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Line 18: + + − − Prior to the First Crusade in 1095, Muslims had conquered about two-thirds of the Christian world after centuries of attacks and so Western Europeans performed a counter offensive with the First Crusade.<ref name="Andrea" /> Thus, Westerners were not the initiators of conflict, but and instead the First Crusade was the latest phase of an ongoing conflict for territory.<ref name="Andrea" />
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== Origin of the Crusades ==
== Origin of the Crusades ==
Prior to the First Crusade in 1095, Muslims had conquered about two-thirds of the Christian world after centuries of attacks and so Western Europeans performed a counter offensive with the First Crusade.<ref name="Andrea" /> Thus, Westerners were not the initiators of conflict, but and instead the First Crusade was the latest phase of an ongoing conflict for territory.<ref name="Andrea" />
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.
===Timeline - Prior to the First Crusade===
===Timeline - Prior to the First Crusade===