Explain how the crusades had a negative AND a positive impact on society.
Answers
Answer:
The crusades of the 11th to 15th century CE have become one of the defining events of the Middle Ages in both Europe and the Middle East. The campaigns brought significant consequences wherever they occurred but also pushed changes within the states that organised and fought them. Even when the crusades had ended, their influence continued through literature and other cultural means and, resurrected as an idea in more modern times, they continue today to colour international relations.
Many exaggerated claims have been made concerning the effects and consequences of the crusades on life in the Middle Ages and later. There were, undoubtedly, momentous changes in life, politics and religion from the 11th to 14th centuries CE, but it is perhaps prudent to heed the words of historian and acclaimed Crusades expert T. Asbridge:
The precise role of the Crusades remains debatable. Any attempt to pinpoint the effect of this movement is fraught with difficulty, because it demands the tracing and isolation of one single thread within the weave of history - and the hypothetical reconstruction of the world, were that strand to be removed. Some impacts are relatively clear, but many observations must, perforce, be confined to broad generalisations. (664-5)
The impact of the Crusades may thus be summarised in general terms as:
an increased presence of Christians in the Levant during the Middle Ages.
the development of military orders.
a polarisation of the East and West based on religious differences.
the specific application of religious goals to warfare in the Levant, Iberian peninsula, and Baltic region, in particular.
the increased role and prestige of the popes and the Catholic Church in secular affairs.
the souring of relations between the West and the Byzantine Empire leading, ultimately, to the latter’s destruction.
an increase in the power of the royal houses of Europe.
a stronger collective cultural identity in Europe.
an increase in xenophobia and intolerance between Christians and Muslims, and between Christians and Jews, heretics and pagans.
an increase in international trade and exchange of ideas and technology.
an increase in the power of such Italian states as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa.
the appropriation of many Christian relics to Europe.
the use of a religious historical precedent to justify colonialism, warfare and terrorism.