The Crusades and the Byzantine Empire

The Crusades and the Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire controlled most of the land on the Mediterranean Sea in the AD 500's. In the 600's, Arab Muslims conquered Palestine, which included Jerusalem and other sacred Christian areas. However, the Arab Rulers allowed Christians to visit the shrines. Later, in the 1000's, Sejuk Turks from Central Asia conquered this area. The Turks destroyed the Byzantines in 1071 and the Turks became Muslims. They made it hard for Christian Pilgrims to get to the holy places.

In 1095, the emperor of Byzantine, Alexius Conneus asked Pope Urban II for assistance in fighting the Turks. Urban wanted Christianity defended against the Muslims. Urban also wanted more power and prestige for himself. He believed that a crusade against the Turks would stop fighting of the Christian knights and nobles of Western Europe. In November of 1095 AD, Pope Urban II had a speech. He wanted to remove a "witched race" from the Christian Lands because Christ demands it. His sermon urged Europeans Christians to stop fighting themselves and recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The crowd responds "God wills it!" Thousands of people joined the cause. Some crusaders joined the expeditions for more than religious reasons. French knights wanted more land, Italian Merchants wanted to expand trade. Priests and monks wanted religious relics. Poor people also joined to escape their normal lives.

The First Crusade started in 1096. Peter the Hermit led one group and they rushed ahead in front of the main armies. This group was known as the Peasant's Crusade, they did not have the training or discipline they would ahead of them. They often stole what they wanted and angered the Europeans and were killed. The Turks later slaughtered the survivors. The main armies that were sent by the pope were well trained French and Norman Knights. When they reached Constantinople, Byzantine forces joined the crusaders. The combined army defeated the Muslims near Nicaea. Afterwards, the Western Europeans marched toward Jerusalem, fighting bloody battles along the way. Many crusaders died at Antioch. The Europeans arrived at Jerusalem in the summer of 1099. They recovered the Holy City after six weeks of fighting. Most of the crusaders then returned home. The leaders who remained divided the conquered land into four states.

Since many knights left Jerusalem after they captured and went back home.