The Impact of the Crusades on Romanesque Art

The Crusades allowed for the flourishing of Romanesque art and architecture, both during and after they were finished, since the movement of people brought crusaders to new places and thereby allowed art and architecture to flourish, introduced new art forms from areas in the East to the West and allowed for a revival of spiritual vigor which led to the increased production and beautification of Christian artworks and monuments. As people from throughout western Europe travelled to help their fellow Christians in the East, new fortifications were established, and cities which could provide to the needs of crusaders, whether near or remote, became prosperous and enjoyed a flourishing in their art and architecture. By having a large influx of crusaders into the East who would also return to the West, new styles and ideas from the East were introduced into Romanesque art and architecture, and this new cultural and artistic blend provided new elements of Romanesque art. Finally, the idea of defending a common threat to Christianity and acting together as a group was a powerful message, which increased spiritual vigor of the crusaders and the power of the Pope, thereby also leading to increased Romanesque art and architecture, especially artworks which involved Christian themes.

The Crusades allowed for a flourishing in construction, as Crusaders built fortifications, churches were expanded and protected, and cities which helped the crusaders expanded due to their new prosperity. Since one of the messages which the Crusaders believed was especially important was that of protecting pilgrims as they visited important religious sites, fortifications were established to guard these sites. Although not built for aesthetic reasons, these large fortifications often became important architectural parts of the landscape, as can be clearly seen with the Krak des Chevaliers. With strong walls which still stand today, this walled castle provided a place from which the Crusaders could guard over sites in the Tripoli county in Syria. This military garrison was a new feature in the landscape at the time, since the concept of castles built almost exclusively to protect a larger area was virtually unseen before castles like this one sprung up, and the new requirements meant that the castles had to have new features. These castles had to have strong fortifications but also provide space for approximately 2000 warriors at a time, meaning that a strongly guarded “city” of types had to be constructed to meet the project’s requirements. The castle’s many features which were previously not as prominent in Romanesque Europe, such as the towers which are situated along the walls and the carefully spaced areas for arrows, added to the growing diversity of art and architecture in this era. However, still fitting with the theme of going back to the art of ancient Rome, the Krak des Chevaliers implements an aqueduct-like structure as a bridge which leads to the castle itself, thereby demonstrating how this new type of structure built on designs and ideas from other Romanesque European structures, largely due to the fact that its builders – the Crusaders – were from Romanesque European origin but were now surrounded with novel situations and new inspirations in terms of architecture. The strongest example of how the Crusades directly increased architectural and artistic production and quality simply due to their presence comes from the port city of Pisa. Pisa played an integral role in shaping the Crusades, being a key supplier of Crusaders from its ports to where they would take part in wars. As it supplied both people and supplies to Crusaders, Pisa became a prosperous port city, thereby allowing Romanesque art and architecture to flourish. As can be seen from Pisan monuments such as the Pisa Cathedral, the city’s prosperity due in large part to the Crusades led to its beautification and allowed Romanesque architecture to shine. The Pisa Cathedral is made up greatly of expensive marble and has high ceilings with a crossing dome, with a large transept and other features which distinguish it in its size and magnificence. Art inside the cathedral such as the panel decorations within the cathedral also demonstrate Pisa’s prosperity and its positive effects on the development of Romanesque art. The Pisa Cathedral has a great size and implied grandeur from its marble, soaring crossing dome and broad aisle, making one of the great churches in Romanesque Europe. Both the Krak des Chevaliers and the Pisa Cathedral demonstrate the importance of the Crusaders in creating, directly or indirectly, new monuments and art pieces which would become part of the vibrant and dynamic Romanesque style, either due to some of their distinctive features or because of their general design resembling that of the Roman monuments.

