The Crusades and Islam

Paper Summary:

This paper defines the Crusades as expeditions undertaken, in fulfillment of a solemn vow, to deliver the Holy Places from Mohammedan tyranny, with the tyranny more or less assumed because the nations involved were Islamic and not Christian; religion was both the reason for the Crusades and a tool to get the warriors to fight. The author points out that, in the Muslim context, the holy war is known as a "jihad" meaning "striving" and has nothing directly to do with war, but it has been taken over by those Muslims who want to give a religious tinge to their war against the West and against Israel in particular. The paper relates that the First Crusade provided the Byzantines with the opportunity to recapture lost lands by repelling the Turks from vast territories, which enabled the empire to last for three more centuries.

From the Paper:

"The Crusades began with the departure from Europe of the People's Crusade of Peter the Hermit. Five groups marched east, and the first two committed such excesses along the way that they were annihilated by the Hungarians. The third group started to butcher Jews on the Rhine and was also scattered by the Hungarians. The final two groups reached Rome in 1096. Alexius received these Crusaders with caution, giving them food and money and urging them to wait for the next contingent of Crusaders outside the city walls. They began to loot the suburbs and even sacked churches, so Alexius sent them over to Civirot, a fort that he had built on the Marmara's Asiatic shore. They continued to maraude, however, and even began torturing Christians. They began to ravage in the Sultanate of Rum. Alexius had warned their leader to avoid contact with the Turks until support arrived, but he lost control of his followers. Some 25,000 were killed. Three thousand survivors were brought to New Rome to wait for the next Crusaders."

More papers on The Crusades and Islam:

• Book Review # 117177 : "The Crusades: A History, by Jonathan Riley-Smith"
• Essay # 124879 : "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes"
• Term Paper # 96482 : "Islam and the Crusades"

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