October 21, 1150

THE CRUSADERS WEEKLY

Eastern Mediterranean Now in Turmoil, What do the People Think?
The Crusades from the perspective of three inhabitants of the Middle East
By: Mark Whitney Three people living in the Middle East, wishing to remain anonymous, have decided to submit their viewpoints on the Crusades, which pin the Christians against the Muslims. One of our interviewees described his reaction of the first crusade to occur, the Peoples Crusade. Permitting us to disclose his occupation, this former Muslim soldier was completely surprised and perplexed by the arrival of an army of peasants led by a monk, known as Peter the Hermit. He had this to say on the occasion, The stupidity of their army astonished me. I never faced such a disorganized, ill-equipped army in my life as a soldier. To understand

The stupidity of their army astonished me. I never faced such a disorganized, ill-equipped army in my life as a soldier.
-A Soldier, Peoples Crusade, 1096

I saw the Crusaders slaughter hundreds of men, women, and children when they first entered Jerusalem.
-A Citizen, First Crusade, 1096-99

this reaction, it would only make sense to explain what happened first. The monk, Peter, led a group of European commoners, consisting of men, women, and children, across Byzantium and into Turkey. Due to their lack of military authority and weapons, Turkish forces absolutely destroyed these invaders. They killed thousands and even before this battle, thousands had already died because of the lack of supplies. This citizen, the soldier, as well as the other Muslims in the area, were flabbergasted that this was the Europeans first step. It caused them to laugh humiliatingly believing that the Crusaders thought a bunch of peasants could defeat the Muslims. For the meantime, they disregarded any sense of a Crusade because of how preposterous this first attempt was. The second person interviewed is a Muslim civilian, present during the attack of the First Crusade. She provided an exact opposite response to the Crusades in comparison to the Muslim soldier. She witnessed the appalling brutality of the assault

They stood no chance against us. And thats exactly what happened. We humiliated them entirely in our victory, turning their hope of success into a complete failure.
-King of Damascus, Second Crusade, 1147-49

on the city of Jerusalem during the Crusaders attempt to siege it. Frightened and sickened, she described that she saw the Crusaders slaughter hundreds of men, women, and children when they first entered Jerusalem. This site made her realize that the Christians were indeed serious about their mission despite the incident with the Peoples Crusade. It also forced her and her fellow citizens to respect these invaders, while at the same time causing them to feel despair and disappointment because of the Muslim loss. However, the negativity of the event also led to unity amongst the Muslims to ultimately defeat the Crusaders. Our last respondent is the actual king of Damascus, who recently defended his city from oncoming Christian forces of the Second Crusade. Attempting again to defeat the Muslims, kings, specifically Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, led

their troops into the Middle East. First, the Turks destroyed Conrads army at Dorylaeum, located in Anatolia. The defeat was then followed by Damascuss king and his Muslim forces embarrassingly trouncing the Crusaders last efforts to conceal a victory during this Crusade. The king of Damascus described his feelings in his statement, They stood no chance against us. And thats exactly what happened. We humiliated them entirely in our victory, turning their hope of success into a complete failure. This gave joy and happiness to the Muslims because it was such an easy win. Also, the Crusader States, established after the First Crusade, were weakening in the Middle East. This allowed for the Muslims to begin taking them over. The humiliation proved that the Muslims had the power to suppress these crusades. Overall, the Muslims felt strong about their chances of winning and because of their victories, were in high spirits while the Crusades were occurring. The only exception, of course, is the First Crusade, but the other instances showed that the Christians were no match for the Muslims.

Bibliography Carroll, Vincent, and Thomas F. Madden. "The Crusades and Islam." Crethi Plethi The Middle East. N.p., 19 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. (Crusades picture) "Crusades." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013. de la Sierra, Joaquin. "The Second Crusade." Medievality.com. N.p., 29 Nov. 2008. Web. 9 Jan. 2013. "First Crusade." Medieval Life and Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.