The First Crusade

589

The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. What started as a minor call for aid quickly turned into a wholesale migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe.


Of all the cities in the world, Jerusalem has the most troubled past and the most troubling future. To the Jews, it is the site of the great temples of Herod and Solomon; to Muslims, the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven; to Christians, the place where their Messiah was crucified. After his death, the word of Jesus Christ took root and Jerusalem slowly shed almost 4 centuries of Roman occupation to embrace Christian rule. But in the 7th century, the Holy City was forcibly seized by a new faith--Islam.

Now 400 years later, the Christians wanted Jerusalem back, across Europe some 60, 000 warriors were gathering, readying themselves for battle. One of the leaders was veteran warlord Duke Godfrey of Bouillon. He would head up his own army on what would become a 3-year crusade across 3, 000 miles to reclaim Jerusalem in the name of God. Godfrey was more than just an acclaimed fighter, a generous benefactor of the Catholic Church, he was also an immensely pious man.

As far as I'm concerned, there is one key thing that driv(es), that's driving people to take up the Cross, and then it's that they actually believe that this crusade is a spiritual war and that it's going to purify their souls of sin. And, yes, I'm sure they got other agendas, they got other things they are looking for at the same time, but there is one thing that's at the core, and that's across the largest range of people, it's spirituality, it's religion that's driving it.

The Franks which was the catchall word for everyone who participated in the crusades, er, were regarded for many centuries until this day as barbarians who came to destroy the peak of Islamic civilization, and this is a very strong thing which goes down right to this day. So the word crusade is electric and people know it; they know what happened in that world.

There was a good reason why men would risk everything to journey to a distant land from which they might never return. Blighted by famine and wracked by petty wars, the European homeland was a cursed place. They craved a better life in this world and the next.

I think if you were to take a time machine back to the late 11th century, the first thing that would probably strike you is what a violent society it was. It was a time when those central governments not well-organized, the great monarchies in France and Spain haven't developed. It's petty lordships, local castellans, they raid, they fight, they scrap one another. It's a time of endemic lawlessness.

troubled adj.
骚乱的, 不安的
Herod n.
King of Judea (40-4) who, according to the New Testament, attempted to kill the infant Jesus by ordering the death of all children under the age of two in Bethlehem.
希律：犹太王（公元前40-4年），据《新约》讲，他命令杀死伯利恒所有两岁以下的儿童，想借以杀死尚处于襁褓中的耶稣
Solomon n.
King of Israel famous for his wisdom and his architectural projects, including the Temple in Jerusalem.
所罗门：以色列国王，因其智慧和建筑设计著称，后者包括位于耶路撒冷的圣殿
Messiah n.
弥赛亚(犹太人盼望的复国救主)
benefactor n.
One that gives aid, especially financial aid.
捐助人：提供帮助的人，尤指钱财帮助
Blight vt.
To have a deleterious effect on; ruin.
使产生恶果；毁坏
catchall
统称词
monarchy n.
Government by a monarch.
君主政体
castellan n.
The keeper or governor of a castle.
城堡守护人：一个城堡的守护者或管理者

589

One of the most learned men in Christendom painted a disturbing portrait of this chaotic world. A senior archbishop and a counsellor of Kings, William of Tyre wrote the history of the Crusades as he saw it.

"In nearly all of the circle of the earth belief had failed. The fear of the Lord no longer prevailed among men. Justice had perished from the world. Violence held sway among the nations. Fraud, treachery and chicanery overshadowed all things. All virtue had departed and ceased to exist as useless. Evil reigned in its stead."

There was only one organization with the potential to stem this anarchy—— the church. The Catholic faith dominated 11th-century western Europe.

"The world of the Middle Ages was a world that was deeply concerned with matters of religion, and it's almost impossible for us in a Secular Age today to overestimate how concerned they were. It's almost impossible for us to understand how concerned they were. "

" People are bombarded with the fact that they are threatened by sin from all forms of life. Just about everything they can do in life is potentially sinful. It's literally as if the air they are breathing is contaminated with sin. "

The church could absolve a man of his sins, but it lacked the political muscle to wash away the ills of an entire society. Feuds with the secular rulers of Europe had pushed the Papacy to the sidelines, until 1088, when a new Pope arrived in Rome—Pope Urban II.


"ope Urban was an astute individual , a man who understood the political and social and religious currents and needs of his time, someone who knew how to bring those things together and channel them into productive outlets."

Christendom
(n.)基督教徒（集合称）基督教界
hold sway
(v.)continue to influence
有支配力量
treachery
(n.)betrayal, perfidy, treason, disloyalty
背叛
chicanery
(n.)scheming
狡辩
overshadow
(vt.)to cast a shadow over
使阴暗
anarchy
(n.)a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority
无政府状态
bombard
(vt.)subject to a continuous flow of questions or information
轰击
astute
(adj.)clever; keen, acute, bright
机敏的, 狡猾的