All Economic Motivations Flashcards
(14 cards)
What were the economic motivations of the People’s Crusade (1096)?
• Response to widespread poverty and famine across Europe—especially in the Rhineland and northern France during the 1090s.
• The East was portrayed as a land of abundance.
• Peasants were motivated by hope of escaping serfdom, debt, and scarcity.
• Looting en route: towns in Hungary and the Balkans were plundered by crusaders, including fellow Christians—money, food, and livestock were taken.
• Anti-Jewish pogroms in Spring 1096: led by Emicho of Leiningen in Mainz, Worms, and Cologne; massacres of Jewish communities; property was seized.
What were the limitations of the People’s Crusade (1096)?
• No organized reward system or noble leadership.
• Many believed in divine provision (miraculous feeding and protection).
• Disastrous outcome: nearly all participants were killed at Civetot in October 1096 by the Seljuks.
• Expectations of land, wealth, or prosperity were entirely unfulfilled.
What were the economic motivations of the First Crusade (1095–1099)?
• Pope Urban II’s preaching at Clermont (1095) emphasized spiritual rewards, but crusaders believed the East was a “land flowing with milk and honey.”
• Promise of land, titles, and wealth: especially attractive to younger sons excluded from inheritance due to primogeniture.
• Leaders like Bohemond of Taranto and Baldwin of Boulogne clearly intended to establish territorial lordships.
• Looting and tribute: towns in Anatolia and Syria were looted; tribute was extracted; valuable cities seized.
• Massive booty at Antioch (1098) and Jerusalem (1099): precious metals, livestock, silks, relics.
• Tancred, Raymond, and Bohemond competed for control of Antioch’s wealth.
• Genoa and Pisa contributed naval fleets at Latakia and Antioch.
• Later rewarded with merchant quarters in captured cities.
• Trade prospects expanded through port cities under Frankish rule (e.g., Latakia, Jaffa, Acre).
• Participation boosted noble reputation and brought political clout, marriage prospects, and land grants back home.
What were the limitations of the First Crusade (1095–1099)?
• Many crusaders sold or mortgaged estates—indicating either piety or poor economic foresight.
• Jonathan Riley-Smith: the average crusader spent 4–5 times their annual income.
• Leaders like Robert of Normandy, Stephen of Blois, and Godfrey of Bouillon did not establish permanent lordships (Godfrey ruled Jerusalem briefly and modestly).
• Disputes over territory: e.g., Bohemond and Raymond of Toulouse over Antioch.
• Oaths to return land to Byzantium were ignored.
• No structured economic system or trade infrastructure yet created—those developed post-1100.
What were the economic motivations of Bohemond’s Crusade (1108)?
• Bohemond returned to Europe in 1105–1107 to recruit under the guise of a holy war.
• Actual goal: attack Byzantium and expand his power in the Balkans.
• Offered participants wealth and territory in Dyrrhachium and Thessaly.
• Crusade framed as continuation of holy war.
• Participants believed it would be easier plunder than Syria.
• Bohemond secured papal endorsement by falsely promising not to attack Christians.
• Participants received indulgences and legal protections.
What were the limitations of Bohemond’s Crusade (1108)?
• Defeated at Dyrrhachium.
• Forced to sign the Treaty of Devol: became a vassal to Byzantium.
• Economic ambitions were unfulfilled.
• Crusading rhetoric was deceptive, damaging crusade credibility.
• Participants gained no land or plunder; many returned impoverished.
What were the economic motivations of the Crusade of 1101?
• Nobles like Stephen of Blois and Hugh of Vermandois returned out of shame—seeking redemption via conquest.
• First Crusade success led to belief in abundant land and loot in the East.
• New Crusader States like Edessa and Antioch created hope for new fiefs.
• Genoese ships supported the expedition—aimed to secure commercial rights and trade links.
What were the limitations of the Crusade of 1101?
• Most forces defeated at Mersivan and Heraclea (1101).
• Few reached Outremer.
• Framed as penance; papal rhetoric did not stress material reward.
• No major victories; no spoils or land grants possible.
What were the economic motivations of the Norwegian Crusade (1110)?
• Led by King Sigurd I.
• Followed Norse naval raiding traditions.
• Raided Muslim-held ports in Galicia, Portugal, and the Balearics—took gold, livestock, weapons.
• In Jerusalem, Sigurd gave his fleet to King Baldwin I.
• Likely received gifts, relics, and diplomatic honors.
• Crusade elevated Sigurd’s status in Europe—returned with relics of the True Cross.
What were the limitations of the Norwegian Crusade (1110)?
• No territorial aims in Outremer.
• Primarily a religious pilgrimage.
• Material gains were secondary.
• Norway did not maintain a commercial or political presence in the East.
What were the economic motivations of the Venetian Crusade (1120–1124)?
• Venice agreed to aid Baldwin II at the Siege of Tyre (1124).
• In return, received extensive commercial privileges: tax exemptions, merchant quarters, property rights.
• Entire campaign organized to expand Venice’s Mediterranean trade network.
• Early example of state-led, profit-driven crusading.
• Inspired by Genoa and Pisa’s economic benefits from the First Crusade.
What were the limitations of the Venetian Crusade (1120–1124)?
• Materialism undermined spiritual reputation.
• Chroniclers noted Venice’s obsession with contracts and privileges.
• No land campaign or pilgrimage—Venice contributed ships, not a crusading army.
• Clerical concern over profit-led crusading foreshadowed tensions in the Fourth Crusade.
What were the economic motivations of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204)?
• Venice, under Doge Enrico Dandolo, agreed to transport 33,500 crusaders for a fee of 85,000 marks.
• Only 12,000 crusaders arrived, leaving a debt.
• Venice used the unpaid debt to control the expedition.
• Diverted crusade to sack Zara (1202)—a Christian rival and former Venetian possession.
• Constantinople, one of the richest cities in the medieval world, was the next target.
• Venetians and crusaders looted churches, palaces, libraries.
• Took Horses of St. Mark, tons of gold, silver, and jewels.
• Partitio Romaniae: agreed division of Byzantine Empire.
• Venice took Crete, Euboea, parts of Constantinople, Aegean islands, and vital port cities.
• Focused on maritime and economic dominance; Latin princes received inland fiefs like the Kingdom of Thessalonica.
What were the limitations of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204)?
• Never reached the Holy Land—original goal to reclaim Jerusalem was abandoned.
• Pope Innocent III excommunicated crusaders after Zara, later absolved them.
• Attack on Constantinople deepened the East–West schism.
• Wealth gained was short-term; the Latin Empire (1204–1261) was fragile.
• Byzantine successor states (Nicaea, Epirus, Trebizond) surrounded it.
• Constantinople was retaken by Byzantines in 1261.
• No permanent Christian gains in the East.
