The Glory of the Crusades

The Glory of the Crusades

S
TEVE
W
EIDENKOPF

The Glory of the Crusades

© 2014 Steve Weidenkopf

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To my beloved and devoted wife Kasey

If it’s half as good as the half we’ve known, here’s Hail! to the rest of the road.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
  
• Author Preface
  
• An Attack on the Crusades and the Church
  
• Birth of the Crusades
  
• Jerusalem
  
• Warrior-Monks, Preachers, and the Second Crusade
  
• The Sultan and the Kings
  
• Fiasco of the Fourth Crusade
  
• A Saint and a Sinner
  
• The End of the Crusader States
  
• Defending Christendom
  
• The Crusades and the Modern World
  
• Timeline of Crusades and Other Major Events
  
• Bibliography
  
• About the Author
  

Acknowledgments

I deeply thank my beautiful and wonderful wife Kasey who supported me in various ways throughout the completion of this work. I also sincerely thank my patient children, Maddie, Maximilian, Thérèse, Luke, Jeb, and Martin.

Thanks also to Todd Aglialoro for approaching me to write this book. Dan Lord’s editorial effort improved this book greatly. Dr. Kris Burns graciously allowed me to utilize space at the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College—without that sanctuary this work would not have been completed. I wish to give a hearty thanks to my friends who read and commented on the manuscript throughout this process and for their unwavering support and encouragement: for my dear friend, Joe Burns, thanks for being my wingman; and Greg Erkens, thank you for your honest critique and thoughtful discussions. I also wish to remember the work of Dr. Warren H. Carroll (1932–2011), Catholic historian and founder of Christendom College. His many works of Catholic history are inspiring.

Lastly, I give thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the great St. Bernard of Clairvaux whose intercession throughout this project enabled its completion.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge—and pray God we have not lost it—that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

Ronald Reagan, Pointe de Hoc, Normandy, June 6, 1984

Author
Preface

We have returned to the Levant, we have returned apparently more as masters than ever we were during the struggle of the Crusades—but we have returned bankrupt in that spiritual wealth which was the glory of the Crusades.

Hilaire Belloc,
The Crusades
, 1937

In our age the Crusades are described as barbaric, wasteful, shameful, and even sinful. Rarely are they called glorious. This is because the modern world embraces a false narrative about the Crusades. This false story, however much discredited by authentic modern scholarship, remains entrenched in the minds of the masses.

Yet it was not always so. During the Crusading movement these military events were mostly seen in a positive light throughout Christendom, with popes and saints exhorting Catholic warriors to engage in them. Warriors who participated in these armed pilgrimages did so for a multitude of reasons but primarily for the sake of their own salvation. The Crusades emerged from a feudal society that stressed personal relationships founded on honor, loyalty, and service to one’s vassal. Crusading knights invoked those virtues as they fought for Christ and the Church to recover ancient Christian territory stolen by Muslim conquerors.

The Crusades also emerged from an age in which faith permeated all aspects of society. This does not mean medieval Europe was heaven on earth or that Christendom was some idyllic utopia. But it was nonetheless an era in which people made radical life decisions because of their faith in Jesus Christ and his Church. Accordingly, the Crusading movement was a Catholic movement. Popes called for them, clerics (and saints) preached them, and Catholic warriors fought them for spiritual benefits. The Crusades cannot be properly understood apart from this Catholic reality.

Sadly, though, too many Catholics today seem more inclined to apologize for the Crusades rather than to embrace their glory.

Perhaps this is because the meaning of glory is not properly understood. The Old Testament can help provide us a proper understanding of glory. After Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt, they sinned against God by worshipping the golden calf. God wanted to destroy the Israelites for their idolatry but Moses interceded for the people and the Lord relented. Moses’ special relationship with God included the gift of being in the presence of the Lord in the meeting tent where Moses spoke to God face to face. Moses pleaded with God for his presence to remain with the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land so that the other nations would see their uniqueness.

Moses also begged the Lord to show him his glory (Ex. 33:18). The Hebrew word for “glory” used most often in the Old Testament is
kabod
, which means “heavy in weight.” To recognize the glory of something, therefore, means to acknowledge its importance or “weight.” Moses wanted the Lord’s glory to shine for the people in order that they would recognize the important act of their deliverance from bondage. To recognize the glory of the Crusades means not to whitewash what was ignoble about them, but to call due attention to their import in the life of the Church.

