Analysis of The Crusades Edited by S. J. Allen and Emilie Amt - Essay Example

Crusades were holy wars to free Jerusalem, the holy city of Christians from the Turks’ occupation. After a request from Byzantine Emperor, Alexis II, Pope Urban II exhorted Christians from other European States to fight against the Turks.

After the sermon of the Pope, the Christians launched crusades against the Turks. The first text comprises an eyewitness account of the sermon of Pope Urban II and the details of the Crusade as given by various Christian eyewitnesses. Pope’s sermon has been embellished with lots of imagination and gory details of the mass killings of Christians by Turks in the city of Jerusalem. Robert, The Monk’s account of the Pope’s sermon is interspersed with gruesome details of the killing in order to incite Christians to take part in the war and avenge the desecration of the Church.

Baldric of Dol says that Pope had exhorted the Christians by telling them that ‘you may deem it a beautiful thing to die for Christ in that city in which he died for us’ (Allen and Amt, p44). Most importantly it tells that the crusaders not only fought for religious purposes but many had vested interests. Bohemond, a great warrior, had to be bribed by the Emperor with ‘land in extent from Antioch fifteen days’ journey and eight in width’ (Allen and Amt, p62). The text shows that the crusades against the Turks had defied human dignity with extreme brutality and violence.

Indeed, the Letter of Stephen of Bloise to his wife covers the religious fervor of the crusades and also describes the bloodshed and indiscriminate killing in the name of holy war. An Arab Syrian Gentleman and Warrior: Memoirs of Usamah gives insight into the Arab culture and shows a humane perspective of people who were viewed as barbarians during the period of the crusades. He gives personal accounts of his experience with Christians with whom he had maintained good relationships. Usamah’s memoirs are a critical part of Arab literature that presents a highly credible account of the good relations between the Moslems and the Christians in Jerusalem, even during the period of the crusades. It talks about a society where Franks and Moslems lived together in comparative harmony. In one of the poignant accounts, he says that a Frank (Christian) had once shown a picture of Mary with an infant on her lap to a Moslem and said, ‘this is God as a child’ (Hitti, p164).

The Crusades describe the gory details of the Holy war but Memoirs are distinct in their human relationship that also highlighted the period of the crusades. The Memoirs also show the cultural differences and inform that the Franks distinctly lacked jealousy in sex affairs, including married partners. In fact, as against The Crusades, the anecdotes of Usamah are written with lots of humor which makes it an extremely good read.