Urban II Calls the Crusade In what ways does Urban appeal to potential crusaders He promises crusaders honor passage into heaven and tells them that they will be enforcing a divine duty How does he depict their activities in the Holy Land their potential opponents He depicts their activities in the Holy Land as just and right explaining that their friends who live in the east are in urgent need of their help and that they are merely reclaiming the Holy territory which is already rightfully theirs under the promise of God However he depicts the activities of their opponents as far more savage describing them as infidels and explaining that they have killed and captured many and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire Narratives on the First Crusade Why go on Crusade Crusades are considered to be a divine duty and are thought to be from christ Also the Crusades offered a free pass to get to heaven even with a sinful life another chance to restore honor to a person s family even when his life has only brought him dishonor in the past What is the attitude of westerners towards the people and the circumstances they find in the East The attitude of westerners towards the people and circumstances they find in the East is described by Pope Urban as compassionate pity which is prompted by the love of God The westerners viewed the circumstances in the East as great disturbances which agitated the world where faith had been undermined Are there different perspectives among the authors How might you explain any differences Yes there are different perspectives among authors The author of The Alexiad seems to have a more cynical and negative attitude while the author of Narratives on the First Crusade seems to be more positive and compassionate toward the matter Compare the accounts given here with those in The Alexiad Which do you find most plausible and why I find the events in the Narratives on the First Crusade to be far more plausible than the events in The Alexiad because I feel as if the other reading is way too biased and depicts different groups as far more barbaric or ignorant than they actually are The Alexiad How does Anna characterize the various groups fighting in the East the Normans other Westerners Latins Gauls Turks and the emperor s forces the Romans Given your other readings do her impressions seem accurate The Normans seemed a little tentative and very willing to make peace since they were aware of their disadvantages The Gauls were very determined not to give up on their pilgrimage even after suffering many dangers from the Turks The Latins were very excited to conquer the Roman Empire they were opportunists who were so ready to strike when they got the chance that they gave up all of their worldly possessions in order to do so Turkish people were rude in nature and tended to use the strategy of ambushing other armies The emperors forces or the Romans seem to be far more rational in thought and strategy Based on my other readings her impressions seem somewhat accurate However this reading seems to be very biased in favor of the emperor s forces or the Romans According to Anna what motivates the Latins to come East Do their actions once there support their original motivations The Latins were motivated to come to the East because they heard a false rumor that the counts had been taken into custody at the Emperor s command They became angry and formed a mob which struck Byzantium and attempted to get into the city walls Once there their actions absolutely do not support their original motivations because they threw missiles which struck the chest of the men standing near the emperor s throne which if the rumors were true could have possibly been where the counts would have been seated A Muslim on the Franks How would Usmah characterize the Franks The Muslims Is there such a thing as a representative Frank Usmah would characterize the Franks as violent barbaric and unjust due to the way they treated not only the Muslim people as when the Franks pierced a Muslim boy s eyeballs with hot awls but also their own as depicted in the way in which the Frankish physicians poorly treated their own knights essentially violently murdering them Usmah would characterize the Muslims in a far better light believing that Muslims are far more peaceful and reasonable and are more or less victims during the Crusades No there is no such thing as a representative Frank because they are all different Some are less cruel than others as explained with the two differing stories of the good and bad Frankish physicians What qualities does Usmah seem to value in a person a society In a person Usmah seems to value the qualities of forgiveness tolerance and understanding He also seems to value peace and morality in a society How might Usmah s status as a noble and a courtier affect his judgments about the Franks Usmah s high status may affect his judgments about the Franks because perhaps he is not used to the barbaric nature of the way people of a lower class behave Maybe he does not realize how much his actions are affected by the type of reputation he must continuously uphold