Learn about the progression of feudalism in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Not all crusades were fought far from home. A crusade is technically any Holy War blessed by the pope which has the aim of converting people of a different religious faith to Christianity (or their extermination) and which promised the remission sin and a guaranteed place in heaven for the people who fought. The Albigensian Crusade was against the people of Languedoc. The crusade began in 1208 and was blessed by pope Innocent III. The Albigensian Crusades were a series of formal crusades, interspersed with continual warfare which lasted about forty years. As the pope had called the war, the participants could wear a cross on their tunics, like the crusaders in Palestine.

The Knights Templars were one of the earliest of the military orders and the one on which all others are based. As soon as the First Crusade (1095-1099) was over, the Crusaders, considering their vow fulfilled, left Jerusalem and returned home. This left Jerusalem defenceless against its Mohammedans neighbours.

The Children’s Crusade is one of the strangest events in the 13th Century. The Fourth Crusade, from 1202 to 1204, had been a total disaster and the Christians had made no gains. Many of the crusaders hadn’t even got as far as the Holy Land never mind fighting for Jerusalem and some had just used the crusade as an opportunity to steal valuable goods from abroad.

In a meadow outside the cathedral at Clermont Ferrand, Pope Urban II preached his crusade sermon and started a world revolution that was to affect western society for 500 years. The crusades were part of the struggle between Muslims and Christians to control the Holy Land which centred on Jerusalem, the holiest city in the world, revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews. Several events and the political and religious climate at the time were the catalyst that caused the First Crusade.

Women during the crusades suffered as much hardship and danger as their menfolk even when they were left at home. The Crusades were holy wars and women were as eager to be forgiven their sins and get straight into heaven taking part in freeing Jerusalem from the Infidels as were the men. Both women and men were unprepared for the danger and difficulties they would face in the Holy Land and after the failure of the First Crusade, Pope Urban II said that women, the elderly and the very young should not fight. In spite of this prohibition, women still joined the soldiers in the East.

Flying dragons are creatures of fantasy, or at least that is what most people today think, but one must ask, could they have possibly existed? It is easy to say “NO” without backing the answer up to any degree. Let us talk about facts.

A short rant on how life has changed since the Middle Ages.

Japanese and European medieval societies developed along similar feudal lines and in both, a warrior elite emerged as the dominant force. In both parts of the world, honour played an important part in their cultures and knights and samurai were expected to follow their perspective warrior codes, the ‘Chivalric Code’ in Europe and ‘Bushido’ (way of the warrior) in Japan.

The practice of torture has existed since the early days of humankind, and still occurs today. Torture in the West reached its height in the Middle Ages, between 400 and 1600 AD. The Spanish Inquisition is notorious for its use of torture implements.