Crusades

The Crusades were religious wars initiated by Pope Urban II in 1095. The Crusaders were composed of Christians and they massacred and forced Jews to convert to Christianity in multiple towns and destroyed the houses and synagogues of the Jews during the Crusades. They persecuted, forcefully converted, forcefully baptized and killed Jews in Speyer, Worms, Cologne, Regensburg, Metz, Prague, Trier, Neuss, Wevelinghofen, Eller, Xanten, Mehr, Kerpen, Geldern, Ellen and hundreds of Jews died in Mainz during the Rhineland massacres of 1096. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem during the First Crusade and massacred many of the city's Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. In 1236, the Crusaders attacked Anjou and Poitou, and Jews that resisted getting baptized were killed.