
The Crusades
Half-Hour History: Secrets of the Medieval World
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The Crusades: A Defensive War
Pope Urban II gave a speech in 1095 saying we've got to go and defend the Holy Land. The Muslims are already there, doesn't that look like an offensive operation? So it's interesting that Muslims and Christians both see the Crusades as a defensive war. If you are a Western Latin Christian and you define success as taking Jerusalem then the only crusade which was successful in that limited term would have been the first crusade.
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