Album Review: The Joshua Tree, by U2

Music possesses the delightful ability to mingle sounds and voices in a blatantly cathartic way. In the history of music, very few bands or musicians have really dedicated themselves to the mysterious sway of art that exploits the abundant resource of creativity to convey a profound message to an audience. U2 has spoken repeatedly to our hearts, but never with the honesty and genuineness of ‘The Joshua Tree’.

Released in 1987, the fifth album of U2 seduces the masses on its own terms. Striking a healthy equilibrium between the extravagance of ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ of 1984 and the rebellious rock of their early years, ‘The Joshua Tree’ sets a more refined direction with synth orchestrations and lamenting harmonica that create an almost psychedelic atmosphere.

The aggressive rock of ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’, the jingle vibes of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and the emotion of ‘With Or Without You’, all are romantic affirmations of the sincere emotionality of the album.

Then, things get gloomier. ‘Running to Stand Still’ is an archetypal blues dream anchored with the ethereal sound of harmonica; ‘One Tree Hill’ is a charming, memorable blessing on a U2 crew member, who passed away in a motorcycle accident; the blissful punk-blues of ‘Trip Through Your Wires’ echoes the enticement by the Evil.

Then things get political. ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’ echoes the wrath and tragedy of the right-wing intervention in El Salvador; ‘Red Hill Mining Town’ is a reference to the failure of the UK miners’ strike in 1984; ‘Mothers Of The Disappeared’ builds a scenery around isolated images of loss referring to the Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo in Argentina.

By waving the flag of morality, love, desire and resentment, ‘The Joshua Tree’ represents rock in its most spiritual form. Standing up to its name like a rocky tree that grows up to the American Southwest desert, it bears an intrinsic spirituality that shows the way to the Promised Land, surviving with resilience while threatened by social and political despair.

In the setting of blazing hopes, pointless violence and suffering, U2 produce an album that is full of empathy and serene. With a unique atmosphere that is the result of the cooperation of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois in the album’s production, ‘The Joshua Tree’ is, in effect, the album that influenced the course of U2 by mingling all their trademarks in an inexorable swap of roaring anthems and silky tunes.

In 1987, ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ ranked #13 in The Billboard Hot 100 charts and #11 in Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks. ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ ranked #1 in The Billboard Hot 100 charts and #2 in Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks. ‘With Or Without You’ ranked #1 in The Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks. Without making too much noise, the harmonious toughness of ‘The Joshua Tree’ makes it one of the best albums of the 80s. The album reached #26 in Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums of all time having sold 25 million copies globally.

The Battle of Hattin as a turning point in the history of the Crusades

The Battle of Hattin (July 4, 1187) was the utmost disaster that the crusader states had ever seen. The campaign that, ultimately, led to the Battle, was not the worst invasion that the crusaders had ever faced, but it came at a time they were particularly divided and demoralized.

Since 1183, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was under Saladin’s rule, surrounded by Muslim territories. After Saladin’s defeat at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177, a nervous armistice existed between the two sides. However, with Raynald’s attacks on Muslim caravans in Oultrejordain, the truce was broken.

In 1186, after King Baldwin V’s death, Guy of Lusignan became King of Jerusalem. However, Guy received the throne due to the support of his wife, Sibylla. Otherwise, the new King of Jerusalem was highly unpopular because, in 1184, he had attacked a tribe of Bedouin shepherds massacring them for grazing their flock on Christian territory.

Under these conditions, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was divided between the supporters of Guy of Lusignan and his enemies, who were the Knights Templar and other noblemen, all led by Raymond III of Tripoli.

When Guy of Lusignan became King of Jerusalem, Raymond agreed on a new ceasefire with Saladin. In 1187, he allowed Saladin to send mercenaries into the northern side of the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the tension between Raymond and Guy had grown to a great extent, particularly after Guy’s wish to besiege the fortress Tiberias in the Jordan River Valley that was owned by Raymond. Hence, while Saladin was sending his army to Jerusalem, an embassy was sent to settle the situation between Guy and Raymond. Yet, the embassy was defeated at the Battle of Cresson and Raymond, filled with guilt, decided to make amends with Guy, assembled his armed forces and headed north to meet Saladin.

