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The real reason was the fact that the Byzantine Emperor Michael VII asked the Pope for help against the Muslim Saracens. The Pope saw this request as an excellent opportunity for regaining supremacy in the existing power struggle between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic church.

But since he needed a reason with a wider public appeal to get Roman Catholic Kings and nobles to support him, he used Horror stories about Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem being slaughtered in great numbers by the Saracens, and how it was an insult to God that heathen Saracens were the masters of the Holy City of Jerusalem. So 'liberating Jerusalem' became the motto for the Crusades.

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10y ago

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