Crusades were military expeditions against various enemies of the church; the term refers particularly to the medieval campaigns aimed at liberating the Holy Land from the Muslims. The word crusade (Span., cruzada; Fr., croisade) derives from the Latin crux (cross); the Latin term cruciata does not occur before the thirteenth century. It recalls the ceremony of "taking the cross" (Mt. 10:38), the public act of committing oneself to participate in a crusade. Crusaders wore a red cloth cross sewn to their cloaks as a sign of their status. In modern times the word crusade is used metaphorically to.....
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