The Crusades Essay

The first of the Crusades began in 1095, when armies of Christians from Western Europe responded to Pope Urban II’s plea to go to war against Muslim forces in the Holy Land. After the First Crusade achieved its goal with the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the invading Christians set up several Latin Christian states, even as Muslims in the region vowed to wage holy war (jihad) to regain control over the region. The Crusades were predominantly a series of religious wars undertaken by the Latin Church between the 11th and 15th centuries.Historians cannot agree on any single definition of a crusade, or which specific military campaigns should be included. (www.history.com/topics/crusades)

Body 1: On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban
During the Crusades, the kings increased taxes to fund the cause. Many peasants also left their land to fight, and when they died, the land went to the king.With large amounts of money and land coming in, the kings gained power.The impact the Muslims had on the Europeans was huge in the areas of advancement and trade. The Europeans learned more about sailing and building ships, as well as the magnetic compass.
The crusaders came from all over western Europe. The main series of Crusades occurred between 1095 and 1291; historians have given them numbers, later unnumbered crusades were also taken up for a variety of reasons.During the last four decades the Crusades have become one of the most dynamic areas of historical enquiry, which points to an increasing curiosity to understand and interpret these extraordinary events.Understanding of the scope of the Crusades widened with a new recognition that crusading extended far beyond the original 11th-century expeditions to the Holy Land, both in terms of chronology and