The Crusades are hard to describe briefly. They were not united at all by any one military campaign, but continued for two centuries of European history, when Christian knights, commoners, and even separately children went on campaigns in the eastern lands.
Crusades: a brief summary of how it all began
And the beginning was laid in the fall of 1095, when Pope Urban delivered his famous sermon. He called on Christian soldiers to liberate the Holy Land and the Holy Sepulcher, located in Jerusalem and occupied by Muslims at that time. Actually, this was the first and main declarative goal of the Crusades. Of course, they basically had more significant reasons than just a desire to free the Holy Sepulcher.
Crusades: briefly on the premises
The territories of Jerusalem and Palestine have been in the hands of Muslims since the 7th century. However, for several centuries this did not particularly bother European Christians. The fact is that until the XI century these lands were controlled by Arab caliphs, who not only did not interfere, but also encouraged the travel of Christian pilgrims to their Holy
The earth. Among other things, this favorably affected the trade and cultural exchange of the two civilizations. However, in 1076, Syria and Palestine were captured by the Seljuk Turks - more barbaric compared to the Arabs and less judicious. Very soon rumors began to wander around Europe about the desecration of the Temple of the Lord. Moreover, the growing power of the Seljuk state began to threaten the security of Byzantium - the eastern stronghold of Christianity. Thus, the Crusades to a certain extent became the defensive reaction of Europeans. Actually, it was the request of the Byzantine emperor Alexei Komnin for help and protection that anticipated the Crusades. Briefly speaking about the premises of these campaigns, it is also important to mention that they were facilitated by economic and
political processes within Europe itself. The feudal struggle led to the emergence of a significant number of landless feudal lords (younger sons) who sought to conquer lands in the distant countries of the east. The townspeople and peasants were driven on these campaigns by a general deterioration of the situation of the mob
(serfdom , etc.)
Bicentennial Religious Adventure Campaign
The first crusade was begun in 1096. Jerusalem was taken in 1099, and the first crusader states appeared on the occupied lands. In the next two centuries there were eight more campaigns. Often they were led by European kings.
Perhaps the most famous for the general public is the English monarch, Richard the Lionheart. Often the campaigns were predatory in nature. With varying degrees of success, the Crusades expanded and lost the land of the
Knights in Palestine. However, the bicentennial confrontation ended with the fact that in 1291 the last knightly fortress in the east, Acra, fell. One of the most important factors in the final defeat was the crusader’s tough policy and constant attempts to impose on the local population an alien feudal socio-economic system, which caused constant opposition from the latter and deprived the Europeans of the necessary economic base.