Why The Crusades Were Awesome, Actually

Summary

The video critiques the film 'Kingdom of Heaven' for its biased portrayal of the Crusades, portraying Christians as barbarians and Muslims as peaceful. It argues that the popular understanding of the Crusades is incorrect and offers a detailed historical context to show that the Crusades were a response to centuries of Islamic conquests and aggression. The video highlights the moral justification and significant achievements of the Crusades, asserting that they were a crucial defense of Christendom and a historic accomplishment. The video concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the true history of the Crusades.

Takeaways

• 📜 The film 'Kingdom of Heaven' portrays the Crusades with a biased depiction, presenting Christian Crusaders as barbaric and their Islamic opponents as intelligent and peaceful.
• 🕌 The Crusades were initiated in 1096 by Catholic Europeans to retake the Holy Land and spread Christianity.
• ⚔️ The Crusades are often misunderstood and misrepresented in popular narratives as unjust religious wars initiated by Christians.
• 🌍 Before the Islamic conquests, the Middle East and North Africa were predominantly Christian regions.
• ⛪ The Islamic expansion in the mid-600s led to the loss of Christian territories in the Middle East and North Africa.
• 🚢 Islamic piracy in the Mediterranean significantly disrupted European commerce and trade, contributing to Europe's economic hardships during the so-called Dark Ages.
• 🔔 The call for the First Crusade was made by Pope Urban II in 1095, emphasizing the defense of Christendom and the end of internal conflicts among Christians.
• 🌐 The Crusades united Europeans of various nationalities and social statuses under a common religious cause, a unique phenomenon in history.
• 🏰 Despite the challenges, the First Crusade was a success, with Christian forces capturing Jerusalem and establishing Crusader states in the Middle East.
• ⚖️ The Crusades, although not always successful, were a significant defense mechanism for Christendom and delayed the Islamic threat to Europe for centuries.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is a defense and explanation of the Crusades, arguing that they were morally justified and a significant historical achievement.

How does the script describe the portrayal of the Crusades in popular media?

The script describes the portrayal of the Crusades in popular media as negative, often depicting Christian Crusaders as bloodthirsty barbarians and their Islamic opponents as intelligent and peaceful.

What historical period does the video script focus on?

The video script focuses on the period around the Crusades, starting with the events leading up to the First Crusade in 1095 and covering the broader context of Christian-Islamic conflicts.

What was the geopolitical context before the First Crusade according to the script?

Before the First Crusade, the Christian world had been significantly affected by Islamic conquests, losing key territories in the Middle East and North Africa, facing internal strife, and dealing with Islamic piracy that disrupted trade and commerce.

How does the script explain the initial spread of Islam?

The script explains that Islam spread through conquests led by Arab warlords from the Arabian Peninsula, rapidly expanding and conquering Christian territories in the Middle East and North Africa.

What prompted Pope Urban II to call for the First Crusade?

Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in response to the urgent appeals from the Byzantine Empire, which was under severe threat from Islamic forces, and to reclaim the Holy Land and protect Christian pilgrims.

What achievements of the Crusades does the script highlight?

The script highlights several achievements of the Crusades, including the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade, the establishment of Crusader states in the Middle East, and the defense of Europe against Islamic expansion.

What reasons does the script give for the decline of Christianity in the Middle East and North Africa?

The script attributes the decline of Christianity in the Middle East and North Africa to Islamic policies that imposed heavy taxes on Christians, shut down churches, and enslaved many Christians, leading to a significant reduction in the Christian population over time.

How does the script view the relationship between the Crusades and modern perceptions of religious conflict?

The script views the relationship as distorted, arguing that modern perceptions unfairly demonize the Crusades and ignore the historical context and motivations behind them.

What does the script suggest about the impact of the Crusades on European unity and identity?

The script suggests that the Crusades played a crucial role in uniting Europeans of various ethnicities and backgrounds under a common religious cause, fostering a sense of collective identity and purpose that had lasting historical significance.

