1169- Saladin lead Sunni Muslims of Syria in an invasion of Egypt and ended the Fatimid caliphate. Saladin's forces also invaded Jerusalem, Palestine and Tripoli. The fall of Jerusalem led to a 'third crusade.'

After Pope Urban II called the people to arms against Infidels, Peter the Hermit, a man who had holy visions, incited a large mob to take up a crusade in eastern Europe. The mob was made up largely of the poor and thus was referred to as a "Peasant's Crusade …

Central Asia- The Seljuk turks were a people who converted to Islam. The Seljuk Turks were persecuted by Pope Urban II in a crusade. In the eleventh century the Seljuk turks took over the eastern provinces of the Abbasid empire. In 1055 a Turkish leader captured Baghdad.

1088- 1099 - At the Council of Clermont, Urban II urged Christians to take up weapons against infidels and to create a holy war against the Seljuk Turks.

The Albignesians were labeled heretics by Pope Innocent III in 1209. This began a bloody persecution of the people including the destruction of entire cities. Many Albignesian leaders were stripped of their land, and their people were sacrificed by Christian crusaders.

1215- The Spanish priest, Dominic de Guzm'an, 1170- 1221, established the order of the Dominicans. Dominic believed that monks should be educated to defend against the many heresies of the middle ages.