When The Crusaders Return To Western Europe example essay topic

THE CRUSADES Many great civilizations went into a depression after they had their golden age. One of these civilizations was the Western Europe civilization. After the fall of Rome the Western Europe civilization went into the dark ages while Eastern Europe called the Byzantine Empire prospered. Western Europe was brought out of the dark ages by the crusades. The crusades were the one thing that brought Western Europe out of the crusades After Rome fell Western Europe had lost their civilization. All they did all day was work and pray.

They did not enjoy any of the pleasures of life. The people of Western Europe needed protection from Germanic tribes that would take their crops and attack people. The people of Western Europe could not do any thing about this because they had no central iz 4 ed government to protect them. This led to the institution of feudalism in Western Europe. The feudal system of Western Europe took the place of the centralized government in Western Europe.

The basis of the feudal system is protection for work. So all people did was work and pray. During this time the Roman Catholic Church took over Western Europe. It took over Western Europe because people did not have much to live for so they wanted to be in paradise when they died. The thought of being in paradise when you die caught the attention of the people of Western Europe.

So most people became catholic. When people heard the Muslims took the city of Jerusalem the people of Western Europe were mad. After the siege of Jerusalem by the Muslims the pope Innocent announces an all out assault on the Muslims. Gregory De Villehardouin wrote" Those who took the cross will help defend it " When the people of Western Europe heard about the attack on the Muslims the left the manors and went to fight the crusades.

The serfs and nobles went to fight the crusades. The serfs were promised freedom if the fought and survived the crusades. When they passed though the city of Byzantium and the Muslim Empire they saw goods they have never seen before. Some of these goods were silk, spices, and salts.

Gregory VII wrote" many Christians came upon Constantinople with open eyes" When they got to Jerusalem they fought the crusades. The crusades lasted for many years. There was not only one crusade there was about seven crusades. The crusaders only won the first crusades and after the last crusades they thought it was hopeless and abounded fighting the crusades. Nicetas Choniates account of the battle field after the crusades was " Many nobles lay dead the must have been over 12,000 lifeless bodies on the field" When the crusaders return to Western Europe not much had changed. But now the serfs had there freedom and almost all the nobles lay dead.

When the people of Western Europe saw these goods they were amazed. They had never seen these goods in there life and soon became accustomed to them. Because of the high demand for these new products many people began trading with the Muslim Empire. Now with the trading people began to move into cities again and to created shops. With specialized workers {which is one of the elements of civilizations} civilization began to return to Western Europe. With the freedom of the serfs a new class was created.

That new class was the middle class. The middle class were the specialized workers in the town. With trade established with the Muslim Empire and towns rising again Western Europe came over the renaissance. With the renaissance in place in Western Europe people gave up praying all day and focused on enjoying life while they live it. The phrase that best describes this is Carpe MI Diem. Which means seize the day.

A lot of intelligent people began to show up like Leonardo Devin chi and Galileo. Leonardo was a painter and Galileo was a scientist. Leonardo's most famous painting was the Mona Lisa. During the renaissance painting were in proportion unlike the pain things done in the Middle Ages that were not in proportion. Also now painting not only had a sacred theme but also instead had a worldly theme. IN the renaissance new ideas about science were made.

Scientist used the scientific method to prove old theories. One theory that proved to be wrong was the geocentric model, which said the earth was the center of the universe. The renaissance also led to the rebirth of the Greco -Roman culture. The columns from the Greco-Roman culture were used on many building. Trade also grew and explores started to look for new and faster ways to get to the Indies. These new explorations led to the formation of colonies in the New World all of this was brought about by the crusades.

All great civilization had a depression after their golden age. They were brought out of the depression by the crusades. That proves the crusades were the one thing that brought Western out of the dark ages.

Bibliography

1. De Villehardouin, Geoffrey. Chronicles of the crusades and conquest of Constantinople. online. web Coni ates, Nicetas. The sack of Constantinople. Online. web. html 3. R. Law head, Stephen. The Iron Lance vol. 1. Incorporated. March 2000 Gabriel i, Francesco.
Arab historian of the crusades. Barnes and noble. Dec. 1989.