Hi there, my name is John Green, this is Crash Course World History, and today we're going to talk about the Crusades. Oh, Stan, do we have to talk about the Crusades? I hate them. Here's the thing about the Crusades, which were a series of military expeditions from parts of Europe to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The real reason they feature so prominently in history is because we've endlessly romanticized the story of the Crusades. We've created this simple narrative with characters to root for and to root against, and it's been endlessly idealized by the likes of Sir Walter Scott and their knights with swords and lion hearts. No, Stan, lion hearts.