Medieval Wars

The crusades were medieval wars that took place between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The European Christians were trying to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. By the end of the thirteenth century there had been nine crusades including the Children’s crusade. “The term crusade was later used in reference to military expeditions, sanctioned by popes, against heretics and others. ” The crusades had a visible impact on western Europe.
There were three main causes of the crusades. The first cause was the advance of the Seljuk Turks. Al-Hakim had destroyed the church of Holy Sepulcher in 1010, and Christian pilgrims had free access to holy places. In 1070 the Turks took over Jerusalem, and the pilgrims no longer had freedom. The pilgrims also had home accounts of oppression and desecration. Peter the Hermit took letters to the pope in 1088 detailing the persecution of Christians
The second cause was the weakening of the Byzantine Empire. For seven centuries t...