 were military expeditions funded by the Catholic Church to regain the Holy lands from Muslim control. › From the 11 th -13 th centuries, › European Christians tried to capture the Holy lands (including the city of Jerusalem) from the Muslims.  They started with Urban II urging Christians to take up arms in a Holy War.

The 1 st Crusade had an army of 7000 cavalry & 10,000 infantry. They reached Jerusalem in They were able to take the city and massacred 1000’s of inhabitants. In the 1140’s the Muslims struck back. One of the Latin Crusader states that were formed at the end of the 1 st Crusade was attacked and fell to Muslim control.

 In an attempt to regain it King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany launched the second Crusade.  It failed…

In 1187, Jerusalem falls to the Muslims. Three Christian rulers agreed to lead the Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa of Germany, Richard I (Rich. The Lionhearted) of England, & Philip II Augustus of France. It too failed to recapture Jerusalem; nevertheless, Saladin agreed to allow Christian pilgrims access to the city.

After Saladin died in 1193, Pope Innocent III started the 4 th Crusade. The Venetian leaders (Italian) of the 4 th Crusade used this opportunity to weaken their biggest commercial competitor, the Byzantine Empire. In 1204 they sacked Constantinople. But the Byzantines recaptured it in Failed

 As a final attempt at the Crusades, there were two “children’s crusades”. But both never reached the Holy lands.  Failed

 1) they benefited some Italian cities economically,  2) widespread attacks on Jewish people began to take place,  3) Politically they eventually helped to break down Feudalism & led to strong nation-states.