Outlines

00:00

🎬 Kingdom of Heaven and Historical Misconceptions

In 2005, the film 'Kingdom of Heaven' was released, depicting the Crusades, a historical conflict between Christians and Muslims. The film portrays Christian Crusaders as bloodthirsty and Muslims as intelligent and peaceful. Director Ridley Scott, an atheist, may have influenced this portrayal. The popular narrative, reinforced by documentaries, views the Crusades as an evil chapter in history. This video aims to challenge this understanding, arguing that the Crusades were morally justified and a historic achievement.

05:01

🗺️ The Spread of Christianity and Islamic Conquests

By 600 A.D., Christianity had spread widely, including in the Middle East and North Africa. However, in the mid-600s, Islamic conquests began, dramatically altering the region's religious landscape. The Christian Byzantine Empire and the Zoroastrian Sassanid Empire were weakened by wars, making them vulnerable to Islamic invasions. This led to significant losses for Christianity, including the Holy Land. The concept of jihad further fueled Islamic expansion, impacting Christian societies deeply, including slavery and heavy taxation.

10:01

⚔️ The Emergence and Justification of the Crusades

The Mediterranean became unsafe due to Islamic piracy, damaging the European economy. The sacking of Saint Peter's in Rome and Islamic expansion in Iberia provoked Christian responses. The Byzantine Empire, unable to resist Islamic invasions, sought help from the Catholic West. Pope Urban II's call for the First Crusade in 1095 was a response to these threats, aiming to reclaim the Holy Land and defend Christendom. The Crusades united Europeans of various backgrounds under a common cause, showcasing the Catholic Church's unique ability to mobilize a multinational effort.

Keywords

💡Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated by Catholic Europeans in the medieval period, aiming to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslim control. In the video, the Crusades are portrayed as misunderstood events, with the narrator arguing they were morally justified and a significant historical achievement for Christendom.

💡Kingdom of Heaven

'Kingdom of Heaven' is a 2005 film directed by Ridley Scott, depicting the Crusades. The video criticizes the film for its portrayal of Christian Crusaders as barbaric and Muslims as peaceful, arguing that this representation is biased and oversimplified.

💡Holy Land

The Holy Land refers to a region in the Middle East, including Jerusalem, that is significant for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The video discusses how the Crusades were launched to reclaim this area from Muslim control, highlighting its importance to Christian Europeans.

💡Islamic conquests

Islamic conquests refer to the series of military expansions by Muslim forces in the 7th and 8th centuries, which resulted in the spread of Islam across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe. The video argues that these conquests displaced Christian populations and justified the Crusades as a defensive response.

💡Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the eastern continuation of the Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople. In the video, the Byzantine Empire's appeal for help against Muslim invasions is presented as a crucial factor leading to the First Crusade.

💡Pope Urban II

Pope Urban II was the head of the Catholic Church who called for the First Crusade in 1095. The video emphasizes his role in rallying European Christians to defend the Holy Land and aid the Byzantine Empire, framing it as a just and necessary action.

💡Jihad

Jihad, in the context of the video, refers to the Islamic concept of holy war. The narrator uses this term to explain the motivations behind Muslim conquests and to argue that the Crusades were a defensive response to centuries of Islamic expansion.

💡Reconquista

The Reconquista was a centuries-long effort by Christian kingdoms in Spain to reclaim territory from Muslim rulers. The video mentions this as an example of a successful Crusade, where Christian forces eventually regained control of the Iberian Peninsula.

💡Seljuk Turks

The Seljuk Turks were a Muslim dynasty that invaded and conquered parts of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. Their advances into Anatolia and persecution of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land are cited in the video as key events prompting the First Crusade.

💡Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Central Europe. The video highlights the Sixth Crusade led by Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire, who successfully negotiated the peaceful transfer of Jerusalem back to Christian control.

Highlights

The film Kingdom of Heaven, released in 2005, portrays the Christian Crusaders as bloodthirsty barbarians while depicting their Islamic opponents as intelligent and peaceful.

Ridley Scott, the director of the film, is an atheist, which may influence the portrayal of the Crusades.

The popular understanding of the Crusades is often seen as a uniquely evil chapter in human history, with Christians attacking the peaceful Islamic world.

The video aims to challenge this narrative and argue that the Crusades were morally justified and a historic achievement.

Around 600 AD, Christianity had spread to the Middle East and North Africa, areas that are now predominantly Muslim.

