Why would people leave home to fight in a distant land? Some just hoped to save their souls or to do what they thought God wanted. They thought that God would look favorably on them for fighting his enemies, I am just fighting for my family pride, but some were just bored and want something adventurous to do. Most of us crusaders died because we had to travel very long distances to get to the holy lands, and we lost most of our army on the way. Also our warriors were not prepared to fight in the desert climate, so it was very difficult. Although the crusades failed, they changed Europe forever. Europeans would travel to the holy lands and learn about products such as, rice, cotton cloth, apricots, etc. Most kings increased their power because many nobles and knights had died in the Holy Land. Although the crusades changed everyone's lives, I made it home to my wife and kids, brought great pride to all of my family, and help change history forever.

Am I to leave my wife and children, all my goods and inheritance, to go and conquer a foreign land which will give me nothing in return? I can worship God just as well in Paris as in Jerusalem.... Those rich lords and prelates [priests] who have grabbed for themselves all the treasure on earth may well need to go on Crusade. But I live at peace with my neighbors. I am not bored with them yet and so I have no desire to go looking for a war at the other end of the world. If you like heroic deeds, you can go along and cover yourself with glory: tell the Sultan from me that if he feels like attacking me I know very well how to defend myself. But so long as he leaves me alone, I shall not bother my head about him. All you people, great and small, who go on pilgrimage to the Promised Land, ought to become very holy there: so how does it happen that the ones who come back are mostly bandits?

 –Rutebeuf, from The Medieval World by Freidrich Heer, translated by Janet Sondheimer

 This saying is very true and I this is often how i feel, why go to war and leave everything i hold nearest and dearest to my heart behind. Why leave my family when i could just move somewhere else and worship God just as well as in my previous home town. This is how it all started, one day my father came to me and said the pope has called warriors to go defend the holy lands. since my father is to old to go to it was automatically placed as my responsibility to go to war and defend our holy lands.When I told my wife and 2 children about how I have to go to war, we all started crying, but I promised my family i will do everything i can do to stay alive in this war. Until next time~ Petrus Williams