Using both the lecture and the "Arab Syrian Gentleman" excerpt, answer the following: What sorts of things motivated Christian knights to participate in the Crusades? What is a "holy war?" Were the Crusades
Discussion Topic
Instructions:
Simply writing a reply to the questions does not guarantee points. You are expected to make thoughtful, informed posts to the questions. A sentence or two is NOT sufficient. You need a well-thought out post of 300-500 words. Think of these as essays where you must develop complete answers with details, examples, and analysis. Proofread before submitting—do NOT have grammatical, punctuation, or other errors in your post. The instructor also wishes to see students responding to the posts of others—as in a class discussion. Submissions will NOT be graded or given credit if they are more than a week late. Late submissions will be subject to a one letter grade penalty.
These should be based on our course materials (as well as your own analysis). While you may use things you know, do NOT use outside sources for this assignment. Any evidence of cheating (using outside sources, AI like ChatGPT, borrowing from another student's post, etc.) will result in a zero for this assignment.
See rubric.
Discussion Board Prompt:
Using both the lecture and the "Arab Syrian Gentleman" excerpt, answer the following: What sorts of things motivated Christian knights to participate in the Crusades? What is a "holy war?" Were the Crusades really "holy wars?" Be sure to use not just the technical definition of holy war, but some of the things you learned about these ventures in your answer. If you were living in the Middle Ages, but knew what you now know, would you find the Christian or Muslim world more appealing? Why? Discuss what each was like in terms of society, culture, and tolerance. If forced to join a religion, which one (Christianity, Judaism, or Islam) would most appeal to you? Why? Which religion would you want your rulers to belong to? Why? Are there any religions you would NOT want to be? Why? Be sure to base your answers on HISTORICAL evidence. This must be based only on our course materials and your own analysis. It must contain information from our course materials.
