CRUSADES

•The Crusades were a series of religious wars between

Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of
holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major
Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. The
bloody, violent and often ruthless conflicts propelled the status
of European Christians, making them major players in the fight
for land in the Middle East
•The First Crusade was the first of a series of religious wars
initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Latin Church
in the medieval period. The initial objective was the recovery of
the Holy Land from Islamic rule. These campaigns were
subsequently given the name crusades.
•The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from
Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the
County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been
founded during the First Crusade by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in
1098
•The Third Crusade was an attempt
by three European monarchs of the
Western Christianity to reconquer
the Holy Land following the
capture of Jerusalem by the
Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. For
this reason, the Third Crusade is
also known as the Kings' Crusade.
•The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed
expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the
expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of
Jerusalem, by first conquering the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid
Sultanate, the strongest Muslim state of the time.
•The Fifth Crusade was an attempt by Western Europeans to reacquire
Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Cairo, the
capital of the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt.
•The Sixth Crusade, commonly known as the Crusade of
Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture the city of
Jerusalem. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth
Crusade and involved very little actual fighting.
•The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from
1248 to 1254. Louis' Christian army was defeated by the Ayyubid army
led by Fakhr al-Din ibn Shaykh al-Shuyukh and their allies, the
Bahriyya Mamluks, led by Faris ad-Din Aktai, Baibars al-Bunduqdari,
Qutuz, Aybak and Qalawun.
•The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis of France
against the Hafsid dynasty in 1270. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes
counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth and Sixth Crusades of Frederick II
are counted as a single crusade. The Ninth Crusade is sometimes also
counted as part of the Eighth.