ok then Turks. The point is the pope didnt wake up one day and say. I feel like killing some innocent muslims and have not done anything. The Turks were taking Christian land and needed to be stoped.
that was probably fairly close to what the guy was thinking. the muslim turks (and arabs, earlier) had been fighting the byzantines for quite a while now; suddenly, the pope decides to get "holy" and wage a just war for christianity?
more like the invasion gave him the perfect opening to consolidate his power, and give him the opportunity to give the knights in europe something to do other than civil war and tournaments.
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