Ironically, religion, generally associated with peace, dominated the world in terms of wars. Each religion is constantly fighting against all others for control of certain lands, to gain more available followers, and/or to dominate what the youth of the world are exposed to. Additionally, various religious groups want to get involved because they believe they are doing so in the name of their god. In the case of the Crusades, the majority of available people joined existing armies because their religious figureheads, whose wisdom and judgment they completely trusted, told them to do so even though those leaders had no heart for than their own interests. Regardless, members of the Holy Catholic Church came together to try to protect the Holy Land of Jerusalem from Muslims. The Crusades were a period of both expansion and destruction for all of Europe. The Crusades were a “series of military campaigns launched by the Christian countries of Western Europe. The main objective of the Crusades was the holy city of Jerusalem. (Article 1) As noted, the Crusades were a very dark, but religious, time. The first of nine total crusades was launched in 1095. Thanks to Pope Urban II's brilliant use of speech and Emperor Alexis of the Byzantine Empire's military forces, the young and able volunteered to participating in what they saw as a walk of divine justification. . Although the Pope and Emperor Alexius probably had other plans to expand their lands and resources, the reasons why people joined them were almost irrelevant. They clearly demonstrated their loyalty by massacring tens of thousands of Muslims and Jews during their occupation of Jerusalem. The campaign was an overall victory in terms of storage...... middle of paper ......en and even children were slaughtered in the name of three different gods. It can therefore be said that the Crusades had mostly negative impacts on humanity. The trust initially established in each religious body of government has been destroyed. History would take a dim view of the Crusades. Works cited Boucquey, Thierry. “Crusades”. Encyclopedia of world writers: from the beginnings to the 13th century. Ed. : New York. Facts about File Inc., 2008. 03/16/14Dickson, Gary. “Crusades”. The First Crusade and the creation of the Latin States. Ed. : Marshall W. Baldwin, Thomas F. Madden. Date of consultation: 03/17/14. The Crusades Reference Library. “The History of the Crusades”. Ed. : Neil Schlager, Ralph Zerbonia, J. Sydney Jones, Michael T. O'Neil and Marcia Merryman Means. Volume 1, Detroit, 2005. P.81-114, copyright Gale Cengage Learning.