The Crusades are cited - by the Question Box moderator to I. H. Samsonite - as an example of the "ridiculous" concept of Catholic pacifism (Saint Fidgeta and Other Parodies, 49).
Inspiration[]
The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The most commonly known are the campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Islamic rule. These were fought for a variety of reasons including suppressing paganism and heresy, the resolution of conflict among rival Roman Catholic groups, or for political and territorial advantage. In 1095 Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in a sermon at the Council of Clermont[1].