The Difference Between the Christians and Muslims Which made the Crusades Inevitable.
In the year 1095 Pope Urban II addressed the Christian people with this statement " The Muslims have concurred Jerusalem". Pope Urban II called for a great Christian expedition to free Jerusalem but the Muslims did not want any Christians of any kind in Jerusalem for any reason even prayer. With this conflict between both groups the crusades have begun because of differences between Christians and Muslims. Islam posed the threat of a rival culture and religion, which caused the Christians to fear the fact that the Muslims where spreading and becoming more dominate. .
The Christian Crusaders faced many obstacles. They had no specific leader, no conventional wisdom about relations with the churchmen who went with them, no definition of the popes role, and no agreement with the Byzantine emperor on whether they where his allies or enemies. These uncertainties, which lay within the Christian campaign, divided the crusaders into factions that did not always agree with one another.
Like the Christian crusaders, The Islamic campaign was disunited. Their rulers failed to anticipate the effectiveness of their enemy. In addition the crusaders attacking forces had a temporary advantage. They exploited this, taking the key city of Antioch in June 1098, under the lead of Bohemond of Taranto. Despite the divisions within their campaign, they moved forward to Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem ended up in a Christian victory in July 1099. With the tremendous victory over the Muslims came new problems for the Christians. There was to be a new permanent Christian presence in the Holy Land. They looked to build feudal states like those in the west. They also hoped to transport military culture and to carve out fortunes on the new frontier. .
What the Christians gained so quickly was steadily lost but when you consider how long they held they Holy land under a Christian banner so far from home, under certain circumstances was very impressive.
