The crusades (jan 1, 1095 – jan 1, 1492)

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During this period, Christian forces began to fight with pagans in the Baltic, and Muslims in the Mediterranean. However, most importantly, they fought with the Abbasid empire in an attempt to recapture Palestine and Jerusalem. Crusaders were initially successful because of the collapsing Abbasid empire, but soon the crusades only convinced Turks, Egyptians, and other Muslims to band together to fight to keep out Europeans. The crusades most important role was not in gain or loss of land, but in the spread of ideas. European Christians learned about aristotle, numbers, science and astronomy, paper production, and new foods and textiles. This led to the rise of luxury good production for trade in Europe. The cross-cultural interaction also contributed to improvements in naval technologies, like the invention of the Portugese caraval, and the adoption of the Chinese magnetic compass.

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