Grant des Rosiers
Ms. Stankard
World History
June 17, 2008

The Crusades are everywhere, from movies to books to action figures. The fact that the
Crusades failed in their mission is evident through such media. What is less evident is that these
holy wars provided impressive political, social, and economic benefit to the West, many of which
continue today. This research paper will present such information on these benefits.

Today the Pope does not have an excessive amount of political power. Back in the
11thCentury, however, Pope Urban II ruled thousands of men, both physically and mentally. At
the end of his famous address at Clermont in November 1095, everyone stood and shouted \u201cGod
wills it!\u201d (Rice 16). Indeed, the first Crusade can be seen as act of Urban II\u2019s will. In response to
Urban II\u2019s encouragement, men becamewilling to die for their countries, the ultimate act of
patriotism, and their Church, the ultimate act of faith. This all happened under the command of
the Pope, recognized as a holy, rightful man. Surely, this represents an increase in papal power
(Kotker 83). This change caused all the kings and nobles of the Westto answer to the Pope. That
every man fighting in the East would then answer to a man infallible in matters of faith and
morals certainly made the massacre of Jerusalem more acceptable to the knights responsible
(Kotker 79).

treat his entire country with fairness in order to be trusted and successful(Lehmann 240). The
Crusades were a period in which numerous monarchs heeded this advice for their benefit and the
benefit of their people. A good example of this is stated by Kotker, \u201cThe saint [Bernard of
Clairvaux] offered up his own gown and cowel to be cut to provide more material . . . [to make
cloth crosses].\u201d (Bernard was a Monarch) (Kotker 83). Such a gesture inspired his people and is
evidence of a successful monarch (Kotker 83). A direct personification of the increased trust
placed in monarchs is the story of Alexius I, the Byzantine emperor during the First Crusade
(Bridge 41). Because of his peoples\u2019 trust for him, Alexius I was able to keep his subjects from
rioting without being stern even during very difficult times (West45). Indeed, his people stayed
very productive and artistic until the moment the city was destroyed (Rice 11).

One benefit from the improved leadership provided by the monarchs during the Crusades
was their consolidation of control over the numerous nobles who had ruled previously. Langer
describes this benefit as follows: \u201cA fortunate set of political transformations in Western Europe
reduced risk and uncertainty while encouraging productive investment (Langer 776). This
\u201cpolitical transformation\u201d meant the people distancing from the nobles and following more
closely the single monarch.(Langer 776). This transformation occurred in the 13thCentury, the
very time of increased freedom for the common people of Europe. This increase in freedom was
marked by the end to serfdom as discussed below. (Kotker 85).

The women of Western Europe also gained authority as a result of the Crusades. The
women of the Crusades faced a tough decision; whether to travel with their husbands or stay
home (Pernoud 109). The women who stayed home gained in authority and stature in the society
of the time because they were forced to rule in their husbands\u2019 absence. These womenwere often
left in charge of the lands and houses of their fathers and husbands. It is worth noting that the
respectable Crusaders of the Westalmost certainly would have had a house and wife of their own.

Only the poor rabble of Peter the Hermit was exempt from this description due to their lack of social and political standing (Pernoud 44). The women left in charge of their houses took on the authority of ruling and as a result had more power in society (Pernoud 110)

The Crusades also provided important social benefits in the areas of safety, freedom,
culture, navigation and medicine. In the year 1095 immediately prior to the First Crusade, the
townspeopleand serfs faced rioting in the streets led by the dangerous nobles and their knights.
Pope Urban II, granted infallibility on matters of faith and morals, jumped to take action to right
this wrong (Pernoud 39). Urban II in his famous speech discussed above called for the First
Crusade in part to remove these dangerous nobles and their knights from the West (Pernoud 40).
Thousands of these knights and nobles in fact took up Urban II\u2019s call and left for the East. This
exodus altered the lives of the common people for the better. Having these rambunctious knights
take up the cross in the East made the West safer (Langer 557). The common people traveled
and carried on their lives without fear of being kidnapped or assaulted and were therefore able to
maintain a better way of life in the West (Bridge 73).

The benefits to serfs during and after the Crusades was not limited to safety. At the time
of the Crusades, serfdom was the basis of the feudal system. Around the time the Crusades came
to an end, the reliance on serfdom also began to end. After the Crusades, the masters of the
house were in need of money due to the changed economy discussed below and the incoming
period of arts, technologies and freedom now known as the Renaissance (Bishop 322). Because
of this need for money, many nobles and merchants sold their serfs and servants their freedom
(Kotker 85). The now free serfs benefitted from their freedom, but so did Western European
society as well. These now free men picked up trades of their own and were the driving force