Meaning & use
the Crusades
Last updated
Meaning
proper nounplural
The series of religious wars fought between about 1095 and the late 1200s, mainly by European Christians to capture or hold Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Grammar: Takes a plural verb: the Crusades were long and costly.
Patterns
- during the Crusades
- a knight in the Crusades
Many European knights left their estates to fight in the Crusades.
The Crusades changed trade between Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.
Historians still debate the causes of the Crusades.
Common combinations
- during the Crusades
- Castles in the region were built or captured during the Crusades.
- fight in the Crusades
- He swore an oath to fight in the Crusades.
- the First Crusade
- The First Crusade ended with the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.
- a leader of the Crusades
- Richard the Lionheart was a leader of the Crusades.
- the legacy of the Crusades
- The legacy of the Crusades is still discussed in the Middle East today.
Synonyms and how they differ
- holy wars
- Holy wars is a general term for any war fought for religion, while the Crusades names one specific medieval series.
- campaign
- A campaign is any organized military effort, but it does not carry the religious meaning of a crusade.
Word family
Commonly confused: the Crusades or jihad?
the Crusades vs jihad
Jihad is an Arabic term with its own meanings in Islam; it is not the Muslim equivalent of the Crusades as a historical event.
Practice
The ___ were a series of medieval wars aimed at controlling Jerusalem.
Choose one answer.
The Crusades were the medieval religious wars over the Holy Land. The other options are cultural or religious movements, not wars over Jerusalem.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the Crusades”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.