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  1. Home
  2. Crusades

Crusades

Beginning in the late 11th century, the crusades were a series of military expeditions mounted by western European Christians in a bid to conquer the Holy Land. The first was called in November 1095 by Pope Urban II and while there is some disagreement among historians as to which campaigns to consider ‘crusades’, it is undeniable that the movement had a profound impact on eastern and western cultures and societies

Video Crusader states WL
Medieval

The crusader states What was life like?

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Medieval

Crusader states: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of King Richard I, on horseback, in the Holy Land, by Henry Justice Ford (Photo by The History Emporium / Alamy Stock Photo)
Medieval

What if... Richard the Lionheart had recaptured Jerusalem?

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Pod Mike Carr WL
Medieval

Trading and crusading in the Middle Ages

Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in mounted combat
Medieval

Richard the Lionheart: king of war

Portrait of Saladin (1560) by Cristofano Dell Altissimo.
Medieval

Why does Saladin have such an enduring reputation?

Richard I on a Chertsey tile
Medieval

Does Richard I deserve his reputation as a martial genius?

Melisende of Jerusalem
Medieval

Melisende of Jerusalem: the queen of a crusader kingdom

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II reaches an accord with the Muslim sultan al-Kamil in 1229 that saw Jerusalem handed to the crusaders. This is just one instance of cooperation between east and west in the era (though the two men never actually met in person). (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
Medieval

Muslim-Crusader interactions: a clash of civilisations?

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Katherine Pangonis chronicles the formidable line of female rulers that shaped the crusader states of the Holy Land in the 12th century
Medieval

Rebels, hostages and diplomats: royal women of the crusader states

A medieval illustration of women fighting and toiling alongside men during a siege
Medieval

Crusader queens: the formidable female rulers of Jerusalem

A fanciful engraving imagines Peter the Hermit presenting Pope Urban II (centre) with a letter from Simeon II
Medieval

Launching the First Crusade

The Varangian Guard as depicted in the illuminated 12th-century manuscript known as the Madrid Skylitzes. These Viking warriors became the Byzantine emperors' personal bodyguard
Viking

What was the Varangian Guard? A brief history of the Viking warriors of the Byzantine empire

In 802 Charlemagne took delivery of an elephant, sent to him by Harun al-Rashid, the caliph in Baghdad. Here, a manuscript illumination from a late 12th century English Latin bestiary. (Image by Alamy)
Medieval

8 turning points in medieval European history

The storming of Beziers
Medieval

Medieval turning points

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