What were the Crusades? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Crusades were a series of military campaigns during the period of medieval England against the Muslims of the Middle East. It was an attack by Catholic Christians on Muslims to reconquer the Holy Land as in 1070 more and more Turkish nomads settled in the Byzantine Christian Empire and barred Christian pilgrims from entering. Muslims were ahead of Christian countries scientifically and culturally. Why was Jerusalem so important? Jerusalem was important to 3 religions! Each of them has an important place: Muslims, the Dome of the Rock, Jews have the Western Wall, and Christians have the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Dome of the Rock is important to Muslims since Islamic tradition says that the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven on a winged horse from this point. The Western Wall is important to Jews as it is the last remnant of the Second Temple complex and one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Finally, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is important to Christians as it marks the places where Jesus was crucified and buried. Why did people take part? There are many reasons why people joined the Crusades, however, I will delve into four of the main ones. First, people went on the Crusades because they wanted to take back Jerusalem because they thought the place where Jesus was buried and crucified was rightfully theirs. Second, some people did it for honor, revenge, or love. Third, people wanted their sins to be forgiven, to go to heaven or take back possessions from the Holy Land or they had committed a crime and were forced to go to the Church. However, some people went on crusades for fun! The recapture of Jerusalem was the main reason why the Crusades occurred. The church thought that because Jesus lived and died there, he was theirs. So the Church had to invent a new rule according to which all people for whom God told the Pope it is okay to kill or, better yet, are rewarded to kill anyone who does not believe in God (these are Muslims). This was actually not true, God never told the Pope. The Pope made it all up so that the Christians could regain control of Jerusalem. The second reason was honor, revenge and love. Christians who participated in the crusades for honor probably wanted to be known more in their village, to be more famous, or perhaps they went to fight for someone else. People who participated in the Crusades for revenge probably did so because a Muslim may have killed a relative or friend. People who went for love probably went because their wife was killed by a Muslim or a Christian and a Muslim could fight for a woman. Some Christians went on crusades because they wanted to go to heaven and shorten their time in Purgatory. They too went to make amends. Some also left because if they killed a Muslim they would be given all their possessions. To obey the Pope's call. To be forgiven for past sins. This was important to the knights who had killed many people in battle. Stealing and killing. Kings encouraged violent knights to join the crusade because it took them out of the country. To see the world, have an adventure and prove their courage. To obtain lands overseas. This was attractive to a younger son who did not want to inherit his father's lands. The servants,.