The Crusades had a major impact on the history of Europe. The costs and benefits of the Crusades
             were many and many things changed because of the Crusades. The balance of power in Europe changed dramatically during the time of the Crusades. In this paper I shall tell you about these changes produced by the costs and benefits of the Crusades.
             One effect the Crusades had was the change in the balance of power between nobles and monarchs. The nobles united during the time of the Crusades to fight against a common enemy but during that time the monarchs slowly undermined the power of the nobles. The reason was because the Crusades were a series of wars monarchs had the ever-present excuse to tax the nobles heavily and create an army out of the nobles' wealth. Another reason is because many nobles died during the Crusades so many lines of nobles ended and the monarchs usually seized a deceased noble's land. As you can see the Crusades cost the nobles dearly and the monarchs greatly benefited from them.
             The Crusades also had a major economical impact. The peasants and some businessmen suffered greatly due to the crusades while certain areas and people got rich. The peasants suffered because they were taxed heavily to support the armies. Many businesses that depended on loaning went bankrupt because the pope cancelled debts for people who participated in the Crusades. The people and places that got rich were Italy and shipping companies. The shipping companies made fortunes moving troops and supplies while Italy got truckloads of money because it was perfectly situated between Europe and the Middle East and intercepted all the traffic.
             The Crusades had a major impact on European technology. Europe learned many things from the Islamic people. The Europeans learned about gunpowder, the crossbow, pigeons as messengers, siege tactics, and catapults. The Europeans were strengthened by the Crusades even though
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