While in general a skeptic such as I might be inclined to agree with you about the real motivations for war the fact remains that writers have given us this take on Urban II's call for the Crusade.
You need a way to motivate the troops to fight and telling them that they are dying to make some noble rich is not the way to go about it. Instead you give them horseshit like the above to fight for.
As for religious warfare in Europe here is a list which in general dates from later than your Hundred Years War question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_wars_of_religion
And then there is this:
http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/ch...usades.htm
I'm afraid that xtians were no better than muslims when it came to spreading the word of their bloody god by the sword. They did eventually grow out of it but they have to be watched like hawks to prevent them slipping back in to that "let's kill everyone for fucking jesus" mode.
I don't trust anyone who thinks an invisible friend talks to them.
Quote:"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion!
You need a way to motivate the troops to fight and telling them that they are dying to make some noble rich is not the way to go about it. Instead you give them horseshit like the above to fight for.
Quote:Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
- Blaise Pascal
As for religious warfare in Europe here is a list which in general dates from later than your Hundred Years War question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_wars_of_religion
And then there is this:
http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/ch...usades.htm
I'm afraid that xtians were no better than muslims when it came to spreading the word of their bloody god by the sword. They did eventually grow out of it but they have to be watched like hawks to prevent them slipping back in to that "let's kill everyone for fucking jesus" mode.
I don't trust anyone who thinks an invisible friend talks to them.
