One of the most important effects of the crusades was on
commerce. They created a constant demand for the transportation of men and
supplies, encouraged ship-building, and extended the market for eastern wares
in Europe. The products of Damascus, Mosul, Alexandria, Cairo, and other great
cities were carried across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports, whence
they found their way into all European lands. The elegance of the Orient, with
its silks, tapestries, precious stones, perfumes, spices, pearls, and ivory,
was so enchanting that an enthusiastic crusader called it "the vestibule
of Paradise."
THE CRUSADES AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE
Finally, it must be noted how much the crusades
contributed to intellectual and social progress. They brought the inhabitants
of western Europe into close relations with one another, with their fellow
Christians of the Roman Empire in the East, and with the natives of Asia Minor,
Syria, and Egypt. The intercourse between Christians and Moslems was
particularly stimulating, because the East at this time surpassed the West in
civilization. The crusaders enjoyed the advantages which come from travel in
strange lands and among unfamiliar peoples. They went out from their castles or
villages to see great cities, marble palaces, superb dresses, and elegant
manners; they returned with finer tastes, broader ideas, and wider sympathies.
Like the conquests of Alexander the Great, the crusades opened up a new world.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRUSADES
When all is said, the crusades remain one of the most
remarkable movements in history. They exhibited the nations of western Europe
for the first time making a united effort for a common end. The crusaders were
not hired soldiers, but volunteers, who, while the religious fervor lasted,
gladly abandoned their homes and faced hardship and death in pursuit of a spiritual
ideal. They failed to accomplish their purpose, yet humanity is the richer for
the memory of their heroism and chivalry.
