The Crusades were a series of military expeditions by European Christians to reclaim the areas of the Holy Land that had been captured by Muslim forces. The Crusades were mainly fought between Roman Catholic forces and Muslim forces. The Crusades had an original goal of reclaiming Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslim Empire. Despite the fact that the Crusades failed their original goal, they had both positive and negative lasting effects on Europe. Although the Crusades failed, they had a major positive impact on Western Europe. The crusaders brought back valuable goods that many Europeans had not seen before, sparking an interest in trade. The Crusades helped end feudalism in a few ways. First, many nobles that went to fight, died without leaving an heir to their lands, and so they were passed to the king. Second, some nobles sold their land to try and raise money to pay the tax that was raised by the king to help fund the Crusades. Third, some nobles gave their serfs a chance to buy their freedom to raise money. The Crusades reduced the work force of the feudal system and increased the power of the monarchs, causing its demise. By causing this burst in intelligence and learning, the Crusades helped bring about the Renaissance. The last beneficial effect of the Crusades was the increase of trading and commerce. They created a constant need for men and supplies, encouraging shipbuilding, ways to travel, and spreading trade west. The Crusaders brought back many goods that had not yet been seen in Europe like silk, spices, and sugar. Despite the fact that the Crusades had many positive influences on Europe, there were also many negative results. Some of the negatives effects of the Crusades were; the exposure to disease, especially the plague, the fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, and the large amounts of death throughout Europe. By traveling through foreign lands, the crusaders had to endure many diseases that they were not familiar to and had not developed immunity. One example, Malaria, which was more common in the Middle East than in Europe, cause many soldiers to die. The most serious disease spread throughout the middle ages was the