Different Views on Saladin

As my research project, I've been exploring Saladin's consolidation of power in Egypt. From my research, I've realized there are many different points of view on Saladin's achievements. In other words, some people think of Saladin as an excellent, perhaps one of the greatest, leaders of the crusades era; others find his achievements to be largely overstated. I've developed my own opinion, which is somewhere inbetween the two views. I highly suggest taking a look at the book Saladin by Hans Mohring. The book provides details about Saladin's life, stripped of all bias and flowery praise. Try seeing what opinion you form on the Sultan.

Pope Urban's Beginnings

I was curious about Pope Urban's role in the Church before his papacy and the beginnings of the First Crusade, so I found some information at the following site: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0010.html. Before Pope Urban II became Pope, he was held prisoner by Henry IV and served as assistant to Pope Gregory. During the early years of his reign, he improved ecclesiastical discipline and called for the Council of Clermont in November 1095, which began the First Crusade. Due to strong sentiments against Urban made by the Countless Matilda of Tuscany, Pope Urban had to wait six years until he was allowed to sit on the papal throne. Soon after taking the throne, Urban's call to arms for the defense of Christians and the acquisition of the Holy Land led to the People's Crusade followed soon after by the slightly more organized majority of the army for the First Crusade.

Multiculturalism in the Levant

Coming into this course I guess I had pictured the Middle East to be populated solely with people of the Islamic faith during the pre-Crusade era; this image, I have found out, is very far from the truth. Obviously there was a dominant Muslim culture to be found there, with the Seljuk empire present, but there were also peoples of other cultures--some, as it turns out, who practiced Christianity. Most notable were the Armenians and Syriacs, who had been on the fringes of the Roman Empire but were some of the first societies to adopt Christianity as their religion. The Armenians were thriving in Southeast Asia Minor when the first Crusaders began to appear, and indeed there were Armenian inhabitants all the way into Northern Syria. These groups and others, such as the Bedouins, often aided the Crusaders on their ventures. During the first Crusade, for example, the Crusaders were given information and guides by these peoples as they made their way to Jerusalem. Perhaps the first Crusade would not have been so successful without these minor groups coming to the Crusaders' aide... This just goes to show that history is usually complicated, and one can't regard a certain region as having the same culture among all of its inhabitants.

Council of Nablus, 1120

I just came across reference to a meeting known as the Council of Nablus. It established the first written laws for the Kingdom of Jerusalem and involved representatives of the clergy and crusader nobility. It did not really seem to intriguing at first but the actual decrees, or canons, agreed upon really demonstrate subtle concerns of the Latin kingdom. Canons 12-16 essentially outline forms of Latin-Muslim segregation. Canon 16, for instance, prohibits Muslims from wearing European clothing. Inter-group sexual relationships are specifically forbidden, with harsh penalties like castration and nasal mutilation awaiting any transgressors. The rape of Saracen women is punishable by castration so I suppose the otherwise divisive legislation does benefit Muslims to an extent. Overall, though, the canons attempt establish the foundation for a legal system designed primarily to maintain precedents from Western Europe, not to create something new and different. Wikipedia has a pretty decent summary of the canons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Nablus#Signatories

Villeins and Slaves

As I work on my research paper, I have noticed that some historical authors, especially ones from before the mid-twentieth century, tend to define the role of native peoples under crusader rule as being one of "villeins and slaves." Some even state "villains and slaves." At first I thought villein meant something similar to the modern word "villain." I was surprised, however, to learn that a villein was a type of serf, the most numerous type of serf to be exact. Aside from freemen, villeins had the most rights of any serf group. It was only when former serfs began to migrate to the growing urban centers of Europe that the term "villain" received its modern connotation. Also, villeinage had existed centuries before the crusades, indicating that it was not some new system solely designed to oppress the Muslims and other groups living in Palestine. Most of the sources that write the phrase as "villains and slaves" are openly anti-crusader and some are even anti-Christian (http://www.ftarchives.net/foote/crimes/c9.htm). I suppose it just shows how cautious one must be in taking sources' impartiality for granted.

