The Crusades

When Pope Urban II preached the liberation of Jerusalem in 1095, he set in motion a dynamic movement which changed the political and social fabric of both Europe and the Middle East. Inspired crusaders made tortuous journeys to fight Muslims, defend European settlements in the East and protect pilgrims. From the early thirteenth century, crusades were fought against non-Catholics, heretics, papal enemies and pagans. This module examines the ideologies of crusaders, their achievements in the Holy Land, and the outcomes of crusading warfare elsewhere.