Holy Wars: The Crusades

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The Crusades The Crusades (1095-1291) were holy wars, or wars for a religious cause, against Muslims and others to drive them off and to regain control of the Holy Land. What started the Crusades were the Seljuk Turks invading and defeating the Byzantine Empire in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert. After the lose to the Seljuk Turks, the Byzantine Empire was left in chaos and civil war, until General Alexius Comnenus took control of the Byzantine Empire and became emperor in 1081. In 1095, Emperor Alexius I asked Pope Urban II for help against the Turkish threats. Then, at the Council of Clermont in France, Pope Urban II called for Western Christians to begin fighting in order to regain the Holy Land from Muslim control and to help the Byzantines.