For Reasons Unknown

I was researching the about the technology advancements during the crusades and I got to this article: http://ina.tamu.edu/yasymposium/PDFs/Pryor.pdf. It highlights how the ships got better during the crusades. During the first crusade, it took two seasons for the large fleets to travel from Europe to the Holy lands. Plus they were not equipped with provisions to carry horses. According to the Article, crusaders did not bring horses till the Venetians brought around only 300 in 1123. But right after the First Crusade the Crusades were able to travel to the Holy lands in 3-4 weeks. For the Fourth Crusade, Venetians had made specialized galleys to carry over 4500 horses and knights. Now the interesting part is that the article argues that there is no evidence to show that there was a revolution in ship design but yet they could carry more and travel faster. The article suggests that this might have been due to better port facilities, better knowledge of the routes. But the evidence to suggest all this is very minimal but there is no doubting that there was a fundamental change in the ships.

Crusades in Catholic Education

I ran across an interesting link leading to a Catholic education website. The specific link I provide here is the website's section on the crusades. Unfortunately, the website only provides a brief summary of the highlights of the crusades as a whole. One thing did stand out right away though. The Christian leaders are definitely portrayed very heroically and almost surrealistically. Does the Catholic education source provide biased teaching material because of the religious factor? You check it out:

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0010.html

Medieval Clothing

I was interested in how the medieval men and women dressed during the crusades. Unsurprisingly, the clothes were highly depended in the class of the people. The clothes of the peasants were pretty simple but the of the nobles were distinguishable by their sleeves. Knights wore sleeveless "surcoats" covered with a coat of arms. The rich even managed to import turbans and silks from the East. However, at the end of the 13th century, styles changed and tunics became tighter and undershirts and briefs were worn underneath sleeveless jacket and an additional tunic. In addition, men's medieval clothing also consisted of cloaks “with a round opening that was slipped over the man's head.” Early medieval women wore "kirtles", which were tunics worn to their ankles and over a shirt. Married women wore tight-fitting caps and nets over their hair.

http://www.medieval-life.net/clothing.htm

Chivalry

After a presentation a few days ago on Chivalry in the middle ages, I wanted to learn a little more about medieval concepts of chivalry. I found some information at the following site: http://www.medieval-life.net/chivalry.htm. The term "chivalry" originates from several different languages in Europe all meaning "warrior on horseback." Over time, the true meaning of the term changed to include the knights' system of virtues and ethics. Chivalric values began in the middle ages during the conquests to the west consisting of vows of honor and regulation of activities. As the concepts of chivalry evolved they grew to include honoring, serving, and doing nothing to displease women. Knights were vital members of society because of their status as bearer of arms, owners of horse and armor, and participators of religious ceremony. After the crusades declined, knights continued to practice their values and skills in tournaments. Tales of knights and chivalry are still widely known today.

Medieval Religious Institutions

When looking different things up for research paper ideas I came across many different medieval institutions (mainly religious) that are still around today. These institutions came about during the crusading era and in some cases played very large roles in certain conflicts. Two I found that had full fledged websites, membership info, etc. were the Dominicans and The Franciscans. Their respective websites are http://www.op.org/ and http://www.franciscans.org/. I find it very interesting that an institution can have trouble lasting a few years in modern society, but these have lasted for many hundreds of years. It raises the question with me as to why religious ideals can last, when ethical and moral based groups cannot. Those types of groups may change drastically over the years to maintain stability, but the Bible, Koran, etc. are the same book they always have been.

Gregorian Chant and Holy Week

As a lover of music and tradition--and as Holy Week is upon us--I wanted to do some research on the types of music that would have been sung for Holy Week masses during the Middle Ages. I searched for some of the Gregorian Chants specific to these days--here's what I found:

Click here for a website with recordings from St. Benedict's Monastery in São Paulo, Brazil. This has a number of recordings of all the masses during Holy Week; although sometimes the sound quality is not perfect, I think it's kind of interesting to hear birds chirping in the background.

Below are two links to the abby of Solesmes, in France. The first gives a decent description of Gregorian Chant (as a subject), the second describes the order of the mass (for those who may not be familiar with the service).
Gregorian Chant
Order of the Service

Gregorian Chant was recorded in one of the earliest forms of written music called neumes: click here for a description of them and how to read them.

Finally, this is a link to a youtube video I found. It is described as an "old Roman chant" for "Easter Sunday Service." The organ pedel that you hear in the background is called a "drone," which did often accompany Gregorian Chant when it was sung.

Happy Easter!

