and bulla Libertas ecclesiae.

Gregory VII devoted himself to reforming the Church and enhancing its status in relation to the Holy Roman Emperor and other lay rulers.

Gregory driven by the belief that the Church was founded by God to rule over all human institutions and embrace all mankind.

+THE INVESTITURE CONTROVERY

The principal conflict began in 1075 between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor

The Papacy gained the upper hand.

+TRUCE AND PEACE OF GOD

One of the ways that the Church attempted to Christianize and pacify the feudal structures of society through non-violent means

The Peace of God or Pax Dei was a proclamation issued by local clergy that granted immunity from violence to noncombatants who could not defend themselves. A limited Pax Dei was decreed at the Synod of Charroux in 989 and spread to most of western Europe over the next century.

The Truce of God or Treuga Dei extended the Peace of God by setting aside certain days of the year when violence was not allowed. Where the Peace of God prohibited violence against the Church and the poor, the Truce was more focused on preventing violence between Christians, specifically between knights. It became a convention among the seignours of Roussillon and Catalonia and was first proclaimed in 1027 at the Council of Toulouge. ( presided over by Oliba, Bishop of Vic)

An initial ban on fighting on Sundays and Holy Days was extended to include all of Lent and even every Friday.

+Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of around 800 years during which Christian Kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the peninsula from Muslim control. The Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom (711AD) extended over most of the peninsula. However, by the 13th century all that remained was the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada which was conquered in 1492

+RECONQUISTA

+Fragmentation and Division:Western Christendom divided

Limitations of the Capetians and their rule

Power of the dukes of Normandy, Aquitaine and the Count of Toulouse

German Empire

INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY

Papal Lands

1054 SCHISM

+The Islamic World:MUSLIM CONQUESTS

+BYZANTINE LANDS

+The Byzantine Empire

The Battle of Manzikert – resulted in the loss of most of Asia Minor and weakened the Byzantine Empire

ALEXIUS COMNENSUS – Emperor who eventually restored order in the empire.

+APPEAL TO THE WEST

ALEXIUS COMNENSUS

As early as 1090, Alexius had taken reconciliatory measures towards the Papacy, with the intention of seeking western support against the Seljuks.

In 1095 his ambassadors appeared before Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza.

The help which he wanted from the West was simply mercenary forces and not the immense hosts which arrived.

+URBAN II’S SPEECH

To liberate Christians

To liberate a place: Jerusalem

By making Jerusalem the goal, Urban gave the crusade the character of a pilgrimage and a just cause

Need for vengeance familiar to nobles of feud-ridden society

Asking for immense commitment

Effectiveness of appeal evinced by scale of the response

Individual motives impossible to ascertain but secular motives played a role as well – land, booty, profit, curiosity, membership of noble household, etc

+A Penitential Act

Urban laid great emphasis on crusading as a penitential act

PENANCE is arguably at the heart of the idea of crusading

INDULGENCE opened a new path to salvation for the layman

Pope Urban fitted the skills and aspirations of the knightly classes to the idea of crusading

+Putting things together

Rejuvenated papacy

Layman’s need to atone

Ecclesiastical direction of violence through Peace of God

Ties between lay nobility and Church

Expanding Catholic Europe with conquests in Iberia, Eastern Europe, southern Italy and Sicily

Important INNOVATION in the way for layman to attain salvation

+Towards a definition of Crusade

Adaptable and sophisticated concept that developed over time

Geographically flexible concept but key ideas and rewards defined to all by the time of the Second Crusade

Gulf between ideology of theologians and forces that move ordinary people (Helps explain why Church found it difficult in fully controlling the passions it aroused)

Importance of the spiritual motivation of crusaders and its roots in 11th century society

Connection between local nobility with their religious drive and ecclesiastical institutions ( crusading traditions in families)

Supranational ethos key element although in some respects, a Frankish enterprise

Theatres outside Levant important but lacking same prestige as Jerusalem

+Working Definition(s):

Pluralist view: AN EXPEDITION AUTHORISED BY THE POPE ON CHRIST’S BEHALF, IN WHICH THE LEADING PARTICIPANTS TOOK VOWS AND CONSEQUENTLY ENJOYED THE PRIVILEGES OF CHURCH PROTECTION AND THE INDULGENCE. – Motivation of the crusaders was predominantly, if not exclusively religious.

Alternative: A HOLY WAR IN THE FORM OF AN ARMED PILGRIMAGE IN WHICH THE LIBERATION OF THE HOLY LAND WAS THE MAJOR FOCUS. – Motivation of the crusaders was mixed and included materialist and chivalric goals.

+The Appeal of the First Crusade

The crusade appealed to people from every level of society across Christian Europe –‘God Wills it’

Urban II speech provoked huge reaction

Drew together key concerns and trends in 11th Century society

Prominence of SPIRITUAL ISSUES in intensely religious age

- Saint’s cults, feast days, monastic life, PILGRIMAGE

- Need for atonement of sin in violent society

+Routes followed to the Holy Land

+A different type of Crusader

The caped Crusaders: