Laura Amy Schlitz portrays the Crusade both positively and negatively in GMSL. During the Middle Ages, life was difficult and chaotic. It started when the Normans came up with Feudalism. Feudalism is a system to control villages centered around protection and military help. It is composed of the King at the top, nobles below, knights under, and peasants all the way at the bottom. During the Middle Ages, the Crusades were wars and battles. Catholics and Muslims were fighting in Palestine and Israel during the 11th to 13th centuries. They wanted to take over the Holy Land. Firstly, the story of “Simon” portray the Crusades in a positive way. For example, Simon wants to become a knight and fight in the Crusade. Even though his family was short in money, he still dreamt.…show more content… The fact that Simon wants to fight for his God illustrates how the story of Simon portrays the Crusades in a positive way because he would have fought for something he believed in. It indicates that, people in the Crusades actually knew what they were fighting for and believed that it was right. In addition, “The Crusades” portray the Crusades in a negative way. Children-more than thirty thousand of them from France and Germany- went to Palestine. They believed they could recover the Holy Land. According to “The Crusades”, “Most of them starved, froze to death, or were sold into slavery” (Schlitz 37). Children were suffering during the Crusades, which shows how “The Crusades” portray the Crusades negatively because people were actually violent enough to take children as slaves. The children went to Palestine so that they could retrieve the Holy Land, but instead, they were