Islam expanded by conquest from the mid-600s, significantly altering the demographics of the Middle East and North Africa.

Islamic conquests resulted in the Christian inhabitants of these regions becoming second-class citizens and many being taken as slaves.

Islamic piracy disrupted Mediterranean trade, severely impacting the European economy and contributing to the so-called Dark Ages.

The first call for a crusade came in 846 after an Arabic expedition sacked Saint Peter's in Rome.

By the late 900s, the Seljuk Turks were expanding into Anatolia, causing significant losses for the Byzantine Empire.

Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095 to retake the Holy Land and defend Christendom.

The First Crusade was a significant success, capturing Jerusalem and establishing Crusader states that lasted for a century.

The Sixth Crusade achieved the peaceful transfer of Jerusalem back to Christian control through diplomacy.

The Crusades secured Christendom's western flank and delayed Islamic expansion for several centuries.

The Christian Holy League eventually defeated the Ottoman Empire, demonstrating the long-term impact of the Crusades.

Transcripts

in 2005 the film Kingdom of Heaven was

released to the world the film takes

place during the major historical

conflict between the Christian world and

the Islamic world that we today call the

Crusades beginning in 1096 Catholic

Europeans embarked on quests to retake

the holy land and spread the faith to

new areas of the globe you would think

that in historical drama like this we

would get a fair portrayal of both sides

with the nuances of the conflict being

shown we don't the film portrays the

Christian Crusaders as bloodthirsty

barbarians while their Islamic opponents

are shown as intelligent and peaceful

now it should be said that Ridley Scott

the director of the film is an atheist

so we can see why he deliberately

decided to portray things this way but

regardless of Scott's motivation the

portrayal of the Crusades and Kingdom of

Heaven reflects how they've been

understood by a majority of westerners

for decades documentaries like the

History Channel's mankind the Story of

Us single out the Crusades as a uniquely

evil chapter of human in history I think

of all the wars fought over religion the

Crusades belong in their own category it

is one of the most shameful undertakings

ever embarked upon by our species

in all of these cases the same narrative

is presented one day crazy Christians

decided to attack the peaceful and

enlightened Islamic world just because

they could the events are held as a

staple of why we need separation of

church and state and why Catholicism

should have no place in government we're

led to believe that if Christians have

power again they'll start unnecessary

Wars of religion just like the Crusades

but in reality there are few events in

history more misunderstood than the

Crusades this is why I'm making this

video the popular understanding of the

Crusades is dead wrong and I'm here to

explain why in this video you'll be

finding out why the Crusades were not

only morally Justified but were actually

a historic achievement buckle up because

there's a lot to cover

[Music]

