The crusades, a series of campaigns that were initially launched by Pope Urban II in 1096 were one of the bloodiest and most ineffective militaristic missions in history. The death toll can not be accurately counted but it is estimated in the millions. It started simply as a plea for help by the emperor of Byzantium to the Roman Catholic Church, but turned into a huge migration. Officially there were seven crusades within a period of …showed first 75 words of 1288 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1288 total…Pantheon Books, 1963 Edbury, Peter W. The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade. Hampshire: The Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 1998 Finucane, Ronald C. Soldiers of Faith. London: The Chaucer Press, 1983 Heer, Friedrich. The Medieval World. New York: Mentor Books, 1961 Knox, Dr Ellis L. "The Crusades." The Classroom. http://crusades.boisestate.edu/eou/ classroom.html 4/6/00 Knox, Dr Ellis L. "The Crusades." The Crusades. http://history.idbsu.edu/westciv/ crusades/00.htm 4/6/00 Michaels, John. "The Crusades" Grolier's Internet Encyclopedia. 2000 ed.