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He had also inadvertently initiated the First Crusade when he sent ambassadors to Western Europe seeking military assistance. The Crusaders had established a series of Crusader states, and these helped to improve the strategic situation for the Byzantines in the east.<ref> Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades (London, Bloomsbury, 2014), p 113</ref>
Moreover, the Muslim states focused their attention on the Crusaders and tended to leave the Byzantines alone. Under Emperors John and Manuel, the Empire began to grow in strength and was the leading Christian power. However, there were continuing tensions between Orthodox and Latin Christianity after the schism in the Christian Church in 1054, while the Italian maritime Republics had begun to dominate the trade of the Byzantine territories . <ref> Harris, p 203</ref>.
====The life of Andronicus====
