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Much is often made of the absolution from sins granted to crusaders who died in the holy wars.  However, absolution was readily available, either though confession or, if the nobleman wish for a more dramatic gesture, retirement into a monastery and a life of contemplative prayer.  Surely, it was the sense of heroic adventure that made this form of absolution attractive to the warrior elite.  Neither is it a foreign concept to the modern observer to believe that a man who dies in war defending his fellowman, country, or allies, might be accepted into heaven on the grounds of his selfless sacrifice.     

Much is often made of the absolution from sins granted to crusaders who died in the holy wars.  However, absolution was readily available, either though confession or, if the nobleman wish for a more dramatic gesture, retirement into a monastery and a life of contemplative prayer.  Surely, it was the sense of heroic adventure that made this form of absolution attractive to the warrior elite.  Neither is it a foreign concept to the modern observer to believe that a man who dies in war defending his fellowman, country, or allies, might be accepted into heaven on the grounds of his selfless sacrifice.     

The legacy of the crusades is certainly mixed, and the crusaders have been remembered by some as heroes and by some as villains.  Certainly, history furnished examples of both kinds of crusader.  Likewise, the overall morality of the war raises questions of the just war doctrine, and opinions naturally vary.

The legacy of the crusades is certainly mixed, and the crusaders have been remembered by some as heroes and by some as villains.  Certainly, history furnished examples of both kinds of crusader.  Likewise, the overall morality of the war raises questions of the just war doctrine, and opinions naturally vary.

 

[[category:European History]]

[[category:European History]]

[[category:crusades]]

[[category:crusades]]