"So what is the truth about the Crusades?  Scholars are still working some of that out.  But much can already be said with certainty.  For starters, the Crusades to the East were in every way defensive wars.  They were a direct response to Muslim aggression—an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim

conquests of Christian lands."

(Thomas F. Madden)

 

See also . . . http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/52.0.html