~C. Erba

Albigensianism

In doing some research on the Albigensian Crusade recently, I came across some really interesting information about the origins of the Albigensian, or Cathar, doctrines. For all intents and purposes, Albigensianism (also known as Catharism) is a version of the ancient doctrine of Manichaeism, which initially developed in the first few centuries after the death of Christ. Both of these share a belief in a dualist deity that is composed of a good entity and a bad: the bad entity is responsible for all things material (including the human body), and it is the principal aim of the soul to escape from its imprisonment in the human body and to rejoin the good entity. In addition, these sects had select members of their believers who formed an inner, sanctified core (in the Albigensian tradition, these people were called “perfaits” or “perfects”). Most intriguing was that Albigensianism flourished in Languedoc, a region in modern-day southern France which has been known throughout the centuries for its religious tolerance.

For more information see:
Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo, A Biography, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000)
http://www.cathar.info/

~C. Erba

The Modern Use of Trebuchets

For your amusement:

In High School I joined an engineering club that built a Trebuchet every year to participate in an event held in early November in which teams compete to hurl a pumpkin as far as possible.

The event is World Championship Punkin Chunkin.

The largest Trebuchet there is called Yankee Siege which uses a counter weight that can hold 30,000 lbs. It can hurl a 50-100 lb projectile between 300-400 yards with a partially filled counter weight. Its maximum range to date is just over 2000 ft.

Midieval Trebuchets were used to either destroy fortifications or as terror devices, employed to throw dead animals or live enemies over the wall as a psychological weapon. They generally had a range of about 300 yards. In many ways they were the pinnacle of siege technology and were made obsolete by the advent of gunpowder. They fired slowly as it took a long time to reload the device.

The operation of a Trebuchet is a bit of history that you can witness and it is easy to see how these massive machines could tear down walls with ease or fill defenders with fear.

Children's Crusade

I was looking up some more information on the Childrens Crusade and instead of taking it all for face-value, I tried looking up some information against it. Turns out there was a study in 1977 by Raedts called "The Children's Crusade of 1213". He argued that the army was not made up of primarily children, but of the 'wandering poor'. The traditional view of the crusade was that it began with a little boy claiming that he had been told to lead a crusade to the holy land by Jesus himself. He was supposed to peacefully convert Muslims to Christianity. He gained as many as 30,000 children but before making it to Jerusalem, most either died or were tricked into slavery. Modern views have claimed this story to be fake. Recent historians claim that there were actually two movements of people (of all ages, really). Mistakes in the interpretation of pueri, meaning boys, arose when past historians thought it to literally mean children where they probably actually meant country boys.

Crusading in the News

I would just like to comment on how common the term "crusading" has become these days. Just by searching the term in Google News, I ran into several articles describing some more 'modern' crusades: Obama's health care crusade, a crusade to provide food and shelter for the homeless of New York City, a crusade against junk food (seriously?). In my opinion, I think that the term "crusading" should be reserved for describing past crusades of the Middle Ages, where the term was originally coined, or even to describe modern religious warfare. But when I read an article telling me a chef is launching a CRUSADE to promote healthier eating, I can't help but feel a little frustrated at how common and poorly-used this word/concept has become.

A Very Long Walk In The Park

I feel like a major part of the Crusades that is often overlooked was the actual journey to get to the Holy Land itself, not just the conflict/fighting that was done once the Crusaders had arrived. I mean, in some Crusades (most notably the First and Second) people would walk by land the entire way from Western Europe to the Holy Land, not being shipped over across the Mediterranean Sea. That's pretty inconceivable. The distance from Paris to Jerusalem, for example, is just over 2000 miles, and that's if you travel as the crow flies, which is impossible because the Mediterranean Sea stands in the way. That is an incredible distance to travel on foot. Imagine walking one marathon a day, every day, for close to three months, and that's about the distance some of these Crusaders had to traverse. Just doing this without any hardships would be an amazing accomplishment-- but then you have to factor in (to the First Crusade) the battles fought along the way to the Holy Land, in such places as Nicaea and Antioch. Undoubtedly there was something strong motivating these Crusaders to march on, whether it be the promise of redemption or riches.
Anyway, all of this got me to thinking about the type of footwear that the Crusaders used on their multi-thousand mile journey, but I really couldn't find that too much on it. I did find that as a result of the Crusades, shoe styles from the Byzantine Empire were brought back to Western Europe, including the characteristically Medieval long-pointed shoes. These were called crackowes or poulaines.

