Crusader wank!

With a POD no later than the Declaration of the first Crusade, make the Crusader states cover as much land, and be as powerful as possible.
 
Well, just to create a plausible but nearly ASB scenario...

Europeans have encountered terrible pandemics coming from the East--but what if the Reverse were true?

When the first Crusaders emerge in the Holy Land, it appears that god is on their side. They've (Unintentionally) brought with them a extraordinarily dangerous variant of the Flu. With a "miracle from god" on their hands, the Crusaders find that half the population simply dies of a massive pandemic sweeps the Middle East. Those few who remain, fearing Divine Retribution, Panic. Some convert to Christianity, some flee into Southern Africa and South Asia.

And thus, the Crusader States are born. Over time, they will expand from Karachi in the East to the African Gold Coast. Islam, put to the sword when Crusaders march on Mecca and Medina, slowly fades from the world. To this day Islam is a defeated religion. The loss of Mecca is a shot through the heart of the region, and the Crusader States--indeed, the lands of the "Sacred Liberation" are Christian to this day.
 

wormyguy

Banned
The ASBs smile warmly on this crusade . . .

1098 - Bohemond of Taranto mysteriously dies. The crusaders stay loyal to Alexius I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor.

Due to the fact that they continue moving, no plague occurs, and 21,000 crusaders march on Jerusalem.

1099 - Jerusalem falls.

Pope Urban II dies. Alexius agrees to accept Catholicism in exchange for the Papacy. His wish is granted.

Alexius asks the Crusaders to liberate Anatolia.

1102 - After several seiges and quite a bit of marching, Anatolia is fully liberated. 12,000 crusaders remain.

1103 - Pope Alexius calls for a new crusade to reconquer every formerly Christian land. He threatens to place under interdict the lands of any lord who does not join.

1104 - The Second Crusade is formed. Along with 9,000 crusaders remaining from the first, 44,000 crusaders create the largest army of knights and heavy infantry the world has ever known.

1104 - Seiges of Baghdad and Damascus. Syria and Mesopotamia are liberated.

1105 - The Crusader army now numbering some 38,000 marches through Arabia. Their target? Mecca and Medina.

1106 - The arid Arabian desert kills many crusaders. However, both Medina and Mecca are burned. The crusaders urinate on the stone of the Ka'bah before grinding it to dust.

The loss of the three holiest cities of Islam and the destruction of its holiest items causes deep rifts to open in Muslim society. The Fatamid and Seljuk empires fall to civil war and anarchy.


1107 - The crusaders, now 28,000, liberate Cairo.

1108 - The crusaders, now 25,000, liberate the rest of North Africa.

1108 - The crusaders enter Spain, and, aided by Catholic revolts, easily defeat the Moors. Their ranks are replenished by new Spanish volunteers.

1109 - Pope Alexius declares that God has told him that he must lead Europe in a great crusade for Christianity to conquer the world. As such, all European leaders must swear fealty to him. They reluctantly agree.

1110 - The crusader army, once again swelled with new volunteers, and Orthodox auxiliaries from as far away as Muscovy and Ethiopia, prepares to march on Persia. It numbers 70,000.

1112 - Persia is overrun. Islam no longer controls any land whatsoever. Former believers convert to Christianity en masse. The crusader army gains 20,000 Persian auxiliaries.

1113 - The crusaders march into Central Asia. The nomads of the steppes, seeing the massive army, and always being up for a good fight, flock to join the "Great Khanate of the Cross." Between Crusaders and Turkmen auxiliaries, the army now numbers over 170,000.

1115 - The crusaders march into China. Luckily, China, although it has reached the zenith of its technology, is no longer at the zenith of its power. The warring Tang and Song dynasties, despite temporarily uniting and raising an army of over 600,000 to stop the crusaders, are destroyed, with the heavier knights of the crusaders and the light cavalry of the Turkmen obliterating every force sent to stop them. The "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace and the Celestial Cross" is established.

1116 - 200,000 Chinese auxiliaries are raised.

1117 - The crusaders, 330,000 of them, march on India. Where Alexander failed, they succeed. Most princelings do not even fight, and convert to Christianity provided they be allowed to keep their positions.

1118 - Alexius I dies. He is immediately declared a saint. His son John succeeds him as emperor and pope, creating a dynasty that would last until the present day.

1300s - The great Eurasian crusader state discovers the Americas with the fusion of European and Chinese naval technology.

With massive armies, the Americas are soon colonized. Meanwhile, the Ethiopians colonize sub-saharan Africa for Christianity.

1500s - The entire world is one Christian crusader state. :D
 
Actual cooperation with the neighbouring Christian states would be the best way for Outremer to survive in its largest form for the longest time. With several generations of cooperation under their belts the Crusader states, Byzantium and possibly Ethiopia and other Christian minorities would be able to meet the challenge posed by the Muslim unity that resulted in Saladin.
 
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