On July 4, 1187, Saladin attacked Tiberias. The crusaders made an attempt to aid the captured city, but the roads were blocked, so they had to wait on a highland near Hattin. Because of its geographic feature that resembled a double hill, the Battle of Hattin is also known as the ‘The Horns of Hattin’. Saladin’s forces, acting quickly, surrounded the Christian forces, cut off the water supplies of the crusaders and attacked.

In the Battle of Hattin, the crusader army was shattered. Most of the crusaders were killed, while it is estimated that nearly 3,000 Christians escaped death. Raymond III was the only leader that escaped, while King Guy of Lusignan was captured. Saladin’s forces captured Guy’s royal tent and the True Cross.

On July 5, Saladin journeyed to Tiberias and took over the fortress from Raymond III’s wife, Countess Eschiva, who was allowed to leave for Tripoli with all her possessions and family. Raymond III died later in 1187 of pleurisy.

On July 6, Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller were granted the opportunity to be converted to Islam. Those who accepted honored Islam and became religious Muslims.

Guy of Lusignan was transferred to Damascus as a prisoner.

After such a disastrous battle, the crusader states could not survive. As a direct result of their defeat at Hattin, Muslim forces had become the dominant military power in the Holy Land. The Christian forces had lost so many soldiers and Saladin had captured more territories, including Acre, Jaffa, Beirut, and Jerusalem (October 2, 1187). The news of the devastating defeat was brought to Pope Gregory VIII by Archbishop of Tyre, Joscius.

Upon learning the news, Pope Gregory VIII preached the Third Crusade (1189–1192), which however was another failure. Apparently, the defeat at the Battle of Hattin had lastingly turned the momentum against the crusaders.

The lasting effects of the Crusades

The Crusades kept all Europe in turmoil for two centuries (1095-1291). Aiming to regain control of Jerusalem from the Muslims and to impede the expansion of Seljuk Turks into Anatolia, Christian Western Europe engaged into a series of military campaigns that cost Christendom millions of lives. Interestingly enough, despite the war, suffering, disorder and crime, the Crusades contributed immensely in the history of the progress of civilization in Europe. At the same time, they greatly affected the Arab world. For many, the effects of Crusades on the Arab world are still visible today.

In particular, the effects of the Crusades are said to have an influence on:

> Increased trade and economy in Europe

One of the most important effects of the Crusades was the increased trade and economy. During the Crusades, many Crusaders were fascinated by the luxury goods they found in the Middle East and took them back home as soon as the Crusades ended. European merchants and traders decided to travel to Middle East and trade tea, coffee, sugar, spices, silk, cotton, tobacco, and porcelain, among other goods. This created the need for the establishment of many port cities throughout Europe. Over time, European economy got stronger and stabilized, shifting from a barter economy to a money economy as more and more people were improving their living standards and becoming wealthy. As the European middle class acquired immense power, the need for a structured banking system appeared. Thus, with the institution of the first banks, the economy flourished, the food production increased and the European population grew even further. This led to an increased demand for homes and shelters, which eventually led to the establishment of new towns and cities.

Moreover, in the process of trade, Africa was circumnavigated, Asia was more elaborately mapped, and the Pacific Ocean, the Americas, and Australia were discovered. In this context, the Crusades were influential to create new opportunities in the modern world.

> Decline of Feudalism in Europe

The establishment of money economy in Europe caused an indirect undermining of feudalism. Kings, barons and knights were forced to sell their properties in order to raise funds for the Crusades. Many of them engaged in private warfare, a common practice during the Middle Ages, but declined in influence and feudal lords. Feudalism began to plunge into debt, which along the growth of the royal authority, inevitably led to the release of the peasants who were wealthy and could support the system. Little by little, along with the increase of trade, people were free and did not need the support of kings to survive, neither the land of a lord to live in because they could buy their own land. All these social changes forced kings to build armies and to dismiss knights. Through the stabilization of societies, people became more independent and opened their eyes to new cultures. In the later years, this led to the thriving period in European history known as the Renaissance.

