Why The Crusades Were Awesome, Actually
Summary
TLDRThe 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
🎬 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.
🗺️ 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.
⚔️ 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Crusades
💡Kingdom of Heaven
💡Holy Land
💡Islamic conquests
💡Byzantine Empire
💡Pope Urban II
💡Jihad
💡Reconquista
💡Seljuk Turks
💡Holy Roman Empire
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
for watching if you'd like to see more
videos please consider supporting the
channel also leave a comment letting me
know your thoughts on everything as
always I will see you in the next video
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