Assess which society felt the most significant impact from the Crusades: the Byzantine Empire or the Islamic world

Question

Your answer should discuss the motives of the crusaders, the needs of the Byzantine empire, and the response of Islamic kingdoms in the eastern Mediterranean.

Answer 1

Answers will vary but correct responses should include: The impact of the Crusades on the Byzantine Empire was tainted by the motives of the Crusaders as well as the responses of the Byzantine Empire. The Crusaders arrived already embittered by the religious squabbles that had divided the churches of Rome and Constantinople. Crusaders kept reconquered Byzantine territory for themselves and blamed "Greek treachery" for their failures. The Byzantines were convinced of their own moral and cultural superiority over impious, greedy Westerners. The Crusaders might have saved Byzantium, as the Turks saved the Islamic world. Instead, they undermined the empire. In the end, convinced by a pretender to the Byzantine throne, the Crusaders, under the farce of recapturing Jerusalem, sacked Constantinople and dividing most of what was left of the Byzantine Empire in Europe among the victors. In the Islamic kingdoms, Crusaders were a minor nuisance. With help from the Turks, their threat to the Islamic world was neutralized or contained. The Crusades left a sad legacy. For most of the time, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities in the Middle East, Egypt, and Spain lived alongside one another in relative peace. Christians and Muslims intermarried, exchanged culture, and, in some frontier zones, even worshipped at the same shrines. In war, Christian and Muslim states often made alliances against third parties, regardless of religious affiliation. The Crusades, however, fed on religious propaganda and encouraged the two traditions to demonize each other. Crusading fervor also contributed to growing hostility in Europe between Christians and Jews. In most places, when rioters wanted to vent wrath for the loss of the Holy Land, Jews were the only non-Christian communities available to victimize.