2.2 Sergio
re-counts the adventures of the Crusaders.
The origin of the Crusades were a series that took
place between 1095 and 1291, in which Western European nations engaged using
the propaganda of religious
expeditionary wars.
The first crusade was called by Pope Urban II of the Roman Catholic Faith, who was determined
to restore Christian access to the holy places
in and near Jerusalem. It was all due to the decisive
defeat of the Byzantine army by Seljuk Turks at Manzikert
in 1071. At the same time, the Norman conqueror Robert Guiscard's conquest of Byzantine territories added to the problems of
the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Alexios of
Byzantine sought the Pope for help; defeat the heathen by aligning
the Christian nations against them. The Pope enlisted western leaders in the
cause of taking back the Holy Land.
The first Crusaders comprised military units of
Roman Catholics from all over Western Europe, but were a scattered army with
different leadership. Several hundred thousand soldiers became Crusaders by
taking vows the Pope granted them plenary
indulgence. Their emblem was the cross — the term
"crusade" is derived from the French term for taking up the cross.
Many were from France and called themselves "Franks,"
which became the common term used by Muslims. After some early successes, the
later crusades failed and the crusaders were defeated and forced to return
home.
The term "crusade" is also used to
describe religiously motivated campaigns that were conducted then against
pagans, heretics, and peoples under the ban of excommunication
for a mixture of religious, economic, and political reasons. It during that
period, the Faith focused on the persecution of heresy
in order to maintain unity of doctrine. During the eleventh and twelfth
centuries there are few cases of witchcraft in England, and such accusations as
were made appeared to have been brought before the ecclesiastical court. Soon
the elements were in place for a witch hunt, and for the next century and a
half fear of witches spread gradually throughout Europe.
As the hunt became widespread, with the mindset of
many that all magic involved a pact with the Devil was evil. It leads to
persecution with rash methods of torture and interrogation used to solicit
confessions and in the list of accusations to which these "witches"
confessed. It also then the rise of the Renaissance
magic in the great humanists
of the time that helped abet the rise of the craze. Even the Templar’s; once
heroes of the Crusades were also tried as Devil-invoking heretics in 1305–14.
The craze took on new strength in the 15th century,
the publication of the works of Heinrich
Kramer, a member of the Dominican
Order, Malleus Maleficarum (the 'Hammer
against the Witches') soon became one of the most influential books used by
secular witch-hunting courts. Persecution continued on with trials and varying
numbers of executions from one period to the next. It was during the craze
then, the concept of the Crusaders was re-enacted to bring in light to the
darkness that prevailed then.
So it was to begin the first formation of the
founders of the new Crusaders, Gerald Black and his companions. Ironically, one
of the members; Gerald's squire was a half man creature, but his loyalty and
reforming attitude deemed him worthy of the position. The four had travelled
far and wide to quell the evil that was growing then. They fought off the evil
Baal, Lucifer and many others too. Their success soon spurred on the growth of
the Crusaders, but the times of the world have changed. The Faith may had held
influence in the courts of Kings and Queen, but the leaders was also advised by
many who may not see to the Faith as an ally at times. There it was, the Faith
have placed the Crusaders under an oath of secrecy and to perform their task in
the manner to protect the Faith and all Mankind.
It was a well defined objective then, as the
Crusaders soon find themselves having an adversary that cannot be revealed to
the world. Their adversaries were the result of the craze which had formed the
calling of the opening of the gateway between good and evil. As more worshipers
of the new craze increased, more evil was soon to cross over and created the
chaos among mankind. The world was blessed then and now when the Crusaders were
there to counter and defeat every new threat that tried to create chaos.
It was an ongoing battle until the turn of the 21st
Century, when the last descendants of the original Crusaders once again came to
stop the evil from overcoming mankind. That last battle ended the war, or so it
was assumed as nothing happened for a long time. Twenty five years of peace later
had called for the disbanding of the Crusaders.
The peace reigned for another fifty years before the
Faith was weakened not only in numbers but also in their followers. A new era
of darkness soon prevailed when three great groups of nations declared war on
each other. No sanity or reasoning prevailed over those leaders as they
succumbed to the greed of evil. It was a war that devoured up a continent of
its life resources to become wastelands where billions of life had perished.
The Faith may have been weakened but it was not
destroyed as the learned and famed brothers placed aside all differences to
study the current concern on mankind. They came to one conclusion; it could be
the works of only one.
"The False Prophet has arrived while we were
lazing in our vigilance. He had laid not only his foundation but build his
house on our land. And he may not be alone. There could be an Eighth Prince
involved."
The Leader of the Faith then announced to his peers.
"God would heed our prayers be it with our few
in numbers, but as he would assist only those who would assist themselves. So
be it, I am hereby reviving the Crusaders to restore the balance in this
world."
No comments:
Post a Comment