Victor+Moore

1. Introduction--Describe a general cause or causes of the conflict.
The biggest general cause of the crusades was the Seljuk Turks advance on the Byzantine Empire and the city of Constatinople. The Christians felt threatened by the Turks and felt that they would not be able to make pilgramages to Jerusalem if the Turks continued to advance. This is what i belive to be the biggest reason for the crusades. = =

2. Background--Describe who, what when and where.

 * What: The crusades a series of religious battles between the Muslims and the Christians ove the city of Jerusalem.
 * When: The crusades lasted about 200 years from 1096 to 1291.
 * Where: The Crusades happened mainly in the Middle East, in Eastern Eupore, and in parts of Asia and in cities such as Acre, Damascus, Constantinople, Clermont, and Jerusalem.

3. Causal Factors--Describe three factors that led to The Crusades.
There were many factors that started the crusades, but some of the main ones were the advancing Seljuk Turks Who the Christians thought could take over the Byzantine Empire and they would not let christians make pilgramages to Jerusalem anymore. Because of these fears, Pope Urban the II called for a crusade to stop the Turks. Eventually the crusade even recaptured Jerusalem. A reason so many people joined the crusade is bacause the pope promised intrance into heaven for who ever joined the crusade. People also joined for the glory of battle or because merchants thought they could make money.

4. Most Important Factor--Explain how one factor was more important than the others.
I feel that the most important factor in begining the crusades was the Seljuk Turks advancing on the Byzantine Empire's capital of Constantinople. I feel that this is the most important factor because if they had not have advanced then the pope wouldent have felt threatened by their advanced and wouldn't have called for the first crusade which in turn would have stoped the other crusades from happening and much bloodshed would not have happened and their would have been peace.

5. Impacts--Explain how one religious group and an individual within that group were impacted by The Crusades.
All of the three religious groups in the crusdes were majorly effected but the christians were effected alot. Many of the crusaders were killed or horribly injured during the crusades. Many economic changes happened to christians as well. Many knights began performing banking functions and kings started tax systems to pay for the crusdes. People also began to wear persian clothes and crusaders devoloped a taste for arabic food. King Richard the First also known as the lionheart led the third crusade. He became incredibly ruthless killing many people as he marched to Jerusalem. He forced the surrender of the Town of Acre and he killed muslims prisoners when he felt that Salah al-Din was taking to long with a prisoner exchange. Although he fought his way to Jerusalem his army was not strong enough to attack it. Richard sighned a peace treaty with Salah al-Din and the Christians kept a chain of towns along the coast of Palestine.

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6. Conclusion--Explain how The Crusades could have been avoided.
There were mutiple ways that the crusades could have been avoided. If the Seljuk Turks wouldent have had such a rapid advance on the Byzantines then the Pope would not have felt the need to call the crusades. Also if the Christians had felt that they would still have been able to make pilgramages to Jerusalem then they might have felt like the crusades were uneeded.

7. Works Cited--List your sources in MLA format.
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