The Truth about the Crusades

The followers of ISIS constantly bring up the crusades in their propaganda.  They call the alliance fighting them crusaders and the word itself is a loaded word which for the ignorant (such as those marching under the flag of ISIS) brings to mind evil hordes of Christian knights attacking and killing the peaceful Muslim people.  It brings to mind men filled with greed and taking the spoils of war from these same peaceful Muslims as they tried to mind their own business and make a living selling things to nomad traders.  Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Beginning in the year 632 AD the following countries were all Christian lands; Egypt, France, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica but in less than one-hundred years they would become under Muslim rule. The Christian communities in Arabia were destroyed when Jews and Christians were expelled from the peninsula. Between 850 and 950 Benedictine monks were driven out of their monasteries, the Papal States were overrun and plundered by Muslim pirates that set up their bases on the coast of Italy and France. But what about the Crusades?  All we have heard about so far is Muslim conquests.  We will get there in a minute, but let's talk about the conditions that surviving Christians had to endure under the rule of the followers of Islam. By the eleventh century AD conditions for Christians living in lands controlled by Muslims were harsh. They had to pay a special fax and were considered a second class known as the dhimmi. Churches were destroyed and harsh conditions were imposed.  In 1067 a peaceful group of seven thousand German pilgrims lost two thirds of their members to assaults from the Muslims. 

The call for the first Crusade went out in 1095 AD. It was called to address the tyranny and the spoiling of places such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site of the crucifixion where Christian pilgrims were massacred.  Before the capture of Jerusalem, Muslim fighters taunted the crusaders by profaning religious objects and taunting them. The commanders of the crusaders lost control of their men and the melee that followed was brutal and bloody and while it happened it should be remembered that the Crusaders were deeply religious men and the blasphemous things done to the cross would strike deeply at what they were there fighting for.  They were there not only to retake the holy land but they were there fighting for Cross and all that the Cross meant to them. 

So, the Crusades were not a war of aggression. The war of aggression had been started 450 years BEFORE the first crusade was called for by the Muslim armies of conquest.  History clearly shows that the Christians had no hair trigger, did not rattle swords but waited four and a half centuries before attempting to right the wrongs of Islamic conquest. Once again the Muslim jihadists are on the move like a plague of locusts laying waste to all that they can get their hands on.  Their cruel and bloodthirsty ways are not unlike their forefathers in the early centuries. I am afraid that I have come to the belief that Islam caters panders to the evil impulses of the creature we call man. I am not saying that it is completely evil and depraved, only that it can be turned that way by the "correct" reading of their holy book which contains such charming instructions as to cut the head off of the infidels wherever you find them. Or to beat your wife if she disobeys you.  All very practical and made so you can live peacefully with other people. 

The scary part of Islam is that it is a religion without any leader. There is no one in charge to say this interpretation is correct and this interpretation is wrong.  So for my neighbor down the street, Islam is a religion of peace because he does not take the verses that preach violence to heart.  On the other hand the follower across the street, he believes in the sword and is biding his time waiting for his opportunity to strike. Until then, he smiles, nods, pays his taxes, votes and worships at the local mosque where he hangs with other radicals who also are biding their time. To be quite frank about it, I am afraid of most Muslims because you just do not know. 

Let is be said and let my voice be heard.  I am an American. I believe in the American way of life and part of that way of life is the freedom of religion for ALL of us.  It was not so long ago that Catholics were looked down upon as second class citizens and unworthy to be called Americans just because of their religion. Today there is still great amounts of anti-Catholic rhetoric out there and still much prejudice against us. Some say it is the last acceptable form of prejudice in America.  So, I know my Father in heaven loves all of His children, including the misguided followers of the prophet and I want them to be free in this great country of ours. 

So when you read Islamic propaganda that uses the word Crusade  or Crusader in ways that make it seem evil. remember, that the Crusades were just wars undertaken to return peace to the Holy Land, to protect Christians and other that lived there from Muslim injustice.  

Many thanks to Scott Eric Alt whose article formed the basis for the facts quoted here.