Armour of God
Well-Known Member
That's historically inaccurate. The Crusades did NOT stop Muslim expansion into Europe.
That was done by the rulers of Hungary and Romania on the Eastern border, and by the Franks in Gaul (Spain).
Your right, ultimately the Crusades didn't actually stop the Muslim invasion into Europe. They defended it and slowed it down.
But stopping the Muslim expansion into Europe was definitely part of the Crusade objective.
In the east...

In the west...

It was an objective of Muslim states to invade Europe from before the crusade wars. The Iberian peninsula was almost fully taken by mid 8th century
It was part of the Crusade objective to halt the Muslim invasion into Europe on the eastern and western fronts.
These wars did continue on after the Crusades. The Christian kingdoms of Iberia finished reclaiming the peninsula by the end of the 15th century. And the Byzantine empire fell to the Ottomans in the mid 15th century and it was the Christian kingdoms in the east which ultimately stopped further expansion into Europe.
Ultimately without the Crusade intervention, most of Europe would of been taken by Islam

