2025 AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY Component 1A The Age of the
Crusades, c1071–1204 Question Paper & Mark Scheme
(Merged) Friday 23 May 2025 [VERIFIED]
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204
Friday 23 May 2025 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is
7042/1A.
Answer three questions.
In Section A answer Question 01.
In Section B answer two questions.
Information
The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
You are advised to spend about:
– 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A
– 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B.
IB/G/Jun25/G4007/V5 7042/1A
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
Urban’s crusading propaganda did not place Jerusalem in the foreground. He did not
regard the goal of the crusade to be the liberation of the Holy Sepulchre. The Pope’s
concern was not for any place in particular, but for the welfare of Christian men and
women. Jerusalem, to the Pope, was simply a recruiting device. He had named the city
as the objective of the campaign simply in order to gather an army, but the war’s aim was 5
the liberation of the Eastern Church from the domination that heathen Muslims had
inflicted since the 1070s. Jerusalem as the objective flew in the face of all military logic
and cannot be thought to have originated with the Pope. Only after the Council of
Clermont did the balance shift against the Pope’s intentions. It is important, therefore, to
remember that Jerusalem was not the main objective of the First Crusade, and cease to 10
portray the beginnings of the crusading movement exclusively in the light of later
developments.
Adapted from C Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade, 1935
Extract B
There were many descriptions of the message that Urban was trying to get across in
1095. He was calling for a war of liberation. Urban proposed two liberating goals.
Firstly, the liberation of the people, the baptised members of the Eastern churches,
especially the church of Jerusalem, from long-term Muslim domination and tyranny.
Secondly, the liberation of a place, the city of Jerusalem itself, consecrated by Christ’s 5
blood. It is clear from the charters and chronicles connected with the Pope’s preaching
tour in France that, although aid to Byzantine Christians and the union of the Churches
were also aims, Jerusalem was uppermost in his mind from the start. The name of
Jerusalem was far too important to be used lightly, especially by a reformer like Urban.
The justification for the crusade, therefore, was the reconquest of Christian territory which 10
had been seized by the Muslims in the previous decades, and the Pope’s appeal was
presented in such a way that it conformed to the principle of a just cause.
Adapted from J Riley-Smith, What Were the Crusades? 1977
IB/G/Jun25/7042/1A
, 3
Extract C
Pope Urban II inherited many long-term problems. He faced war with Germany, conflict
in France, a rival pope, and Christians in the East under siege. An armed expedition
could solve all of these problems as, if the initial rallying cry were successful, it would
unite behind Urban a significant portion of Christian Europe. If the crusade succeeded
and Jerusalem fell, then even the most sceptical observer would have to admit that God 5
was on Urban’s side. The advantages of the crusade seem obvious. There was only
one problem, and Urban was educated enough to recognise it: the plan was insane. A
military expedition from Europe would have to attract sufficient manpower, travel all the
way to Jerusalem, consistently defeating armies along the way. The most Urban could
hope for was a limited success. Western Christians might fight alongside the Byzantines 10
and create some sort of alliance which might eventually lead to accomplishing some of
Rome’s larger goals: closer ties with Constantinople and perhaps an eventual attack on
Jerusalem.
Adapted from J Rubenstein, Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for
Apocalypse, 2011
0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the
arguments in these three extracts are in relation to the Papacy’s reasons for the calling
of the First Crusade.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/G/Jun25/7042/1A Turn over ►
Crusades, c1071–1204 Question Paper & Mark Scheme
(Merged) Friday 23 May 2025 [VERIFIED]
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204
Friday 23 May 2025 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is
7042/1A.
Answer three questions.
In Section A answer Question 01.
In Section B answer two questions.
Information
The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
You are advised to spend about:
– 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A
– 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B.
IB/G/Jun25/G4007/V5 7042/1A
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
Urban’s crusading propaganda did not place Jerusalem in the foreground. He did not
regard the goal of the crusade to be the liberation of the Holy Sepulchre. The Pope’s
concern was not for any place in particular, but for the welfare of Christian men and
women. Jerusalem, to the Pope, was simply a recruiting device. He had named the city
as the objective of the campaign simply in order to gather an army, but the war’s aim was 5
the liberation of the Eastern Church from the domination that heathen Muslims had
inflicted since the 1070s. Jerusalem as the objective flew in the face of all military logic
and cannot be thought to have originated with the Pope. Only after the Council of
Clermont did the balance shift against the Pope’s intentions. It is important, therefore, to
remember that Jerusalem was not the main objective of the First Crusade, and cease to 10
portray the beginnings of the crusading movement exclusively in the light of later
developments.
Adapted from C Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade, 1935
Extract B
There were many descriptions of the message that Urban was trying to get across in
1095. He was calling for a war of liberation. Urban proposed two liberating goals.
Firstly, the liberation of the people, the baptised members of the Eastern churches,
especially the church of Jerusalem, from long-term Muslim domination and tyranny.
Secondly, the liberation of a place, the city of Jerusalem itself, consecrated by Christ’s 5
blood. It is clear from the charters and chronicles connected with the Pope’s preaching
tour in France that, although aid to Byzantine Christians and the union of the Churches
were also aims, Jerusalem was uppermost in his mind from the start. The name of
Jerusalem was far too important to be used lightly, especially by a reformer like Urban.
The justification for the crusade, therefore, was the reconquest of Christian territory which 10
had been seized by the Muslims in the previous decades, and the Pope’s appeal was
presented in such a way that it conformed to the principle of a just cause.
Adapted from J Riley-Smith, What Were the Crusades? 1977
IB/G/Jun25/7042/1A
, 3
Extract C
Pope Urban II inherited many long-term problems. He faced war with Germany, conflict
in France, a rival pope, and Christians in the East under siege. An armed expedition
could solve all of these problems as, if the initial rallying cry were successful, it would
unite behind Urban a significant portion of Christian Europe. If the crusade succeeded
and Jerusalem fell, then even the most sceptical observer would have to admit that God 5
was on Urban’s side. The advantages of the crusade seem obvious. There was only
one problem, and Urban was educated enough to recognise it: the plan was insane. A
military expedition from Europe would have to attract sufficient manpower, travel all the
way to Jerusalem, consistently defeating armies along the way. The most Urban could
hope for was a limited success. Western Christians might fight alongside the Byzantines 10
and create some sort of alliance which might eventually lead to accomplishing some of
Rome’s larger goals: closer ties with Constantinople and perhaps an eventual attack on
Jerusalem.
Adapted from J Rubenstein, Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for
Apocalypse, 2011
0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the
arguments in these three extracts are in relation to the Papacy’s reasons for the calling
of the First Crusade.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/G/Jun25/7042/1A Turn over ►
