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

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The Book of Contemplation is very loosely structured, based more on concepts than on chronology or location. The narrative writing is prose, giving it the feeling of an old man’s ramblings, which it likely was. Throughout the memoir, Usama switches between curses and praises of the Franks, sometimes in the same stories. This might indicate that he felt obliged to demonstrate his enmity toward the Franks, when in actuality he may not have felt such strong animosity toward them. In some instances, Usama seems to attempt to relate a lesson or a moral, using the Franks as the negative subject of an exaggerated tale. The excerpts presented here provide some of Usama’s views of the Franks who were in the Middle East. These selections include stories about some of the Franks with whom Usama had direct interaction. Most of the stories in which the Franks are presented in a positive manner were taken from events to which Usama was a direct witness. Conversely, most of the stories that belittle the Franks were secondhand.

“Usama’s Family Delivered. The Franks Seize His Property.”

In this section Usama is in the service of Nureddin (called “Nur al-Din” in the excerpt), the son and heir of Zangi, who rules Mosul, Iraq, on behalf of the Abbasid leader. Having left his family in Egypt when he went to Syria to work for Nureddin, Usama seeks Nureddin’s assistance in relocating his family. Although Usama mentions only his household and his sons, his household would have included the women of his family, his sons, male and female servants, and all of their personal belongings. Islamic decorum prevented direct discussion of female relatives. Ibn Ruzzik, the governor of southern Egypt with whom Usama corresponds, fears for the family’s safety at the hands of the Franks and encourages Usama to return to Egypt, offering him the rulership of the frontier city of Aswan instead. Nurredin questions why Usama would consider returning to Egypt and “all her troubles.” (Usama had tried to intervene on behalf of a fellow Syrian imprisoned in Egypt after a coup attempt and may have feared retribution.) Nureddin offers to send a message to the king of the Franks, Baldwin III of Jerusalem, requesting the safety of Usama’s family. Baldwin sends back a document sealed with a cross, identifying the document as having come from him and granting safe passage for the family. It is unclear from the text whether the Frankish ship leaving Damietta, on the Egyptian coast, was provided solely for the transportation of Usama’s family, but based on the account provided by Usama, it seems possible that it was and that there was a plan to sink it in order to acquire their possessions. According to Usama, Baldwin III justified the event by arguing that such was the norm among the Muslims.

Indeed, this story may not be entirely true but perhaps was a means for Usama to vilify the Frankish king. It is clear throughout the story and especially by his cursing Baldwin that Usama did not hold the current Frankish king in high regard, despite the fact that there had been a close personal relationship between Usama’s family and Baldwin’s father, Fulk of Jerusalem. At the time of the shipwreck near Acre, a city on the Israeli coast, Usama was in eastern Anatolia with Nureddin, campaigning against the Seljuks. Usama concludes the story by reaffirming his faith in God and Fate, thankful for the safety of his family, but several decades later still lamenting the loss of his library. This first selection is notable because it is a clear portrayal of the negative traits of the Franks, in particular their lack of honesty and their untrustworthiness.

“The ‘Wonders’ of the Frankish Race”

Earlier in the memoir, Usama tells the reader about specific events that occurred during the Crusades. At this point, however, he changes his focus to describing the crusaders, their traits, and, in his view, their lack of morality. The title, “The ‘Wonders’ of the Frankish Race,” seems to imply a positive view of the Franks. Possibly a comparable and more accurate term for Usama’s point of view would be mysteries; throughout the text Usama relates the negative aspects as well as the positive. He refers to the Franks as “mere beasts” because he feels that, like animals, they are good at fighting but lack morality. Throughout the text Usama occasionally dehumanizes the Franks by making such remarks because they are enemies, and dehumanizing enemies makes it easier to fight them. However, it is clear from other selections of the memoir that Usama held some Franks in esteem, even if he did not always agree with them or understand their actions.

“The Franks’ Lack of Intelligence: An Invitation to Visit Europe”

This short story is about one of King Fulk’s European knights who became a close friend of Usama, and it demonstrates the friendly relations that occasionally existed between Arabs and Franks. The story also reveals that even the soldiers who settled in the Holy Land and interacted with the Muslims failed to learn about their culture. When the knight prepares to return to Europe, he offers to take Usama’s son along in order to provide the boy with “reason and chivalry.” The knight assumes that Europe has a superior and broader education to offer Usama’s son, while in fact at the time, Islamic philosophy and scientific knowledge surpassed that in Europe; it was Arab translations of Greco-Roman intellectual pursuits that reintroduced the knowledge to Europe. The request is an insult to Usama, albeit an unintentional one, because Usama has a gentlemanly education, and many of his actions related throughout his memoir exemplify Islamic and Christian ideals. Just as Christian knights had a code of chivalry, so too did Muslim warriors. Usama responds to the suggestion in a polite manner by agreeing to the basis of the proposal but then explaining that it is not possible to accept because the boy’s grandmother is waiting for their return. By offering the excuse of his mother, Usama avoids the situation, and the knight agrees that a mother should not be disobeyed.

