Crusades

The First Crusade took place from 1096 -- 1099. The First Crusade was a great surprise to both the Christians and the Muslims, the two opposing parties of the Crusades. The victory of the First Crusade went to the Christians. The Crusades were a series of nine wars waged during the Middle Ages between Christians and Muslims. The wars were waged between the 11th and 13th centuries specifically.

In 1071, the Muslim Turkish armies thoroughly defeated the Christine Byzantine military forces at the Battle of Manzikert. (Madden, 2002) The Christians were defending their territories in Asia Minor. Asia Minor had been swiftly invaded and conquered by outsiders and the Byzantine emperor at the time sought assistance from the west. A council was called and a decision was made:

At the Council of Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II called on the knights of western Christendom to right this wrong...
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