What were the crusades? Today we hear all sorts of ideas of what modern man perceives to be the cause, goal, and purpose of the Crusades. Let’s look at some of these common misconceptions and try to get a better understanding of the people, places, and events in which these trying times took place.

Myth #1: The Crusades were a politically driven plan by the “evil” Church to take away land from the “peaceful” Muslims inhabitants.

Fact: The Crusades were an armed response to centuries of Muslim aggression. Muslims had been conquering Middle Eastern territory since their rise in AD 622. In the West they had raped, pillaged, and force converted their way across North Africa, Spain, and France until they were finally stopped at the battle of Tours. In the East they had conquered all the once Christian lands from Jerusalem to Constantinople. It wasn’t until AD 1095 that the first crusade was finally called, over 400 year later!

Myth #2: Those who went on crusade were adventurers and second-sons; those who had no prospects back home.

Fact: While there will always be those who will seek fame and fortune for themselves, the reality was that most nobles who went on crusade had to do so at their own expense. Many were the first born sons and second and third, along with fathers and sometime even wives. They had to put up great sums of money and land in order to finance themselves and their entourage who traveled with them. There was no guarantee of recouping anything they had invested. Which leads into the next myth…

Myth #3: Those who went sought riches and power, and to carve out their own kingdoms and fiefdoms, leading to a proto-colonialism.

Fact: Most crusaders left and went back to Europe after finishing the crusade. Some crusaders states were set up but this was the exception not the rule. Crusading was not particularly lucrative. In the First Crusade alone up to 80% of crusaders died, went missing, or deserted. Those who did come back were usually broke and dissolute. It would have been far easier (and safer) to stay back home, yet they were willing to give up their property, their lives, and their safety for what they believed in.

Myth #4: Crusade rhetoric was just empty piety used to justify their greedy, hateful, and violent behavior.

Fact: Once again you will always be able to find these type of people in every circumstance, yet at this time it was the exception not the rule. Most people truly believed that what they were doing was the right and moral thing to do. Most did so out of a love for their brothers and sisters who were being persecuted by the Muslims. They knew they were sinful and that taking the cross was a penitential act. This is why most went home after completing their vow. They had done what they had set out to do and went home.

We can draw a similar parallel from our own modern history. Our boys who stormed the beaches of Normandy on that fateful day in June did so because they believed in the cause. They believed, and rightly so, that action was needed to stop Hitler and the Nazis. Were there some soldiers who did evil things above and beyond the normal limits of war? Absolutely. However most people now a days wouldn’t say that it was wrong to get involved in that war.

The justifiability of a war has to be judged upon the stated goals and intentions of those involved and to the degree in which they meet those objectives. The stated goals was to push back against the 400 years of Muslims aggression and retake the holy places were our Lord and Savior had once walked and lived. Especially in the first Crusade, the crusaders met these objective and were successful. While in the long run they were unable to halt the spread of Islam, (as we see in the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and other Muslim conquest of later centuries), they were at least able to stem the tide a bit and prevent a complete takeover of Europe.

We can see the same events happen in our present day as well. ISIS and other Islamic groups have been raping, pillaging, and force converting Christians and other groups in the Middle-East and parts of North Africa. We see the mass beheading of Christians on the beaches of Libya. We watch as people flee from their homes in the face of invading enemies. We know women are being sold into slavery. We hear the plea of our fellow brothers and sister and yet the world remains silent. Maybe we’ll have to wait another 400 years before we are awaken from our apathy, I just hope it’s not too late by then.

For now, we do what we can. Pray for peace and for the conversion of souls.

Viva Cristo Rey!