![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The term's usage can be misleading, particularly regarding the early Crusades, and the definition remains a matter of debate among contemporary historians. Crusades differed from other Christian religious wars in that they were considered a penitential exercise, and so earned participants forgiveness for all confessed sins. The conflicts to which the term is applied have been extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Roman Catholic Church against pagans and heretics, or for alleged religious ends. The term "crusade" first referred to military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to the Holy Land. From the mid-14th century, crusading rhetoric was used in response to the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and ended around 1699 with the War of the Holy League.ġ4th-century miniature of the Second Crusade battle from the Estoire d'Eracles In the 13th century, crusading was used against the Cathars in Languedoc and against Bosnia this practice continued against the Waldensians in Savoy and the Hussites in Bohemia in the 15th century and against Protestants in the 16th. In 1199, Pope Innocent III began the practice of proclaiming crusades against Christian heretics. From 1147, campaigns in Northern Europe against pagan tribes were considered crusades. Proclaimed a crusade in 1123, the struggle between the Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula eventually became better known as the Reconquista in European historiography, and only ended in 1492 with the fall of the Muslim Emirate of Granada. Unsanctioned by the church, there were also several Popular Crusades of ordinary citizens. Other church-sanctioned campaigns called crusades were fought against heretical Christian sects (precursors of proto-Protestantism), against the Ottoman Empire, and for political reasons. After this, there were no further crusades to recover the Holy Land.Ĭoncurrent military activities in the Iberian Peninsula against the Moors and in northeastern Europe against pagan West Slav, Baltic, and Finnic peoples (the Northern Crusades) have also been called crusades – sometimes retroactively, long after the event had ended – due to the facts that they also had central approval by the Roman Catholic Church and that the military campaigns were organized in comparable fashion, with often similar rhetoric, symbolism, and banners as applied during the campaigns in the Middle East. The Crusader presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. Initial successes established four Crusader states: the County of Edessa the Principality of Antioch the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli. Later crusades were conducted by generally more organized armies, sometimes led by a king. The first Crusaders had a variety of motivations, including religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Across all social strata in western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios I against the Seljuk Turks and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the recovery of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of Crusades were fought, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 10 that were intended to recover Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Islamic rule. The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. ![]()
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