Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade in 1095 to seize control of holy places from Muslims. With an eye on Jerusalem and Antioch, the Pontiff recruited crusaders by assuring them that wearing the cross in battle would mean a lessening of the punishment for their sins. The crusade was a military success, but the reclaimed lands became rife with religious divisions. Over the next two centuries, four more crusades aggravated the schism between the Eastern and Western churches. With the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, the Catholic Church was split into two churches: Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic.