As Pope Urban II energized his audience during a visit to France, in 1095, with the recently developed principles of "Just War," he also "peppered" his sermon with "inflammatory images of Muslim atrocities." Since he viewed Muslims as "subhuman" he argued that this was no "shameful war of equals, between God's children, but a 'just' and 'holy' struggle in which an 'alien' people could be punished without remorse and with utter ruthlessness."
The feature that "established a 'right intention' had nothing to do with degrees of violence or the tempered prosecution of warfare. Instead, it was entirely dependent upon the 'alien' nature of the enemy to be confronted. The expeditions would be 'just' because it was directed against 'inhuman' Muslims, not because it was executed with moderation. This may to some extent, help to explain why the First Crusaders proved capable of such extreme brutality" (32-36).
The First Crusade: A New History, the Roots of Conflict Between Christianity and Islam, by Thomas Asbridge.
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