The intended purpose of the Crusades was to re-conquer Christian lands that had been lost to Muslim expansion. The unintended results of the Crusades were that Europe rediscovered its roots in the learning of the great classical thinkers from Greece and Rome. As Europeans turned their backs on the classical works during the Dark Ages, Muslim scholars were continuing to learn from them. Muslim scholars expanded on classical science and mathematics and created many great works of their own. Al-Khwarizmi, Ptolemy, and al-Biruni were just three of the great Islamic scholars to contribute to math and science. The contact that Europeans had with the Muslim world during the Crusades inspired a renewed interest in the classical works and also interest in the advances of the East in the area of science and technology.
The Crusades opened new trade networks with the East. Through the process of cultural diffusion, new technologies were brought back to Western Europe. This inspired the Renaissance and a rebirth in learning and the potential of humans to achieve greatness again. The Age of Exploration and the travels to the new world would not have been possible without the knowledge Western countries learned from the East.
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