Crusades

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Idealized (Army of one!) crusader.
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Don't believe us?
Kill them all. God will know his own.
—attributed to Abbot Arnold Amaury
The most signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation.
David Hume, 1778[1]

The Crusades were a series of military expeditions aimed at the conquest, maintenance and restoration of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (and sometimes other places). Yes, the followers of so-called "religions of peace" openly stating that they would kill millions for political power to keep the Holy Land to be in the hands of their religion.

They might have been considered a response to Islam's four hundred years of unbridled expansion, had they been aimed at, for example, the conquered Christian lands in Spain, rather than the relatively peaceful and enlightened areas in the Levant. However, this analysis fails to take into account the long-fought conflicts at the edges of Europe, such as the Arab-Byzantine wars. Also, the First Crusade was in essence a papal response to a request from the Byzantine Roman Emperor to help him against the expansionist Seljuk Turks, who had whooped his predecessor's ass at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.[2] The first one worked remarkably well, with Jerusalem being recaptured (though with way too much killing of innocents). After that, they all went downhill. One even attacked the city of Byzantium (was Constantinople, now Istanbul), dealing the last remnant of the Roman Empire a devastating blow from which it never recovered.

Crusades were also launched against pagan tribes in eastern Germany and Poland, and one (the Albigensian Crusade) was sent against a heretic Christian group, the Cathars (it is this crusade that the famous quote at the top of the page was from[2]). It was similarly a horrible period for Jews, with the slaughter of thousands mostly by the Christian side.[3]

Contents

[edit] Consequences of the Crusades

The importance of the Crusades (at least the first four) in European history cannot be overstated. The Crusades helped to re-link Western Europe to the Silk and Spice roads. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire that part of the world remained largely isolated and outside of various trade routes (too unstable). Crusaders returning home often brought with them "exotic" eastern goods and Western Europeans were willing to trade for them. The desire for silks and spices encouraged the Western Europeans to try and find ways to cut out the middlemen and trade directly with China and India, basically encouraging countries to begin exploring the world. Along with the flow of goods came a flow of ideas.

Many ancient Greek and Latin texts had been forgotten about in the West but were preserved, studied and commented on by the Eastern Romans and Arabs.[4] These "new" ideas flowed west (also north from formerly Muslim Spain) and found a ready home in Medieval Europe's trading hubs — especially the Italian city-states. The rediscovery of these texts in the West, as well as a renewed appreciation for the ancient heritage, helped to spark the Italian Renaissance.

Of course, it wasn't all silks, spices, and books that the new trade routes brought west: the new trade routes also brought the Black Death to Western Europe, resulting in the death of roughly one third of its population.

In modern usage, a "crusade" is any mission or movement based on strong moral or ideological backing, such as Campus Crusade for Christ. Often, it denotes a foolish endeavor.

[edit] Crusade vs Jihad

Muslim demagogues often compare American servicemen to European crusaders in propaganda.[5] You can thank George W. Bush (and Wahhabism) for that one.

While Jihad has a few more meanings than merely 'killing infidels', "Jihad of the Sword" means "waging war against the enemies of Allah", and "Jihad of the Tongue" means spreading Islam. In these senses, "Jihad" and "Crusade" are more or less mirror images of each other. The people performing Jihad, called "Mujihadeen", are effectively Crusaders of a different religion. In more modern terms, the "Offensive-Jihad" of Sayyid Qutb that most non-Muslims think of when they hear the term 'Jihad', can be more or less summed up with the page quote. The irony should not be lost on anyone.

[edit] The Crusades

  1. 1095-1099: First Crusade - The Pope calls European nations to defend their ally, the Eastern Roman Empire, from Islamic invaders. Amateur soldiers travel across Europe and the Middle East and capture Jerusalem in a successful counter-attack.
  2. 1147-1149: Second Crusade - After the fall of the Crusader State Edessa, the Christians call in reinforcements to the Middle East to regain their lost territory.
  3. 1187-1192: Third Crusade - Christians led by Richard the Lionheart once again (badly) attempt to retake captured territories. They get denied by Saladin.
  4. 1202-1204: Fourth Crusade - Logistic problems and the lack of funding force the Crusading armies to take on a side quest and re-install an exiled monarch[wp] in Constantinople in exchange for funding, only to have him back out of the promise of payment at the last second. With no money to pay the seamen, no food and winter approaching fast, the Venetians sent the Crusaders to sack Constantinople.
  5. 1209: DIE, CATHARS (in Southern France)!
  6. 1212: Children's Crusade - Cute except for the fact that the kids were way too young to be doing this sort of thing.[6]
  7. 1217-1221: Fifth Crusade - Set out for Israel and got to Egypt instead. Needless to say, it didn't go anywhere.
  8. 1228-1229: Sixth Crusade - Successful recapture of Jerusalem—by politicking and negotiation instead of fighting!—but not for long.
  9. 1248-1254: Seventh Crusade - King Louis IX of France gets captured in battle, then bankrupts his country bailing him out. Remnants of Crusader territories destroyed.
  10. 1270: Louis IX captures Tunis.
  11. 1271-1272: Financial troubles and the capture of the last major Christian fort of Acre spells the end for the Crusades.
  12. 1989: The Last Crusade - Han Solo and his father, James Bond, find a magic cup, become immortal, and whoop the Nazis.[7]

It is important to note that, while this list seems simple enough, there is not at all agreement amongst Medievists about the actual number of crusades, due to the loose definition of the word. A good example of this are the so called Northern Crusades, which were directed against pagan peoples in what are now the Baltic States. [8] While contemporaries referred to it as a crusade, nowadays it is often not included amongst the 'official' crusades, nor is the repression of the Cathar heresy.

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. The History of England
  2. 2.0 2.1 The Crusades: A Short History, Jonathan Riley-Smith. ISBN 0-300-04700-2
  3. The Crusades, PBS
  4. Just don't tell that to the Islamophobes.
  5. [1] World Islamic Front Statement, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists
  6. Possibly fictitious.
  7. "You have chosen... wisely."
  8. http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/crusades/cruurban.html
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