The Video is what I mainly recommend but the wiki cites below give a summary of what happened during each Crusade.

CRASH COURSE VIDEO ON CRUSADES

1st Crusade

Interesting enough it started out with….

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When the French crusaders crossed into Germany in spring 1096, units of crusaders massacred hundreds or thousands of Jews in the cities of Speyer, Worms, Mainz and Cologne, despite the efforts by Catholic bishops to protect the Jews. Major leaders included Emicho and Peter the Hermit.[125] Chazan says "the range of anti-Jewish activity was broad, extending from limited, spontaneous violence to full-scale military attacks on the Jewish communities of Mainz and Cologne”.

The crusader armies initially fought the Turks at the lengthy Siege of Antioch that began in October 1097 and lasted until June 1098. Once inside the city the crusaders massacred the Muslim inhabitants and pillaged the city

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Most of the surviving crusader army marched south, moving from town to town along the coast, finally reaching the walls of Jerusalem on 7 June 1099 with only a fraction of their original forces.[130]
Jews and Muslims fought together to defend Jerusalem against the invading Franks. On 15 July 1099 the crusaders entered the city. They proceeded to massacre the remaining Jewish and Muslim civilians and pillaged or destroyed mosques and the city itself.[132] As a result of the First Crusade, four main crusader states were created: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

2nd Crusade

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The new crusade was called for by various preachers, most notably by Bernard of Clairvaux.[141] French and South German armies, under the Kings Louis VII and Conrad III respectively, marched to Jerusalem in 1147 but failed to win any major victories, launching a failed pre-emptive siege of Damascus.

3rd Crusade

Preface:

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The Muslims had long fought among themselves, but they were finally united by Saladin, who created a single powerful state.[150] Following his victory at the Battle of Hattin he easily overwhelmed the disunited crusaders in 1187 and retook Jerusalem on 29 September 1187

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The forces had some small victories along the way but once they reached Jerusalem they had supply problems and thus basically gave up in went home after negotiating a treaty with Saladin.
The terms allowed trade for merchants and unarmed Christian pilgrims to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, while it remained under Muslim control.[153]

Northern crusades (1193–1290)

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Pope Celestine III called for a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe in 1193. Bishop Berthold of Hanover arrived with a large contingent of crusaders in 1198, but he was killed in battle and his forces were defeated. To avenge Berthold, Pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians, who were mostly still pagan.[154] Albrecht von Buxthoeven, consecrated as bishop in 1199, arrived the following year with a large force and established Riga as the seat of his bishopric in 1201. In 1202 he formed the Livonian Brothers of the Sword to aid in the conversion of the pagans to Christianity and, more importantly, to protect German trade and secure German control over commerce.[155] The Livonians were conquered and (forcefully and violently) converted between 1202 and 1209.

4th Crusade

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The Fourth Crusade never reached the Holy Land. Instead, it became a vehicle for the political ambitions…
The crusaders contracted with the Venetians for a fleet and provisions to transport them to the Holy Land, but they lacked the funds to pay when too few knights arrived in Venice. They agreed to divert the crusade to Constantinople and share what could be looted as payment. As collateral the crusaders seized the Christian city of Zara on 24 November 1202.

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Then they had to repeat the siege in April 1204. This time the city was sacked, churches pillaged, and large numbers of the citizens butchered. The crusaders took their rewards, dividing the Empire into Latin fiefs and Venetian colonies.

5th Crusade

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little was accomplished

6th Crusade

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There were no battles as Frederick made a peace treaty with Al-Kamil, the ruler of Egypt. This treaty allowed Christians to rule over most of Jerusalem and a strip of territory from Acre to Jerusalem, while the Muslims were given control of their sacred areas in Jerusalem. In return, Frederick pledged to protect Al-Kamil against all his enemies, even if they were Christian.

7th Crusade

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Preface: In the summer of 1244 a Khwarezmian force summoned by the son of al-Kamil, al-Salih Ayyub, stormed and took Jerusalem. The Franks allied with Ayyub's uncle Ismail and theemir of Homs and their combined forces were drawn into battle at La Forbie in Gaza. The crusader army and its allies were completely defeated within forty-eight hours by the Khwarezmian tribesmen.

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Louis' forces set sail from France in May 1249 and landed near Damietta in Egypt … They were defeated near there, however, and King Louis was captured while retreating towards Damietta.[185] Louis was ransomed for 800,000 bezants and a ten-year truce was agreed.

8th Crusade

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Ignoring his advisers, in 1270 Louis IX again attacked the Arabs in Tunis in North Africa. He picked the hottest season of the year for campaigning and his army was devastated by disease. The king himself died, ending the last major attempt to take the Holy Land

-Wiki.

The Questions: A fight for the Holy Land? What did The Crusades mostly seem to be preoccupied with doing? If it wasnt really a fight for the Holy Land then why was it propagandized as such? Why do many today still try to teach it as such? #religionofpeace.

This post was edited on 1/12/15 at 2:59 pm