The Crusades were military campaigns sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the Mi

ddle Ages. Pope Urban II authorized the First Crusade in 1095 with the goal of r
estoring European access to the Holy Land, and an intermittent 200-year struggle
ensued. Urban was also seeking to reunite the Catholic Church under his leaders
hip by militarily supporting Emperor Alexios I. After centuries of competitive c
o-existence with the Arabs following the initial Muslim conquests, the Byzantine
Empire had been defeated by the Turks in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert. As a
result, the Byzantines lost the fertile coastal area of Anatolia and were forced
into competition with Turks migrating westward.[1]
Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics from many different classes and nations
of Western Europe became crusaders by taking a public vow and receiving plenary
indulgences from the church.[2][3][4] Some crusaders were peasants hoping for A
potheosis at Jerusalem.[5] Pope Urban II claimed that anyone who participated wa
s forgiven of their sins. In addition to demonstrating devotion to God, as state
d by the Catholic Church, participation satisfied feudal obligations and provide
d opportunities for economic and political gain. Crusaders often pillaged the co
untries through which they traveled, and contrary to their promises the leaders
retained much of this territory rather than returning it to the Byzantines.[3][6
]
The People's Crusade prompted the the murder of thousands of Jews, known as the
Rhineland massacres. Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade, effect
ively ending any possibility of reconciling the East West Schism. Due to the weake
ning that resulted from the siege, the Byzantine Empire ultimately fell to the O
ttomans.[5] The Catholic Church mounted no coherent response when their last str
onghold in the region, Acre, fell in 1291.[7]
Opinions concerning the conduct of crusaders have varied from laudatory to highl
y critical. The impact of the crusades was profound; they reopened the Mediterra
nean to commerce and travel, enabling Genoa and Venice to flourish. Crusader arm
ies would trade with the local populations while travelling, and Orthodox Byzant
ine emperors often organized markets for crusaders moving through their territor
y. The Crusades brought the Latin Church under the Pope s leadership and was a sou
rce of heroism, chivalry, and piety. This consequently spawned medieval romance,
philosophy, and literature. However, the crusades reinforced the connection bet
ween Western Catholicism, feudalism, and militarism, which was counter to the Pe
ace and Truce of God that Urban had promoted.[8]