In the year 1095, Emperor Alexius beseeched Pope Urban II in Europe for aid against the invading forces of Seljuk Turks, who were pushing at the borders of the Byzantine Empire. When Pope Urban II read the letter from Alexius, Emperor of Byzantine, a glorious vision of sorts came to the Pope and he quickly acted and made plans for the First Crusade. In November of that year, in Clermont, France, Pope Urban II stood before a crowd of European nobles and peasants, and asked for their aid in recapturing the Holy Land, the home land of Jesus Christ, the Land of the Holy Sepulchre.

In addition to the liberation of the city of Jerusalem, Pope Urban II appealed to the material desires of the people as well, for a holy Crusade would provide land to the conquering armies, which would bring an end to the constant land struggle that the growing population of European nobles seemed to be caught in the middle of. Another reason for the undertaking of a military campaig

When Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade in hopes of conquering the Holy Land in the name of the Western Catholic Church and uniting with the Eastern Church. Urban II also wanted to rid Europe of the constant strife of land inheritance that feudalism and a large nobility had presented by conquering vast, unsettled lands. There was also the great fame that would accompany any man that could conquer the Land of the Holy Sepulchre and begin a new empire. The city of Jerusalem was liberated from the hands of the heathens in only three of the countless crusades, the First, Third, and Sixth, and even then it was only held for a short period of time. The Byzantine Empire, under Alexius, was hardly helped by the Crusades, as was originally planned, rather it was brought down in 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, when another Alexius needed his political adversaries ousted. As far as vast, unsettled land is concerned, after all the dust of two centuries of war settled, the Christian armies had succeeded in holding on to none of the land they had previously conquered, although all the land back in Europe of the deceased nobles would be seized by the kings of their respected countries. The Crusades were such a valiant cause, yet unfortunately they ended up as just one great misdeed that directly accomplished none of the objectives. It is unjustified then to agree with the notion that the crusading ideology was responsible for the expansion of Europe.

Many more Crusades would take place, but none in conquest of the Holy Land. Driving the Muslims out of Spain became a major Crusade that is better known as the Reconquista, or reconquest, and there were also many Crusades into the lands of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. In the centuries to come the fire of the Holy Wars died down, along with their ideology, and the idea of spreading Christianity without violence took to the flame as the morals of the previous Crusades was looked upon by the now, more educated populous of Europe.

 Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the idea of Crusading, Cambridge, 1986

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