We examine the long train of crusading expeditions of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, from the triumphs of Richard the Lionheart to the trainwreck of the sack of Constantinople. We consider the many ways that modern myths have distorted the Crusades for political purposes and erased the Crusaders' central motivation: control of Jerusalem. Become a patron of HIstoriansplaining in order to hear the next lecture, on the Knights Templar -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/11370067