Global 9.3 The Crusades and the Wider World

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 * When a group of Muslim Turks invaded Palestine and attacked the Holy Land, Byzantine emperor Alexius I sent a request to Pope Urban II to send Christian knights to help him fight off the Muslims.
 * Pope Urban II, hoping to extend his power over the Middle East and trying to find a common enemy so that Christians would stop fighting each other, agreed. At the Council of Clermont he called for French and German knights to fight the Muslims in the Holy Land.
 * For the next 200 years European Christians sent knights to fight in Palestine. Only the very first crusade came close to achieving the goal of taking control of Palestine. After, the Europeans gained control of Jerusalem, only to later lose it to a Muslim general Salah a-Din, never to regain it.
 * The Crusades failed in their main goal, Christians were unable to gain control of the Holy Land. Despite the legacy of religious rivaly that the crusades left behind, they did also have some positive effects.
 * The Crusades helped to increase and improve trade in Europe and the Middle East.
 * Greater powers were given to the Feudal monarchs, including the power to tax, which was used to raise money for the Crusades. The growth of money economy during the Crusades continued to help undermine serfdom.
 * The Crusades helped to drive Europe towards the age of exploration, broadening their view of the world.
 * The Crusades also made an impact in Europe, specifically Spain. The desire of Christians to push the Muslims out of Spain is known as the Reconquista, or "reconquest."
 * In 1468, Ferdinand and Isabella were married. They used their political alliance to push for a unified Spain. They succeeded in pushing the Muslims out of Spain and unified the country under their rule.
 * In order to help create unity in Spain, Isabella ended the religious tolerance that the Muslims had established. With the help of the "inquisition," non-Christians and heretics were tortured and killed.