| d21lewis said: Only the Holy Wars. |
If by Holy Wars you mean Jihad and crusades then no. Religion was used as an excuse as well then.
A good example of that is how the Crusaders took over Byzanthium instead of fighting the Muslims(which they couldn't beat anyway).
The Holy wars were caused by a massive influence of the Catholic Church, that's true, but it was an excuse to go to war never the less. The "Drang nach Osten" as it's often described is the real reason why the Crusades took place.
Europe at that time was a marginal and peripheral area that wanted to break free of that position. Europe had pretty much nothing to offer, nor did they control any important trade routs at that time. Those were in the hands of the Islam and China. The Crusades was an attempt to control some of the wealth the east had and try and take over the trade routs from the east. The crusades clearly failed and that's why they decided to try and establish contact with India/China through a different sea route. That eventually led to the Trans-Atlantic trade route and new trade routes between Portugal and Asian countries.