> Increased wealth of the Catholic Church

Without any doubt, the wealth of the Catholic Church and the power of the Papacy experienced a vast increase because of the Crusades. The role of the Popes became more prominent allowing their involvement in the enterprises, armies and resources of Christendom. The Papacy’s authority and influence was naturally fostered by their social and intellectual involvement to the public life, which accustomed the people to consider Popes as guides and leaders. Moreover, as the kings, barons and knights who were ready to go on the expeditions were selling their land to the church, the wealth of the churches and monasteries increased tremendously. People viewed at the Catholic Church as an asylum to boost their broken spirit and regain their health. Besides, the religious fervor that characterized the period even before the Crusades amplified even further the power of the Catholic Church.

> Intellectual development in Europe

The intellectual development of Europe cannot but be attributed to the influence of the Crusades. The cultural horizons of many Europeans were liberalized widely as a result of their encounter with other cultures, more enlightened than the Western civilization at that time. By traveling in strange lands and meeting new people, the Crusaders stumbled upon great cities, picturesque villages, imposing castles, marble palaces, splendid dresses, and elegant manners; they brought home broader ideas and they learned to be more tolerant with other cultures. Moreover, the Crusaders led to a great stimulus of the Latin intellect. The influence of Arab texts and translations of classical Greek and Roman literature led to the great intellectual explosion that became known as the Revival of Learning and the period of Italian Renaissance. Also, a broader knowledge of the science ranging from art, astronomy, math, medicine and geography to papermaking technique and the refining of alcohol and sugar, helped in the mental awakening of Western Europe.

> Need for preservation of Muslim culture

Although the Crusades resulted in a great failure for the European armies, the Muslims also paid a heavy price. More than the human and material losses, the Arab world suffered also psychologically. Before the Crusaders it had been the Turks and after it had been the Mongols who had occupied Middle East. All these successive invasions made the Arabs harder against other cultures and infused in them the belief that they should preserve their culture by all means. In the following centuries, while Western Europe was creating its high civilization, the Arab world was resisting adaptation, thus putting Muslims in a disadvantageous position in the modern world. This dilemma of whether or not to modernize and conciliate with Western culture is an issue that still divides the Arab world today.

The role of women during the Crusades

During the nine Crusades that lasted over a period of 200 years (1095-1291), women and children were left at home while the crusaders took the Cross to fight against the Muslims for recapturing the Holy Land.

Before the Crusades, women would be used to running the households for as long as their husbands would serve the King, but this would not take longer than two or three weeks. However, when the Crusades were launched, it would take months to get a message to their husbands to the Holy Land, if it would get at all. Therefore, the role of women during the Crusades was immensely enhanced.

During the long absence of the crusaders, wives had to deal with any sort of problem that would arise. Sometimes, they would find themselves defending their household against another knight who was keen on taking advantage of the master’s absence. Particularly, after the Second Crusade, experienced crusaders, mostly noblemen, were hunted down thus leaving their property and wealth to be administered and protected by their wives.

The social changes that came as a result of the Crusades provided women with greater power than they originally had. In times of constant warfare, women were required to maintain the stability of their household by engaging in legal transactions, learning to farming, bringing up their children and collecting monies to overcome potential ransom. Medieval women had to be capable of administering any type of problem or adversity would show up in their way.

Unlike the women that stayed at home and took care of their households, others participated in the Crusades. The most notable story is that of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France, who escorted her husband, Louis VII, in 1147 to his journey to the Holy Land. However, Eleanor’s decision turned into something of a scandal, as rumors insisted that Eleanor was pursuing an inappropriate relationship with her uncle, the Prince of Antioch, Raymond of Poitiers. Other women that joined the Crusades accompanying their husbands were: Eleanor de Montfort (sister of Henry III of England); Marguerite of Provence (wife of Louis IX of France); and Eleanor of Castile (wife of Edward I of England).

