The First Crusade
Because of too many warriors and too
much warfare in Western Europe, and because the Turks had won at Manzikert and were pushing
the Byzantines out of their lands, Pope Urban in 1095 preached that the Holy Places
(Jerusalem, Bethlehem, etc.) needed to be freed from the Moslems so that Christian pilgrims
could safely travel there - this Crusade included a promise of forgiveness of sins if you
gave your life in service to God - news of this spread like wildfire all across Europe - five
great mass movements of people began moving east, all of which were eventually annihilated
when they encountered armed forces - about 30,000 French noblemen and knights did make
their way to the East, were passed on by Alexius Comnenus to Asia to fight against the
Moslems - because the Moslems were not united (they were feuding amongst themselves), the French were able to set up the Crusader Kingdoms, western outposts in the
Middle East
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