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The Reasons And Causes Of The Crusades

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The Crusades were religious wars which happened between 1096 and 1291. The wars were fought between the European Christians and Muslims in the Middle East to take control of the Holy Land which was Jerusalem. The first four Crusades were seen as the most important but there was not much reference to the other Crusades.
The reason that led to the First Crusade (1096-1099) was a war between two nations for the Holy Land. In 1071, the Muslim Seljuk Turks fought against the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert. The Turks eventually defeated the Byzantines and occupied the sparsely populated areas of Anatolia. In 1077, their power further expanded and took control of Jerusalem. In view of the growing threat of the Turks, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military aid from Pope Urban II against the Turks and drive them out of the Byzantine territory. In November 1095, Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont in southern France. He called on Western Christians to assist the Byzantine and recover the Holy City of Jerusalem from Muslim invaders. …show more content…

This disaster set the entire West into a state of great anger and sadness. That event was the cause of another major crusade launched from Europe as a Catholic holy war against Islam. The Second Crusade (1145-1149) was called by the Pope Eugene III to reclaim territory lost to Muslim forces. Within months, large armies from England, France, Germany and other smaller marched separately across Europe. These armies were led by kings for the first time, namely King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks due to lack of communication between the two kings. Edessa was never recaptured. The Second Crusade was considered a

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