There are different and sometimes opposite views on what were the consequences of the Crusades.Both positive and negative results of these campaigns were the subject of the analysis of historians, philosophers, writers and religious leaders.
scientific discussion
European thinkers have been actively interested in the era of the Crusades in the XVIII century.Their evaluation of this period of history is quite different.Some scientists, such as Choiseul Daykur seen in the Crusades only positive side.They noted the results such as the revival of interest of Europeans to science, the emergence of trade relations between East and West, the interpenetration of cultures.
were those who negatively evaluated themselves Crusades and their consequences.This view was held by the philosophers Rousseau and Walter.They thought crusades senseless bloodshed and claimed that the revival of science and culture in Europe was due to other causes.Members of this camp also noted that the invasion of Christians to provoke a hardening of the Islamic world and has caused lasting many centuries of religious intolerance.
This scientific debate continues in our time.Nonetheless, although the estimates may differ, about historical facts consensus.
rise navigation and trade
in Palestine and Byzantium, the Crusaders found many products previously unknown in Western Europe.Among these food products, such as apricots, lemons, sugar, rice;fabrics - silk, velvet, cotton;luxury items - jewelry, carpets, glassware, furniture.Europeans appreciate the east goods and did not intend to give them up, even after they had to leave the Middle East.
There is no doubt that the consequences of the Crusades to the Mediterranean trade was the most favorable.First opened prospects appreciated Italian merchants.Genoa and Venice, grown rich during the Crusades and especially after the fall of the Byzantine Empire flourished for several centuries.
emergence of financial institutions
extremely interesting consequences of the Crusades for European economic institutions.The need to move money safely over long distances led to the emergence of promissory notes, which could take to the road instead of gold.Issuance and cashing of checks involved in the Order of the Knights Templar.It was the first organization in Europe, which has taken over mediation in financial transactions.
Templars with the permission of the Catholic Church were engaged in issuing loans.If before the loan-sharking and prosecuted because it was pretty risky, but now the situation has changed.Templars concentrated in their hands the huge capital that allowed them to make loans even monarchs of Europe.Subsequently, the reluctance of the French king to return the debt caused the liquidation order.But after the defeat of the Knights Templar invented financial instruments were taken by Italian bankers.
Consequences of the Crusades to the church
Vatican results organized their campaigns were quite contradictory.Initially, the Pope was able to consolidate the entire Christian world.Revenues of the Catholic Church at this time also increased significantly.Efforts and the political role of the Pope.
But these changes, according to many historians, and caused the decline of the Catholic Church.The clergy themselves surrounded by luxury and increasingly interfere in the political process.This undermines the authority of the church.In the end, protests led to the Reformation.
subject of theological disputes have become themselves the Crusades.The causes and consequences of these campaigns were evaluated differently by religious thinkers.Questions about the permissibility of trade with the nations, borrowing from them cultural and scientific knowledge in the church environment caused heated debate.
Military innovations
Crusades led to the improvement of combat tactics and some weapons.There has been significant progress in the construction of fortresses and other fortifications.In the Middle East Europeans first met with a crossbow.An important outcome was also recognition of the importance of supply armies, send in the long march.Although the military consequences of the Crusades were a failure for Christians, the art of war in Europe has advanced considerably.
levantiytsy
Not all the Crusaders returned to their homeland after their completion.Part of the settlers from Europe remained in Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.They were mostly the descendants of the crusaders and merchants from France and Italy.They have kept the Catholic faith and became known levantiytsy.In the Ottoman Empire, they got some privileges and were mainly engaged in trade, shipbuilding and crafts.
modern position of the Catholic Church
Today the Vatican is quite cautious about the effects of the Crusades.Positive and negative aspects of events occurs are no longer the subject of a public religious debate.Instead, the church prefers to talk about the moral responsibility for their past actions.
In 2004, when the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was visiting the Vatican, Pope John Paul II apologized for the capture of the Byzantine capital of the Crusaders.He condemned the use of weapons against fellow believers, noting the tragic consequences for the Church of the Crusades.Briefly, but wise words of the Pope commented on the Patriarch of Constantinople."The spirit of reconciliation is stronger than hatred," - said Bartholomew.