The Tafurs

Some accounts of the First Crusade seem to agree that crusaders would sometimes resort to cannibalism when actual food was lacking. I assumed that it was a general accusation but I just saw a site that asserts that such atrocities were attributed to one particular group: the Tafurs. The nature of this groups is debated but a disturbing proposition is that the Tafurs lay at the core of crusading atrocities. It was rumored that they raped any women they captured, looted everything they could get their hands on, and simply reveled in butchery. Led by a former knight, Le Roi Tafur, the Tafurs dressed in sackcloths and used only the crudest of weapons. Yet Muslim sources refer to them as being "living devils" who fought with almost beast-like fury in combat. Apparently their reputation was so fierce that even the crusader nobles required an armed escort to pass by their tents. The Tafurs were also motivated by greed, with Le Roi Tafur leading the first assault on Jerusalem exclaiming, "Where are the poor folk who want property? Let them come with me!....for today with God's help I shall win enough to load many a mule!" Although the Tafurs' exploits are undoubtedly exaggerated, their legacy is definitely an interesting of the crusades often overlooked. http://www.antiqillum.org/texts/bg/Qadosh/qadosh018.htm (There is also a wiki article on them but it only comes in French)

Art of the Crusades

The crusades not only introduced Islamic knowledge to the West, but also Islamic art. I found it very interesting that the crusaders would plunder the Muslims of the Levant and then they used these religious pieces of art for their own Christian practices. For example they would take Muslim silks and use them to decorate churches or wrap holy relics. They even went as far to use a Muslim made cloak for the German Emperor's coronation. This was also the beginning of the Gothic Period and large lavish Cathedral were sprouting up in all the major cities of Europe. I am always impressed by these pieces of both architectural and artistic genius. Having visited some examples of this architecture, it boggles the mind a how the laborers of that time could build this huge structures of stone, with no power tools or construction equipment.

Source

Louis IX

I had looked over material on the Crusade of St. Louis and was interested the life of Louis IX. I read over an article on Louis IX early life: http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/louis_ix_king_of_france.jsp. The kingdom of France was inherited by Louis IX at a young age after his father, Louis VIII, died. France was actually ruled by Louis IX's mother, Blanche of Castille, while he was learning how to rule his country. Blanche was a chief adviser of Louis IX until her death. Duke Peter I of Brittany, Duke Raymond VII of Toulouse, and King Henry VIII of England began several revolts in Louis' early years as King but were quickly suppressed by Blanche. Louis took the cross in 1244 and led his crusade into Egypt in 1248 only be captured two years later. He was ransomed and immediately traveled to the Latin colonies to promote organization and strong fortification. Louis returned to France an continued to rule until he was canonized in 1297. Under Louis' rule, France reached a high level of peace, prosperity, and organization through excellent diplomacy and administration.

The Spanish Inquisition

"In the early years of the 16th century, to combat the rising tide of religious unorthodoxy, the Pope gave Cardinal Ximinez of Spain leave to move without let or hindrance throughout the land, in a reign of violence, terror and torture that makes a smashing film. This was the Spanish Inquisition..."

NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

In a response to the Albegensian Crusade, the papacy instigated one of the first inquisitions against the Cathar heretics. Though it was only moderately effective against the Albegensians, it became a weapon of the papacy against heretics.

During the end of the 15^th century, Spain was a melting pot for many religions. Mulsims, Jews, Protestants, and Catholics all were packed into the small country. In order to combat this, Pope Sixtus IV laid the papal bull Sinceras Devotionis Affectus which served to establish the inquisition under the control of the Spanish monarchy in Castile. In 1483 Tomas de Torquemada was appointed to grand inquisitor. He established a structure to the inquisition, and began it on the reign of terror that would make the movement infamous. Thousands were accused and killed, and often the inquisitors would already know the victims guilt and require only a confession, which they obtained with harsh questioning and torture. The papacy was astonished by the ferocity and indiscriminate accusations of the inquisition, but was unable to put a slow its advance. It continued in force for the next fifty years, pursuing heretics, witches, blasphemy and any other threat to the church. Though the ferocity of the inquisition subsided around 1530, it remained a political tool for the Spanish monarchy until the papacy finally ended it in 1843.