let's travel back in time to 600 a day

roughly 500 years before the first

crusade this is a map of the Christian

world at that time all the highlighted

areas show where Christianity had spread

and become the majority religion wait a

minute is that the Middle East and North

Africa yes it is these two areas used to

be Christian people today think of these

as Muslim lands but that was not always

the case it all began when Christianity

spread far and wide after being

legalized by Emperor Constantine the

Great with the Edict of Milan this led

to the christianization of both the

Western and Eastern Roman Empire even as

the western part of the empire fell to

barbarians Christianity remained and

most of the barbarians also converted so

if that happened in Europe what happened

in the Middle East and North Africa in

the mid-600s air warlord sprang it of

the Arabian Peninsula and began

conquering everything in their path they

brought with them their own religion

Islam and unlike European barbarians

they did not convert Christianity the

Middle East at the time was dominated by

two superpowers the Christian Eastern

Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire and

the zoroastrian sassanid Empire

unfortunately for them both they had

just fought each other in a gigantic War

lasting 25 years and it drained

themselves of Key Resources because of

this neither was prepared for the

invasions that hit them the byzantines

lost all of Africa in the Levant while

the assassinate Empire collapsed

completely the most important loss for

the Christian World though was the loss

of the Holy Land by 900 A.D Islam had

expanded by Conquest all the way to

France and southern Italy now I'm not

going to moralize about this conquest

and Wars of expansion have been common

all through history and Islam followed

in that same mold however Islam did take

things a step further with its concept

of jihad or holy war Muhammad was a

conqueror who took slaves and Islam has

sought to emulate his example ever since

as a note this is also why slavery has

always been common in the Islamic world

and continues to be practiced there to

this very day but regardless of the

morality of the Islamic conquests they

were nonetheless Invaders who invaded

the Christian World Christians in

conquered lands were second-class

citizens and many were taken as slaves

Christian inhabitants had to pay an

enormous tax called the Demi tax and

their churches were often shut down

because of Islamic policies over the

centuries Christianity in the Middle

East and North Africa shrunk from a

large majority to a tiny minority but it

actually gets even worse

foreign

Empire the Mediterranean Sea was a bread

basket of Commerce and trade the Romans

had successfully Stamped Out piracy and

created some of the safest waterways in

the entire world Islamic piracy brought

all of this to an end from bases in

North Africa and the Middle East they

turned the Mediterranean into an unsafe

hell hole this crashed the European

economy and made Europe a miserable

place for Commerce for almost 400 years

Islam's so-called Golden Age came at

Europe and Christianity's expense this

is the true reason that many consider

the year's 600 A.D to 1000 A.D a dark

age for Europe it was literally cut off

from the entire world and constantly

under attack it was in this hellish

environment that Christendom finally

started to have enough the first

Rumblings for a crusade came in 846 when

an Arabic expedition to Sicily sailed up

the Tiber River and sacked Saint Peters

in Rome a cyanide in France called for

Chris sovereigns to Rally against the

enemies of Christ and the Pope Leo IV

offered a Heavenly reward to those who

died fighting the Muslims but it was

around one thousand a day when things

really escalated on multiple fronts in

the west the Islamic caliphate of

Cordoba and Iberia began expanding North

it conquered burned and enslaved its way

through multiple Christian cities

including Barcelona and Leon it was this

expansion campaign that finally provoked

the Christian kingdoms to launch the

Reconquista to retake Iberia from Islam

but if things looked rough in Western

Christendom they were even worse in the

east in the late 900s a Central Asian

Muslim group called the seljuk Turks

began migrating into Anatolia in 1064

they completely conquered Armenia and

sacked its capital Ani the city never

recovered from this brutality and

remains a ruin to this very day almost

all of the Armenian population had to

migrate Southeast to Celestia creating

an entire New Kingdom called selician

Armenia in other words Islam had made

the Armenian Homeland unlivable the

Turks then turned their expansion into

the Byzantine Empire they began invading

Western Anatolia in droves the

byzantines tried to launch

counter-attacks but were ultimately

defeated at the Battle of Massacre after

this defeat Turks began Mass migrating

into Anatolia completely altering its

demographics another region of the

Christian world had just become Islamic

by force here's how historian John Jay

O'Neill describes the circumstances

these then are the major political

events which prefigured the First

Crusade within a span of 35 years the

Turks had seized control of Christian

territories larger than the entire

region of France and now they were a

real threat to Europe Now by this point

the Byzantine Empire realized it was

incapable of stopping the Islamic hordes

by itself Emperor Alexius kamninis made

a desperate appeal to the pope and

Western Christendom for Aid this was a

major deal because eastern and western

Christendom had been in Schism for

almost 50 years by this point the

Catholic pope and the Orthodox

Patriarchs did not get along to put it

lightly but the issue had become that

serious that they were now willing to

cooperate what made matters even more

urgent was that Turks had begun

persecuting Christian pilgrims in the

Holy Land priests like Peter The Hermit

who would become one of the greatest

Advocates of the Crusades witnessed this

