[RedBloodedAmerican]

The Real History of the Crusades ^

Posted by NotchJohnson On Religion ^ 09/09/2004 8:48:30 PM EDT · 10 replies · 499+ views Crisis Magazine ^ | 4/2/02 | Thomas F. Madden With the possible exception of Umberto Eco, medieval scholars are not used to getting much media attention. We tend to be a quiet lot (except during the annual bacchanalia we call the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan, of all places), poring over musty chronicles and writing dull yet meticulous studies that few will read. Imagine, then, my surprise when within days of the September 11 attacks, the Middle Ages suddenly became relevant. As a Crusade historian, I found the tranquil solitude of the ivory tower shattered by journalists, editors, and talk-show hosts on tight deadlines eager to...

[Skooz]

bump for later.

This looks quite good.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Are you sure this is right??? Movies like 'Kingdom of Heaven' show Christians as bad, Muslims good. Name one movie where it's the opposite.

[TexasTransplant]

Bump

[zlala]

bump for later

[Incorrigible]

Bump for a good book.

[FourtySeven]

Kewl.

[yoely]

ping

[dsmatuska]

It is a terrible irony that the Crusades, which were a direct result of the Catholic desire to rescue the Orthodox people...

Hmmm.

[Eagles6]

save

[jim_trent]

The rise of Damascus sword making and the rise of Islam have remarkable parallels. I wonder if Islam would be as big as it is now if not for the Damascus steel?

[Capriole]

bump for later

[Syco]

This is excellent. Thank you for posting it. I'll be sure to copy it off and read it to my kids to counter the PC garbage that they'll be fed in school.

[wizr]

Wonderful and enlightening read. I hope everyone gets a chance to read this. It definitely needs a looong BTTT.

Thanx.

[kitkat]

BUMP

[ops33]

One of the best books I have read on the Crusades was "The Crusades" by Zoe Oldenburg. She explores the Crusades from various perspectives; power politics of the Church and European monarchs, feudalism and its violent tendencies, the physical logistics of the Crusades, Saladin (a thoroughly fascinating man), the effect on trade for Middle Eastern goods, and the effect on European civilization on being re-introduced to classical thought and science.

[ZULU]

"After recapturing Acre, the king of France went home, where he busied himself carving up Richard's French holdings. "

Some things never change.

[ZULU]

Great post and article. I must get his book.

"Non Nobis, Domine, Non Nobis, Sed Nomini Tuo Da Gloriam"

[Celtjew Libertarian]

The Crusades of the 13th century were larger, better funded, and better organized. But they too failed. The Fourth Crusade (1201-1204) ran aground when it was seduced into a web of Byzantine politics, which the Westerners never fully understood. They had made a detour to Constantinople to support an imperial claimant who promised great rewards and support for the Holy Land. Yet once he was on the throne of the Caesars, their benefactor found that he could not pay what he had promised. Thus betrayed by their Greek friends, in 1204 the Crusaders attacked, captured, and brutally sacked Constantinople, the greatest Christian city in the world. Pope Innocent III, who had previously excommunicated the entire Crusade, strongly denounced the Crusaders. But there was little else he could do. The tragic events of 1204 closed an iron door between Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox, a door that even today Pope John Paul II has been unable to reopen. It is a terrible irony that the Crusades, which were a direct result of the Catholic desire to rescue the Orthodox people, drove the two further—and perhaps irrevocably—apart.

The fourth crusade weakened the Byzantine Empire so much that opened the door for the Muslims to take over much of Southeastern Europe several centuries later.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

fyi on this thread.