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{{Middle Ages}}

{{Middle Ages}}

[[Image:Crusader.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A returning Crusader]]

[[Image:Crusader.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A returning Crusader]]

'''The Crusades''' (1095-1291) were a series of European Catholic campaigns into the Middle East, fought during the Middle Ages. They were the military responses made by Catholics, from western Europe to the Pope's pleas to re-capture the Holy Land from Islamic influence. After centuries of Islamic attacks, prior to the First Crusade in 1095, Muslims had conquered about two-thirds of the Christian world and Western Europeans performed a counter offensive, thus the First Crusade was not a initiation of conflict, but was instead the latest phase of an ongoing conflict for territory.<ref>Andrew Holt and Alfred Andrea. 2015. Seven Myths of the Crusades. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 9781624664038 Page 28 </ref> The '''First Crusade''' created new Latin states in the Holy Land. Subsequent crusades were less successful except when they attacked Byzantium.  Other medieval movements against heretics and infidels were also called crusades. The crusades ended with the Islamic recapture of all the Holy Land in 1291, when the last city controlled by crusaders, Acre, fell.

'''The Crusades''' (1095-1291) were a series of European Catholic campaigns into the Middle East, fought during the Middle Ages. They were the military responses made by Catholics, from western Europe to the Pope's pleas to re-capture the Holy Land from Islamic influence. After centuries of Islamic attacks, prior to the First Crusade in 1095, Muslims had conquered about two-thirds of the Christian world.<ref name="Andrea" /> The First Crusade was Western Europeans performing a counter offensive, thus the First Crusade was not a initiation of conflict, but was instead the latest phase of an ongoing conflict for territory.<ref name="Andrea">Andrew Holt and Alfred Andrea. 2015. Seven Myths of the Crusades. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 9781624664038 Page 28 </ref> The '''First Crusade''' created new Latin states in the Holy Land. Subsequent crusades were less successful except when they attacked Byzantium.  Other medieval movements against heretics and infidels were also called crusades. The crusades ended with the Islamic recapture of all the Holy Land in 1291, when the last city controlled by crusaders, Acre, fell.

The crusades comprise a major chapter of [[Middle Ages|Medieval History]]. Extending over three centuries, they attracted every social class in western Europe. Kings and commoners, barons and bishops, knights and commoners&mdash;even teenagers&mdash;all participated in these expeditions to the eastern end of the Mediterranean. The motives of the crusaders were numerous: some sought riches; many sought adventure; most were moved by faith alone. Historians stress the central role of religious fervor, while mentioning as well the socio-economic factors crucial in enticing larger contingents. For example, crusaders often were fulfilling their feudal obligations. There were strong links between the papal reforms, the social necessity of violence and the exploitation of this inherent revivalistic imagination of the age of the Papacy.<ref>Douglas James, "Christians and the First Crusade," ''History Review,'' (Dec 2005), Issue 53</ref>  

The crusades comprise a major chapter of [[Middle Ages|Medieval History]]. Extending over three centuries, they attracted every social class in western Europe. Kings and commoners, barons and bishops, knights and commoners&mdash;even teenagers&mdash;all participated in these expeditions to the eastern end of the Mediterranean. The motives of the crusaders were numerous: some sought riches; many sought adventure; most were moved by faith alone. Historians stress the central role of religious fervor, while mentioning as well the socio-economic factors crucial in enticing larger contingents. For example, crusaders often were fulfilling their feudal obligations. There were strong links between the papal reforms, the social necessity of violence and the exploitation of this inherent revivalistic imagination of the age of the Papacy.<ref>Douglas James, "Christians and the First Crusade," ''History Review,'' (Dec 2005), Issue 53</ref>  

== Need for a crusade ==

== Need for a crusade ==

The Holy Land had been part of the [[Roman Empire]], and thus the [[Byzantine Empire]], until the Islamic conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries that forced the Byzantines out and saw the area gradually turn Islamic. Calm returned and Christians had generally been permitted to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land until 1071, when the [[Seljuk Turks]] assailed the Byzantines, defeating them at the [[Battle of Manzikert]], and conquered Jerusalem from the Egyptian Fatimids the same year.  They were not friendly to Christian pilgrims, in contrast to how the Fatimids had been, and soon pilgrims came under threat of robbery or even death as they were no longer welcome.  The Byzantine Emperor [[Alexius I]] asked for aid from the west both to the Popes and the Christian monarchs.  Nothing meaningful happened.  Alexius may have been hoping for money from the Pope for the hiring of mercenaries.  

The Holy Land had been part of the [[Roman Empire]], and thus the [[Byzantine Empire]], until the Islamic conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries that forced the Byzantines out and saw the area gradually turn Islamic. Calm returned and Christians had generally been permitted to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land until 1071, when the [[Seljuk Turks]] assailed the Byzantines, defeating them at the [[Battle of Manzikert]], and conquered Jerusalem from the Egyptian Fatimids the same year.  They were not friendly to Christian pilgrims, in contrast to how the Fatimids had been, and soon pilgrims came under threat of robbery or even death as they were no longer welcome.  The Byzantine Emperor [[Alexius I]] asked for aid from the west both to the Popes and the Christian monarchs.  Nothing meaningful happened.  Alexius may have been hoping for money from the Pope for the hiring of mercenaries.  

==Papal call==

==Papal call==

Pope Urban II called upon the knights of Christendom to fight for the defense of the Christian East and the protection of pilgrims in a speech made at the [[Council of Clermont]] on November 27, 1095.  Urban demanded that all internal feuds within Christendom end, threatening [[excommunication]] for anyone who continued to bicker internally, and promising an indulgence (less time in purgatory) to anyone who died in the crusade.   

Pope Urban II called upon the knights of Christendom to fight for the defense of the Christian East and the protection of pilgrims in a speech made at the [[Council of Clermont]] on November 27, 1095.  Urban demanded that all internal feuds within Christendom end, threatening [[excommunication]] for anyone who continued to bicker internally, and promising an indulgence (less time in purgatory) to anyone who died in the crusade.