Nobility: Knights, Lords, and Ladies
Unlike peasants, nobles could own their own land. Lords owned their own land and had peasants who farmed it for them. Knights often lived on the land of nobles. In exchange for the land, knights would join their lord's army when needed. Ladies, or female nobles, were trained in the art of manners.
Your duties as a knight, lord, or lady:
1) Read the following primary source accounts of the Crusades. Then answer the THINK questions about each account.
2) Imagine you were a Catholic going on the first Crusade. Think about how Crusaders must have felt when they left their homes to go on a journey far away from home. What motivated them to go? What was life like as a Crusader? What would a Crusader have seen and felt?
Your assignment is to pretend that you are a Crusader during the first Crusades. You have decided to leave your home in Europe and follow Pope Urban II's call to battle the Muslims and take over the holy city of Jerusalem. You must write 2 letters to your parents telling them about your journey. I recommend that you write one letter during the very beginning of your journey. Explain to your parents why you are going on the Crusade and your expectations for the journey. Write the second letter a few months later and tell your parents what you have experienced and seen on your journey. Make sure to use information you learned from the primary sources and from the websites below, but always write in your own words!!
Here are more detailed instructions:
Role: A Christian Crusader traveling and fighting in Jerusalem.
Audience: Your noble parents at home in Europe
Format: 2 formal letters. Each letter must be at least 1/2 page of lined paper, or 1/4 page typed. Use the format you learned in Writing class. (*Spelling, neatness and punctuation count! - If it's not good enough you will be sent back to re-do it!)
Task: Write 2 letters home to your noble parents describing your experience during the Crusades. Your letters should include
A - your feelings about the Crusades
B - your reasons for venturing on the Crusade
C - who you have met
D - what you have seen
You need to include information that you have learned from the Power Point, the primary source accounts of the Crusades below, and the websites below.
Remember: You will not get credit for moving on to the next Social Class until you have met the High Queen's standards. Work quickly, but work smart!
When you have finished both letters, print them out for the High Queen to read.
Save this to the High Queen's DropBox as Homeroom.LastNameFirstInitial.Nobility (604.LandyT.Nobility).
When you are done:
1) Flip Your Cup so the High Queen can come over and give you a stamp.
2) Move on to the Clergy assignment!
Accounts of the Crusades:
Primary Source 1: This is an account of a Crusader's journey from Europe to Jerusalem. The trips were often exhausting and many people died along the way. Think about these questions as you read: How did the Crusaders feel as they traveled? What kept them going? (Don't get thrown off by all the city names. I put the city names in italic.)
"We left the city on the second day of the week in the month of May and, passing along a narrow and difficult road all day and night, we came to a fortress (or large castle), the name of which was Botroun. Then we came to a city called Gibilet near the sea, in which we suffered very great thirst, and, thus worn out, we reached a river named Ibrahim. Then on the eve of the day of the Ascension of the Lord we crossed a mountain in which the way was exceedingly (very) narrow, and there we expected to find the enemy lying in ambush (ready for attack) for us. But God favoring us, none of them dared to appear in our way. Then our knights went ahead of us and cleared the way before us, and we arrived at a city by the sea which called Beirut, and thence we went to another city called Sidon, thence to another called Tyre, and from Tyre to the city of Acre."
Primary Source 2: This is an account of the Crusader's victory in the first Crusade. The account describes the Catholic attack on Muslims and the bloody battle.
Think about these questions as you read: What was the battle like? How did the Crusaders treate their enemies? What did the Crusaders get from the battle?
"But this time the pilgrims entered the city, pursuing and killing the Saracens (the Muslims) up to the Temple of Solomon, where the enemy gathered in force. The battle raged throughout the day, so that the Temple was covered with their blood. When the pagans had been overcome, our men seized great numbers, both men and women, either killing them or keeping them captive, as they wished. On the roof of the Temple a great number of pagans of both sexes had assembled, and these were taken under the protection of Tancred and Gaston of Beert. Afterward, the army scattered throughout the city and took possession of the gold and silver, the horses and mules, and the houses filled with goods of all kinds."
(The Gesta Version, as cited in August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 256-57, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-jlem.html#gesta2)
Primary Source 3: This is an account of Pope Urban II's speech to convince people to go on the first Crusade. He tells the people that God wants them to fight and sends them off to wear crosses to show that they are fighting in the name of God. Think about these questions as you read: How did Pope Urban II convince people to go on the Crusades? Why did Pope Urban II want people to say, "It is the will of God?"
"When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: It is the will of God! It is the will of God!
Whoever, therefore, shall determine upon this holy pilgrimage and shall make his vow to God to that effect and shall offer himself to Him as a, living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, shall wear the sign of the cross of the Lord on his forehead or on his breast. When,' truly',' having fulfilled his vow be wishes to return, let him place the cross on his back between his shoulders. Such, indeed, by the twofold action will fulfill the precept of the Lord, as He commands in the Gospel, "He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.""(Robert the Monk. as cited inDana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 5-8, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html)
Primary Source 4: This is an account of how Jews were treated by Crusaders. Thousands of Jews were killed during the Crusades or were forced to convert to Christianity.
Think about these questions as you read: What did the Crusaders do to the Jews? Why did the Crusaders attack the Jews?
"This slaughter of Jews was done first by citizens of Cologne. These suddenly fell upon a small band of Jews and severely wounded and killed many; they destroyed the houses and synagogues of the Jews and divided among themselves a very large, amount of money. When the Jews saw this cruelty, about two hundred in the silence of the night began flight by boat to Neuss. The pilgrims and crusaders discovered them, and after taking away all their possessions, inflicted on them similar slaughter, leaving not even one alive." - Albert of Aix (Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1096jews.html)
Websites with information about the Crusades:
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/crusades.html
http://themiddleages.net/life/crusades.html
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/history/highmiddle/bernard.htm
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/crus/hd_crus.htm