![]() ![]() ![]() The most obvious event depicting faith as a big strength of the First Crusade is the siege of Antioch. ![]() Where unbelieving armies would have fled, the crusaders often managed to hold the line and to face their enemies in the hope of support by God 7. The afore-mentioned courage gained by faith was, sensibly used, a big strength of the Christian army. However, the First Crusade was completely different. Basically, blind faith combined with poor equipment and bad preparation was it, what led to the defeat of the People´s Crusade. If it had not been for such wise and sensible men like Bishop Adhémar of Le Puy and the princes, this kind of mentality could also have been a weakness of the movement. An army like this, believing in supernatural support, would also possess the courage to face an enemy whose army is way superior in number. One should not underestimate the power of such kind of thinking. This means that the crusaders´ confidence in God´s support grew with every victory. In the used primary sources, Fulcher of Chartres and the anonymous author of the Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum nearly always ascribe a military victory or a strange natural phenomenon to God 6. As they believed to fight in God´s name, they were expecting all kind of support and miracles by God. They were united by a common goal, the release of Jerusalem from the heathens.įurther, the crusaders´ faith in the triune God had a huge effect on their morale and also on their behaviour in battle. Where an atheist army probably would have given up, the Christians endured the immense exertions and were ready to give their lives for the achievement of God ´s mission.Īdditionally, this kind of believe in doing the right thing made people from totally different social and cultural backgrounds work together and led to solidarity among each other 5. This can be seen in the author of the Gesta citing Acts 9:16, “you must suffer many things for my name”, to stress the crusaders´ willingness to suffer for God´s glory 4. Their faith and their hope in the Lord´s support was it, that made them stronger and more resistant than any atheist army of that time could have been. By wearing the cross, people felt protected and supported by heaven´s power 3. They truly felt themselves as tools for the fulfilment of “God´s will 1 ” and as “soldiers of Christ 2 ”. Without a doubt, one of the most obvious strengths of the crusaders was their faith. The aim of this paper is to analyse and to critically discuss the strengths which enabled the crusaders to succeed in the troublesome recapture of Jerusalem, and the weaknesses of this expedition, which nearly led to the failure of the holy mission. Despite enormous threats, dangers and logistic problems, the Christian army finally succeeded. with the goal to reconquer the Holy Sepulchre and Jerusalem, the holy city, for Christianity. was a military expedition initiated by Pope Urban II. ![]()
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