Equally important in the Crusades were women inheritors of power in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other crusader territories. When King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem died of leprosy, his sister Sybilla succeeded him and crowned her husband, Guy of Lusignan, king, despite the fierce resistance of her family and the barons of the Kingdom. After Sybilla’s death, the Kingdom of Jerusalem passed to her younger sister, Isabella. In the principality of Antioch, Alice of Antioch preferred to marry the Muslim leader Nur al-Din rather than be married off by the King of Jerusalem.

In the East, the role of women also changed due to the Crusades. In 1099, upon the siege of Jerusalem, women and children were killed. The daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I Comnenus, and first female historian, Anna Comnena, documented the arrival of uneducated barbarians from the West, allegedly to liberate Constantinople from the threat of Seljuk Muslim invasion. Besides, in 1249, Shagrat al-Durr convinced the Egyptian Mamluk army to push Frankish Crusaders out of the coastal town of Damietta. This made her, shortly, the Sultan of Egypt.

The immediate cause of the first crusade

In 1095, Alexius Comnenus, Emperor of Byzantium, appealed to Pope Urban II for armed forces to fight against the Muslims in the territories on the Holy Land, recapture Jerusalem and impede the expansion of Seljuk Turks into Anatolia. Upon the positive reaction of the Pope, the First Crusade (1095-1099) was preached.

However, a series of interrelated events had previously shaped the landscape that inevitably led to the launch of the Crusades and their unparalleled popular support that founded the religious vigor of the 12th century.

Since the 7th century the Muslim presence in the Holy Land was strong with the capture of Palestine under the rule of Umayyad Caliphate. Having powerful political authority, the Umayyads grew also geographically expanding from North Africa and Spain (then, Hispania) to Iran (then, Persia) and Pakistan. This geographic expansion made the Umayyads, not only one of the leading unitary states in history, but also one of the few states to gain simultaneous control over three continents, Europe, Africa and Asia. Moreover, the increasing power of the Umayyad Caliphate put increasing pressure on the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire with the continuous efforts to convert Middle East into Islam.

In 1099, the order of Caliph Al-Hakim to destroy the Church of Holy Sepulchre and all Christian buildings in Jerusalem initiated new frictions, which resulted in the massacre of Muslims in the al-Aqsa Mosque and the eradication of the Jewish community in Jerusalem.

By 1039, pilgrims were allowed to the Holy Land, but many of them were persecuted, captured and killed with extreme violence. This established Seljuk Turks as barbars in the minds of Christians, which inevitably spread fervor for the Crusades.

In 1071, the Byzantine Empire lost all Asia Minor after its defeat at the Battle of Manzikert. This defeat was a strategic catastrophe for Byzantium with lasting effects as it decreased the Empire’s control in Asian territory and led to the loss of Byzantine’s Anatolian heartland around Constantinople. Besides, since 1054, the Great Schism had occurred between Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches destabilizing the situation between East and West.

Meanwhile, in Western Europe the scenery was no less turbulent. Since the collapse of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century, a new social class of armed warriors had been formed. Because they engaged in terrorizing the populace, the Church associated them to the Peace and Truce of God movements.

Moreover, an extensive religious propaganda advocating the doctrines of Just War served to the passionate awakening of Christian identity. Preaching that recapturing Jerusalem, the land where Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven occurred, was permissible on the grounds of religious, philosophical, or political justice, Just War might enhance the wider standing of Christianity.

Under these circumstances, for Pope Urban II, a crusade would act as a unifier for Christendom, strengthen the Papacy, and possibly bring the East under his control. At the same time, Alexius Comnenus had no other option than to appeal to his enemy, Urban II, for assistance, hoping for a positive response.

The history of the Jews during the Crusades

Christian anti-Semitism was strongly present before the Crusades. The existence of large Jewish communities throughout Europe and the Middle East was quite strong. However, their presence was rather tolerated than accepted. The Christian views on Jews were unfriendly because the Jews had the money lending business to themselves, while depriving Christians from lending. When the Crusades started the Jews served as a tempting target trapped between two rivalry religions: the Christians and the Muslims.

