In 1097, The Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) Emperor Alexis I appealed to the Christian powers of western Europe for help against the growing military threat of the Muslim Seljuk Turks. What is called the First Crusade retook Nicea, which had been captured by the Turks. The Crusader armies, under Godfroi de Bouillon from Belgium, continued on to Palestine, the "Holy Land", and succeeded in retaking Jerusalem from the Muslims.

The new Christian kingdom of Jerusalem did not last. Orders of fighting monks were formed around 1100 to help protect Jerusalem, the Knights of the Hospital (also called the Knights of St. John--they still remain today as the St. John's Ambulance organization), and perhaps the most famous of all, the Knights of the Temple, called the Templars. The fighting monks were probably the best soldiers of their day, but they were few in number.

Although by nationality a Kurd, Saladin (the English form of his name) became sultan of the new Ayyubid kingdom of Egypt. He was a skillful enough general and politician that he became leader of most of the Muslim people in the Middle East, whether Arab, Turk, Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian or Kurd. Saladin defeated the main crusader army led by the Templars at the Battle of Hattin on July 4, 1187. The Third Crusade was begun to avenge the defeat. The crusader army under the English king, Richard "the Lionheart", fought many battles with Saladin, but could not break his power. Saladin's full name in Arabic is Salah al Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (which means Salah al Din Joseph son of Jacob -- Yusuf=Joseph, Ayyub=Jacob, and ibn=son of). But his followers simply called him Al Nasir, "the victorious".

The Children's Crusade takes place in 1212. In a mass protest movement (sort of like 13th century hippies), thousands of children from Western Europe gather to march on the Holy Land to reclaim Jerusalem. However, when they reached the mediterranean port of Marseilles, most are taken by unscrupulous merchants and sold into slavery. A number of others die of disease or hunger and few ever see their homes again.

The Phonecians were some of the first bankers in the ancient world. While trade never disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, old trading patterns did change and ancient banking practices fell into disuse. Banking as we know it today re-emerged in Europe at about the time of the Crusades. In Italian city states, such as Rome, Venice and Genoa, and in the fairs of medieval France, there was a need to transfer sums of money for trading purposes. This led to the development of such banking services as bills of exchange, a kind of early form of credit. It is possible such bills had been used by the Arabs in the 8th century and by Jewish merchants in the 10th, but the earliest surviving contract of this type is one from two merchant brothers from Genoa from 1156 AD.

The Black Death ravages Europe between 1347 and 1351. The Black Death was the bubonic plague, spread by the bite of rat fleas. It was carried by Italian soldiers from the Black Sea port of Kaffa where they had been fighting back to their homes. From Italy it spread to almost all of the continent. The worst single year of the plague was 1348. Some 75 million people, a third of the population of Europe, died. The rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" and the folk story "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" both are based on the Black Death.

The great Italian writer and poet, Dante Alighieri (born 1265, died 1321) writes his best known work, the Divine Comedy.