Richard The Lion Heart [antikvár]

RICHARD THE LION HEARTThe Crusades is the name given to certain expeditions long ago, consisting of soldiers from all the countries of Europe, who were fighting to capture Jerusalem from the Turks. These Crusades continued at intervals over two hundred years, from 1096 to 1291.They were called Crusades from the Latin word crux, meaning a cross, because all the soldiers, of whatever country, wore a cross on their surcoats. They did this to show that they were fighting for Christianity.The reason why they wished to capture Jerusalem was because it was in this Holy City that the body of Jesus Christ was laid in the tomb. For hundreds of years Christian pilgrims from all countries had made long journeys, often on foot, to pray at the shrine. No-one had interfered with them until the Mohammedan Turks captured Jerusalem, about the same time that William of Normandy conquered England.The Mohammedan Turks hated the Christians. They persecuted and killed the Christian pilgrims, and even desecrated the shrine itself. So the Head of the Christian Church, Pope Urban II, sent a priest from Amiens, called Peter the Hermit, to preach all over France, urging men to join in the Holy War for Jerusalem.