Church
Reform
and the
Crusades
The Age of Faith
• A new age of religious feeling beginning in
the 900s
• Problems in the Church
– Some priests nearly illiterate, some popes were
of questionable morals, some bishops more
interested in roles as feudal lords
– Three main problems
• Many priests were married with families (against
Church rulings)
• Bishops sold positions within church (simony)
• Kings appointing bishops
Reform and Church Organization
• Popes enforced Church laws against
marriage and simony
• Church restructured to resemble a kingdom,
with pope as head
• Pope formed Curia to develop canon law
and act as a court
• Used some money from tithes to provide
social services, including hospitals
New Religious Orders
• Early 1200s, friars began travelling to
preach to the poor
• New orders were formed
– Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines
• Women joined orders
– Worked to help the sick and poor
Cathedrals – Cities of God
Larger churches; built in cities
Decorated richly
New style of architecture arose – Gothic
Unlike earlier churches which were heavy
and dark, Gothic cathedrals reached upward
(to heaven) with huge stained-glass
windows
• Meant to inspire the worshiper with the
magnificence of God
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The Crusades
• 1093 – Muslim Turks threatening to attack
the Holy Land
• Pope Urban II calls for a holy war, or
Crusade, to gain control of the Holy Land
• Over the next 300 years, numerous
Crusades were launched
Goals of the Crusades
• Economic, social, political, and religious goals
– Stop Muslim attacks on Constantinople
– Reclaim the Holy Land and reunite Eastern and
Western Christendom
– Get rid of knights who were constantly fighting
each other, which threatened peace in the kingdoms
– Younger sons, who couldn’t inherit their fathers’
lands, sought land, a position in society, or
adventure
– Merchants hoped to gain key trade routes to India,
Southeast Asia, and China from Muslim traders
First Crusade
• Huge turnout of volunteers
– Pope said those who died on a Crusade were
assured of a place in heaven
• 1097, three armies of Crusaders gathered
outside Constantinople
– Not prepared – didn’t know the climate, geography,
or culture of the Holy Land
– No particular strategy to capture Jerusalem
– Nobles fought among themselves
• An army of 12,000 (only 1/4th of original size
captured Jerusalem in 1099
Second Crusade
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1144 – Muslim Turks recapture Holy Land
Second Crusade launched to retake it
Crusaders were defeated
Jerusalem fell to Muslim leader, Saladin
Third Crusade
• Third Crusade to capture Jerusalem was led
by Richard the Lion-Hearted , king of
England
• Like Saladin, he was a brilliant warrior
• After many battles, both agreed to a truce
– Jerusalem remained under Muslim control
– Saladin promised that unarmed Christian
pilgrims could freely visit the city’s holy places
The Crusading Spirit Dwindles
• 1204 – Fourth Crusade fails; instead knights
looted city of Constantinople
• 1200s – four more crusades all fail to recapture
Holy Land
• Religious spirit of Crusades faded
• The Children’s Crusade
– 1212 – 50,000 unarmed children set out to conquer
Jerusalem
– Most died of starvation, drowning, cold, or were
sold into slavery
A Spanish Crusade
• Muslims, called Moors, controlled most of
Spain until the 1100s
• The Reconquista was a long effort by the
Spanish to drive the Muslims out of Spain
• Finally accomplished in 1492 by Ferdinand
and Isabella, the Spanish monarchs
The Inquisition
• Purpose was to unify Spain under Christianity
and increase the power of Ferdinand and
Isabella
• Inquisition was a court held by Church to get
rid of heretics, people who held beliefs that
differed from Church teachings
• Many Jews and Muslims converted to
Christianity
• Suspected heretics were tortured; if they
confessed, they were burned at the stake
• 1492 – all practicing Jews and Muslims were
expelled from Spain
Effects of the Crusades
• Trade expanded between Europe and
Southeast Asia
– Included spices, fruit, and cloth
– Benefitted both Christians and Muslims
• Failure of Crusades lessened power of popes
• Weakened feudal nobility and increased power
of kings
• Thousands of knights and others died
• Left a legacy of hatred between Christians and
Muslims in the Holy Land
• Led to increased persecution of Jews in Europe