Crusaders

Crusaders were participants in organized Christian military campaigns sanctioned by the Latin Church from the late 11th to the 13th centuries. The most famous objective was the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule. The term crusade derives from Latin crux, meaning cross, reflecting the religious motivation behind the campaigns. The movement began after Pope Urban II's 1095 call at Clermont to take up arms in defense of the faith.

Most enduringly, the First Crusade (1096–1099) established Crusader states in the Levant, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch, and Tripoli. Later crusades had mixed success, and the Latin states gradually lost territory amid Muslim counteroffensives. The idea of crusading also spread to Iberia, the Baltic, and southern France (the Albigensian Crusade).

Crusading combined religious endorsement with feudal and economic incentives. The Church granted indulgences and mobilized noble recruits, while military orders such as the Knights Templar (founded 1119), Knights Hospitaller (1113), and Teutonic Knights provided organization and resources for combat and protection of pilgrims.

Impact included cultural and economic exchange across the Mediterranean, alongside violence and coercion in various theaters. The Crusader states were gradually reconquered, culminating in Acre's fall in 1291. The legacy of crusading has influenced later religious and nationalist movements and remains a subject of debate among historians.

Historiography emphasizes a mix of religious, political, and economic motives, rather than a single cause. The term is also used for later campaigns framed as crusades, and modern scholarship situates crusading within broader medieval society and international relations.