Who fought in the Crusades?

Question

thanks

Answer 1

A crusade was any holy war declared by the catholic church. When we speak of The Crusades, we usually mean those wars fought by the Western European nations (Britain, France, the German countries, etc) against the Muslims (usually the Ottomans) for control of Palestine.

However, the term crusade was also used for fights between Christians, and fights against Pagans. For instance, there was a Crusade against "heretics" in Spain (Christians with different beliefs), and the invasion of Britain in 1066 was officially a Crusade. There were also Crusades to try to regain Constantinople and the Eastern German empire, as well as Islands in the East of the Mediterranean.

Crusade is really a Catholic adaptation of the word Jihad, and it applies to any war that the Pope approved of. The Popes now seem to be pacifist, so that's why we don't have any modern Crusades, but there could be another one at any time. Although it is arguable that the Cold War was a Crusade, given the stance of Pope John Paul and others.

The Muslims had just as many genocides as the Christians did, but they usually weren't classed as Crusades, rather Jihads.

Answer 2

Many different countries fought in the Crusades. It was basically the Middle East versus Europe for control over Jerusalem. This website could be useful.
http://www.medievalcrusades.com
Hope that helps...

Answer 3

Muslims, Jews and Christians all squabbled and fought and killed each other to control the lands they percieved to be "holy."

Were you looking for some particular details?

Answer 4

The European Christians invaded the Middle East in the name of God, killing and raping as they went.