Were Crusaders good or bad?

[Dinosaursandanime65]

I had an idea to make a Yvridio Vaseilio themed Crusader costume/cosplay/outfit. Definitely not anytime soon, maybe in 25 years or so

[SnowedIn]

You're going to find people on both sides of that answer. There are crusaders who did TERRIBLE things and there were crusaders who acted nobly and others who probably did bad things for what they thought were the right reasons. In short, they were human. Do your costume because it's fun and it's what you want.

[Anonymous]

They were good. They were the first time the forces of Islam had been struck back deep inside their own territory after centuries of Muslim invasions that conquered and converted Christian nations at the point of the sword.

For example in 711 the Muslims invaded what is today's France and in 1096 the descendants of those Frank's who defeated that Muslim army would invade the heart of Muslim territory.

The Knight's Templar would eventually emerge overall victorious over the middle east.

[Randalama]

Not sure about good or bad but there were some believers, more so in the commoners ranks I think. Many of the European nobles were second or third sons and would not inherit so they were looking to set up shop for themselves, to colonize and exploit. The Crusades were full of ghastly massacres and thousands of people were sold into slavery. Some people might find such a costume offensive. At the World Cup last fall in Qatar the English fans were not allowed to wear such costumes but they are acceptable in other regions so maybe be a bit sensitive of your environment if you are going to wear it.

[BCA6010]

That's pretty subjective. Most of the crusades started with good/justified intentions, but especially whenever they ran into problems, they fell apart due to infighting and ambitious nobles who were more interested in claiming territory than fulfilling the Pope's mandate.

You'll find much more benevolent and heroic accounts of knightly orders such as the Hospitaliers and Templars than the kings and princes and their armies.

[Effably]

What do you mean by crusaders? The crusades themselves were ratger silly wars that cost a lot of lives. With far less importance than we attribute to them afterwards.

The religious orders, templars and what not, were largely good. If exploiting people a bit. Most of them basically served as caravan guards against bandits for pilgrims, merchants and alike. I'd argue that is, if not good, at least a neutral outlook.

[NathanDavis]

they were good at being bad

[slatyb]

They were horrible. It was a Christian jihad.