The First Crusade was from 1096 to 1099. They were Christian military

expeditions and religous wars proclaimed by the people. The purpose of the

Crusades was to gain and keep control over Palestine from the Muslims.

Palestine was also called the Holy Land because Jesus lived there. Alexius

Compenus was a new ruler that came into power in Byzantium in 1081.

Constentinople was in danger because the Seljuks threatened them, so Alexius

first called for help to Pope Urban ll who presented a ten-day meeting telling

people about Alexius's problem and that they needed to go to war with the

Turks, which led to the first Crusade.

The Crusades were organized mostly to recover or defend territories

that Christians strongly beleived belonged to them by right, such as "The Holy

Land." Palestine lay along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean sea, and Muslims

had taken control of it from the Christians. In the first Crusade, Christians

recaptured Palestine, but in the later Crusades, they fought to protect Palestine

or recover parts of it that had been lost to Muslim forces.

There is a traditional numbering scheme for the Crusades which

total 9 during the 11th and 13th centuries. Each Crusade has an important

event that took place during that time. During the first Crusade in March 1095,

ambassadors from the council of Piacenza called for others because they needed

help defending Byzantine against the Seljuk Turks. Later on, Pope Urban ll

asked the Christians to join a war against the Turks. He promised the people

who died would get released from their sins. The Crusade armies managed to

defeat the Turks at Dorylaeum and Antioch.

The second Crusade was from 1147 to 1149. After there was peace, the

Muslims took over Edessa. There was a new Crusade because Branard of

Clairvaux called for one. French and South German armies went to Jerusalem

but didn't win anything too big. On the other side of the Mediterranean, the

second Crusades met up with a group of Northern European Crusaders and

stopped in Portugal. They then allied with the Portugues, and got Lisbon back

from the muslims in 1147.

The third Crusade was from 1187 to 1192. In 1187 Sultan captured

Jerusalem again which led to the Battle of Hattin. Pope Gregory Vlll called for a

Crusade which was led by very important European leaders. The leaders were

Philip ll, Richard l, and Fredrick l. Fredrick ended up drowning in Clinica in 1190,

which left everything uneasy between the English and French. Before they

arrived in the Holy Land, Richard captured the Island of Caprus from

the Byzantines in 1191. This Island was used mostly as a Crusader base. After

reaching the port, Richard promised he would leave anyone unharmed if the city

of Acre surrendered. They surrenderd but he still killed everyone even

though he promised not to. As for Philip, he left in 1191, and the Crusaders captured

Acre from the muslims again. The Crusader army went south by the coast of the

Mediterranean sea and defeated Muslims near Arsuf, recaptured the port city of

Jaffa, and was close to Jerusalem. The Crusades was over even without taking

Jerusalem because Richard didnt think that he could hold it. He then left that year

and decided to make a treaty with Saladin, which let unarmed Christians pilgrims to make

pilgrimages to the Jerusalem. The third Crusade is somtimes called the Kings'

Crusade.

The Fourth Crusade was from 1202–1204. Pope Innocent lll wanted to invade Jerusalem through Eygpt but the Crusaders didnt have the money to pay for the fleet. Becuase of that, they didnt have enough money or time on their vessel lease, the leaders went to Constantipople where they tried to place a Byzantine removal on the throne. After all the confusion, the Crusaders captured the city in
1204, which ended the establishment of