What was the main purpose of the Crusades?

The primary aim of the Crusades was to recover the Holy Land from Muslim rule, particularly focusing on the city of Jerusalem and surrounding areas that held significant religious importance for Christians. The Crusades were initiated in response to the perceived threat the Islamic conquests posed to Christendom and to aid in the defense of fellow Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean. The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II in 1095, and it successfully captured Jerusalem in 1099.

While the spread of Christianity was an overarching motivation for many participants, the expeditions were not primarily about establishing churches in new lands but rather about reclaiming territories deemed sacred. The role of trade routes emerged later as a consequence of increased interaction between Europe and the East, but establishing trade was not the decisive factor for the initial military campaigns. Similarly, the idea of uniting all Christian sects under one church did not become a focal point in the Crusades, and in fact, the Crusades often highlighted the existing divisions within Christianity itself, particularly between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Christianity. Thus, the primary goal remained the recovery of the Holy Land.