Why The Islamic Caliphates?

Centuries before the Crusades War, in the 3rd Century, the Catholic Kingdom and Byzantine Empire were united through the name of the Roman Empire. However, in 287 CE, the Roman Empire had grown immensely, up to the point where it was absurd for the Emperor to govern all the provinces, only in Rome. Due to this, Diocletian, the Emperor of the Roman Empire divided the empire into two parts: the west and the east. The west of Rome was considered poor, in contrast to the prosperous East, due to the utilization of the Black, Red, Caspian, and Mediterranean Sea. Proceeding to the 11th Century, various strong Germanic Tribes invaded the Roman Empire, leading to the official split of the Roman Empire - into Catholic Western Europe and Eastern Byzantine

Muhammad, God’s prophet, was a follower of Islam, and thus prayed to Allah, the Islamic “Supreme God.” Muslims follow Sharia Islamic Laws. Rather than having emperors, they had Sultans, as their leaders. Islamic Caliphates were able to unite the fighting tribes in the Arabian Peninsula, and spread throughout the Middle East of Europe. The Islamic Caliphates were soon able to conquer North Africa and the Persian Empire. However, as the Islamic Caliphates were expanding their empire, they were seized from expanding by the Byzantine Empire, in the battle of Tours (Spielvogel

The breaking point of tranquility occured in the Byzantine Empire, as the Seljuk Turks invaded. The Seljuk Turks were populous in Central Asia, and were not Arab Muslims, meaning that they were not part of the Islamic Caliphates. This is shown as the Seljuk Turks invaded the Islamic Caliphate capital, Baghdad. Throughout the rest of the 11th Century, the Seljuk Turks continued to conquer areas of the Byzantine Empire. This led to the “unforeseen” circumstance, in 1095, where Byzantine Empire’s Emperor, Alexius I, urged Pope Urban II, of the Catholic Kingdoms, for aid against the Seljuk Turks (Ellis 215-216). Note that the two societies had excommunicated each other long ago, which conveys why the plea of help was made 40 years after the problem of the Seljuk Turks began. However, Pope Urban II did make a speech on behalf of the Byzantine Empire, with the intended audience oh the Roman Catholics. Pope Urban II intended for the Roman Catholics to defend their “allies.” The Pope motivated the Roman Catholics to fight by constantly disparaging the Islamic Caliphates, which was inclusive of the Arabs, and claiming how the Muslims were worshippers of the Devil (Urban