The Crusades

the first, 1095-1101;
the second, headed by Louis VII, 1145-47;
the third, conducted by Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur-de-Lion, 1188-92;
the fourth, during which Constantinople was taken, 1204;
the fifth, which included the conquest of Damietta, 1217;
the sixth, in which Frederick II took part (1228-29); also Thibaud de Champagne and Richard of Cornwall (1239);
the seventh, led by St. Louis, 1249-52;
the eighth, also under St. Louis, 1270.

The demand for a Crusade came with the preaching of Pope Urban II in 1095
The Royal Army arrived in Constantinople in Febuary and March 1097
Main reasons for the Crusades were:
- To drive the advancing Muslims out of Christian territory
- To reclaim Jeruselum for the Christian Empire
- To "cleanse" God's land of the infidel Muslims
- As many might believe, the Crusades were simply blood-thirsty knights and power mad popes raving about looking for more wealth and power
- That is not the case, the Muslims held onto their beliefs that they were meant to occupy all the land and claim it for their own uses
- The (First) Crusades were a defensive reaction meant to quell this Muslim uprising