Christianity - not just a religion, but a form of identity => conversion to Christianity meant adoption of the same identity, often defined as a nation (gens)
* 1098: crusaders entered Antioch, and Jesus appeared in  a vision to a priest in the army => he asked: Man, what nation/race is this  (quaenam est hec gens) that has entered the city and received the answer Christians
- the Christian race has a territory, which is neither France, nor England, but Christianitas = Christendom
- all wars and efforts of Christians are directed toward the expansion (dilatio) of Christianitas => Christians shifted from a siege mentality to that of aggressive conquerors

CONVERSION AND SPREAD OF BISHOPS:

- although missioary activities dominated the early Middle Ages, forceful conversion dominated the High Middle Ages

948: Otto I established a string of bishoprics on the northern and eastern frontiers of his kingdom to assist him in conquering territories inhabited by pagan Slavs
968: Otto founded the archbishopric of Magdenburg - responsible for the conversion of Eastern Europe

- a similar process was taking place in Spain, during the Reconquista, as new bishoprics were created in newly re-conquered territories
* 1085: Toledo (was conquered) - became the archbishopric
   1147: Lisbon was captured - first bishop of Portugal
   1238: James of Aragon conquered Valencia => the great mosque => turned into episcopal cathedral

===>> by 1200 - there were about 800 bishoprics in the Christianitas (the largest number in Italy, 300; about 50 in Spain)

THE PARISH:

- communities remained relatively unchanged between ca. 1200 and 2000
    - parish churches were supported from tithes and endowments from local landowners

- parish =/= village => in core regions there was often more then one church within the village

- parish clergy - was often elected by parishioners (in Italy and Germany) than confirmed/rejected by the local bishop
- parish priests acted as leaders or representatives of their flocks => peasant grumbling and agitation to revolt always started within churchyards

CRUSADES

- religious differences crated tensions along the frontiers between Christianity and Islam, but the Holy War (jihad or crusade) is only a later development, created by struggle, rather than religious fervor

1. Spain => the military expansion of the Christian Kingdoms in the north and east = Reconquista

*late 1000s: increasing intolerance within the Christian camp => Reconquista becomes a religious war
* 1085: Alfonso VI conquered Toledo, turning the chief mosque into a cathedral => the kings of Castile and Aragon became vassals of the pope => viewed themselves as champions of the faith

Alfonso I (1104-1134) - king of Aragon and Navarre => called for Christians warriors from the entire Christianitas to participate in the Reconquista => 1148: Spain is officially proclaimed a legitimate area of crusade (by Eugenius III)

2. Southern Italy:

- late 10th C: Muslim raids on the italian coasts => intervention of the German emperors for the protection of the Christian people

Sicily => in the hands of the Arabs => Roger I (dominant figure among all Norman princes) => conquered Sicily from the Arabs;
    Roger II - crowned king of Sicily
                  - introduced a legislation designed to balance the multilingual and multiethnic tensions (toleration of Orthodox and Muslims, support of scholars of eastern origin => Arab geographers, Greek philosophers)

* the Norman rulers => did not take an active part in the crusades
                                => engaged in trade with luxury goods with Muslim powers in Africa

CRUSADES: ORIGINS

11th C.: a major concern of the Church is to promote peace movements (Peace of God) => fought against violence
    > local assemblies summoned by bishops for placing certain categories of population (orphans, widows, handicapped) under Church protection
    > early 11th C: local bishops preached suspension of violence for certain periods (often church festivals)

=> church councils (even if they did not stop violence) underlined the importance of the motive of those who fought => fighting for the cause of the church was acceptable

> early justification for violence ==>> Exodus 32: Moses' punishment upon apostates worshiping the golden calf
                                                   ==>> St. Augustine's idea of just war (war against heretics)

- crusaders took vows => crusades were viewed as pilgrimages => crusaders = armed pilgrims

    * the crucial role of the indulgence:
            - remission of penalties imposed by the Church on earth
            - remission of penalties imposed by the Church in the afterlife (time to spend in the Purgatory)

THE FIRST THREE CRUSADES:

1. First Crusade:

- Gregory VII => his favorite biblical quotation was from Jeremiad (48:10) => Cursed be he who kept back his sword from blood
- Gregory VII => first associated the idea of pilgrimage with that of crusade => crusaders were popular because they involved privileges, especially indulgences

Urban II (1088-1099) - anxious to repair the break in relations between Rome and Constantinople which resulted in the schism of 1054 (1); originally he was from Champagne (2)

(1) => Urban responded favorably to Byzantine calls for help against the Seljuks (Turks recently converted to Islam)
(2) => Urban toured southern and central France to raise an army

November 1095 (Clemont) => Urban urged French knights to march to the East to free Christians from the Muslim and liberate the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem
    > instead of threatening the Peace of God, crusaders should use violence against the enemies of the church
    > the goal of this expedition was Jerusalem => crusade was meant to be a professional enterprise

BUT: Urban's appeal spread so quickly, that large masses of people decided to respond

=> two popular armies crossed Europe, only to be massacred in Asia Minor
    - a third one attacked Jewish communities of great cities in Rhineland  => 1096: wide - spread pogroms

April 1097: main crusading armies crossed Europe to Constantinople
July 1097:  major victory against Seljuk armies (Dorylaeum)
October 1097: besieged Antioch (taken in June 1098)
June 1099: besieged Jerusalem (taken in July 1099) => large scale massacres

First Crusade: led to the setup of four crusader states - Edessa
          - Antioch
          - Jerusalem
          - Tripoli