Test yourself! Take this The First Crusade Quiz | Specialized History

Answer: Pope Urban II

Pope Urban II, who reigned rom 1088 to 1099, was motivated by religious impulse to issue the call for the Crusade. It was also a major political opportunity for Urban, attracting noblemen and royalty from many countries, and asserted the role of the Church as a unifying force. At the same time as the First Crusade, the Reconquista continued in Spain.

Answer: to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims

The declared aim of the First Crusade was to recapture the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks, who were Muslims. Another aim was to reduce the threat to Byzantium. Emperor Alexius I (the Byzantine emperor at the time) appealed to Pope Urban II for aid. Another aim was to provide employment for the growing number of robber barons in Western Europe, who were becoming a conspicuous pest.

There is also the view that the stated aim of the crusade was a cover for a war of personal gain by the nobles of Western Europe.

Answer: all of these

Many younger sons wouldn't inherit any land (especially if you were 7th or 8th) and Jerusalem was a great opportunity. Many overlooked the dangers (like getting impaled on a Muslim spear) and just saw the fame, the women and the opportunities ... And on top of that, participation in the Crusades was a 'get-out-of-hell free' card. No matter what you had done in the past, the Pope said that anyone who went on Crusade went to Heaven.

Answer: True

The First Crusade was the only successful one for the Christians (among the first five). It was the only one in which they managed to capture Jerusalem. It took them about a year to capture Jerusalem, and then they lost it and spent about 200 years trying (and failing) to capture it again. Later Crusades are often not reckoned part of the main Crusades.

Answer: massacred Muslims and Jews

It's ironic. Although Crusading was supposed to be an act of religious penance, there was a huge massacre of the Muslim and Jewish residents of the city. It didn't matter whether you were a man, woman or child. Everyone was killed and in fact some Christians already in Jerusalem were ill-treated and robbed.

The Jews retreated into a synagogue which was set on fire. The Muslims went into a mosque and were slaughtered.

Answer: all of these

The Crusades also introduced Muslim tactics, although that didn't help much: The First Crusade was the only successful Crusade. After the Crusades, trade was opened between the two regions.

Answer: Robbed and massacred Jews in the Rhineland

Emicho proceeded downstream along the Rhine (in other words, away from the Holy Land). His band of thugs proceed from Speyer (12 Jews slain) to Worms (800 Jews massacred), then on to Mainz (1,100 Jews massacred) and Cologne. Then they finally set off for the Holy Land.

However, in Hungary they robbed and pillaged and were disarmed on the orders of King Koloman I, and they themselves were slaughtered or thrown out of the country.

Answer: The Reconquista

In Europe, the Reconquista was taking place in Spain. This was an effort to drive all Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula, and it was ultimately successful. Slowly but surely, the Christians moved south and regained all of the land on the Iberian Peninsula. This was finished in 1492, and the Age of Exploration began.

Answer: almost 200 years

After the First Crusade (ending in 1099) the Crusades lasted off and on for over 200 years. All of the crusades were unsuccessful except for the first, but after the third (with Richard Lionheart) negotiations allowed unarmed Christians to enter the holy city. Crusading became a bandwagon for all kinds of military adventures.

Answer: "God wills it!"

Many peasants and knights plunged into battle (hopefully heroic and victorious) yelling, "God wills it!" - the battle cry of the Christians. Even though, while saying that, they were really not accomplishing anything, because the Muslims and Jews believe in the same God that the Christians believe in.

(By the way, "Live free or die" is the New Hampshire state motto, and although many people probably screamed, that wasn't the "official" battle cry.)