Crusades

Interviewer: "Greetings Crusader, what are the Crusades?"

Crusader: "The Crusades are a series of holy battles between European Christians and Muslims over both of their holy lands, Jerusalem."

Interviewer: "When were they?"

Crusader: "The first crusade was called for in 1096 A.D. and the last ended around 1291."

Interviewer: "Please, tell me more."

Crusader: "Well, in 638 the Arab Muslims took Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire once the borders were weakened from frequent attack. Now during the Middle Ages, European Christians would make religious voyages to the city of Jerusalem and the Muslims were very tolerant of it. Unfortunetly, the Seljuk Turkish Muslims took over in 1071 and was not so tolerant.  The Turks were powerful and even the Byzantine Empire was worried about them, so they called to the Christians for help.  In 1095 Pope Urban II called for the first crusade and Christian nights would go to win their holy city back from the Muslims.   The crusade was first in 1096 when the Peasants' Crusade (a group of peasants) were disorganized and easily defeated by the Muslims.  The real soldiers came in 1097 at Constantinople and were joined by the Byzantines, winning the Crusade in 1099.  After that, there was constant attack from the Muslims and they won one of the four Crusade States, Edessa in 1144.  Wanting to regain the state, King Louis VII of France and Conrad III the Holy Roman emperor, began the second crusade in 1147.  Unfortunetly, we had an epic fail and lost to the Muslims in 1149.  Responding with the second Crusade, the Christians in England, German,  and France went to fight for Jerusalem once more. Gaining lots of land along th e Mediterranean, Richard did not regain the city."

Interviewer: "That's a lot of fighting, how many Crusades were there?"

Crusader: "About nine, but those are stories for another day."

Interviewer: "What is the effect of the Crusades that was significant?"

Crusader: "Well, when the people went to Jerusalem, they recover important knowledge. There was medical information, languages and many others that opened the knowlege to the West.  The Crusades also end the Dark Ages of Europe."



A picture of the third Crusade.

("The Crusades (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. )