Islam and the West: Conquest and Crusades

With the Islamic conquest during the 7th and 8th century, many places that were historically major centers of the Christian church were now ruled by those who had a very different religion. Jerusalem, Antioch, Damascus, Edessa.

The ensuing conflicts established an enduring animosity between the Islamic states and western civilization, and from the Muslim perspective Christianity.

In the 11th century the sitting Pope calls for a mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This starts several centuries of European attempts to regain the city and several coastal areas.