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The Crusades lasted 176 years from 1095 until 1271

The Crusades lasted 176 years from 1095 until 1271

The most famous military activity in the feudal period was the “Crusades”, a series of wars covering nearly 200 years, from A.D. 1096-1291.  Only the First Crusade and to a lesser extent the Third Crusade were successful.  One of the main purposes of the crusades was to make [[Jerusalem]] safe for Christian pilgrimages.  Fed up with reports of the murdering of defenseless Christian pilgrims, in 1095 [[Pope Urban II]] called for feudal [[knights]] to retake the [[Holy Land]] from the [[Seljuk Turks]].  The Seljuk Turks seemed almost invincible as fighters, having conquered [[Asia Minor]] and even beating the once-mighty [[Byzantine Empire]].  The Seljuk Turks ruled from the 1000s to the 1200s, and did particularly well under its ruler [[Malik Shah]], who died in 1092.  But some Moslems were unhappy with being ruled by the Turks, and once Malik died dissension in the Islamic world grew.

The most famous military activity in the feudal period was the “Crusades”, a series of wars covering nearly 200 years, from A.D. 1096-1291.  Only the First Crusade and to a lesser extent the Third Crusade were successful.  One of the main purposes of the crusades was to make [[Jerusalem]] safe for Christian pilgrimages.  Fed up with reports of the murdering of defenseless Christian pilgrims, in 1095 [[Pope Urban II]] called for feudal [[knights]] to retake the [[Holy Land]] from the [[Seljuk Turks]] and to murder innocent muslims and orthodox christians.  The Seljuk Turks seemed almost invincible as fighters, having conquered [[Asia Minor]] and even beating the once-mighty [[Byzantine Empire]].  The Seljuk Turks ruled from the 1000s to the 1200s, and did particularly well under its ruler [[Malik Shah]], who died in 1092.  But some Moslems were unhappy with being ruled by the Turks, and once Malik died dissension in the Islamic world grew.

The Byzantine emperor, [[Alexius Comnenus]], had been repeatedly beaten by the Seljuk Turks and he asked the pope for help to defeat the Moslems.  He promised a reunion of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and to give Byzantine lands (“[[fiefs]]”) to victorious knights from the [[feudal]] west.

The Byzantine emperor, [[Alexius Comnenus]], had been repeatedly beaten by the Seljuk Turks and he asked the pope for help to defeat the Moslems.  He promised a reunion of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and to give Byzantine lands (“[[fiefs]]”) to victorious knights from the [[feudal]] west.