ABSTRACT
Europe had good reason to feel that it was being besieged by the forces of Islam, rather than the other way around, at the time that the First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II in 1095. As crusades began to be called for a growing variety of motives, including ones that had more to do with politics than religion, and against a growing variety of targets, including fellow Christians themselves. Most historians would probably agree that it was the First Crusade of 1096–99 that was the most important of all the crusades. At least in terms of establishing the standard protocols and mythological ethos of crusading, and that it was the most successful in terms of achieving its original goals, at least from the Western perspective. From a contemporary point of view, the miraculous conquest of a defensible city was the work of God, while afterwards many crusaders went on to Egypt and Palestine in fulfilment of their vows.
