In the Middle Ages, the all-consuming fight was against the Saracens, whether they be Turks in the Holy Land or Moors in Spain. There were many fronts for Christian knights to battle for glory and God. However, the main point of contention and the goal for many kings, nobles and knights who wished to fulfill a Crusading vow was the Holy Land. There were several Crusades, either to capture or recapture Jerusalem, or at least preserve a toehold for Christianity in kingdoms and principalities known as the Crusader states, we'll get around to them eventually, since Plantagenet relatives had claims to these territories. For now, though, we'll run through the main Crusades herein.
The First Crusade (1095-1099), a group of Western nobles, including the father of King Stephen of England versus the Seljuk Turks and the Fatimid and Abbasid Caliphates. It resulted in the capture of Jerusalem by Christian forces and the creation of the Crusader States.
The Second Crusade (1147-1149): This was a multi-theatre effort, ranging from Spain and the Baltic to the Levant. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her then-husband Louis VII both took vows to Crusade and she followed him to the Holy Land, bringing a considerable contingent from her Duchy of Aquitaine. Also present was King Stephen of England, taking time out from the running civil war back home with Empress Matilda. Both sides scored significant victories, the Muslims in Anatolia, the Crusaders in the Iberian and Baltic theatres. However, they could not wrest Edessa from Turkish control. As Crusader forces penetrated into Egypt, a peace involving access to the Holy Sites was agreed between Byzantium and the Seljuk Turks.
The Third Crusade (1189-1192: This is the most well-known Crusade of the Plantagenet dynasty, featuring Richard I the Lionheart and his mortal enemies Phillip II August of France and Leopold of Austria, among others, versus Saladin the Magnificent. The Crusaders scored some significant military victories, notably the Siege of Acre, 1189-1191, which enabled them to agree a treaty regarding more access to the Holy Sites, but Richard didn't press a conquest of Jerusalem, which remained under Turkish control.
The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204): no Plantagenets went on this bloodbath, which turned Latin/Roman Christianity against Greek/Orthodox Christianity in the form of the siege and sack of Constantinople and the creation of new Crusader States on territory seized from the Byzantine Empire.
There was a Fifth (1213-1221), Six (1228-1229), Seventh (1248-1254), Eighth (1270), and Ninth (1271-1272), but the only one featuring a Plantagenet was the Ninth, where Prince Edward, son of Henry III and future Hammer of the Scots, participated. The Crusaders lifted the siege of Tripoli in Lebanon (not Libya) and agreed another truce for access to the Holy Sites, but nothing else of note.
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