# Reformed View of the Crusades



## Simply_Nikki (Jan 22, 2010)

Hi, 

I was wondering if anyone could point me to articles or books detailing a reformed view of the Crusades. I don't know much about this period of time in history, but would like to know what others of the reformed faith have said about it. I'd imagine there is probably more than one view on this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks


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## Zenas (Jan 22, 2010)

Kingdom of Heaven is an awesome movie.


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## Simply_Nikki (Jan 22, 2010)

Zenas said:


> Kingdom of Heaven is an awesome movie.




I didn't know reformed folk made movies .


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## Andrew P.C. (Jan 22, 2010)

Hello nikki,

I just did a random search on monergism, maybe this will help. 
Monergism ::

I'm somewhat interested in this myself. I'll look into it more.


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## Christusregnat (Jan 22, 2010)

Nikki,

The Crusades were originally defensive warfare to fight off the Muslim hoardes. Bernard of Clairvaux, a hero of many of the Reformers, preached in favor of one of the rounds of Crusades. They were abused at certain points, but at other points were an expression of the power of Christendom to bring assistance to other suffering saints. A mixed bag, but some good in them.

If you can obtain a contemporary Chronicle of the crusades, that may be a starting point.

Cheers,


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## TimV (Jan 22, 2010)

A mixed bag is true, with cases of Muslims and Christians teaming up together against other alliances of every kind. Catholic Christians starting by killing of anabaptists, murdering Orthodox Christians, then after being weakened by infighting getting defeated by Muslims and in one case suffering mass murder by Jews.

The subject's a bit broad!!! But cool. It could be a fun thread.


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## Philip (Jan 22, 2010)

A little background on the crusades:

The 11th century was a turbulent time in the area we call Europe, or "Christendom" as they would have called it. Several events during this period led Pope Urban II to call the Crusade. The first of these was the struggle between the Emperors and the Popes. Urban's predecessor, Gregory VII had forced the Emperor to beg for forgiveness, true, but then the emperor went back forgiven, elected an antipope, and drove Gregory out of Rome on a rail. Urban was one of Gregory's disciples and was back and forth on regaining the city of Rome. The constant infighting of the lords of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France were also frowned upon by the church, even though they formed somewhat of a basis for society.

In the meantime, the situation in the east was unstable. The Schism of 1054 was still fresh in the minds of the Eastern Emperor, Alexius I Comnenus, who sought to use the Papal desire for unity to his advantage. In 1071, Roman forces had suffered a catastrophic defeat at the battle of Manzikert and the ensuing push by the Turks drove them almost with their backs to Constantinople. Alexius hoped that Urban would see his overtures for aid as a stepping stone to gaining authority over the Eastern Church.

So when Urban called the Council of Clermont, he was hoping to solve several problems at once. First, he could lure Imperial supporters to his side with promise of wealth in the east. He could also redirect the attention of the contentious nobles to an outside threat. In addition, he hoped that this might lead to productive dialogue with the Eastern Church.

The conclusion is, I think, that though the cause was (unfortunately) ostensibly religious, the reality was that it was politically motivated to a large extent.


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## Scott1 (Jan 22, 2010)

Historian H.G. Wells outlines the history of this time period well in his history of the world. It's not from the standpoint of Christianity, but from that of a historian.

He does an excellent job of discussing in course the events preceding and involved in this many year and dispersed event. It is helpful in understanding it (and many other events in history) in context.

This work is a classic.

Amazon.com: Outline of History (2 Volume Set) (9780403030828): H. G. Wells: Books


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## Philip (Jan 22, 2010)

I recommend Durant's _The Age of Faith_ as a reference for how the crusades fit in with the rest of the medieval period (the rest of the set is also excellent--if rationalistic/atheistic). Fact is, I don't know of a good work on the crusades from a reformed perspective _persay_.


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## Simply_Nikki (Jan 22, 2010)

P. F. Pugh said:


> I recommend Durant's _The Age of Faith_ as a reference for how the crusades fit in with the rest of the medieval period (the rest of the set is also excellent--if rationalistic/atheistic). Fact is, I don't know of a good work on the crusades from a reformed perspective _persay_.


 
I feel a dissertation topic coming on.  LOL


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## Mayflower (Jan 31, 2010)

TimV said:


> Catholic Christians starting by killing of anabaptists, murdering Orthodox Christians, ........



You forget to know, all these anabaptist whom got persecuted by the reformers ???????

Martyrs Mirror: A Christian Book of Martyr Stories


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## TimV (Jan 31, 2010)

> You forget to know, all these anabaptist whom got persecuted by the reformers ???????



No, I didn't forget. I just didn't mention them since it happened 500 years after the crusades, and therefore had nothing to do with the subject matter


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## VaughanRSmith (Jan 31, 2010)

I've heard the book "God's Battalions: The Case For the Crusades" by Rodney Stark is quite good.


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## Peairtach (Jan 31, 2010)

They made for "rattling good history", as Churchill would have said.


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