The Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period, especially the campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Islamic rule. The term "Crusades" is also applied to other church-sanctioned campaigns fought to combat paganism and heresy, to resolve conflict among rival Roman Catholic groups, or to gain political or territorial advantage. The term Crusades itself is early modern English, modelled on Middle Latin cruciatae, and has in more recent times been extended to include religiously motivated Christian military campaigns in the Late Middle Ages.

The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in a 1095 sermon by Pope Urban II, in which he urged military support for the Byzantine Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, who needed reinforcements for his conflict with westward migrating Turks who were colonising Anatolia. One of Urban's stated aims was to guarantee pilgrims access to the Eastern Mediterranean holy sites that were under Muslim control, but scholars disagree as to whether this was the primary motivation for either Urban or those who heeded his call. Urban's wider strategy may have been to unite the Eastern and Western branches of Christendom, which had been divided since the East–West Schism of 1054, and to establish himself as head of the unified Church. The enthusiastic response to Urban's preaching from all classes across Western Europe established a precedent for subsequent Crusades. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a public vow and receiving plenary indulgences from the Church. Some were hoping for a mass ascension into heaven at Jerusalem, or God's forgiveness for all their sins. Others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, obtain glory and honour, or seek opportunities for economic and political gain.

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