The Causes and Effects of the Crusades

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If you ask someone if they ever heard of the Crusades the answer will most likely be yes. Does that mean that they know what the Crusades are? No. Many Jewish people who don’t know much about the Crusades assume it was merely targeted against the Jews and it resulted in the death of countless Jews. Other than that they are oblivious to the true facts. So what were the Crusades?

The Crusades were great military missions embarked on by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the hands of the Moslems. The Crusades were considered Holy Wars (1). Their main target was the Moslems not the Jews, although campaigns were also waged against pagan Slavs, Jews, Russian and Greek orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes (2). There were many Crusades some more significant than others, but in general the Crusades was an important event in the history of Medieval Europe.

Religious feelings were the principal cause of the Crusades. Up until 1065 the Moslems had control o...

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