The Effects of Religious Conflict in the CrusadesThe Crusades began when numerous appeals for help from the Holy Land, culminating in a speech by Pope Urban II encouraging the people to join the Christians fighting for the holy land against the Muslims. The role of religion played a major role in the Crusades. In this article, I will discuss the role of religion by explaining their religious significance, motivations, manifestations and the role of religious institutes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Many Catholics live by a set of rules or reforms that are introduced when they are little. Sin is doing what is wrong according to God's rule, when they sin they must go to church to talk to a priest who will offer penance. Penance provided a major role in the Crusades, according to Deus Volt-Gods Will published in 1905: "Urban II announced that anyone who joined the Crusade for religious reasons would be freed from such penance. » While penance is obtained after confessing your sin which is forgiven, indulgences are a temporal punishment for sins. The indulgence could only be granted by popes or archbishops and bishops. “By the mid-11th century, Christians had recovered half of the peninsula, so the popes had limited the availability of indulgence to those who came from other countries to aid the Spanish in their reconquest endeavor. (Crawford, Paul. “The Crusades.” Catholic Education Resource Center. Np, 1997.Web, October 21, 2015.) During this time, various people have attempted to identify the true motivations for such a holy war, saying there were some. Pope Urban II's speech in Clermont gained public support for a holy war against Christianity against Islam. “Pope Urban II spoke forcefully to the leaders of the Church and the nobles of Europe on certain occasions, in favor of a holy war in the Middle East.” The majority could not read or write and agreed with what civil and religious leaders told them. Everyone was called to help in this fight, no matter how weak or poor you are. Warriors and the wealthy were also invited to join the fight in defense of the Eastern Christians. All Christians were asked to support people at work by praying and fasting. There are many religious motivations for holy war. Helping the Christians of the East was one, Pope Urban II thought that the first thing to do was to save the Christians of the East. His successor, Pope Innocent III, wrote: "How can man love according to a divine perception of his neighbor as of himself when, knowing that his Christian brothers in faith and in name are held by the perfidious Muslims and does not dedicate himself to the task of freeing them? » (Madden, Thomas F. “The True Story of the Crusades.” Association for Renaissance Martial Arts. Np, nd Web. October 21, 2015). Another religious motivation for holy war was to recover the true cross. The true cross was believed to be the wood of the cross where Jesus was crucified. Many Christians believed that it was discovered in Jerusalem during the reign of Constantine. After their defeat at the Battle of Hattin, the Muslims took up the true cross. After numerous attempts to recover the cross, they failed and the True Cross is no longer in the possession of Christians. There are many strong religious beliefs when looking at the Crusade. One of them is sewing the sign of the cross on fabrics. The sewing of the..