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== Holy Land Crusades ==

== Holy Land Crusades ==

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. Thereafter, Christians had generally been permitted to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land until 1071, when the [[Seljuk Turks]] closed Christian pilgrimages and assailed the Byzantines, defeating them at the [[Battle of Manzikert]]. Emperor [[Alexius I]] asked for aid from [[Pope Urban II]] (1088–1099) for help against Islamic aggression.  He may have expected money from the pope for the hiring of mercenaries. Instead, 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 [[absolution]] and assurance of [[salvation]] to anyone who died in the crusade.  In a sense this matched the claims that Islam made in regard to Jihad since the inception of that relgion.

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 as 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. Instead, 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 [[absolution]] and assurance of [[salvation]] to anyone who died in the crusade.  In a sense this matched the claims that Islam made in regard to Jihad since the inception of that religion.

Nothing like this had previously been done, and the Pope himself had no military power so to speak and had to count on those who were in positions of power to supply it.  It was a series of prominent nobles who answered the call, among the most famous being:  Norman Duke Bohemund of Taranto, his nephew Tancred, Count Raymond of Toulouse, Duke Godfrey de Bouillon of Lorraine, Duke Hugh of Vermandois (brother of the King of France), Duke Robert of Normandy, and Count Robert of Flanders.  The spiritual leader who would accompany meet and accompany them was French Bishop Adhemar du Puy, who was appointed Papal legate.  All that was known at the start was that the forces to participate would meet together in [[Constantinople]].  Alexius had no idea what was being unleashed.

The crusades began with an odd start. The peasantry, excited by the notion of a crusade, and stirred by the preaching of the layman [[Peter the Hermit]], embarked on a disorganized and poorly supplied “crusade”, which failed utterly, being rather unwelcome in the cities they stopped in on their journey, and being slaughtered by the first Islamic army they met.  This was an unofficial, impromptu affair involving the peasantry, and which was warned, and forbidden, by the Christian feudal lords and the papacy alike.  

Others took matters into their own hands. The peasantry, stirred by the preaching of the layman [[Peter the Hermit]], embarked on a disorganized and poorly supplied “crusade”, which failed utterly, being rather unwelcome in the cities they stopped in on their journey, and being slaughtered by the first Islamic army they met.  This was an unofficial, impromptu affair involving the peasantry, and which was warned, and forbidden, by the Christian feudal lords and the papacy alike, but to which they paid no heed.

== The First Crusade ==

== The First Crusade ==