Perhaps by reclaiming the true Catholic narrative of the Crusades we may be emboldened to honor our Lord by proudly bearing the cross against modern enemies that threaten his Church no less than did the followers of Mohammed a millennium ago.

I

An Attack on the Crusades and the Church

The Roman pontiffs and the European princes were engaged at first in these crusades by a principle of superstition only, but when in the process of time they learnt by experience that these holy wars contributed much to increase their opulence and to extend their authority . . . [then] ambition and avarice seconded and enforced the dictates of fanaticism and superstition
.

Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693–1755), German Lutheran historian
1

Criticizing the Church is not a new phenomenon—it is almost as old as the Church itself. Attacks on the Church’s teachings and the persecution of its faithful are a mainstay of its history. However, what is relatively new is the misuse of historical events to undermine the Church and its teachings. This “historical attack” began in the fires of the Protestant Revolution but in the modern world has become a trite, overused tactic against the Church. Nonetheless, it has proven quite effective, as many people in today’s society (including, unfortunately, many Catholics) believe the false history presented by critics. Influenced by the media, Hollywood, and other outlets, popular perception of historical events reigns supreme even when that perception is completely at odds with historical reality.

The Importance of Learning Church History

The historical attack is largely successful because Catholics do not know their own history. This is not to fault the individual Catholic, since Church history is not often a subject taught in schools and universities—or, at least, it is not often well-taught. Still, knowing our history well helps us know who we are. Knowing our history badly will negatively influence our worldview and cloud our relationship with the Church.

It is also important to learn Church history in order to defend the Church against its critics. The accepted historical narrative presented in the English-speaking world is centered on a predominantly Protestant perspective. This perspective is not amenable to an authentic understanding of Catholic history. As a result, most Catholics throughout their educational careers are provided an English Protestant interpretation of historical events that warps and dismisses the Catholic story.
2
It is the necessary work of Catholic historians to undo the false aspects of this Protestant view as well as provide an authentic Catholic narrative in order to assist the faithful in defending the Church.

The Crusades

The Crusades are among the most misused and, by far, the most misunderstood endeavors in all Church history. In the minds of most modern people the very word “Crusade” conjures negative images of blood-thirsty, barbaric, and greedy European nobles setting out to conquer peaceful Muslims living in the Holy Land. These images are reinforced by the media, both in print and film. Hollywood last addressed the Crusades in the 2005 movie
Kingdom of Heaven,
which purports to tell the story of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the reign of Baldwin IV, the “Leper King.” The film’s storyline includes the dramatic Battle of Hattin and the siege and loss of Jerusalem to the Muslim general Saladin. Provided with such dramatic and engaging story arcs, the movie had the potential to be a true masterpiece and an example of authentic history on screen.

Unfortunately, the director and producers decided to rely on faulty and even damaging popular imaginations of the Crusades rather than on historical fact. Jonathan Riley-Smith, one of the foremost authorities on the Crusades today, remarked the film was “Osama bin Laden’s version of history.”
3
Although the film was highly anticipated, it did not do very well at the domestic US box office, taking in a mere $47 million (it cost $130 million to make).
4

It is extremely frustrating for serious scholars of the Crusades to witness these events thoroughly maligned and misrepresented in the media. However, the fact is “Crusading was always controversial,”
5
and there were many critics even throughout the Crusading movement itself. What is particularly aggravating about modern criticism is that despite the significant amount of serious scholarship over the last forty years, popular perception remains shaped by outdated and false images. As one modern Crusades historian recently remarked, “The Crusades remain one of the few subjects of professional history that carry wide popular recognition even if little serious understanding.”
6

A survey of this landscape of popular misconceptions about the Crusades reveals seven main myths, which this book will refute:

1. The Crusades were wars of unprovoked aggression.

2. The Crusaders were motivated primarily by greed and the prospect for plunder and riches.

3. When Jerusalem was liberated in 1099, the Crusaders killed all the inhabitants of the city—so much blood was spilled that it ran ankle deep.

4. The Crusades were colonial enterprises.