The Crusades were declared because the Turks had attacked the Arab Empire, occupying also Palestine, the land where Christ was born. Until that moment Christians were able to get to Palestine for pilgrimage or trade without any Arab opposition. The Turks, on the contrary, contrasted their presence. For this reason some European Christian countries, supported by Pope Urban II, organized military expeditions which were called Crusades. While the 1st and the 2nd Crusade reached Jerusalem by land, because there was not a sufficiently numerous  and equipped navy, the other Crusades followed maritime routes. The Crusades are important not only for their enthusiasm (not always sincere) they caused, for the military enterprises (not always heroic) and for the conquests which were short-lived, but they are important because Western Europe, thorough the Crusades, recovered the routes of the great maritime trading towards the East. The maritime republics took advantage of this and in exchange for their help in the military and naval organization, obtained commercial bases in the East. The Christian sovereigns, who declared the war, did not know anything about sailing, so they asked the Maritime Republics to supply the ships necessary to carry the armies to the Holy Land. This became a huge charter market. At the beginning the Maritime Republics supplied only the vessels for transportation. But soon after, from the end of XI century they realized that their direct partecipation to the Crusades could pay well in terms of prestige, power and and useful alliances. In the following two centuries there were seven Crusades. The Holy Land was not reconquered but there were positive consequences from the commercial and cultural point of view, because they allowed contacts and reciprocal knowledge of different peoples, new links between Europe and the East, and Arab scientific discoveries were known and applied.

This became a huge charter market. At the beginning the Maritime Republics supplied only the vessels for transportation. But soon after, from the end of XI century they realized that their direct partecipation to the Crusades could pay well in terms of prestige, power and and useful alliances. In the following two centuries there were seven Crusades. The Holy Land was not reconquered but there were positive consequences from the commercial and cultural point of view, because they allowed contacts and reciprocal knowledge of different peoples, new links between Europe and the East, and Arab scientific discoveries were known and applied. This became a huge charter market. At the beginning the Maritime Republics supplied only the vessels for transportation. But soon after, from the end of XI century they realized that their direct partecipation to the Crusades could pay well in terms of prestige, power and and useful alliances. In the following two centuries there were seven Crusades. The Holy Land was not reconquered but there were positive consequences from the commercial and cultural point of view, because they allowed contacts and reciprocal knowledge of different peoples, new links between Europe and the East, and Arab scientific discoveries were known and applied.            © S.Lannino 2001