Edward Trimnell's Online Guide to the Middle East
What were the Crusades?
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns that Western European armies waged in the Middle East between 1098 and 1291. There were a variety of religious and political motives behind the Crusades.
Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade after Emperor Alexius I of the Byzantine Empire called on Western Europe for help against Muslim invasions. Although the First Crusade had a largely political/defensive motive, Urban imbued the effort with religious undertones. For example, he promised the remission of sins for any Crusaders who died in combat, or during the arduous journey to the Middle East.
The Crusaders established a handful of European kingdoms in the Middle East; but the Crusades were ultimately a failure. The last Crusader stronghold of Acre fell to the army of al-Ashraf Khahil in 1291. He slaughtered the city’s Christian inhabitants----including women and children.