The Muslim presence in the Holy Land had been established since the 7th century when the Muslims conquered Palestine putting increasing pressure on the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire. The main goal of the Christian Western Europe with the Crusades was to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims and to impede the expansion of Seljuk Turks into Anatolia.

The poor relations between the Christians and the Muslims only deteriorated. By 1096, a huge army of Crusaders between 25,000 to 30,000 men was ready to fight upon the call of Pope Urban II. Marching Southern France to Constantinople, they faced the resistance of the Byzantines, who were not prepared for such friction. In 1097, they left Constantinople for going to Jerusalem. On July 15, 1099, Jerusalem was captured by Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade, who invaded it through the Jewish quarter. The order of Caliph Al-Hakim to demolish the Church of Holy Sepulchre and all Christian buildings in Jerusalem fired new frictions.

Jews, greatly displeased with the behavior of Christians towards them all the previous years, chose to fight side-by-side with the Muslims to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders. To escape death, they were seeking refuge in the synagogues, while their Muslim neighbors were hiding in the mosques. The First Crusade resulted in the extreme massacre of Muslims in the al-Aqsa Mosque and the burning of Jews in the main synagogue. Jewish survivors were sold as slaves and they were later redeemed by Jewish communities in Italy. According to many historians, this was the end of the Jewish community in Jerusalem.

Since 1096, the intellectual and social activity of the Jewish community in Jerusalem was discontinued. Moreover, the Crusades had created two other groups that harmed the Jews: itinerant preachers, who were mostly interested in taking financial advantage of the Jews, and the German peasants, who exercised immense violence upon the Jews. When the Crusades began, the German peasants destroyed many Jewish communities in Mainz and Worms by slaughtering people, flaming synagogues and massacring innocent people.

The number of Jewish victims during the First Crusade in Europe is hard to measure. Jewish historians, but also their European peers, estimate that is more than 10,000 people, which makes up to three quarters of the Jewish population of that time. In majority, they were killed outright, while some were offered the option of baptism and conversion to Christianity.

The reasons for the extreme persecution of Jews during the Crusades are a highly controversial issue. Historical archives suggest that the explicit cause of the Crusades was the continuous reporting from Jerusalem regarding the abuse of Christian pilgrims and their prohibited access to the Holy Places by the Muslims. However, in these reports, the malevolent involvement of the Jews was also mentioned. Historians believe that this served to the preparation of the ground for the inclusion of the Jews in the animosity against anyone non-Catholic.

In addition, Christians hated Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus and accused them for performing anti-Christian rituals where the sacrifice of Christian children was a common pattern. According to Jewish historians, the Jews were often the scapegoats for anything that was going wrong in the community. Forced to live in ghettos, Jews were treated by Christians like second-class citizens. In contrast, according to European historians, Jews were practicing these rituals as a part of their religion. However, both sides agree that in such turbulent times, it is difficult to derive safe conclusions. In the Middle Ages, Christianity was the prevalent religion in Europe. However, there was a clear ambition to make it a prevalent religion in the world eliminating or confining any outsiders like the Jews, but also Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Slavs and anyone non-believer in the Catholic Church.

After the First Crusade, a wave of emotional, religious Christian rage exploded. Reflected in the slaughter of Jews by Crusader mobs throughout Europe, but also in the aggressive treatment of “schismatic” Eastern Orthodox Christians, the Crusades became an emblem of Christian wrath. There were some great examples of Christian Bishops and plain Christian people, who tried to offer asylum to Jews to protect them from the mobs. Also, Jews were offered shelter in Christian churches and other Christian buildings.

During the Second Crusade (1145-1147) Jews were not disturbed or destroyed, but their doctrine was put forward to witness the correctness of Christianity. Becoming living symbols of the Passion, Jews were not murdered, but they were punished by dispersion to be saved by definitive conversion to Christianity.

The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was mainly characterized by Jewish pogroms in England.

The Crusades shaped the turning-point in the medieval history of the Jews. Their massacre during the Crusades destabilized fatally their economic and social position. Christian anti-Semitism became even stronger than before making the Jews less important. Having lost control on trade and money, the Jews have become extremely vulnerable.

