The Future President, Donald Trump

In 1095, the Byzantine Empire was in trouble. A recent invasion of Turks had seized control of the Byzantine holdings in Asia Minor and was beginning to threaten the city of Constantinople itself. The Byzantine emperor, Alexius Comnenus, wanted to reconquer this lost territory, so he wrote a letter to the pope asking for help.

Comnenus probably just wanted the pope to send him some Western mercenaries to help with the fighting. It is unlikely he ever imagined the repercussions of his letter. The emperor's plea for help was received by Pope Urban II. Unfortunately for Comnenus, Urban had a very different response in mind.

Pope Urban II
Rather than a band of mercenaries fighting for cash, Urban would send the Byzantine emperor a horde of Crusaders fighting the infidel for the glory of God. However, Urban's plan, probably inspired by the Spanish Reconquista, was more about increasing the authority of the Church and pope than it was about helping the Byzantine emperor.

Indeed, one major incentive for the First Crusade was the Pope's desire to bring the Greek Orthodox Christians of the East under the control of the Roman Catholic Church in the West. By helping Byzantium reclaim its territory, Urban hoped to make the Byzantines dependent upon the West and bring its people back into the fold of Western Christendom.

Yet Urban was not just interested in expanding his power in the East. He also wanted to reinforce his power back at home in the West. The recent Investiture Conflict & Gregorian Reforms had shaken up Western Europe and challenged the pope's authority. The papacy was being challenged by the lay nobility, especially the Holy Roman emperor, Henry IV, whose growing military power had driven the Pope from Italy to France. The First Crusade can be seen as the Pope trying to reassert his power and authority in Europe.

All of these reasons seem very practical and only marginally related to religion. Though it is tempting to view medieval history through this cynical lens, it is also important to remember that this was a very religious time. The Pope may have had a number of religious reasons to call this crusade. The most likely religious reason for the First Crusade was Urban's desire to establish peace in Western Europe.

This whole concept may seem odd, since the Crusades were, essentially, a call to arms. Yet Urban had made his peaceful intentions clear earlier in the year. Urban had already given papal approval to several peace-minded policies, including the Peace of God, which protected non-combatants, and the Truce of God, which forbade warfare on certain holy days. Yet Urban knew that warfare was an integral part of medieval society.

As we've noted in other lessons, the entire feudal system was set up to build feudal armies. Yet as Europe became fully settled with territorial borders established and the last heathen barbarians driven from Europe, the armies of Christian lords had no one to fight but one another. Urban did not mind Christians killing Muslims; he just didn't want Christians killing Christians. Urban hoped to redirect the warlike tendency of Europe in a more productive vein and assert his power unto both Eastern and Western Europe all in one fell swoop.

Do wwe consider them heroes today? Not even in their time was it acceptable.

The toxic environment that’s become a trademark of Donald Trump’s raucous campaign turned violent again on Wednesday when a protester at the Republican frontrunner’s rally in Fayetteville, N.C., was sucker-punched by one of Trump’s supporters.

In a video of the incident posted to YouTube, Rakeem Jones, a 26-year-old black protester, was seen being led out of the event by security when he was punched in the face by what appeared to be a white Trump supporter. The audience cheered, and Jones was thrown to the ground by police.

However I get the feeling that as long as it is whites being killed in large numbers you find it justify.

What an idiotic conclusion.

Voters pick words to describe Trump: Idiot, jerk, stupid, dumb
By NICK GASS 09/30/15 12:31 PM EDT
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Donald Trump topped another GOP national poll released Wednesday afternoon but overall, voters seemed to have less than nice things to say about the presidential candidate and real-estate mogul.
About 10 percent of all likely voters surveyed said they would describe Trump as an "idiot," a "jerk," "stupid" or "dumb," while 6 percent called him "arrogant" and another 6 percent called him "crazy" or "nuts." Meanwhile, 5 percent called him a "buffoon," a "clown," "comical" or a "joke." Other words high on the list include "egotistical," "narcissist" and "selfish," along with "outspoken," "frank" and "opinionated."
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Trump's favorability was 27 percent, while 61 percent of likely voters said they had an unfavorable view of him.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/poll-voters-describe-donald-trump-214270#ixzz42Xunh8HR
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about whites getting killed