100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 28 6 The Crusaders Invaded the East in the Name of God
Chapter 36 The Crusaders Invaded the East in the Name of God
——Do not find any excuses for doing things. Doing things without excuses will keep you away from negative thoughts that hinder your progress.Never make any excuses for what you did wrong, a life without any excuses is a successful life.

In the early morning of November 1095, a large number of priests, feudal lords, knights and ordinary people gathered in an open space outside the city of Clermont, France.In the cold wind of early winter, there are thousands of heads and noisy voices.

The sun had risen to the treetops, and after a burst of horns accompanied by the sound of drums, a group of people came from a distance holding a huge cross, followed by a large ornately decorated carriage.The cross is placed in the center of a 200-meter-high platform made of stone and mud.Pope Urban II stepped out of the car and onto the dais. More than [-] guards with spears stood in awe around the platform.

The crowd fell silent, and people focused their attention on the Pope, waiting for the religious leader to speak.Standing in front of the huge cross, the Pope stood up straight, raised the Bible in his hand, and said in a voice as loud as a copper bell: "Children of God, now, in the East, there is a pagan religion called 'Islam' Believers, we are persecuting our Orthodox brothers. The place of the Holy Sepulcher, the Holy Land - Jerusalem, has been occupied by those heathens. What a disgrace! Those heathens are a bunch of villains, devils! The Lord has called us , go into battle, go to Jerusalem, destroy those demons, and liberate the 'Holy Land'! Those who fight to liberate the 'Holy Land' will have their souls ascended to heaven in the future!"

The religious sentiments of the audience were instigated by fanaticism, and the shouts of "Save the Eastern Brothers", "Destroy the Heretics", and "Liberate the Holy Land" echoed in the wilderness.The pope continued: "Preachers, the eastern country is full of milk, goat's milk and honey, and gold and gems are everywhere. Who will not become a rich man there? Go and dye the cross red as your emblem. , you are the 'crusaders', the Lord will bless you invincible!"

The feudal lords, knights and commoners who heard the excitement below cheered and jumped, scrambling to get a cross made of red cloth from the pope's entourage, and wear it on their chests or shoulders.Anyone who wears this cross red cloth is considered to have embarked on the "road of the Lord" and became a member of the Crusaders.

The Pope's appeal spread like wildfire, and soon spread throughout Western Europe.Farmers suffering from famine, knights eager to get rich in the rich east, and lords big and small who wanted to expand their political and economic power all joined the ranks of the Crusaders one after another.

In the spring of the following year, the crusaders composed of peasants from northern France, central France and western Germany set off first and embarked on a journey.They are dressed in rags, and some have dragged their families, fantasizing about going to a rich holy land to settle down.However, when this group of "poor crusaders" reached the grasslands of Asia Minor after all the hardships, what they encountered were the well-equipped iron cavalry of the Seljuk Turks.After a fierce battle, most of the "Poor Man's Crusaders" were wiped out, and only a small number of people managed to escape. What they brought back were not gold and silver treasures, but sad and painful memories.

But in the autumn of that year, the Crusaders, composed of knights, began to march from France, Italy and western Germany again.They were led by feudal lords, with well-prepared weapons and relatively strict organization, with a total of about 4 people.Pass through the Asia Minor peninsula and advance towards Jerusalem.

At this time, Asia Minor, Palestine and other places had actually split into some independent small countries.Facing the powerful crusaders, it is difficult for these small countries to form a unified resistance force.So the Crusaders marched victoriously all the way, and finally captured Jerusalem in July 1099.The crusaders who marched in the name of God carried out large-scale looting and massacres in Jerusalem.In the Al-Aqsa Mosque, more than 7 innocent Muslims, men, women and children were all killed, and their blood flowed into a river.

When the Crusaders robbed Jerusalem, they even made such a rule: whoever broke into a certain house first would be the owner of the house.As a result, the entire city was looted, and every crusader made a fortune and became a rich man overnight.

The Crusaders also established dozens of Crusader countries in the areas they occupied, the largest being the Kingdom of Jerusalem, in addition to the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli.

However, these countries are not secure.By 1187, the people of West Asia, under the leadership of Saladin, the leader who was capable of conquering and fighting, finally wiped out the main force of the Crusaders and recovered Jerusalem.The kings of England and France came forward to organize the second and third crusades, but they all ended in failure.

The Fourth Crusade organized by Western Europeans in the early 13th century originally planned to cross the Mediterranean Sea and attack Egypt on Venetian ships.However, under the instigation and lure of the Venetian merchants, the Crusaders attacked the Eastern Roman Empire.These thugs full of religious morality attacked and robbed countries that believed in the same "cross" mercilessly, and the cultural and artistic treasures of the Byzantine Empire for nearly a thousand years were completely robbed and destroyed, exposing their so-called conquest of "heretics" It's just an excuse for aggression.

In nearly 200 years, the Crusades were carried out 1291 times.Until [-], Acre City, the last land stronghold occupied by the Crusaders, was captured by the Muslims, and the Crusades ended in failure.

Wisdom Interpretation:

There is such an expression in the Bible: Render to God what is God's, and what is to Caesar to Caesar.It means that Christianity affects people's spiritual world, and political power affects people's secular world.

Never look for high-sounding reasons for your mistakes, and never put your sins on others. Excuses are the breeding ground for all vices. Only by abandoning them can you maintain a balance in your life while achieving success.

In this story, the Crusades are for land and wealth, its means and purpose are disgusting, but it is carried out under the guise of maintaining religion.That's the scary thing about excuses.

Therefore, we are required to have superb judgment and sense of right and wrong, and to expose the veil of "warmth" as an excuse.And never make excuses for your failures, and don't pass your mistakes on to others.

(End of this chapter)