We now live in a system where people don't get the whole truth. Many high school students are taught bogus information in "Religous Education" classes, most of these portray Christians negatively and airbrush Muslim history with absurd claims such as "The Muslims preserved Roman knowledge" or "The Muslims lived peacefully with the Jews and Christians" and that the crusades were "wars of aggression" against "peaceful Muslims". these claims are outright wrong, so to help sort through political correctness that has infiltrated our education system, I'm starting a history series to help separate myths from reality.
MYTH: The Crusades were wars of aggresion against Islam
REALITY: The Crusades were defensive wars fought to contain Islamic aggresion and to Assist the Bynzantine Empire
After the Death of Mohammed Islam spread widely throughout the Bynzantine empire, by force. The Muslims laid waste to every thing in sight, sacked numerous citites, and made it to the Gates of Constantinople. The Seljuk Turks had burned churches in Jerusalem and killed clergy throughout the city. by 1009 AD they had conquered much of the Middle east, causing the Byzantines to put aside the Chism and request help from the West. The West's response was to launch a crusade to aid the Bynzantines, answering a cry for help, not a war of aggresion against the Muslims.
MYTH: Muslims lived peacefully with Jews and Christians until the Crusades
Truth: Not exactly....
The Berbers are a perfect example, during the conquest of Africa many Christian and Jewish berbers were attacked and slaughtered by Muslim berbers. Islam expanded by force throughout Africa as well as Persia. the Persians were destroyed by the Muslims and assimilated by force. The Sassanian empire suffered the same fate. another instance is the Tatar invasions, where muslims set out to pillage, loot, and burn down christian settlements in Eastern Europe
MYTH: ISLAM MADE MANY SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENTS
TRUTH: ISLAM STOLE MOST OF THEM.
Perhaps the biggest lie is the idea that Islam made many scientific accomplishments and preserved the knowledge of the Roman empire, which the European Crusaders "rediscovered" during the crusades. in fact, the Byzantines preserved that knowledge. And the Muslims disregarded it until the Bynzantines began to use the Roman science to make superweapons for their defense (such as "Greek fire") Several Historians have also uncovered evidence that the books of the Library of Alexandria were used as fire fuel. This story is also told by many written accounts from the Medieval era. The Muslims made most of these "advancements" after destroying most of the Bynzantine empire, and thus taking what was left of Byzantine science and copied.
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Errmmm...
The Crusades are an area of great interest for me, and I've read fairly extensively about them. You are correct if your theory is that both Islamic and Christian forces perpetrated acts of senseless violence against each other.
To believe that Christians were merely defending their faith and the Byzantines against Moslem aggression is to leave some rather large gaps in the historic record however.
Even Christian sources point out many acts of greed and brutality perpetrated by Christian knights, 'holy men,' and townspeople. Some significant events include;
* The sack of Jerusalem during the first crusade, in which countless Jews, Moslems, and other innocents were butchered, raped, and enslaved.
* The pogroms against Jews throughout Germany by Crusaders, which led to the King of Hungary nearly attempting to block entrance of the crusading army as it marched towards Constantinople.
* The conquest of Zara, a Christian city along the Adriatic Sea, by a crusader army to provide revenue to the Doge of Venice.
* The conquest of Constantinople itself(Byzantine capital city) during the fourth crusade by a crusader army. It was this act and the subsequent western occupation which weakened the Eastern Empire enough for the Turks to late conquer it and turn it to Islam.
Medeival times were short on principle and long on naked ambition and aggression. Most 'holy' men were also warriors. It was expeditious for the Pope to send these overly aggressive men off to fight Islam, since otherwise they had nothing better to do than to kill, rape and enslave other Christians, especially in France.
It must also be noted that the Popes of this period were not always the most principled men themselves. The Vatican of the 9th - 15th centuries provides some fascinating reading about the inner nature of mankind.
Not that the Moslems were much better, though it must be mentioned that even Christians marvelled at the honorable behavior exhibited by the Sultan Saladin.
The Moslems have good reason to remember those times when they consider the west in a geopolitical sense. To do otherwise would be foolish. The Crusades were not so long ago, in generational terms.
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