Crusades

What is a Crusade? Who launched the 1st? What were the goals? The answers are all here.

• A Crusade can be described as a holy war.
• The first Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II to gain control of the Holy Land. The next 300 years were littered with Crusades against the Muslims. An army of 12,000 men approached Jerusalem and besieged the city for about a month. They managed to capture the city in 1099. Their victory was a narrow strip of land.
• The newly reformed Christian states were vulnerable to Muslim counterattack. In 1144, Edessa was reconquered by the Turks. The second Crusade was organized to recapture the city. The attempt in 1187. Jerusalem had been captured by Saladin, a Muslim leader.
• The third Crusade was led by three of Europe's most powerful monarch, Phillip of France, Fredrick of Germany, and Richard the Lionhearted of England.
• The most common goal of the Crusades was to gain Holy Land. Other goals were: for younger sons to gain land, and for rulers to get rid of some unruly soldiers.