Crusades

2 Pages 533 Words

Crusades were Christian military expeditions organized mainly to recapture Palestine during the Middle Ages. Palestine, also called the Holy Land, was important to Christians because it was the region where Jesus Christ had lived. Palestine lay along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and Muslims had taken control of it from Christians. The crusaders, who came from Western Europe, organized eight major expeditions between A.D. 1096 and 1270. This was a period when Western Europe was expanding its economy and increasing its military forces. The Crusades were a part of a broad Christian expansion movement. Kings, nobles, and thousands of knights, peasants, and townspeople took part in the Crusades. They had two goals, to gain permanent control of the Holy Land and to protect the Byzantine Empire, a Greek Christian empire centered in southeastern Europe, from the Muslims. But many crusaders also fought to increase their power, territory, and riches. The crusaders won some battles and established a crusader kingdom along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, but their victories had no permanent effect. However, the Crusades increased already existing contacts between the West and the East. These contacts led to additional trade and commerce. The crusaders failed to accomplish their main goals. They recaptured the Holy Land for a time but could not establish lasting control over the area. Western and Eastern Christians united to fight the Muslims. But relations between the two groups of Christians, especially as a result of the Fourth Crusade, became so bitter that they led to a heritage of hate. The Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. In addition, the pope's prestige declined because some popes used the Crusades for personal and political gain. However, the Crusades also enriched European life. For example, they further stimulated economic growth by bringing increased trade between cities that bordered the Me...