Part 16

There were also the Knights Templar, who took as their headquarters part of the Temple of Solomon (Sulayman, peace be upon him) in al-Masjid al-Aqsa63 64 The papacy and clergy had the power to influence, pressure and threaten anyone who did not carry out the wishes of the church, by issuing a decree of excommunication, which implied that they would be denied blessing in the hereafter, as they claimed, and were not to be obeyed in this world either.65 Social motives European society in the Middle Ages was governed by a distinct class system, dominated by the clergy and a warrior class composed of noblemen and knights.66 The peasant classes formed the majority, but were oppressed. They laboured hard to meet the needs of the first two classes. The European peasant had no control of his destiny; he was required to fulfil many commitments to his feudal lord. The Pope was aware of the situation of the hard-working peasants, so he promised to annul their commitments to their masters and tempted them with the good things of the Islamic East. Thousands of peasants were living a life of misery under the feudal system; they built for themselves hovels of tree branches covered with roofs of mud and straw, with no windows or furniture. Anything that the peasant acquired was regarded as the private property of the feudal master, and he was deprived of any personal possessions.67 The peasants were weighed down with numerous commitments of service to their feudal masters, in addition to being deprived of whatever they produced. Thus we can see the extent of the misery in which most of the people of Europe were living in the eleventh century CE. Hence when the call for the Crusader campaign came, many in this population found an opportunity to free themselves from a harsh life filled with humiliation, and they took the danger of participating in this campaign very lightly, in comparison to the life they were living. If they died during this campaign, they would have salvation, and if they survived they would have a life that was better than the way they had been living.68 The church knew how to play with their minds and instil grudges in their hearts against Islam and the Muslims. They tricked them into believing that they were going to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre, and that they would be blessed by the Lord and by the Pope. Hence there was nothing to deter them from slaughtering and killing; killing a Muslim was something pleasing to God, for which the Crusader would be rewarded on the Day of Judgement.69 Economic motives Avarice for the good things of the Islamic East was the strongest motive for the Crusades, after the religious motive. Pope Urban himself expressed in his sermon the importance of the economic motive with regard to the situation in Europe at that time. He said: Do not let anything hold you back...because the land that you are residing in now, which is surrounded by sea and mountain tops, is too small for its many inhabitants. It is virtually unable to supply them with enough food, and because of that you are slaughtering and devouring one another. Jerusalem is a land without equal in its crops and produce; it is a veritable paradise of delights.70 Historical documents indicate that the economic situation in Western Europe at the end of the eleventh century CE was very poor. France itself suffered a severe famine just before the first Crusade. Hence the ratio of French people who took part in it was far greater. The crisis was so severe that people resorted to eating grass and fodder, but this war opened a new door to those starving people, offering them the chance to escape from their difficult situation. This explains the many incidents of plunder and robbery perpetrated by the first campaign against the Christian peoples whose lands they passed through.71 A large number of merchants from Italian, French and Spanish cities also took part in the Crusade for purely exploitative purposes, aiming to seize control of the trade routes for Eastern goods that were a source of great wealth for those who dealt in them. Hence their fleets played an active role in seizing the main centres in Syria. The Genovese helped the Franks seize Antioch in 490 AH/1097 CE, and two years later the Venetians helped the Romans seize Jerusalem. The first and last aim of these communities was profit and material gain. Their concern with the religious motive extended only so far as it would help them to achieve their aims. It is sufficient for us to note that the slogan of the Venetians, for which they were known at that time, was "Let us be Venetians first, then let us be Christians."72 Hence the Italian Republics (Genoa, Pisa, and Venice) made contracts with the Crusader rulers in the East which granted them important economic advantages.73 Tipping the balance of power in the Mediterranean In the middle of the 5th century AH (11th century CE), the balance of power tipped in favour of Western Europe, the centre of the Crusade movement. The weakness of the Byzantine state and the heavy blow it had suffered from the Seljuks made it hasten to seek help from Western Europe.