The final cause of the crusaders was “to see and preserve the Holy Land” (p. 238). Rodney Start writes, “The Templars remained focused on their basic mission to defend the Holy Land” (p. 18). Crusaders wanted to prevent the destruction of the monuments to the Lord, such as His birth place and the place of His resurrection, and wanted to protect the pilgrims who wish to visit the monuments to the Lord. Sadly, neither the monuments nor the visitors were safe. In 1120
a Norse traveler described how the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem “was very dangerous. On that road not only the poor and the weak, but even the rich and the strong are in danger” (p. 173). Therefore, Catholic crusaders were the best and the brightest of their time, because the Catholic crusaders defended the monuments of the Lord and protected visitors to the Holy Land.The material cause of Catholic crusaders were the “faithful soldiers of Christ” (p. 2). Medieval crusaders were also known as “God’s battalions” (p. 161), “warrior monks” (p. 174), “knightly monks” (p. 175) and “Christian knights” (p. 227).
The crusaders were unique, because the crusaders were strategic and prepared. Stark writes, “[T]he superior culture and technology… made it possible for European knights… to march more than twenty-five hundred miles, to suffer great losses along the way, and then to rout far larger Muslim forces” (p. 9 and 76). The warrior monks “were among the best and the brightest of their time” (p. 139). As a result, “Man for man, the Turks were no match for the well-armed westerners on open ground” (p. 144). Therefore, the Catholic crusaders were “the best and the brightest of their time” (p. 139), because crusaders were strategic in their preparations and superior to their adversaries.
Crusaders obeyed the Person with supreme authority: the Lord. On June 11, 1098, a priest reported that “Christ had appeared to him during the night and promised divine aid to the crusaders.” As a result, brave knights were inspired by a rule: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (152, 176)
Crusaders prepared to defend the Holy Land by developing combat skills. “The knight spent most of his time in practicing with his arms or actually fighting. Dull periods of peace were largely devoted to hunting on horseback such savage animals as the wild boar.” On July 8, 1099, the crusaders prepared for battle in a Catholic way: by making a procession. “The procession began: bishops, clergy, princes, knights, foot soldiers, and noncombatants marched barefoot around the city. Residents… crowded the walls to mock them but ‘they gloried in such mockery.’” (106, 157)
Crusaders received the assistance from the saints in heaven. On June 14, 1098, a knight, Count Peter Bartholomew, “reported that Saint Andrew had appeared to him in a vision.” Further, during a battle at Antioch, the knightly monks saw “a contingent of mounted saints had descended from heaven and joined in the attack.” (152, 153)
Crusaders needed a variety of instrumental agents. A Christian monk needed “a warhorse…, one or two servants to take care of the horses, clothing, tenting, and cash to buy supplies along the way.” Once the crusaders arrived in the Holy Land, they were supported financially by visitors. “Pilgrims continued to be a major source of revenue.” As a result, “crusading was hugely expensive.” (112, 169, 240)
Crusaders were guided by the wise counsels of Roman Catholic leaders. Pope Alexander II (1015-1073) asserted that “knights who went to help” defend the Holy Land “would receive remission for their sins.” Pope Urban II (1035-1099) asserted that anyone “who went on the Crusade in the proper spirit would have their sins forgiven.” And St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) wrote, “Rejoice, brave fighter, if you live and conquer in the Lord; and exult and glory, if you die and are joined to the Lord.” The conclusions of the leaders above are strong, since they provided guidance to undisciplined fighters who needed guidance. According to Guibert of Nogent, “God instituted in our times holy wars, so that the order of knights who have been slaughtering one another might find a new way of gaining salvation.” Young fighters needed a direction and the Popes gave them both a purpose and a way to become sanctified. (46, 108, 176, 107)
Crusaders learned by induction that the Byzantines regularly supported the Muslims. For example, in 1035 “the Muslim ruler of Palermo ask[ed] for Byzantine help” and “the Byzantine emperor agreed to send forces” against the Christians. Further, all the Latin churches in the Holy Land were given to the Greek Orthodox, because “Saladin signed a treaty in 1189 with Emperor Isaac,” the Byzantine leader. Further, in 1189 “the Byzantine emperor Isaac entered a mutual defense treaty with Saladin… against all Western forces.” Further, “Greek Orthodox bishops… favored Saladin out of hatred for Latin Christians.” Further, in 1203 the Byzantine “priests and upper classes hated the Latins and held them in contempt.” As a result, in order to protect the monuments and visitors in the Holy Land, Christ’s knights had to battle with both the Byzantines and the Muslims. (48, 198, 204, 205, 215, 176)
History shows that crusaders saw themselves as obedient to the Lord. In 1099 “Godfrey refused to be crowned king [of Jerusalem] on grounds that he could not wear a crown of gold where Christ had worn a crown of thorns.” (164)
Crusaders were analogous to monks and male members of religious orders, such as Benedictines and Carthusians. The knightly monk had the “moral equivalence of serving in a monastic order,” because he secured a “special holiness and certainty of salvation.” The Crusaders were monks that fought to defend the Holy Land. (107)
Crusaders were motivated by the love of the Lord to preserve the Holy Land. For example, in the year 1050 “forty Normans… achieved a miraculous victory” over the Saracens in Salerno. “They swore they had done all this only for the love of God.” (106)
Crusaders experienced a variety of feelings. Because they loved God and desired to preserve the Lord’s monuments in the Holy Land, crusaders became sad in 1098 when they discovered that Alexius (1048-1118), the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, did not support their goal of preserving the Holy Land. As a result, the crusaders “were left in the direst need” and lacked supplies. Further, the crusaders became sad in 1268 when the “Muslim enemy destroyed the place where they celebrate Mass, cut the throats of monks, priest and deacons upon the altars and enslaved the royal princes.” Further, crusaders felt despair when observing the destruction of the Lord’s monuments by the Saracen enemy. As a result, a Christian knight wrote, “My heart is fo full of grief… For neither the cross nor my faith protects and guides against the cursed Turks. Thus, he is mad who seeks to fight the Turks since Jesus Christs does not deny them anything.” Further, crusaders became courageous. In 1264 “270 Hospitallers fought with superb courage.” (149, 232, 241, 230)
The percentage of crusaders who died while serving as a faithful soldier of Christ was high. In 1097 “88% of the original crusaders had been lost.” And “almost twenty thousand Templars (knights and sergeants) died in combat” from 1050 to 1250. (138, 177)
I shall now use my freedom to review the investigation above. Hmm… I shall now use my freedom to choose two reasons above as the most interesting. I have decided that I prefer the final cause and the motive. I shall now use my freedom to make a command. The medieval crusaders were “the best and the brightest of their time” (p. 139), because the crusaders wished to preserve the Holy Land and to protect the Lord’s monuments from destruction, and because the crusaders were motivated by love for the Lord. And yes, everyone who loves the Lord and wishes to protect both His monuments is “the best and the brightest of their time” (p. 139).
The common objection is to assert that the crusaders did not have superior culture and technology. The response to the common objection is to assert that even the Arabs in the tenth century acknowledged the superior culture and technology of the Christians. In the major Saracen cities, such as Nisibus and Jundishapur, Nestorian Christians "acquired a reputation with the Arabs for being excellent accountants, architects, astrologers, bankers, doctors, merchants, philosophers, scientists, scribes and teachers." (60)
Final remarks. Since the Lord protects each person as our Good Shepherd, the least we can do is protect the place where He was born, died and rose again.
© By Theodore Faulders, February 14, 2020.