What were the motivations of the crusaders?

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Originally posted by Havard
Prime examples are Guy de Lusignan, who as a relative newcomer to the Holy Land caught the attention of the widow queen Sibylla and married her to eventually become king of Jerusalem and also his possibly strongest supporter, Reynald de Châtillon who upon arrival in the east married to the Principality of Antioch, was imprisoned by Nur ed-Din for 16 years and upon release (having become a widower in the meantime) promptly married the richest heiress available - the de Milly heir to the marcher Lordship of Trans-Jordan... All three of the above were matches they would be pretty certain would be out of their league back home...

Exactly. And during Guy's mess, the "native" minor lords had an influence on matters which would seem out of proportion to their standing back in Europe. The Balians of Ibelin-Nablus for example, although I guess they were pretty well-established and powerful compared to some others.

Point is, back home, a lord of a castle or two wasnt all that important politically, unless those castles happened to be somewhere like the Vexin. Otherwise, it was the Princes, Dukes, Margraves, Palatines, Earls, Counts, etc. that vied for power around the King.

 

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Let's be careful and not assume that nobles and commoners dedicated themselves to freeing the so-called Holy Lands... for any one reason. Some were there for redemption, others to improve their status in life. Many were seeking a change (nagging wife... cold castle), but most were there because they believed it was the right thing to do.

 

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I can fully understand the influence of faith in motivating crusaders - Crusaders nailing pagans in Prussia presumably weren't after their riches but stories about Constantinople might attract a different type of crusader.

Presumably it's not one size fits all crusades

 

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Originally posted by Philj
I can fully understand the influence of faith in motivating crusaders - Crusaders nailing pagans in Prussia presumably weren't after their riches but stories about Constantinople might attract a different type of crusader.

Presumably it's not one size fits all crusades

I have to agree completely, I think suggesting the crusaders had a cookie cutter motive for crusading is a big mistake.

Personally I believe most people were motivated by faith mixed with adventurous spirit and desire for loot.

I think it is because all of these factors motivated the crusades is why the crusading spirit died out largely as it did....marketting a crusade that has shown God doesn't approve of, because it will likely get you killed and will no doubt fail in the end, is not an attractive adventure, and on top of that you will likely go broke paying to go.

The real problem in answering the question of what motivated the crusaders is the crusader behaviour itself. The crusaders would by and large give themselves over to rampant destruction and looting and all manners of ungodly behaviour when the opportunity arose, but they were also quite clearly dedicated to the holy ideal of their mission...alos being knightly as many of them were, they were equally given to fool headed reckless acts that would suggest the mind of an adventurer.

The Crusaders themselves were far too complicated to be catagorized in a single group... it just doesn't fit.

~EC~