Crusades

For my first interview, I'm talking to Pope Urban II

Q: Why did you help the Byzantine emperor if you were rivals?
A: We are both Christian, and when our Holy Land of Jerusalem is attacked we have to fight together in order to win. The Muslim Turks were not going to take Jerusalem from us.

Q: Did you win?
A: Yes. In 1099 we recaptured Jerusalem from the Muslims.

Since the Crusades were off and on for about 200 years, I interviewed Saladin from the Muslims.

Q: Did you ever retake Jerusalem from the Christians?

A: Yes, in 1187 we took back Jerusalem for the second crusade.

Q: And did the Christians try amd attack again?
A: Of course! It is their Holy Land as well. But they did not take it back. I did, however, let them come to Jerusalem and live here. But the Christians started fighting amongst themselves, and created different religions within Christianity.

Something good did come out of these battles and fighting. The European economies expanded because crusaders would come back from the Middle East with goods to trade. It also allowed monarchs to collect taxes to fund the Crusades.