Many historians believe that there are many common elements between the Crusades and the Holocaust. The first well-documented pogroms against the Jews occurred during the Crusades. Although violence was prohibited by the various Popes, the Crusaders did not protect the Eastern Christians and neither did protect the Jews. Instead, they destroyed their communities, burned their houses, and massacred the people making Jerusalem a dreadful pogrom, in which all the Jews who were not expelled were massively executed.

The aftermath of the Second Crusade

The Second Crusade (1147-1149) was instigated in response to the siege of Edessa, in 1144, by Zengi, the atabeg of Mosuland Alepo. European leaders were appealed by St. Bernard de Clairvaux to take up the cross, reclaiming the Christian domination in the Holy Land, the Baltic and the Iberian Peninsula. Pope Eugene III, the King of France Louis VII, and the King of Germany Conrad III, responded positively and the Second Crusade was launched.

In 1147, the two armies of Louis VII and Conrad III arrived separately in Constantinople to take the road to Jerusalem. In 1148, the crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, where the Council of Acre took place. The Haute Cour of Jerusalem met with the crusaders to decide on the best target in order to take over the Muslim forces. After a spectacular meeting, the Council decided that it was to the crusaders’ best interest to attack the city of Damascus. Damascus used to be an ally of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but over time it had shifted its commitment to Zengi. After assembling nearly 50,000 soldiers, the crusaders marched on to Damascus.

In spite of the initial enthusiasm and the great vision, the losses to the Christian armies in Damascus were overwhelming. Apparently, the Muslim forces were prepared for the attack. Some Syriac Christian historians claim that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus furtively delayed the crusaders’ advancement to Damascus by ordering the Turks to attack them in Anatolia. When the crusaders arrived at Damascus, they were already divided and disheartened. Upon the arrival of Nur al-Din, the crusaders were easily defeated by Muslim forces.

After the defeat in Damascus, a new plan was crafted to capture Ascalon. However, Conrad received no help because the other crusaders were demoralized from the large defeat. Conrad took the road back to Constantinople, while Louis remained to Jerusalem until 1149.

In Europe, St. Bernard de Clairvaux was disgraced by the defeat. Considering that he owed an apology to the Pope, he included it to his ‘Book of Consideration’, where he attributes the causes of failure to the sins of the crusaders.

The aftermath of the Second Crusade had multiple layers. Except from being a great victory for the Muslims that ultimately led to the siege of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, it turned the momentum against the Latin East. Many historians consider that the ill-decided attack of Damascus, in effect, led to the collapse of the Christian Western Europe after the defeat at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. Damascus was taken over by Nur al-Din in 1154. King Baldwin III captured Ascalon in 1153 bringing Egypt into the picture and occupying Cairo in 1160. The relations between Jerusalem and the Byzantine Empire were ambiguous and the role of Europe was unclear, particularly after the defeat in the Second Crusade. In 1171, Saladin was pronounced Sultan of Egypt and Syria and, for the first time, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was surrounded by Muslim territories. Finally, in 1187, Saladin besieged Jerusalem, practically forcing Pope Gregory VIII to preach the Third Crusade (1189–1192).

How the crusades influenced trade during the Middle Ages

The nine Crusades that lasted over a period of 200 years (1095-1291), kept all Europe in tumult. Aiming to regain control of Jerusalem from the Islamic forces and to impede the expansion of Seljuk Turks into Anatolia, Christian Western Europe initiated a series of military campaigns that cost Christendom millions of lives. In spite of the war, suffering, disorder and crime, the Crusades contributed massively in the evolution of European civilization.

Without any doubt, one of the most important effects of the Crusades in Europe was the increased trade and economy.

