Notes.

- During the late 1000s, the Seljuq Turks, a Muslim people from Central Asia, gained control of Palestine. 

- Palestine was known as "the Holy Land" among Christians.

- The Crusades, a series of military expeditions, began. The crusades was an expedition to regain control of the Holy Land from the Turks. 

- They sewed a cross of cloth on their clothes and were called, the Crusaders.

- At least 10,000 Europeans joined in.

- Some went to save their souls.
- They believed that if they died in the Crusade, that they'd go to Heaven.

- The first Crusade lasted from 1096, to 1099.

- Both French and Italian sent several armies of crusaders from Europe to Constantinople.

- The first Crusade brought much of the Holy Land under European control.

- By 1146, the Turks had united their forces. They started taking back cities that the crusaders had captured.

- In 1147, the Second Crusade began. France and Germany were allies, but failed to regain the city.. The Turks prevailed. So, in 1149, the crusaders returned to Europe in disgrace.

- In 1187, the Muslim leader, Saladin gained control of Jerusalem.

- The Third Crusade lasted from 1189 to 1192. It also failed. When Barbaossa drowned on the way to the Holy Land, his army turned back.

- The Fourth Crusade, in 1204, they attacked and looted Constantinople, another Christian city. 

- They stole many things, sacred to the Byzantine Christians.

- The Byzantine's eventually regaiend their city, but never regained their strength.

- In 1212, the short-lived and unfortunate Children's Crusade took place.

- Young people from across Europe decided to march to the Holy Land and regain it fro Christian Europe. The young crusaders lacked equipment, training, and supplies.

- The Crusades' goal was to take the Holy Land back from the Turks. All of the Crusades except for the first failed at doing so.

- During the Crusades, the weapon of choice was the crossbow.
- To raise money, some Lords had sold their land. Without their land, tehy had no power in the feudal system. 

- Changes in trade also took place. Italian cities became major trading centers, ships from Italian cities carried crusaders to the Holy Land.