Distrust Between The Byzantine Empire And The Crusaders

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In the late 11th century, the Byzantine Empire was under attack by the Turks and lost a lot of territories. The Emperor, Alexios I Komnenos, asked the Pope, Urban II, to send an army to help him. In the Council of Clermont, Urban II answered his request and gathered up an army called the Crusade to launch to the east and to reinforce the Byzantine Empire. Although the crusaders were supposed to help the Byzantine Empire, both sides did not have a strong relationship. The Byzantine Empire only wanted to maintain its kingdom while the crusaders wanted to go on a pilgrimage and to enjoy killing. When the crusaders and the Byzantine Empire first came to connect, they created a lot of conflicts. According to the primary sources, Alexiad, Gesta Francorum, and Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere, both sides had four different conflicts. Although they tried to make a compromise, at the end, because of so much distrust between them, the crusaders broke away from the Byzantine Empire. The origin of the weak Latin- Byzantine relations was that they had different purposes on the war. …show more content…

In the later 11th century, the Turks kept attacking the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire and conquered Asia Minor. Alexios could not fight against the invasion. He needed help. Hence, he sent an embassy to Rome and asked Urban II for “military aid for the recovery of Asia Minor”. In his strategy, the western knights would serve in his army and would fight against the Turks under his name. After the war, Alexios would pay the western knights for protecting his kingdom. During the First Crusade, the Byzantine Empire’s interest was to use the Europeans to protect its

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