The First Crusade arose from Pope Urban II’s aspiration to harness worldly power for the Church. In the mid-1090s, Emperor Alexios I of Byzantium sent a letter to the Pope requesting military aid, hoping to get a few thousand mercenaries to help fend off the Turks who had been encroaching ever closer to his capital. This …show more content…
After conquering Jerusalem, the crusaders made the city into a kingdom with Godfrey as the king. this, along with the knights templar, made completing a pilgrimage to the holy land a much safer endeavor. Also, this gave Christendom a base of operations from which they could fight the Muslims. Unfortunately, this conquest like most was not complete which led to Christendom spending the next few hundred years fighting to retain the city. The greatest effect of the first crusade was how much it strengthened the catholic church specifically the office of the pope. It caused the formation of catholic religious orders, such as the Knights Templar or the Knights Hospitaller, which were powerful military organizations that were ultimately loyal to the