Explanation:
Ultimately the Crusades failed to create the Holy Land that was part of Christendom, but in the process they changed the western world forever.
Rather than defeating the Muslims, the Crusades provoked a Muslim backlash. In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople and by 1529 had conquered south-eastern Europe, including Hungary, and were besieging Vienna.
The Crusaders learned more about warfare – better castle design and gunpowder.
Muslim scholars taught European scholars many things about science and medicine. The number system they used (1, 2, 3, 4), based on place value, was more straightforward than Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV) and made calculations easier to do. The use of '0' in Arabic enabled the early scentists of the Renaissance to develop the ideas of the Arabic and Ancient Greek astronomers. We still use this numeric system today.
Western Europeans learned that the Muslim world stretched to India and traded with China.
Trade increase, whilst Europeans also brought back knowledge about plants, irrigation and the breeding of animals.
Western Europeans brought back many goods, such as lemons, apricots, sugar, silk and cotton and spices used in cooking.
Not all the Crusaders went home after fighting the Muslims. Many of them who went to the Holy Land liked it so much that they stayed and adopted a Middle Eastern way of life.
The legacy of the Crusades on England
The Crusades led to the emergence of military and religious orders which were founded during the First and the Second Crusades. Some of them have become well known as the subjects of video games such as 'Assassin’s Creed'. The most famous one is the Knights Templar. These knights had the job of protecting the wealth of the pilgrims as they travelled. They became rich themselves and helped lay down the principles of modern international banking.
The Knights of St John were founded in 1023 to help ill or injured pilgrims. This aspect of its work remains in the St John Ambulance, which is connected to the Order of St John.
The Crusades were expensive, and led to higher taxes at home. For example, when Richard I was taken hostage by another Christian ruler in 1192, his father Henry II raised a 'Saladin Tithe' (a tax) to pay the ransom to have him released in 1194.
Many men left home for years neglecting their lands and people, leading to legends involving Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood.
Richard I (The Lionheart).