firsthand

this is the geopolitical environment

that led to the First Crusade being

called now does it seem unreasonable

when you get all this other context this

is what Catholic Europeans knew about

Islam on the eve of the First Crusade

Muslims were enemies of Christ they

waged Wars against non-combatants and

enslaved women and children and they had

conquered all of Iberia Anatolia and

threatened France and Italy it was

important that this all happened at the

turn of the first Millennia by this time

the elites of Europe were finally

starting to become much wealthier and

better educated they were developing a

much stronger grasp of history and world

affairs Europe was safer and more

interconnected than any time since the

Roman Empire they were beginning to

truly understand just how much damage

Islam had done to the Christian world

and how much of a civilizational threat

it's still represented all the pieces

were now in place for the Crusades to be

launched

thank you

in 1095 the moment had arrived Pope

Urban II called for the First Crusade to

retake the holy land and drive back

Islam it would be the first of many an

excerpt from Urban's Crusade speech

reads your brethren who live in the East

are in urgent need of your help and you

must hasten to give them the aid which

has been promised them the heathens have

killed many and they have destroyed

churches and devastated the Greek Empire

if you permit them to continue with

impunity the faithful of God will be

much more widely attacked by them on

this account I or rather the Lord

beseech you as Christ's Heralds to

publish this everywhere and to persuade

all people of whatever rank to carry Aid

promptly to those Christians let

therefore hatred depart from among you

let your quarrels end let War cease and

let all dissensions and controversies

slumber

it's important to point out how Pope

Urban speech emphasized not only the

defense of Christendom but also the end

of internal Wars between Christian

kingdoms the pope envisioned an

International Brotherhood of Catholics

who fought not each other but their

external threats

in any case the call for Crusade was

extremely well received the news spread

through all of Europe like wildfire tens

of thousands of faithful Catholics all

across Europe answered the Pope's call

lowly peasants ambitious Knights even

Kings French English Flemish German

people from all walks of life and all

nationalities were inspired to fight for

Christendom it's not really appreciated

how much of an accomplishment that this

alone was it's really something entirely

unique in human history the Catholic

church had created a multinational

Network that United Europeans of all

stripes and ethnicities under a common

Faith with common goals so many

different Europeans being united by one

religion and engaging in a

civilization-wide struggle had not

happened before and has not happened

since Catholicism achieved what hundreds

of other religions and ideologies could

not and perhaps this is why our modern

secular system demonizes the Crusades

been looking back

now did every Crusade always go the best

it could have gone no of course not some

Crusades were huge successes like the

Reconquista While others were dismal

failures like The Fourth Crusade but

even the failures are understandable in

context Crusaders were going halfway

across the world to fight unfamiliar

enemies on their own home turf the

logistics of the Crusades alone were a

Monumental undertaking and despite all

these challenges the Christian forces

still often came out on top the First

Crusade could really only be qualified

as a roaring success Crusaders defeated

almost every Muslim army they

encountered and captured Jerusalem for

the first time in hundreds of years the

holy land was back under Christian

control the First Crusade also

established Crusader states that would

remain in the Middle East for another

century

one Crusade I personally like was the

sixth Crusade Jerusalem had fallen back

into Muslim hands but they had started

to fight each other in a civil war

Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman

Empire negotiated a peaceful transfer of

Jerusalem back into Christian rule

Jerusalem was retaken without a single

drop of blood being spilled a decisive

diplomatic Victory even if the Muslims

would eventually take it back as you can

tell during this time period it was hard

for just about anybody to hold on to

Jerusalem for long in the end the

Crusade secured christendom's Western

flank and bought its eastern flank

another 300 years it wasn't until the

emergence of the Ottoman Empire in the

1300s that Islam once again threatened

Europe but even when that happened

Crusaders once again went out to stop

them the crusade of nikopolis and the

crusade of Varna are two big examples of

this while they didn't succeed in

stopping the Ottomans they did show that

Christendom was still capable of uniting

to fight common threats in the name of

God and in the end 300 years later in

the 1600s hundreds ottoman power would

be broken by what was basically a

crusade the Christian holy League of

Austria Poland Venice and Russia United

to defeat the Ottomans and drive them

back from Europe despite all of this

some people say the Crusades failed but

did they Europe was Christian when the

Crusades were launched and it's still

majority Christian today one thousand

years later although it is secularizing

due to modernist ideologies ironically

it's only after the pope lost his power

to call Crusades that Christianity

started to decline in Europe

but when we look back at these events

history shows it's not a shameful

chapter of Catholic history but the

total opposite the Christian World

defended itself and spread the faith

abroad after hundreds and hundreds of

years of abuse and that ladies and

gentlemen is why the Crusades were

awesome indeed

this has been Pax and thank you so much

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always I will see you in the next video