At some point in our lives we will all feel strongly about an issue.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars to rid the Holy Land, Jerusalem, of Muslims, if furthering Christianity.

When you think about it, fighting and killing your fellow man, to push your beliefs and faith on another person, is somewhat contrary to the proposition of loving your fellow man. Then there is the matter of Human Rights, the right to follow any religion of your choice, rather than persecute and discriminate another person, simply because they disagree with your point of view.

In the modern world of science, more people choose to believe in what they can see, rather than a mythical, hypothetical understanding of the world, based on teachings. Especially, as we have now travelled into outer space, and been to the bottom of the oceans.

It is also clear, that despite religions various, that man is capable of destroying the planet, and is doing so in many ways, despite all the teachings and faiths in the world, telling us to be at one with nature.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions — varying in size, strength and degree of success — occurred between 1096 and 1291. The costly, violent and often ruthless conflicts enhanced the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East.

In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. This marked the beginning of the Crusades.

Pope Urban’s plea was met with a tremendous response, both among the military elite as well as ordinary citizens. Those who joined the armed pilgrimage wore a cross as a symbol of the Church.

The Crusades set the stage for several religious knightly military orders, including the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights, and the Hospitallers. These groups defended the Holy Land and protected Christian pilgrims traveling to and from the region.

Throughout the remainder of the 13th century, a variety of Crusades aimed not so much to topple Muslim forces in the Holy Land but to combat any and all groups seen as enemies of the Christian faith.

HISTORICAL KNIGHTS

Robert Guiscard - 'The Crafty' (c. 1015-1085 CE) [Norman]
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar - 'El Cid' (1043-1099 CE)
Godfrey of Bouillon - The Swan Knight (circa 1060-1100)
Sir William Marshal - 'The Greatest Knight that Ever Lived' (c. 1146-1219 CE)
Richard I - 'The Lionhearted' (1157-1199 CE) King of England from 1189 to 1199 CE
Sir William Wallace - Braveheart (c. 1270-1305 CE)
Sir James Douglas - 'The Black Douglas' (c. 1286-1330 CE)
Bertrand du Guesclin - 'The Eagle of Brittany' (c. 1320-1380 CE)
Edward of Woodstock - 'The Black Prince' [of Wales] (1330-1376 CE) 
Sir Henry Percy - 'Hotspur' (1364-1403 CE)