Forgive me if this not the correct way of asking.
I've always understood the crusades to be wars of reclaiming Holy Lands in Syria and Palestine to Christian rule, as directed by Pope Urban.
Recently, an acquaintance asserted that the crusades were an answer to Islamic territorial expansion, and that Western countries in Europe felt threatened by this expansion. Is there any historical precedence to this perspective?
This is a relatively common question about the crusades, you might be interested in this answer from our FAQ on Medieval Warfare by /u/thejukeboxhero
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2v3gn0/were_the_crusades_a_defensive_move/coe9b3q/