The Crusades
There were a total of eight crusades between 1096 and 1270. All of them had the primary goal of gaining control of Jerusalem and stopping the abuse of Christians by the Seljuk Turks. Despite the brutality (or perhaps because of it) the First Crusade was a mild success for Christianity, but countless side quests and hidden motives rendered the rest of the crusades into utter failures. Through these, the Church recruited some of the most able kings of Europe—including Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, Phillip Augustus of France, and Richard I of the Lion Heart of England, among others. One by one, they all failed and returned to their kingdoms in shame and disgrace. The Second Crusade and Third Crusade faced the mighty Kingdom of Saladin, proving far superior to its Christian counterparts. The Fourth Crusade had the mild (yet unexpected result) success of taking Constantinople. The rest of the Crusades were a fantastic failure except for the peace deals struck by Frederick II. The excommunicate emperor had succeeded where for a century Christendom had failed.
Source: Durant, Will, 1885-1981, The Age of Faith: A History of Medieval Civilization, Christian, Islamic, and Judaic, From Constantine to Dante, A.D. 325-1300. Simon and Schuster, 1950.
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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!