Ironically, the religion that is generally associated with peace, has dominated the world in terms of wars. Each religion is constantly fighting with all the others for control of certain lands, to gain more willing followers and/or to dominate what the world's youth are exposed to. Furthermore, 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, most willing people joined existing armies because their religious leaders, whom they blindly trusted for wisdom and judgment, told them to do so, even if these leaders had only their own interests at heart. Regardless, the people of the Holy Catholic Church have mobilized in an effort to protect the Holy Land of Jerusalem from Muslims. The Crusades were a time of 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 stated, the Crusades were a very dark, but religious time. The first of the total nine crusades was launched in the year 1095. Thanks to the brilliant use of the word by Pope Urban II and Emperor Alexius of the military forces of the Byzantine Empire, the young and skilled volunteered to undertake what they believed it to be a march of divine justification. . Although the Pope and Emperor Alexius probably had other plans to expand their lands and resources, the reasons why the people joined were almost irrelevant. They clearly demonstrated their loyalty by massacring tens of thousands of Muslims and Jews during the occupation of Jerusalem. The campaign was an overall victory by means of stor...... middle of paper ......en and even children were massacred in the name of Three different deities. Therefore, it can be argued that the Crusades had mostly negative impacts on humanity. The trust initially placed in any religious governing body has been destroyed. History would disapprove of the Crusades. Works Cited Bouucquey, Thierry. “Crusades”. Encyclopedia of World Writers: From the Beginning to the 13th Century. Ed.: New York. Facts on File Inc., 2008. 3/16/14Dickson, Gary. “Crusades”. The First Crusade and the foundation of the Latin States. Ed.: Marshall W. Baldwin, Thomas F. Madden. Access date: 3/17/14. Crusades Reference Library. "The History of the Crusades." Ed.: Neil Schlager, RalphZerbonia, J. Sydney Jones, Michael T. O'Neil and Marcia Merryman Means. Volume 1, Detroit, 2005. P.81-114, copyright Gale Cengage Learning.