THE CHURCH
The main church in Europe during the Middle Ages was the Roman Catholic Church. The head of the church was called a Pope. The church was the seat of learning during the Middle Ages. Monks and Nuns followed Christ's teachings in groups in the convents or Monasteries where they lived and worked. They had three main jobs which were work, study, and prayer. Monks kept the ancient learnings of the past alive. The monks also ran schools and hospitals.
The monasteries began in Italy and then spread to all parts of western Europe. Everywhere the monks went, they converted the people to Christianity. Christianity was the religion of all western Europe by the year 1100. Priests were in charge of the local churches, and Bishops were assigned certain areas. The church taught that anyone who lived a good life would be rewarded by God. People thought that if they did wrong, God would punish them. During the Middle Ages the church and its teachings helped bring peace to Europe. People looked to the church for education, medicine, and help in hard times.
Crusades............................
In 1095, Pope Urban II told the knights that they should go fight for the Holy Land, the land where Jesus lived. They called these wars crusades, which means ?wars for the cross.? He thought Christians should have the land where Jesus lived, not the Muslims.
There were five crusades. The first crusade was the People's Crusade. Before the lords could get an army, many people went to the Holy Land. They were not like an army but more like a mob. This crusade was not very successful. Many were killed during this Crusade.
Then there was a second Crusade. It was when the official army was sent. It started in 1097 , two years later in 1099 the Christians captured Jerusalem. The third Crusade was a whole lot different. The Christians called upon people from different countries to fight for the Christians. It was such a fierce war that many people left for war and never returned. In 1187 the Muslims recaptured Jerusalem.
The fourth Crusade was lead by three kings, Frederick I, Philip II, Richard I. Although the Christians won a lot of battles they did not capture Jerusalem. After a while, they agreed to make peace for five years even though the Muslims still owned Jerusalem.
The last Crusade was the Children's Crusade. Children thought they could win the Holy Land by love, but unfortunately many children were taken as slaves and never reached the Holy Land.
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