How was Crusading Justified?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-8-2015

Abstract

Crusades were wars—that is firm ground. More specifically, crusading was represented as just warfare, according to the idea of just war established by St. Augustine of Hippo.

Augustine wrote that warfare was sometimes a necessary and lesser evil in certain conditions. Specifically, a war could be just if there was:

a) just cause, b) legitimate authority, and c) right intention.

Comments

This introductory essay is published by smarthistory, an online open educational resource.

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