410 Crusades (3) Religious Motivations
MP3•Episode home
Manage episode 474732224 series 3084019
Content provided by Edmund J. Rybarczyk and Ed Rybarczyk. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Edmund J. Rybarczyk and Ed Rybarczyk or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
In my first two episodes I laid out geographically-oriented motivations for Crusading. This week we explore the religious motives of Crusaders. What were they offered by the papacy in return for joining a crusade? Was every Crusader on a journey of religious gain? Were Crusaders motivated either by their own poverty or a desire to evangelize pagans? Who was more likely to join a crusade, younger or elder brothers? Why? To develop our understanding of Medieval Catholic piety I explain and explore the Catholic practice of granting indulgences. I also warn us of running history through a sieve of chronological snobbery. Moreover, I address, yet again, the Postmodern interpretation of the Crusades and explain why that take is really just a cudgel to shame and silence Christians. In the show's opening theological reflection I ask, "what is faith?" To answer that I unpack the perspective of famed (by tormented) Russian author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who famously once wrote, "beauty will save the world." I find both his insights about human nature and the nature of faith to be both helpful and true.
…
continue reading
299 episodes