uh...ok, I sit corrected.

>uh...yes
>The origins of the Crusades were the Christian response to the Islamic invasion of Gaul (France) earlier in the Middle Ages, as well as the deterioration of the Byzantine Empire caused by a new wave of Turkish Muslim attacks. In 1063, Pope Alexander II had given his blessing to Iberian Christians in their wars against the Muslims, granting both a papal standard (the vexillum sancti Petri) and an indulgence to those who were killed in battle. Pleas also came from the Byzantine Emperors in the east, now threatened by the Seljuks. In 1074, Emperor Michael VII sent a request for aid to Pope Gregory VII and in 1095, from Emperor Alexios I Komnenos asked Pope Urban II for help; the latter eventually blessed Christian armies who fought to reclaim lands lost to Muslim invaders in previous centuries.
>
>>uh...no. The Crusades began to 'take the Holy City back from the Moor infidels'. Later on the Crusader call was expanded to include the Spanish pennisula.