The Road to Heaven: Motives for Crusading Re-examined
“By this kind of death people make their way to heaven who perhaps would never reach it by another road.” 13 th Century preacher of the crusades. [i] Modern man finds it difficult to follow the reasoning that a crusade could open the gates of heaven. Indeed, the idea is so shocking and repulsive to modern ears that it has fueled contempt and condemnation for the crusades generally. Popular culture for more than a century has characterized the crusades as brutal land-grabs preached by fanatical priests who advocated “killing Saracens” as the way to heaven. Such portrayals are inaccurate and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of medieval theology and mentality. Today I look more closely at crusader motives. The theological basis for the crusades grew from the concept of “just war” — not, note, holy war. This notion was first articulated by the Christian theologian St. Augustine, who lived between 354 and 430 AD. Augustine argued that Christian leaders (not just anyone) ha