Economic Motives for Crusading Flashcards
(14 cards)
what were the 4 main economic motives for crusading?
- Greed
- Poor Conditions in Europe
- Primogeniture
- Papal Protection of Property
what are 2 limitations to the theory that greed was the main motivation for crusading in the first crusade?
- Greed cannot have been the dominant motive as, for most participants, the expedition was utterly terrifying and cripplingly expensive; most had to face virtual bankruptcy
- recent estimates (J. Riley Smith) suggest that, for the average knight to meet the costs of the campaign in terms of equipment, supplies, horses, and servants, he would have to raise 5 times his annual income
what evidence is there that crusaders may have been motivated by greed, during the first crusade?
At Clermont, Urban II appears to have been aware that his audience might be attracted to the crusade by avaricious impulses
how did Urban II appear to have been aware that his audience may be attracted to the crusade by greed?
the decree describing the expedition that was recorded in the canons of the council stated ‘whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penance
why might crusaders have been motivated by greed in the first crusade?
Emperor Alexius I had previously paid western knights to fight for him on his campaigns and many of these had returned to W. Europe speaking of the wealth of Byzantium so it is not impossible that some crusaders expected to be financially rewarded by the Byzantine emperor
what is a limitation to the theory that it was poor conditions in europe that motivated people to go on the first crusade?
Many families endured major financial sacrifices to enable their kin to crusade; only a handful of crusaders actually stayed in the Levant after the expedition, and among the returning majority none came home laden with riches
why might poor conditions in europe have led people to go on the first crusade?
The appetite for materialistic gain may have been amplified by the wretched standard of living enjoy by most Latins
what events in the west, just before the first crusade, caused particularly poor living conditions?
- Sever drought afflicted much of France before 1096, leading to a series of poor harvests and spread of famine
- While the crusade was being preached, the region was hit by outbreaks of ergotism
Why might the Holy Land have been appealing to crusaders experienced poor living conditions in the West?
- The Levant was known as a ‘land flowing with milk and honey’
- Some crusaders entertained the possibility that they may settle in the Holy Land
which crusader seems to have gone on the first crusade intending to settle in the Levant?
in spite of his own Provencal power-base, Raymond of Toulouse travelled east in the company of his wife Elvira
what is a limitation to the theory that primogeniture was the main motivation for crusaders on the first crusade?
Many crusaders, like Stephen of Blois and Robert of Flanders, already had secure possession of adequate/expansive lordships
why would primogeniture have encouraged people to join the first crusade?
- Theory that the expedition was almost exclusively by land-hungry younger sons, deprived of inheritable territory in the West by the law of primogeniture
- This would have made younger sons desperately eager to establish lordships in the East
which crusaders may have been motiavted by primogeniture?
to a degree, Bohemond of Taranto was aware of the possibility that the journey to Jerusalem may furnish opportunities for the conquest of territory
why would papal protection of property have encouraged people to join the first crusade?
Urban II promised to protect the property of those who participated in the crusade and forbade anyone from adding or collecting debts from those who had taken the cross until their return
