The First Crusade, for example, was justified as a response to Emperor Alexius Comnenus' request for help in repelling the Seljuk Turks who had invaded Byzantine territories in Anatolia. Likewise, the Third Crusade was called to reconquer the lands conquered by Saladin in an attempt to preserve Christian rule in the region. In this essay I will argue that the Crusades were a complex series of campaigns that cannot be arbitrarily defined as exclusively defensive or expansionist exercises. Rather, their interpretation should be more nuanced; with each crusade intended to both expand and defend Christian territories at various levels. I will primarily investigate the expansion or defense of the borders of Christianity from a traditionalist perspective within the First and Third Crusades, before adopting a pluralist view in studying the Iberian campaigns to determine whether the Holy