Military history of the Crusader states
The Seljuk–Crusader War began when the First Crusade wrested territory from the Seljuk Turks during the Siege of Nicaea in 1097 and lasted until 1128 when Zengi became atabeg of Aleppo. At the latter date, the chief threat to the Crusaders from the east and north became the Zengids. The conflict was generally fought between European Crusaders and the Seljuk Turks and their vassals. The Muslim Syrian emirates occasionally allied themselves with the Christians against rival states.
The Great Crusades
The Great Crusades began when Brian Krumm and Brian Hunt, both of whom were then students at the University of Illinois in Champaign, started an art-pop band called the Suede Chain. The band released several albums on the Parasol Records imprint Mud Records before breaking up in 1997. Krumm then started writing new music of a very different style, influenced by such artists as Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Tom Waits, and the Replacements, and Uncle Tupelo. The result was the Great Crusades' first album under that name, 1998's "The First Spilled Drink of the Evening".