First and foremost, the Crusades created the need for the supply of the armies in the Middle East. Mainly the Italian city-states of Pisa, Genoa and Venice provided vessels to transfer the crusaders to the Middle East. The Christian soldiers were enthralled by exotic goods of the Holy Land that were both costly and rare to their European countries. Consequently, the vessels returned filled with tea, coffee, sugar, spices, crops, oranges, apples, silk, ivory, jade, diamonds, cotton, tobacco, and porcelain, among other goods. Little by little, the trade of these luxury goods flourished in Genoa and Pisa, while cities in Northern Europe, namely Hamburg, Lobeck, and Bremen, grew prosperous. This created the need for better infrastructure and the establishment of many port cities throughout Europe. Roads that were largely unused before the Crusades experienced significant increase in traffic as local traders and merchants began to expand their horizons.

As a result of trade expansion, in the later years of the 1200s, the merchants of the above cities established the Hanseatic League. This confederation provided protection for merchants by supplying lighthouses and maps of harbors and by standardizing weights and measures.

Over time, European economy strengthened and stabilized, shifting from a barter economy to a money economy. More and more people began to engage in the trading of goods traveling long distances for a long period of time. This made business more complex creating the need for letters of credit and documents of exchange. Besides, merchants acquired enormous power and became wealthier by lending money to kings and nobles in support of the Crusades. Eventually, the growth of business and the need for a controlling mechanism of money lending led to the establishment of the first structured banking system.

The growth of the economy led to the increase of the food production. Consequently, the European population grew further creating the need for the establishment of new towns and cities. This led to the creation of a new social class, the European middle class.

Besides, the expansion of trade allowed the influence of Arab texts and translations of classical Greek and Roman literature on the European population which led to the great intellectual explosion that became known as the Revival of Learning and the period of Italian Renaissance.

Events in western Europe that led to the Crusades

The origins of the Crusades are traced in a series of developments in the Western Europe in the early years of the Middle Ages, but also in the worsening situation of the Byzantine Empire in the East. In the context of a broader socio-political deterioration under the Muslim threat, the Christian Western Europe was ready to fight for recapturing the Holy Land and for impeding the expansion of Seljuk Turks into Anatolia.

 

Western Europe

Even before the decline of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Christianity had spread throughout Europe and Middle East. The civilizations of Vikings, Magyars and Slavs were Christianized and this had almost stabilized the local European borders. However, the collapse of the Carolingian Empire with the death of Charlemagne in 814, led to the division of the empire between his sons, and consequently to the fragmentation of the region into separate kingdoms. The new status created a new social class of armed warriors, who engaged in fighting and frightening the local populace. The Church associated this violence to the Peace and Truce of God movements, which actually consisted of warriors, trained for territorial expansion and therefore were highly disliked from a large part of the nobility.

At the same time, the rule of Umayyad Caliphate in the Middle East, North Africa and Spain hindered the further expansion of Christianity. From the late 8th century onwards, the region entered a transformation phase that eventually led to the rise of Islam, both as a religion and a culture in its traditional form.

 

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine background to the Crusades was no less complicated. The Muslim presence in the Holy Land had been established since the 7th century when Palestine was put under the Muslim’s control. This put an escalating pressure on the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire.

In 1054, the Great Schism occurred between Rome and Constantinople leading to the split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The main reason for the split was dogmatic and associated to the idea that that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (aka Filioque in Latin). However, there were also cultural and linguistic differences that caused the separation. This division is considered by many as one of the fundamental reasons that fired the Crusades, while many believe that it was actually crystallized after the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

In 1063, Iberian Christians initiated their war against the Muslims with the blessings of Pope Alexander II. The warriors were granted a temporary pardon for any sins they would possibly commit (indulgence), they were given a cross and they were named Soldiers of the Church.

 

The factor of religious propaganda

The passionate awakening of Christian identity and faith was further intensified by religious propaganda that advocated the doctrines of Just War Theory. The military ethics of Roman Catholicism as conveyed in Just War held that a conflict is justifiable on the grounds of religious, philosophical, or political justice. The Holy Land included Antioch, the first Christian city, and Jerusalem, where, according to Christian theology, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven took place. In this context, recapturing the Holy Land from the Muslims was highly justifiable.

