Usama ibn Munqidh: “A Muslim View of the Crusaders”

Context

The onset of Islam in the early seventh century decimated the Sassanian Empire in Iran and Iraq, and it greatly reduced the power of the Byzantine Empire. Within the region, the Byzantine Empire was known as “Rum” because it was a continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Middle East up until the time of the Crusades, populations of many religions and sects largely coexisted. By the late eleventh century the Byzantine Empire, based in the city of Constantinople, was faced with the encroaching threat of the Turks from the east. In 1071 the Byzantines were defeated at the Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt), thereby allowing the Turks to establish a stronghold within Anatolia. In 1095 the Byzantine Empire sought military assistance from the papacy to battle the Turks, marking the start of Pope Urban II’s plan to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims. Jerusalem is a city of three religions, and each holds it in high regard. For Jews it holds the site (Temple Mount) where God is said to have gathered the dust to create Adam, the first human being, and where two Jewish temples were consecutively built in ancient times—both long ago destroyed. For Christians, Jerusalem is where the Passion of Jesus took place and thus is the holiest site in Christianity. For Muslims, Jerusalem is the place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven (from Temple Mount) on a night journey with the angel Gabriel.

In a tour of France in 1095, Pope Urban II expanded upon the Byzantine call for assistance and preached the need for Christians to go to the Holy Land to liberate it from the Muslims. That same year the Council of Clermont proclaimed the Crusade. The members of the First Crusade were mostly nonwarriors who had answered Urban’s call, and there was little coordination and cohesion among the crusaders. En route to the Holy Lands, they pillaged Constantinople and Byzantine lands, creating much tension between the Orthodox Christian and Catholic populations. However, a group of crusaders reached the city of Jerusalem and captured it in 1099. At this point some of the European nobility who had come on the Crusade settled and established crusader states throughout the Holy Land. Although the crusaders came from all around Europe, they were collectively called the Franks; they did not refer to themselves as crusaders, and in fact this term was not used until centuries after the Crusades occurred. Modern historians have numbered the Crusades, but the campaign spanned two hundred years, during which tensions rose, great battles were fought, and cities were conquered and reconquered. Simultaneously, trade relations between ethnic groups thrived, Europeans were reintroduced to Greco-Roman philosophy, and interreligious friendships and marriages took place. The period involved changes and growing influence on both sides. When Usama wrote his memoirs, the Islamic Middle East, under the leadership of Saladin, was in the early stages of retaking lands from the crusaders. As a witness to the events of the previous century, Usama must have recognized the significance of what was happening.