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Aim: What were the effects of the Crusades on “ Christendom ” and western Europe? .
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Aim: What were the effects of the Crusades on “Christendom” and western Europe? The Crusades enabled the Italian City-states fleets to re-conquer their home waters – as well as those held by the Byzantines. The great battles should not be allowed to disguise another major event – the conquest of the Mediterranean’s maritime trade routes. Fernand Braudel
Significance of Crusades: Economic Expansion $$$ • Plunder and looting of Holy Land • Building of fleets to carry Crusaders and then trade • Enrichment of merchant class – through carrying Crusaders and trade rights with Islamic World • Control of Mediterranean Sea trade
Significance of Crusades: Increased Power of Kings • Military organizations are led by kings • National taxation instituted to pay for Crusades and collected by king • Nobility exhausts its financial resources fighting far from home
Significance of Crusades: Power of the Church Waxes, then Wanes • Europe unifies around the Church’s goal • Increased status of Church – for a while • New ideas from abroad threaten Church’s teachings • Loss of Holy Lands, failure of later Crusades, diminish Church prestige
Significance of the Crusades: Interaction • Reopening of trade with East: Spices, Silks • New foods: Sugar, Cotton, Rice, Citrus fruits, Apples • Knowledge of the Islamic world Arabic numerals, paper • Reintroduction to works of Aristotle, other works of logic