Besides, the remission of sin was a motivating factor to avoid eternal damnation in Hell. Many people believed that by recapturing the Holy Land they would go straight to Heaven. However, the issue was highly controversial. Pope Urban II proclaimed in his speeches that one had to die fighting for Jerusalem to go to Heaven. Or else, if one survived and the Crusades were successful, remission would not be given. Another theory stated that if one reached Jerusalem, he would be relieved of the sins he had committed before the Crusades, but no remission would be given for the sins committed afterwards.

 

Considering all the above, it comes as no surprise that the Crusades were viewed as a means to empower the Catholic Church and support the Byzantine Empire. Many historians believe that the catalytic reason for the Crusades was the fact that the Byzantines felt surrounded by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire and the Normans that had divided Antioch into a Norman principality.

In this socio-political context, in 1095 the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for armed forces to fight against the Muslims in the territories on the Holy Land. The Pope offered his support and the Crusades begun receiving an unprecedented popular support that established the religious vigor of the 12th century.

A look at King Richard I’s conquest of Cyprus

In 1190, King Richard I of England (The Lionheart) sailed from Marseille for Sicily with final destination Jerusalem. It was one of those historical coincidences that brought the young King face to face with death, in 1191, and made him stop to Limassol until the weather calmed down. But, it was also some other historical circumstances that had occurred before he had even thought to sail for Jerusalem that brought him to, ultimately, conquer Cyprus. And these circumstances were nothing but coincidental.

After the failure of the Second Crusade (1147-1149), Egypt and Syria resulted under the authority of Saladin, who engaged them to decrease the control of the Christian territories and recapture The Holy Land in 1187. Under the new situation, Pope Gregorios VII had no other option than to declare a new Crusade. The Third Crusade (1189-1192), also known as the Kings Crusade, was launched in 1189 by King Henry II of England, King Philip II of France and King Frederick I of Germany (Barbarossa). Yet, it was continued by Henry II’s son, King Richard I and King Philip II, due to Henry II’s death and Frederick I’s drowning before reaching the Holy Land.

Before arriving at Limassol, Richard I had spent the winter in Sicily. There, he engaged to Berengaria of Navarre, daughter of Navarre of Spain, who joined Richard I in the Crusade as well as Berengaria’s sister, Joanne.

Some historians argue that Richard I conquered Cyprus because Berengaria and Joanne complained that when they arrived involuntarily to the island after a shipwreck, Isaac Komnenos did not treat them gallantly. In particular, the ship on which Berengaria and Joanne were sailing also arrived in Cyprus. The survivors of the shipwreck were arrested and imprisoned. Berengaria and Joanne stayed on board in the fear of being arrested on ransom if they disembark. Their request of being permitted to be provided with water on the ship and continue their journey to the Holy Land was declined by Komnenos, which motivated Richard to conquer Cyprus.

The most common historical explanation of Richard I’s conquest of Cyprus is that the strategic position of the island was facilitating the Crusader’s plans to enter to the Holy Land. Cyprus could be their place of retreat if Saladin’s forces were pushing them out of Jerusalem, but it would also be a base for restructuring their forces and carry out their military operations, both from the sea and the land. Besides, the anti-Latin posture of Isaac Komnenos and a possible agreement with Saladin constituted a probable cause for the Crusaders. Moreover, some Crusaders were looking forward to secure profits from Cyprus’ wealth. Capturing Cyprus would ensure not only the strong presence of the Christian Western Europe in the area, but also the control of major commercial roads that would secure substantial gains. 

Upon arrival to Limassol, Richard I called Komnenos to negotiate, but Cyprus’s despot required the immediate departure of the Crusaders. In the battle of Tremetusia, Richard I’s cavalry, that was greater and better equipped, defeated the Cypriot army. Besides, Richard I received military aid from the King of Jerusalem as well as of some Roman Catholic Cypriots that opposed Komnenos’ ruling and joined his army.

Richard confined Isaac Komnenos with silver chains, while his daughter was taken to the house of Berengaria and Joanne. After eradicating any resistance in the island of Cyprus, Richard I sailed for the Holy Land.