Course Description
The Crusades represent the great conflict between two ideologies – Christianity and Islam – a conflict that is still unresolved and which is as potentially dangerous to world stability today as it was at any time in the past.
The Crusades were in reality a Holy War between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land. A land still in serious conflict today that has the added dimensions of powerful factors such as – Jewry, the state of Israel, the Palestinians and the USA.
This is a spellbinding story because The Crusades changed everything – especially the way we think, what we believe in, what we eat, how we dress, how we look, how we socially interact with others both on a group level and on a one-to-one basis.
The Crusades fundamentally changed the Western World. The Crusades are responsible for the demise of feudalism and the rise of Capitalism and Nationalism.
The power and authority of the Roman Catholic Church was established and consolidated but also it gave rise to the seeds of the Reformation and the first voices of protest to Roman were raised in opposition to the Crusades.