Step 1 : Introduction to the question "7. What was the main declared aim of the First Crusade?"
...1. to massacre infidels 2. to plunder 3. to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims 4. in order to establish a strictly Biblical, 'Godly Republic' in the Holy Land The declared aim of the First Crusade was to recapture the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks, who were Muslims. Another aim was to reduce the threat to Byzantium. Emperor Alexius I (the Byzantine emperor at the time) appealed to Pope Urban II for aid. Another aim was to provide employment for the growing number of robber barons in Western Europe, who were becoming a conspicuous pest. There is also the view that the stated aim of the crusade was a cover for a war of personal gain by the nobles of Western Europe.
