"...the Crusaders were nothing other than the forerunners of Antichrist." (p.155)
The Crusades are mostly portrayed as a Muslim-Christian conflict but the better way to understand it is to call it a conflict b/w Western European Christians against Muslims, Byzatines and Jews. 🧵
The Crusades are mostly portrayed as a Muslim-Christian conflict but the better way to understand it is to call it a conflict b/w Western European Christians against Muslims, Byzatines and Jews. 🧵
Let's go back to 1099 AD. Jerusalem has fallen. Europeans have taken control of the cities and subjected the entire population to mass killings.
Jews, Christians, and of course, Muslims, all are slaughtered. No life is spared.
Jews, Christians, and of course, Muslims, all are slaughtered. No life is spared.
How did the Muslims react?
"A judge in Baghdad supposedly stormed into the Caliph's court to decry the lack of reaction to the arrival of the armies from Europe: 'How dare you to slumber in the shade of complacent safety... when your brothers in Syria have no dwelling place..."
"A judge in Baghdad supposedly stormed into the Caliph's court to decry the lack of reaction to the arrival of the armies from Europe: 'How dare you to slumber in the shade of complacent safety... when your brothers in Syria have no dwelling place..."
...save the bellies of vultures.' There was an unspoken acquiescence in Baghdad and Cairo, based on the feelings that perhaps Christian occupation might be better than either Sh'īa or Sunni rivals having control of the city." (p.138)
[Also see The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, p.1]
[Also see The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, p.1]
The fall of Jerusalem wasn't a big deal for Muslim rulers it seems.
Also, contrary to a lot of right-wing Christian Youtubers, the Crusaders were more about plundering and taking control of cities (most importantly, Antoich) than fighting for the Holy Land.
Also, contrary to a lot of right-wing Christian Youtubers, the Crusaders were more about plundering and taking control of cities (most importantly, Antoich) than fighting for the Holy Land.
Not only that but the Crusaders broke their oaths and betrayed the Emperor of Constantinople.
The Crusaders had 'swore an oath, over the relics of the Holy Cross,' (p.138) that they would hand over the conquered territories back to the Emperor.
The Crusaders had 'swore an oath, over the relics of the Holy Cross,' (p.138) that they would hand over the conquered territories back to the Emperor.
Once Antioch was conquered (this happened before the fall of Jerusalem) the Crusaders like Behemond refused to hand it over to the Emperor. Also, he was portrayed as the conqueror of Jerusalem when, in fact, he was not even there during the siege in 1099 AD.
"The Crusade might be best remembered as a war of religion, but it was also a springboard for accruing serious wealth and power."(p.139)
The Byzantines were not happy with the Crusades and had a very negative perspective of the Europeans (as we will see later). But they were not alone.
Citizens of Italian city-states were very cautious with their engagement with Crusaders because they did not want-(see above pic)
Citizens of Italian city-states were very cautious with their engagement with Crusaders because they did not want-(see above pic)
to harm their relationships with the Muslims. Sicily had a great number of Muslim population.
At the end of the 1180s, the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II wrote to Salāh-ud-dīn al-Ayūbī and called him a 'my brother the Sultan of Egypt,' to assure him that he was not with the European Christians.
"Anti-western sentiments had been brewing in Constantinople for decades." (p.150)
"Anti-western sentiments had been brewing in Constantinople for decades." (p.150)
In the third Crusade, King Richard the Lionheart and others, set out to reconquer Jerusalem. On their way to the city, they stopped and the gates of the Byzantine capital.
And in 1204 AD, the Crusaders breached the wall and mercilessly murdered their own Christian fellows.
And in 1204 AD, the Crusaders breached the wall and mercilessly murdered their own Christian fellows.
"The Byzantines, the Crusaders were told, were worse than the Jews; 'they are the enemies of God." (p. 154)
One eyewitness of the extremely bloody massacre of Constantinople said, "...the Crusaders were nothing other than the forerunners of Antichrist." (p.155)
Many religious symbols and relics were destroyed, and looted and religious clerics were humiliated in public.
"Horses and Donkeys were led into the church to be loaded up with booty... a rowdy prostitute sat in the patriarch's seat singing obscene songs." (p.154-155)
"Horses and Donkeys were led into the church to be loaded up with booty... a rowdy prostitute sat in the patriarch's seat singing obscene songs." (p.154-155)
"Although they look like men, the Crusaders behaved like animals, wrote one Greek cleric mournfully." (p.155)
Loading suggestions...