order like the Knights Templar, the Hospitallers, etc. With time, the number of ambitious knights, simple people without property, became dangerously large for the secular authorities. Among these people were many who were not inferior to the elite in terms of their own abilities and ambitions, and in fact may have been superior once the third-generation elites came into power. But this is a death sentence, so to speak, for the third-generation elite in a specific country, and the example that raises the question about accepted laws and governance in other countries. What could be done? Either weaken and even fight against the imperious orders, whose members had nothing to lose, even as their militancy grew, or else find a way to appease them. The ingenuity of thought and policy on the part of the ruling class in history was quite sophisticated in this respect.
The Crusades were one of the godsends for periodically meeting the need for property, land, and status of the strong, aggressive, militaristic members of the group with increased belligerence. This satisfaction came not at the expense of the lands of the ruling elite, but rather at the expense of the lands of the representatives of other religions, who could be killed during these conquests. Naturally, these processes were related to the growth of emotionality of the members of the order, with an increase in the hysteroidicity of its members amd with the change in the psychotypes of the population, which was also related to solar activity.
We do not have adequate information about solar activity in the Middle Ages, but we do know that the interval between solar peaks is 11-12 years on average. In any case, we know that succession of psychotypes proceeded over the last two centuries at 11– to 12-year intervals. There is every reason to assume that the Crusades occurred in connection to these cycles.
Because there were no systematic solar observations in the Middle Ages, it is difficult to precisely identify which years were peaks of solar activity, which in turn would allow us to tie the beginning of the Crusades to these peaks. To resolve this problem we will refer to the works of A. Chizhevskii and suppose that the epidemic of self-flagellation in Europe in 1260-1261 corresponded to a solar peak. Self-flagellation by men and women who were almost naked could be nothing other than a psychopathic reaction. It comes to life precisely in a period of increased solar activity. Although the epidemic of self-flagellation started in Italy, it spread quickly throughout Europe. In Chizhevskii’s opinion, this was both a religious and sexual epidemic. It then appears that the previous (seventh) and following (eighth) Crusades were separated by roughly 10-12 years from these events.
If from the existing date we take stretches of time with a lag of 11-12 years, then they fall at the beginning of every Crusade (plus or minus 2-3 years). The later the beginning of a Crusade from 1260, the greater should be the error of our calculation. This coincidence allows us to confirm that the beginning of the Crusades was linked with peaks of solar activity.
The length of each Crusade coincides with the time of activity of people with hysteroid traits. This is presented in the form of a table.
However, the Crusades ran out of steam. They failed. The knights had no desire to continue. To go on more crusades meant to go in search of their own demise. This was recognized by the knights who were potential participants in the Crusades. What was to be done? Either seek out new ways to rid the society of powerful, armed individuals who could potentially seize power and replace the current elite and even get hold of the property of the church, or destroy them. So it was not accidental that after the eighth Crusade, with the passage of time, a new generation of knights with their ambitions and with new leaders who had forgotten or driven from consciousness the lessons of previous defeats, began to be eliminated. In 1307, members of the Order of Templars were seized by order of King Philip IV “the Fair” of France simultaneously throughout the land. They were confined in fortresses, and then killed. The last execution occurred on March 18, 1314. We may state that from the beginning of the Crusades until that date, three 72-year cycles passed. One can insist that this is an accidental coincidence and we may confine ourselves to asserting that the time interval between Crusades was evenly divisible by the number of intervals between solar peaks and coincided with the period of change of generations. It is both possible and necessary to discuss the continuous wars in Europe itself. For us the dependency is important – when the possibility of channeling the activity of people in a protest mood was depleted – their annihilation began, the Crusades began within Europe, wars became more frequent, as did persecutions and killing of non-believers, which at the same time helped to annihilate the protesting part of the population and intimidate those left alive.
After the unsuccessful Crusades it was simply not possible to compel the potentially protesting people, capable of a great deal, to continue. To continually kill those knights who were unwilling was also not so simple (although executions in the Middle Ages functioned to eliminate those who were not submissive, and prevent the emergence of a systemic, armed, organized and efficient opposition).
In this situation, there naturally arose campaigns within Europe itself. These were the Crusades in Finland and Russia (1232-1240), to Smyrna ( (1343 – 1348), against the Ottoman Turks (1396), and campaigns during the Bohemian Wars (1420-1434)… But soon those involved in these Crusades realized their futility. Wealth was no longer acquired in these wars, while the participants were routed. Therefore these campaigns actively began to be replaced by commercial and military expeditions to distant lands. In this case the energy of strong and active individuals was aimed not only at satisfying their needs, but in a majority of cases also met the requirements of the elite in the distribution of their influence on other countries.
Still, the Crusades remained a unique historical method of deliverance from a potent opposition at the point of economic rise in Europe. The psychological mechanism of their origin was also related to systems of comparison. Thus, wealth increased for family members who had inherited private property and land. The growth of such inequality resulting from an accumulation of causes gave birth to the desire to not fall behind in this process. Desire and motivation emerged. This was dangerous for the elite, especially those of the third generation. And what should be done with such people if they are strong, distinguished, ambitious, prepared to die to achieve greater status, to obtain property, to rule, and who no longer wish to go to their death in a Crusade?
The massive expeditions for wealth to India, China, and especially America were psychoeconomically typical. This course of events was understood by the smarter representatives of the elite in this period. They supported such expeditions. Those seeking adventure, wealth, and success followed Columbus to rich America. Columbus brought this news to Europe at a time when it needed deliverance from people who were able to destroy the rulers in more than one realm. It is no accident that historians so exaggerate the fact of Columbus’ appearance in Europe with the news of the discovery of America. America had been discovered long before Columbus, but the news of Columbus’ success was transmitted at the right moment to the right people, so that a massive epidemic of expeditions for gold and wealth was organized.
With the building of caravels, active colonization of other peoples began, bases in Africa became feasible, and thus slave trade began. The discovery of America in 1492 and of a sea route to India around Africa by Vasco da Gama in 1498, given previous successes in maritime trade, created the economic and sociopsychological mechanism for satisfying the need of strong, active and capable individuals who were inclined to take risks and increase their social and other status.
Eighty years passed between the execution of the Knights Templar and the economic mechanism that directed the energy of bold, venturesome, and strong individuals to seize new lands and become rich outside of the countries where they lived. How then at this time did the rulers of Europe control the slowly growing opposition, with the strong and active individuals of each new generation? This involved a whole series of measures, which were found in different countries for each new generation. Otherwise the elite or even the country itself might cease to exist. In this situation the elite organized themselves with greater rapidity and enthusiasm than the protests of the masses. Considering the growth of protests by the subjects, the third-generation elite greatly desired to submit to the strong
