No one word can successfully describe the Crusades. However, it was one of the most significant events in the history of human times. It was over 200 years of blood, death and turmoil. Thousands upon thousands of people, both civilians and military, were mercilessly slaughtered . The Third Crusade was spurred mainly by the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187. Pope Gregory VIII then preached for yet another crusade. This crusade was led by Richard I the …showed first 75 words of 305 total…

…showed last 75 words of 305 total…ferry them to the Holy Land, they sacked Zara from the Hungarians. The pope excommunicated them right after. The deposed Byzatine Emperor, Isaac II contacted the crusaders and wanted them to help him depose his uncle Alexius III. With added Venetian pressure, the crusaders acccepted and sacked the city of Constantinople, setting up the Latin Empire of Constantinople. The Byzantines would eventually retake their capital, but would never fully recover from such a serious blow.