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The Crusades : The Byzantium Empire And The Byzantine Empire

Decent Essays

The Byzantium Empire had lost considerable territory to the Seljuk Turks. In 1095, Alexius 1 of the Byzantine empire sent envoys to Pope Urban II asking for mercenary troops from the West to help confront the Turkish threat. The relations between Christians in the East and West had long been fractured, but Alexius’s request came at a time when the situation was improving and Pope urban the second agreed to send help. (History.com)
At the Council of Clermont in southern France In November of 1095, the Pope called for Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. His plea was met with an incredible reply, by the military elite and ordinary citizens. (History.com)
The first crusade took place from 1096-99. Four armies of Crusaders were formed. They were led by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois and Bohemond of Taranto. (History.com)
A group of Crusaders, led by Count Emicho, carried out a series of massacres of Jews in various towns in the Rhineland in 1096. This caused widespread outrage and causing a major crisis in Jewish-Christian relations. When Jerusalem fell to the crusaders hundreds of men, women, and children were slaughtered. (History.com)
In 1144, the Seljuk general Zangi captured Edessa. This lead to the loss of the northernmost Crusader state. The news of Edessa’s fall stunned Europe and caused Christian authorities in the West to call for another Crusade. It was led by King

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