<P> Under the Capetian dynasty the French monarchy slowly began to expand its authority over the nobility, growing out of the Île - de-France to exert control over more of the country in the 11th and 12th centuries . They faced a powerful rival in the Dukes of Normandy, who in 1066 under William the Conqueror (duke 1035--1087), conquered England (r . 1066--87) and created a cross-channel empire that lasted, in various forms, throughout the rest of the Middle Ages . Normans also settled in Sicily and southern Italy, when Robert Guiscard (d . 1085) landed there in 1059 and established a duchy that later became the Kingdom of Sicily . Under the Angevin dynasty of Henry II (r . 1154--89) and his son Richard I (r . 1189--99), the kings of England ruled over England and large areas of France, brought to the family by Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine (d . 1204), heiress to much of southern France . Richard's younger brother John (r . 1199--1216) lost Normandy and the rest of the northern French possessions in 1204 to the French King Philip II Augustus (r . 1180--1223). This led to dissension among the English nobility, while John's financial exactions to pay for his unsuccessful attempts to regain Normandy led in 1215 to Magna Carta, a charter that confirmed the rights and privileges of free men in England . Under Henry III (r . 1216--72), John's son, further concessions were made to the nobility, and royal power was diminished . The French monarchy continued to make gains against the nobility during the late 12th and 13th centuries, bringing more territories within the kingdom under the king's personal rule and centralising the royal administration . Under Louis IX (r . 1226--70), royal prestige rose to new heights as Louis served as a mediator for most of Europe . </P> <P> In Iberia, the Christian states, which had been confined to the north - western part of the peninsula, began to push back against the Islamic states in the south, a period known as the Reconquista . By about 1150, the Christian north had coalesced into the five major kingdoms of León, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal . Southern Iberia remained under control of Islamic states, initially under the Caliphate of Córdoba, which broke up in 1031 into a shifting number of petty states known as taifas, who fought with the Christians until the Almohad Caliphate re-established centralised rule over Southern Iberia in the 1170s . Christian forces advanced again in the early 13th century, culminating in the capture of Seville in 1248 . </P> <P> In the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks took over much of the Middle East, occupying Persia during the 1040s, Armenia in the 1060s, and Jerusalem in 1070 . In 1071, the Turkish army defeated the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert and captured the Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV (r . 1068--71). The Turks were then free to invade Asia Minor, which dealt a dangerous blow to the Byzantine Empire by seizing a large part of its population and its economic heartland . Although the Byzantines regrouped and recovered somewhat, they never fully regained Asia Minor and were often on the defensive . The Turks also had difficulties, losing control of Jerusalem to the Fatimids of Egypt and suffering from a series of internal civil wars . The Byzantines also faced a revived Bulgaria, which in the late 12th and 13th centuries spread throughout the Balkans . </P> <P> The crusades were intended to seize Jerusalem from Muslim control . The First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II (pope 1088--99) at the Council of Clermont in 1095 in response to a request from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r . 1081--1118) for aid against further Muslim advances . Urban promised indulgence to anyone who took part . Tens of thousands of people from all levels of society mobilised across Europe and captured Jerusalem in 1099 . One feature of the crusades was the pogroms against local Jews that often took place as the crusaders left their countries for the East . These were especially brutal during the First Crusade, when the Jewish communities in Cologne, Mainz, and Worms were destroyed, and other communities in cities between the rivers Seine and Rhine suffered destruction . Another outgrowth of the crusades was the foundation of a new type of monastic order, the military orders of the Templars and Hospitallers, which fused monastic life with military service . </P>

Difference between early middle ages and late middle ages