[ScubieNuc]

One thing I've been curious about, Did any Popes promise forgiveness of sins or a free path to heaven, by participating in the Crusades?

Sincerely

[Robertsll]

"Crusading," Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith has rightly argued, was understood as an "an act of love"—in this case, the love of one’s neighbor. The Crusade was seen as an errand of mercy to right a terrible wrong. As Pope Innocent III wrote to the Knights Templar, "You carry out in deeds the words of the Gospel, ‘Greater love than this hath no man, that he lay down his life for his friends.’"

The Crusade indulgence they received was canonically related to the pilgrimage indulgence.

The Real History of the Crusades

The Crusades were seen as acts of self-sacrifice and love for Christian neighbors. The indulgence received would be similar to a plenary indulgence.

What is an indulgence:

Indulgences