Editing Middle Ages (section)

=== Crusades ===
{{Main|Crusades|Reconquista|Northern Crusades}}
{{See also|Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty| Byzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynasty}}

[[File:Crac des chevaliers syria.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Krak des Chevaliers]] was built during the Crusades for the [[Knights Hospitaller]]s.<ref name=Fortress268>Kaufmann and Kaufmann ''Medieval Fortress'' pp. 268–269</ref>]]

In the 11th century, the [[Seljuk Turks]] took over much of the Middle East, occupying Persia during the 1040s, Armenia in the 1060s, and Jerusalem in 1070. In 1071, the Turkish army defeated the Byzantine army at the [[Battle of Manzikert]] and captured the Byzantine Emperor [[Romanus IV]] (r. 1068–1071). The Turks were then free to invade Asia Minor, which dealt a dangerous blow to the Byzantine Empire by seizing a large part of its population and its economic heartland. Although the Byzantines regrouped and recovered somewhat, they never fully regained Asia Minor and were often on the defensive. The Turks also had difficulties, losing control of Jerusalem to the [[Fatimids]] of Egypt and suffering from a series of internal civil wars.<ref name=Davies332>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 332–333</ref> The Byzantines also faced a revived [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], which in the late 12th and 13th centuries spread throughout the Balkans.<ref name=Davies386>Davies ''Europe'' pp.&nbsp;386–387</ref>

The Crusades were intended to seize [[Jerusalem]] from Muslim control. The [[First Crusade]] was proclaimed by Pope [[Urban II]] (pope 1088–1099) at the [[Council of Clermont]] in 1095 in response to a request from the Byzantine Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]] (r. 1081–1118) for aid against further Muslim advances. Urban promised [[indulgence]] to anyone who took part. Tens of thousands of people from all levels of society mobilised across Europe and captured Jerusalem in 1099.<ref name=MACrusades /> One feature of the crusades was the [[pogrom]]s against local Jews that often took place as the crusaders left their countries for the East. These were especially brutal during the First Crusade,<ref name=Jews191 /> when the Jewish communities in [[Cologne]], [[Mainz]], and [[Worms, Germany|Worms]] were destroyed, as well as other communities in cities between the rivers [[Seine]] and the Rhine.<ref name=Comp397>Lock ''Routledge Companion to the Crusades'' pp. 397–399</ref> Another outgrowth of the crusades was the foundation of a new type of monastic order, the [[Military order (society)|military orders]] of the [[Templars]] and [[Hospitallers]], which fused monastic life with military service.<ref name=Barber145 />

The Crusaders consolidated their conquests into [[Crusader states]]. During the 12th and 13th centuries, there were a series of conflicts between them and the surrounding Islamic states. Appeals from the crusader states to the papacy led to further crusades,<ref name=MACrusades>Riley-Smith "Crusades" ''Middle Ages'' pp. 106–107</ref> such as the [[Third Crusade]], called to try to regain Jerusalem, which had been captured by [[Saladin]] (d. 1193) in 1187.<ref name=Payne204>Payne ''Dream and the Tomb'' pp. 204–205</ref>{{efn-ua| Military religious orders such as the [[Knights Templar]] and the [[Knights Hospitaller]] were formed and went on to play an integral role in the crusader states.<ref name=Lock353>Lock ''Routledge Companion to the Crusades'' pp. 353–356</ref>}} In 1203, the [[Fourth Crusade]] was diverted from the Holy Land to Constantinople, and captured the city in 1204, setting up a [[Latin Empire of Constantinople]]<ref name=Lock156>Lock ''Routledge Companion to the Crusades'' pp. 156–161</ref> and greatly weakening the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines recaptured the city in 1261 but never regained their former strength.<ref name=Backman299>Backman ''Worlds of Medieval Europe'' pp. 299–300</ref> By 1291, all the crusader states had been captured or forced from the mainland. However, a titular [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] survived on the island of [[Kingdom of Cyprus|Cyprus]] for several years afterwards.<ref name=Lock122>Lock ''Routledge Companion to the Crusades'' p. 122</ref>

Popes called for crusades elsewhere besides the Holy Land: in Spain, southern France, and along the Baltic.<ref name=MACrusades /> The Spanish crusades became fused with the ''Reconquista'' of Spain from the Muslims. Although the Templars and Hospitallers took part in the Spanish crusades, similar Spanish military religious orders were founded, most of which had become part of the two main orders of [[Order of Calatrava|Calatrava]] and [[Order of Santiago|Santiago]] by the beginning of the 12th century.<ref name=Lock205>Lock ''Routledge Companion to the Crusades'' pp. 205–213</ref> Northern Europe also remained outside Christian influence until the 11th century or later and became a crusading venue as part of the Northern Crusades of the 12th to 14th centuries. These crusades also spawned a military order, the [[Order of the Sword Brothers]]. Another order, the [[Teutonic Knights]], although founded in the crusader states, focused much of its activity in the Baltic after 1225 and, in 1309, moved its headquarters to [[Malbork Castle|Marienburg]] in [[Prussia]].<ref name=Lock213>Lock ''Routledge Companion to the Crusades'' pp. 213–224</ref>