The "European" Crusades

 

The Real Crusades

World history is shrouded in blurry mist.  One of the principal reasons is that so many protagonists had written different versions of it.  By researching many of these versions, I had been able to triangulate a version that fits logic and common sense.  In this assay I portrait a version of the Crusades that does not fit conventional “wisdom” in any European society.

Although, in the West, we recognize as real the events that occurred between the years 1098-1250 as a series of military incursions from Europe to the Levant, nobody else does.  The two main powers in the region were the Romans and the Fatimids.  While most western historians and even universities teach that the Romans seized to exist back in the year 450, it is true that Constantine I, emperor of Rome, moved the capital to Byzantium in the year 321 renaming it New Rome de-facto continuing Roman history for another millennium. The term “Byzantine” is modern and never did Romans in Constantinople called themselves that way. 

The Fatimids had reinforcements from Moors, Seljuks, and other Muslims; Taifas, Emirates and Caliphates.  Being outnumbered, Romans requested reinforcements from other Christian powers like the Aragonese, Venetians and Catholics.  There is a well translated and preserved record when reinforcements from Northern Europe arrived and reported to Emperor Alexius I Komnenos.  Nothing else is said about them other than they were ill equipped, poorly trained, and barbaric in nature.  Muslim accounts recount the same adjectives never mentioning by name any of the accepted European commanders.  Not even King Baldwin of Jerusalem or the rest of the European generals.

The Theater of War deviates a lot from what Europeans teach.  The Christian-Muslim “Crusades” happened in Iberia, Venetia, and the Levant, not just in Jerusalem.  Also, the main forces at war were local Romans and Fatimids with foreign reinforcements.

There are other logical obstacles to Northern Europeans playing a key role in the “Crusades”.  I cannot imagine hundreds of thousands of Nordics riding on horseback from France or Germany to the scorching hot Levant.  It is impossible physically as well as logistically.  Northern Europe, at the time, was an extremely poor and primitive region.  Writing, arts, and other means of communications were neglectable and only practiced by monks in an extinct language: Latin. 

After reading Roman and Muslim accounts, I could not find any cease fires or truce agreements between the warring kingdoms.  All happened randomly.  Yes, Romans did take Jerusalem, but Muslims kept Al Andaluz and Venetians kept Muslim forces at bay.  Strangely enough, Jerusalem fell to Muslims eventually but remained neutral having Muslim as well as Persian and Christian communities.  Freedom of religion was imperative in Jerusalem. 

I must address the European issue because they distorted history so bad that is imperative to clarify the facts.  As I stated before, Europeans did not play a significant role in these wars.  Yet, in Europe, we have heroes, major players and even places and kingdoms belonging to them, in the Levant.  The kingdom of Jerusalem and King Baldwin most specifically.  Also, there are the Knight Templars.  Why this illogical version is the one accepted by Westerners now?  I will explain as a conclusion.

Europeans of the 12^th century (1098) were beginning a renaissance from the end of Romans in Europe.  It was impossible to accept that Romans did not cease to exist.  Therefore, they told their citizens that “Crusaders” were going to recover the Holy Land from Muslims.  There was no media back then, so European common citizens had only one version to learn from.  They believed their kings.  Every war needs heroes, so they created an elite clerical force called The Templars (guardians of the temple).  As far as lay people in Europe knew, courageous European knights marched to the Levant to fight in the name of God. 

When European reinforcements left the Levant to go home, they grabbed everything they could from the area.  Chalices, chests, pieces of rare wood, jewelry, stained cloth, and even a jarred baby prepusium. All those “relics” came to enhance every church or mansion of donors to the “Crusades”.  Even today, the prepusium of “Jesus” is claimed to be in many churches in Europe (many?). 

Unluckily for the former “heroes” of the Crusades, the Templars, they knew the truth.  For that reason, I argue, they were exterminated one by one, and their knowledge silenced.  The European Crusades served one purpose and one purpose only: the recollection of charity and goods to support the Crusaders that may or may not had gone to the Levant.  This hoax lasted for decades until the heroes had to be exterminated.  Some even say that the bank used to keep all this wealth could still be found in Switzerland. 

This war of misinformation can still be seen in Europe and the US during the Iraq War and the Conflict in Ukraine.

Please, do comment and debunk my hypothesis.  I will be more than glad to have a civilized discussion about all my claims.

 jrs