YEAR 8 : MEDIEVAL EUROPE: The 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 Crusades lasted centuries. From 1095, European Christians invaded the Middle East on several occasions. Despite bringing back a vast amount of knowledge to Europe, thousands of lives were lost.

In the 7th century AD, a Muslim Jihad had spread out of Arabia across the Mediterranean world, conquering about half of the Christian world, including the holy city of Jerusalem.

The crusades were a series of military expeditions promoted by the papacy during the Middle Ages, initially aimed at taking the Holy Land for Christendom.

The Middle Ages saw the development of new modes of warfare encompassing both pitched battles and siege warfare. Then as now the western world was engaged in an arms race.