Crusades: The True and Surprising History of the Crusades (Legacy of the Catholic Campaign Against the Cathars in France, (Paperback)

This mythical narrative of unwarranted european aggression continued to promulgate itself through the years until it was widely believed that the islamic world was a completely innocent victim of the crusades. Many came to believe that the muslims did nothing at all to provoke the west and instead were the sole arbiters of high civilization and knowledge in a dark age who were unfairly targeted by militant western barbarians.

Within this book we list the details of each crusade, including:

• The pope that initiated the battles
• The major countries and people involved
• The results of the battles
• The transfers of the properties
• The success of the crusade

It was not long before the concept of the holy crusade was applied beyond the holy land. The conflict between the christian states and the muslim moors in the iberian peninsula became a holy war, as did the forced settlement of pagan slav lands on germany's eastern frontier. At the beginning of the 13th century, the knights hospitaller and the knights of livonia began the conquest of heathen baltic lands while sweden invaded finland.