The Crusades (nov 28, 1095 – may 18, 1291)

Description:

The Seljuk take-over of Anatolia meant that the very small Byzantine Empire was confined to just the Balkan Peninsular. Due to this defeat, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I called Pope Urban II for help to fight the Seljuk Empire, using the prospect of taking back the Holy Land as a reason for doing so. Pope Urban accepted this plea, possibly to help heal the rift that had grown between the East and West churches. The Pope urged all Christians across Europe to join this war stating that it would be a way to repay God for their sins and that if they were to die, they would go straight to heaven. The massive army of Christians that responded trekked from their European kingdoms towards Jerusalem in 1095 starting the first of nine Crusades - wars between Christians and Muslims that lasted nearly 200 years.