Were the Crusades Justified?

To many non-Catholics, the Crusades were a violent attempt by popes and European monarchs to destroy peaceful, flourishing Muslim kingdoms in the Middle East and reestablish the reign of Christianity. Many Catholics also buy into this narrative, blushing whenever the Crusades are brought up in conversation.

On the other hand, some Catholics see the Crusades as fully justified attempts to defend Christianity in the Holy Land against invading Muslim armies.

Both versions contain some elements of truth. The Crusades are too complex to be considered fully good or bad. There were Crusaders who were driven by just and unjust motives and each Crusade was different, so they all must be evaluated on their own merits.

Let’s begin with this: Many modern narratives of these expeditions leave out or belittle the reality of Islamic aggression in the early Middle Ages. Since the death of Mohammed in the 7th century, Islam spread rapidly by the sword. Palestine, North Africa, Syria, and many other formerly Christian and Jewish lands quickly fell to the new regime of the Prophet.

Also, while there were periods when conquering Muslim leaders exercised tolerance toward their Jewish and Christian subjects, there were also many periods of persecution. Christians were sometimes enslaved, raped, or subject to higher taxes than their Muslim neighbors. They were pressured to convert to Islam and killed if they refused.

In light of this, one could argue that the First Crusade — called by Pope Urban II in 1095 — was justified. He knew that Christians were being harassed, persecuted, and deprived of their lands. He also received an urgent appeal from Constantinople for aid against the invading Seljuk Turks.

The battles weren’t always Christians versus Muslims. Muslim mercenaries often joined forces with European armies.

There is a question of whether some of the later Crusades were justified. Most of them, after all, failed in their missions. We also shouldn’t shy away from acknowledging that the Christian armies of Europe committed some heinous crimes during their military expeditions.

These were not always targeted at Muslims. Probably the most infamous incident was when the Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. The pope denounced these wayward Crusaders, but the rift between Eastern and Western Christendom grew wider in the wake of this bloodshed.

There were also incidents where Crusaders harassed Jews. What often goes unreported is that many Church leaders at the time strongly denounced this behavior, including St. Bernard of Clairvaux. And some bishops, knowing that these Crusaders were en route to their cities, hid Jews in their palaces. The Church never sanctioned these senseless acts of violence.

We need to include all of these nuances in our assessment of the Crusades. Within these ventures were justified acts of defense and selfish acts of violence.

We should neither completely condemn nor defend them.