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The Crusades were a series of wars by Western European Christians to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Crusades first started in 1096 and ended in the late 13th century. The term Crusade was originally used to describe the European efforts to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims. Europeans later used crusade to designate any military effort against non-Christians. The origins of the Crusades probably began with the death of Charlemagne, king of the Franks, …

…also suffered some serious casualties during the journey, and only part of the original force reached Jerusalem in 1148. Along with King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and his nobles, the Crusaders decided to attack Damascus in July. The expedition failed to take the city, and shortly after the collapse of this attack, the French king and the remains of his army returned home. The Second Crusade resulted in many Western casualties and no gains of value.