6. The CrusadesThe crusades were a series of religious wars in western Asia and Europe initiated, supported and sometimes directed by the Catholic Church between the 11th and the 17th century. The crusades differed from other religious conflicts in that participants considered them a penitential exercise that brought absolution. Historians contest the definition of the term with some restricting it to armed pilgrimages to Jerusalem, others including all Catholic military campaigns with a promise of spiritual benefits, all Catholic "holy wars" or those with characteristic religious fervor. The most well-known are those fought against the Muslims of the eastern Mediterranean for the Holy Land between 1096 and 1271. Crusades were also fought from the 12th century against the Iberian Moors, the Ottoman Empire and for a variety of other reasons. These included fighting pagans, the suppression of heresy and the resolution of conflict between Catholic groups. In 1095 Pope II proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I against the Seljuk Turks and an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A precedent was set by the enthusiastic western European response across all social strata. Historians debate the combination of motivations of the volunteers who took a public vow—the prospect of mass ascension into Heaven at Jerusalem, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, economic and political advantage are all considered. Four Crusader states were established in the Near East: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli. This was a presence that remained in some form until Acre, the last mainland outpost, fell in 1291, after which there were no further crusades to recover the Holy Land. The Reconquista, the struggle between the Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, was proclaimed a crusade in 1123 and ended with the fall of Emirate of Granada in 1492. The Northern Crusades that brought the pagan tribes of north-eastern Europe under Christian control were considered crusades from 1147. The papacy began the practice of proclaiming political crusades against disobedient Christian rulers with Pope Innocent III in 1199. From 1208 in Languedoc, crusading was used against heretics continuing in Savoy and Bohemia in the 15th century and against Protestants in the 16th century. Crusading was used in response to the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-14th century, only ending with the War of the Holy League in 1699. 11. Why did Crusaders fight against the Muslims of the eastern Mediterranean?