The Role of Violence in European History

The Role of Violence in European History

Religion plays a crucial role in determining people’s beliefs, routine activities, and, consequently, their way of life. It was, therefore, at the center of most of the violence witnessed in Europe’s history. Despite having different reasons for engaging in violent acts, there are a lot of similarities in how people used violence in Europe’s history. Majority of people initiated violence and used it to further their agendas. Depending on the violence’s magnitude, people used different methods to memorize violence. However, the most common was through giving testimonies and writings. Among the most notable violence witnessed on the continent were those relating to the holy wars and attacks on minority religious groups. In 1320, the shepherd’s crusade attacked Jews and was extended to lepers the following year (Nirenberg 43). The crusaders, who were partakers of the holy wars, aimed at creating the Christian New Jerusalem as they believed they moved against the antichrist (Rubenstein 7). The perpetrators of violence in Europe did so to promote their religion since they thought their faith was superior to the rest.

Perpetrators of violence hoped to emerge victorious as the dominant faith and group. The crusade was an armed pilgrimage that sought to liberate Jerusalem and other Christians of the east under the Islamic rule. They believed that any man who set out from pure devotion and not for monetary gain or reputation, to liberate God’s church in Jerusalem, his journey shall be reckoned in place of all penance. Jerusalem was considered the most important pilgrimage destination to Christians and the most desired holy site (Rubenstein 10). The crusaders knew a match to liberate the city would put them on top of Islam and other religions as the only true faith.

The shepherd’s crusade was violence that was aimed at wiping out non-Christians. In Europe during the 14^th century, Christians had developed a dislike for Moors because of their Islamic faith. They were waiting for the right opportunity and reason to strike the Moors, which presented itself with a vision from a boy in Spain. According to the boy’s vision, the Holy Ghost made him a shepherd on earth, giving the okay to go forth and fight the Moors (Nirenberg 43). People were excited about the vision supporting the idea of moving against the Moors. Many Christians followed his call to conquer Granada, which was successful and later waged war against other minorities, including Jews and lepers. The Christians strongly believed they were the only faith that worshipped the true God. They intended to show this by wiping out other people from different religions.

Regardless of the period and place violence happened in Europe, it was used to exalt or subdue others. It was used to established dominance, power, and authority over targeted groups. For instance, the primary reason why Christians waged war against other religions is that they could have them under Christianity’s rule. The intention was to conquer and rule over Muslims and pagans (Rubenstein 25). In such religious wars, Christians sought to be exalted as the most potent faith as they subdued other religions regarding them as weak and untrue. However, notable differences exist in how war used. Whereas the crusaders wanted to conquer and rule other faiths, some violence was created to eliminate a group of people from society. As a result of the plague that took by storm Europe from 1348 to 1351, there was an escalated attack on social minorities (Green & Symes 64). These attacks aimed to kill social minorities such as beggars, clerics, foreigners, and persons suffering from the minority who were blamed for bringing death. The Jews being the largest minority group in Europe was on the receiving end of most of the violence (Green & Symes 65). In July 1348, the plague, also identified as the Black Death, led to the attack of Jews living in Tarrega, Catalonia (Green & Symes 64). Despite violence being used by perpetrators to establish dominance, others extended it further to kill those dominated.

People in Europe used various methods to memorize the violence they witnessed. The most common method applied was narration. They told their experiences to others to keep them fresh in their minds and pass them to the next generation. Hayyim Galipapa, a contemporary rabbi, provides testimony to an Italian Jew narrator on the route and dates used by rioters to attack Jews in Spain in chronological order (Green & Symes 65). People also recorded what they witnessed in writing and stored in books. Evidence of the Shephard’s organization and attacks were well documented by French chroniclers who had gained an interest in their activities. They began assembling themselves in early 1320 to document the activities of the group (Nirenberg 44).  The chroniclers‘ writings agree that the Shephard’s multitudes were characterized by poor people, with the majority being adolescents without proper organization and mostly Christian faithful (Nirenberg 45). Writings were used by writers to ensure the information written stayed for long.

Religion was at the core of many violence witnessed in Europe. Christians targeted Muslims to establish dominance over them, for it was perceived the faith was massively gaining a huge following globally. Many people used violence to establish themselves as influential in society gaining a considerable audience who were supporters of their actions. Despite faithful Christians believing that the war they waged against Muslims was holy, they were also driven with the desire to have power and material gains that came with having sites such as Jerusalem under their possession. The violence was only useful to dominant groups and not minority groups who were often the target.