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    Crusades reltionship with Muslims and christians

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    Johanna Urwin

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    Crusades reltionship with Muslims and christians

    Uploaded by

    Johanna Urwin
    4 views2 pages

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    4 views2 pages

    Crusades reltionship with Muslims and christians

    Uploaded by

    Johanna Urwin

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    They weren't all battles and bloodshed.

    There was also


    coexistence, political compromise, trade, scientific
    exchange—even love.
    There were no doubt wars and bloodshed, but that wasn’t the only
    or dominant story. There was also coexistence, political
    compromise, trade, scientific exchange, love. We have poetry and
    chronicles with evidence of mixed marriages.

    So they were actually sharing sacred sites that, in theory, they


    were supposed to be fighting over?

    Back then, there was a more collective approach to sanctity of


    space. The Islamic theory said, “we should fight these people and
    protect the Holy Land.” But in practice, they were willing to share.
    We know for a fact that when the crusaders came, most Muslims did
    not raise a finger. And to a large extent, the crusaders didn’t
    interfere with Muslim religious space.
    No sooner did the crusaders infiltrate, they were accepted into the
    political landscape as any others that came: with alliances, wars,
    treaties, commerce. We have letters from Saladin to the king of
    Jerusalem, Baldwin III, that convey friendship and deep alliances.
    The relationship wasn’t dogmatic, it was pragmatic.
    What did Muslims think of Templar knights?
    PC: They were aware of the Templars’ special status as elite holy
    warriors and considered them their most fearsome Frankish
    opponents. They also saw them as principled, fanatically loyal and
    unwaveringly fierce. It’s a backhanded compliment that after the
    battle of Hattin in 1187—the great defeat of the Franks at the hands
    of Saladin, who was usually magnanimous—he insisted the Templar
    prisoners be executed because they were seen as such a dire
    threat.
    Source
    On the other side, Usama Ibn Munqidh tells the story of a Frank,
    recently arrived to the Holy Land, who harassed him about how he
    was praying when he was in a Templar chapel. And the Templars
    apologized and helped Usama. Hosting him to pray was part of a
    diplomatic code.

    The Muslim-Christian relationship in the Middle Ages was highly


    destructive. Both sides wanted to vanquish each other on the basis
    of religious differences.

    Christians and Muslims fought a number of wars, betrayed each


    other, broke the agreements and they slaughtered millions of
    people. The major reasons for the quarrel included the disputes over
    the Holy Land, Jerusalem, and Constantinople.

    When Christian Crusaders captured Jerusalem they killed all the


    Muslims in the city. Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians also
    made attempts to convert Muslims into Christians with gifts, gold
    and other valuables but It is strange to say after collecting all the
    gifts those converts were soon found again in mosques worshipping
    and reading Quran.

    Muslims often treated Christians better by giving them rights. In


    1229 when the Muslims were again victorious in the holy land of
    Jerusalem, they didn’t harm any Christian citizens. They allowed
    them to follow their religion, but they have to pay higher taxes
    (Jaziya) than Muslims.

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