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The Major Causes Of The Crusades

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In 1065 Jerusalem was taken by the Turks, who came from the kingdom of ancient Persia. When the Seljuk Turks took control of Jerusalem, thirty-thousand Christians were massacred and the remaining Christians were mistreated. Christians were forbidden from making pilgrimages to the Holy City. The Turks then threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I made a special appeal to Urban II for help. The idea that Europe could be united under one common enemy, and awakened the desire to save the Holy Land and Jerusalem from the Turks, and the hope for acquiring new territory in the East were all causes of the Crusades. A significant cause for the Crusades was Pope Urban II’s call to fight the Seljuk Turks and defend Constantinople in order to unite Europe. Pope Urban II explained to his people that Alexius of the Byzantine Empire needed help in defending Constantinople from the Seljuk Turks and asked for all of the true Christians to join in the fight. The Pope used this as an opportunity to unite Europe. Catholic forces were fighting with each other all over Europe and the Pope came up with an idea to get all that war out of Europe and send it somewhere else, Jerusalem ; fighting together as one big army. He promised that all of those who wanted to volunteer would be repented of their sins. Feudal lords, knights and peasants were convinced by Pope Urban II’s speech that it was their duty as Christians to fight in the

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