Problem with Christianity

[AntiochusIII]

The Orthodox and Catholics were bitter rivals? I find that interesting, could you provide any links?

And yes, it was defensive: the Muslims attacked (and not just around Israel either, but also in the west on the Iberian pennisula) and the Christians had to defend themselves and their faith.

Crazed Rabbit

I guess I shouldn't go to biased websites for the link, so...wikipedia then.

(will my link work?)...

There is also a record about how the last Constantine (X or something...) tried to plead for the help of the West by "reuniting" the two churches, and that results in the alienation between him and his few subjects. Several websites (not biased, historical ones) recorded this.

However, I never heard of any wars between the two sides of the church, as it is clear that the Byzantines were the leaders of the Orthodox and that by the time the two churches broke apart, they were in decline, fighting for their lives against the Seljuks, and later, the Ottomans.

Of course, unless you count the 4th crusade.

Edit: Oh, and the invasion of Iberia (and Southern France) was like...4 or 5 centuries before the First Crusade. In fact, by the time of the First Crusade, Christian Spain already started the Reconquista, by El Cid ;p , and, as far as I know, the pope never really called for an "international" crusade (continental would be better?) in Spain.