The Crusades
A simplified account of the Crusades: why Europeans travelled to the Holy Land, what they found there, the cultural exchange between Christian Europe and the Islamic world
What a learner can do afterwards
- Explain in simple terms why European armies travelled to the Holy Land
- Describe at least one thing Europeans learned from the Islamic world during the Crusades
- Acknowledge that the Crusades involved violence and suffering on both sides
The lesson
About 900 years ago, the Pope called on knights across Europe to travel far from home. Their goal was Jerusalem, a city that Christians saw as holy. At the time, Muslim rulers controlled the city, so armies set out to try to take it. These long journeys and wars are called the Crusades.
When the crusaders reached the Holy Land, they found a world very different from home. Muslim cities had grand libraries, hospitals, and universities. Scholars there studied the stars, wrote about medicine, and used clever number systems that made maths easier.
A knight named Hugh crossed the sea to fight in the Crusades. In Jerusalem, he tasted foods he had never tried before, like oranges and sugar. He also met doctors who treated wounds with medicine far better than anything back home. When Hugh returned to Europe, he brought some of these new ideas with him.
The Crusades were not only about learning new things. They were also wars, and wars bring violence. Soldiers on both sides were killed or hurt, and families who were not even fighting suffered too. It is important to remember both parts of this story.
The Crusades were wars for the Holy Land that caused great suffering, but they also brought new ideas from the Islamic world back to Europe.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.