1. Tyler Parks

2.  Pope Urban II sent the first of eight crusades in 1095.
 The reason was to take back the Holy Lands from the
Muslims, who had controlled them since the birth of
Christ. The battle cry for the Christian soldiers was
“God wills it!”, showing that the popular reason was
religious.
 Europe became strong enough under the unity of the
Catholic Church to fight back.
 The underlying reasons were economic. The
population and wealth of Europe was growing, so trade
needed to spread to the Middle East.
 There were also historical reasons. The Muslims had
invaded the Byzantine Empire in the 8th century and
nearly took it over.

3.  Pope Urban II ordered Christian Europe to strike
back at the Turks, who controlled Jerusalem and
were harassing Christian pilgrims, in 1095 at
Clermont, France.
 It was lead by French nobles and barons, each
with his own personal army. This lead to many
divisions within the Christian army.
 During the march, many knights and peasants
joined hoping to gain freedom and wealth from the
journey.
 This is considered the most successful Crusade
because the Christian took Jerusalem from the
Turks.

4.  This crusade was started in 1147 and
ended in 1149.
 This was lead by the armies of France and
Germany similar the First Crusade.
 This was a huge failure for the Christians
because they lost Jerusalem to the
Muslims and most of their causalities
occurred in Turkey, away from the Holy
Lands.

5.  This crusade started in 1189 and ended in 1192.
 This was by far the most organized crusade led by Philip
Augustus of France, King Richard I (the Lionhearted) of
England, and Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman
Empire (modern-day Germany).
 The Muslims were also well-organized under the leadership of
Saladin.
 The HRE was not a factor after the death of their leader
Barbarossa during battle in Turkey.
 This ended in a truce between Saladin and King Richard. It
allowed Christian pilgrims to enter Jerusalem without
harassment or paying a tax.
 King Richard was taken prisoner and held for ransom, which
was paid through a large amount of money. It was said to be
twice the annual revenue of England.

6.  The Fourth Crusade, started by Pope Innocent III
and led by France in 1199, was the last of the
organized and significant crusades. The Byzantium
Empire was set up as a result.
 There was also a Children’s Crusade in 1212 that
had around 30,000 young kids lead by a shepherd
to the Holy Lands. The final results were
disastrous with many children either dying from
hunger, being sold into slavery with very few ever
returning home.
 The Crusades continued on into the 15th Century,
but they were small in numbers and significance.

7.  Militarily, the Crusades were a total failure for the Christians. The gains that
were made initially, were all lost and countries lost a majority of their army.
 Intellectually, it facilitated the spread of Arabic and European thought. The
Crusades had brought Europe higher standards of Eastern medicine and
learning. Europe also learned a great deal of information about Muslim and
Greek culture.
 The Crusades had the biggest impact on the economies of both Europe and
the Middle East. Italy replace the Byzantine Empire as the biggest trader
and trade increased throughout Europe. Subsequently, this increased the
political power of Italy. The discovery of Eastern delicacies, such as spices,
fruits, and metals, started the interest in exploration and eventually led to the
expeditions of Da Gama and Columbus.
 The Crusades had a mixed impact on Europe. It contributed to the decline in
feudalism and the power of the noble. It led to the development of the
absolute monarch in Europe during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. It also
served to increase corruption in the papacy and the fragmentation of the
Catholic Church. The Protestant Reformation occurred as a result of this.

8.  "The Crusades." World History. N.p., 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.
<http://historyworld.org/crusades.htm>.
 "The Second Crusade." Middle Ages. N.p., 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/the-second-crusade.htm>.