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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''' were a series of military conflicts fought between [[Europe]]an [[Christians]] and [[Arab]] [[Muslims]] to regain the [[Holy Land]].  Most often, the term "Crusades" refers to the campaigns in the Holy Land against Muslim forces sponsored by the [[Papacy]], of which there were four. There were other crusades in the Holy Land lead by private royal armies, as well as crusades against Islamic forces in southern [[Spain]], southern [[Italy]], and [[Sicily]].  Furthermore, the campaigns of [[Teutonic knight]]s against [[pagan]] strongholds in [[Eastern Europe]] are also sometimes called crusades.  Lastly, military action within Christendom lead against heretical and schismatic groups is also sometimes called a crusade. The four papal-sponsored crusades aimed at securing the Holy Land occurred between A. D. 1097 and 1204.

'''The Crusades''' (1095-1291) were a series of wars conflicts fought between European Christians and [[Muslims]] to regain the [[Holy Land]].  They were the military responses made by Christians from western Europe to the pope's pleas to free the Holy Land from Islam. The '''First Crusade''' was a success and created up new Latin states in the Holy Land. Subsequent crusades were less successful except when they attacked Byzantium.  Other medieval movements against heretics and infidels also were called crusaders, and they had permanent success. The crusades ended with the Islamic recapture of all the Holy Land in 1291, when the 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 failed to achieve the permanent control of the Holy Land. However, their influence was wide and deep. Much of

the crusading fervor carried over to the successful fights against the Moors (Muslims) in Spain and the pagan Slavs in eastern Europe. Politically the crusades weakened the decrepit Byzantine Empire, but temporarily kept the Muslims away from it. The First Crusade strengthened the moral leadership of the

Contact with the East widened the scope of the Europeans, ended their isolation, and exposed them to an rich civilization. The economic effects of the crusades were modest, but they did reopen of the eastern Mediterranean to Western commerce, which itself had an effect on the rise of great cities such as Venice and the emergence of a money economy in the West.

 

The crusaders derived their name from the Latin word for "cross"--crux. A crusader went to the Holy Land with a cross of cloth sewn over his breast; when he returned, he had a similar cross for his back.  Originally called to repel the Islamic forces that controlled [[Jerusalem]], the crusades evolved into a form of political decree called by the Papacy for political, social or economic reasons. The campaigns of [[Teutonic knight]]s against [[pagan]] strongholds in [[Eastern Europe]] are also sometimes called crusades.  Lastly, military actions within Christendom against heretical and schismatic groups are sometimes called a crusade. Thus a crusade in most general terms was a directive of war issued by the pope to all Rome-friendly nations against forces, whether Muslim, pagan or Eastern Orthodox, which were hostile to the Papacy.

 

The crusades in the Holy Land ultimately failed to establish permanent Christian kingdoms. The fourth crusade resulted in a very damaged relationship between [[Orthodox Church|Greek]] and [[Roman Catholic|Latin]] Christendom. Islamic expansion into remained a threat for centuries, with crusading orders establishing strongholds to protect Mediterranean islands.  

Of the four papal-sponsored crusades in the Holy Land, only the first and (to a lesser extent) third crusades were successful in terms of their military goals.  Though [[Jerusalem]] was held for nearly a century and other strongholds in the Near East would remain in Christian possession much longer, the crusades in the Holy Land ultimately failed to establish permanent Christian kingdoms. The fourth crusade resulted in a very damaged relationship between [[Orthodox Church|Greek]] and [[Roman Catholic|Latin]] Christendom.  [[Islam]]ic expansion into Europe would renew and remain a threat for centuries, with courageous crusading orders establishing strongholds on Mediterranean islands that often, against all odds, managed to prevent Christendom from suffering from Islamic conquest.  On the other hand, the crusades in southern [[Spain]] were militarily successful, eventually leading to the demise of Islamic power in the region in 1492 A.D. – a power which had existed there since the first Islamic [[Jihad]]-conquests of the eighth and ninth centuries.  The Teutonic knights expanded Christian domains in Eastern Europe, and the much less frequent crusades within Christendom, such as the [[Albigensian Crusade]], achieved their goal of maintaining doctrinal unity.<ref>For such an analysis, see Brian Tierney and Sidney Painter, ''Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300–1475''. 6th ed. (McGraw-Hill 1998)</ref>

On the other hand, the crusades in southern [[Spain]] were militarily successful, eventually leading to the end of Islamic power in the region in 1492.  The Teutonic knights expanded Christian domains in Eastern Europe, and the [[Albigensian Crusade]], achieved its goal of destroying heretics in France. <ref>See Brian Tierney and Sidney Painter, ''Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300–1475''. 6th ed. (McGraw-Hill 1998)</ref>

== Holy Land Crusades ==

== Holy Land Crusades ==