Before you get banned, :-) thanks for the post. Husband and I were discussing the Crusades tonight at dinner. Amazed at how neither of us knew much about the history during this time. Going to start on some heavy reading.
The real legacy of the crusades are the stories that appeared shortly thereafter of "A quest for the Holy Grail".
If the catholic church had granted salvation - and you could just go down to the local church receive communion and be saved - why was it necessary for these knights to go out to seek some missing religious icon?
enjoy reading - and don't forget to learn of Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.