Following their return from the Crusades, Crusaders often came back filled with awe from the new architecture and art they had experienced. Quickly after Crusaders began coming back, architects and artists alike implemented increasing amounts of inspiration from the Byzantine style into their works. In the apse of the Santa María de Mur we can clearly see great inspiration drawn from Byzantine artworks. In the top layer of the apse, Jesus is in a petal-like structure in the center on what seems to be a throne, and is surrounded on both sides by the signs of the four evangelists. The depiction of Jesus in this oval-shape and his surrounding by other holy figures takes great inspiration from Byzantium, specifically the apse at the church at Mount Sinai. Although the people who move around Jesus are different in the two apses, they bear resemblance in their depiction of Christ himself and also in the differences in action. In both apses, Jesus sits or stands calmly, whilst the characters surrounding him seem to be much more active. In the case of the church at Mount Sinai, the other men are literally writhing, and similarly, in the apse at the Santa Maria de Mur, the two creatures at the bottom are clearly in motion (as identified by their leaping hind legs) and the two figures on the top tier also seem to be moving around. In general, the structural composition of the apse at the Santa Maria de Mur bears much resemblance to the Byzantine “template” for these structures. All of the figures depicted seem to be depicted into plain space, with only thin lines forming the ground, and little attention is given to making these apses realistic (as identified by the fact that two levels of flooring seem to be piled on top of each other, with the top one seeming to float in mid-air). A similar idea of greater influence from the East due to the Crusades can be seen with art. From the Morgan Madonna, we clearly see the influence from the Byzantine East on the overall style. As in the Byzantine Theotokos from the Hagia Sophia’s mosaic, Mary and Christ both seem to be very calm figures and both face towards the front. Additionally, all of the figures in both depictions have the distinctive Byzantine exclusion of emotions from the faces, again hinting us towards the influence which eastern art had on shaping the art of Romanesque Europe. Both the art and architecture of Romanesque Europe were heavily impacted and influenced by the influx of new ideas and styles brought in small-scale examples or told by Crusaders who had seen the wonders of the art and architecture of the Byzantine empire.

Through cleverly crafted and eloquent speeches, important figures such as the pope ignited not only the flame to get people to help their fellow Christians, but also began a wave of a new level of spiritual intensity and group identity within Christians, thereby more strongly guaranteeing support for the Christian church – together with the art and architecture which it could now produce. One of the main reasons which promoted people who went to the Crusades was a feeling of spiritual loyalty to their faith, and the idea of gaining repentance for taking part in this noble cause. Even though these ideas allowed the Christians to fight together against the Muslims, it also brought many benefits to Romanesque Europe. As people returned to their homes from the Crusades, they extended their spiritual intensity through gifts to churches and more frequent pilgrimages. This increase in traffic and revenue for churches led to great strides in their development in Romanesque Europe due to the spiritual vigor from the Crusades. Following the motivational and inspirational speech urging for the second Crusade by Bernard of Clairvaux at Vèzelay, the church quickly received support from across Europe and became a hotspot for pilgrims. The increased spiritual energy felt by the people meant that they became much more generous in their gifts to the Church, which allowed the Church to pave the way for great advancements both in art and architecture. The large amount of funding given by people to churches as a result of this increase in spiritual vigor can clearly be seen in the many books made by monks. The immensely intricate pages of the Codex Colbertinus are key examples of the abundance of resources which churches had at their disposal in the time following the Crusades. These intricate works would have required a lot of work to make, so their creation shows us that the churches and monasteries had more than enough resources to thrive in the time during and after the Crusades. Due to the great increase in manuscripts in this time, as well as the beautification of many churches which carried no important relics or only unimportant ones in the period during and slightly after the Crusades, there seems to be a correlation between the two events, which could have likely been the increased sponsorship of the Church due to the Crusades’ ideas of renewed spiritual vigor. From the number produced and the quality of art and architecture during and after the architecture, as well as the convincing and eloquent speeches of Church officials urging the people to join the Crusades, it seems like spiritual vigor and intensity in the people in many ways inspired them to put greater effort into sponsorship of the Church and the art and architecture which it produced.

In conclusion, the art and architecture of Romanesque Europe, particularly that of Romanesque churches and monasteries, largely bore roots and inspiration either directly or indirectly from the Crusades. With the large movement of many Crusaders who had to live and guard pilgrims in novel locations, new forms of architecture emerged in the form of ways to protect themselves, and cities which could supply to the Crusaders grew massively in prosperity – and thereby also became production centers of renowned art and architecture. With the migration of Crusaders also came the migration of mindsets and styles, and the Byzantine style became an important inspiration for the art of Romanesque Europe both during and after the Crusades. Finally, powered by passionate speeches from church officials such as the pope, a central group identity among Christians arose as one people who were committed to Christ and experienced a high level of spiritual vigor and intensity. This spiritual vigor led to the increased sponsorship and support provided to churches and monasteries (and thereby also art and artwork) in Romanesque Europe.