“The Marvels of Frankish Medicine”

In this story, the ruler of al-Munaytira, a town in Lebanon, requests of Usama’s uncle the use of a physician. Usama’s uncle employs a Christian physician named Thabit, further demonstrating that there were many levels of intersocietal relations. Thabit diagnoses a woman as having “dryness of humours,” indicating that the Arab-Christian doctor practiced ancient Greek and Roman medicine based upon a balance of the four humors: blood, phlegm (mucus), black bile, and yellow bile. According to the medical practice, an imbalance in one of four humors resulted in illness. A dryness of humors would have referred to an imbalance of either yellow or black bile. The Arab doctor prescribes a special diet to balance the woman’s humors, and it is successful until she resumes her normal diet. The Frankish doctor, failing to connect the resumption of previous eating habits to the illness, discredits Doctor Thabit and adopts a new treatment plan that results in the woman’s death. The story also tells of a knight with a leg abscess, or open wound, who likely would have recovered following Thabit’s remedy; however, the Frankish doctor intervenes and crudely amputates the leg, causing the knight’s death. What particularly surprises Usama is the Frankish doctor’s reliance on herbs and the lack of diagnostic measures as well as the absence of hygienic medical practices that were then common in the Middle East.

In opposition, Usama offers an example of sound Frankish medical practices. King Fulk’s treasurer, Bernard, is injured by a horse. Presumably Bernard or someone who worked for him has applied ointments to the wound, but the Frankish doctor advises the patient to use vinegar as a disinfectant to clean the wound. This remedy heals the wound, despite Usama’s hope that Bernard would die from the injury. A second example of effective Frankish medical practice also reveals positive personal traits among Franks. Abu al-Fath’s son has festering sores on his neck. A Frankish man sees the boy and offers the father a remedy, on the condition that he not profit from the knowledge. This stipulation suggests that the Frank was a monk or a priest, as clerics were often called upon to treat ailments but would not accept money for helping someone in need. The remedy of glasswort (an herb), oil, and vinegar proves effective, and Usama himself treats people with this bit of Frankish medicine.

“Newly Arrived Franks Are the Roughest”

As does the story about Frankish medicine, this tale presents both positive and negative views of the Franks. Usama refers to the Knights Templars as his friends; they obviously respect him and clear out Christians from the mosque so that he can pray. They also intervene on his behalf when a newly arrived Frank interrupts his prayers. The Frank, who tells Usama to face east during his prayers, is uninformed. The medieval European tradition held that during prayer, Christians should face east, toward the Holy Land. Although Muslims initially prayed facing toward Jerusalem, they soon began praying toward Mecca. Mecca is south of Jerusalem, so Usama would have been facing south. Jerusalem is the third-holiest site of the Islamic faith, and as such a mosque of great importance is located there—on Temple Mount. Al-Aqsa Mosque (the Farthest) is so named because during the prophet Muhammad’s life it was the mosque located the farthest distance from Mecca, which is the holiest site in Islam. To commemorate Muhammad’s night journey to heaven, a shrine, the Dome of the Rock, was also built in the same location.

“When God Was Young”

This event, in which a Frank offers to show the Arab leader Muin al-Din and Usama a picture of “God when He was young,” is insulting to Usama because according to Islamic theology, the Christian’s implication that God and Jesus are the same being offends both God and Jesus. While Muslims revere Jesus and count him as one of the primary prophets, they do not believe that it is possible for Jesus, or anyone else, to be an embodiment of God.

“Franks Have No Honour or Propriety”

Among Arabs the protection and preservation of personal and familial honor was of immense concern, and the examples of impropriety that Usama provides here would have been of great offense to an extended family as well as to the persons involved. Because there is a close connection between honor and courage, two highly valued traits among Arabs, Usama expresses amazement that the Franks can have one but not the other. In the first example, Frankish women and men freely socialize in public, which would not have taken place among the Muslims. The second story, which Usama claims to have witnessed, tells of a man in Nablus, Palestine, who returns home and finds his wife and another man in bed. The cuckolded husband tells the other man that should such an event occur again, they would “have an argument.” It seems implausible that the first two stories are true; they are more like exaggerated rumors meant to shock the reader by illustrating the lack of morals among the Franks.

The second story, in which a bathhouse keeper from Ma’arra, Syria, tells of what he witnessed of Franks in the bathhouse, expresses both Usama’s surprise at and curiosity toward the crusaders. The story comes secondhand from one Salim, the bathhouse keeper, who tells Usama about a crusader who wanted to have his pubic hair shaved. Afterward, the crusader decided that he would like to have his wife similarly shaved, so he has an attendant fetch her, and Salim shaves her. In the Arab world it was unacceptable for a man to touch a woman who was not related to him, and it is shocking to hear of a man touching the most private body part of a woman, even if her husband was standing beside her.

In the final story, a woman accompanies her father to a bathhouse so that he can wash her hair. Despite the dishonor of allowing a daughter into a male bathhouse, Usama is touched by his affection for the motherless girl and the father’s duty toward her. In the Middle Ages it would have been exceptionally rare for a widowed father to care for his daughter himself instead of relying on relatives or charitable institutions. Usama’s companion lifts the woman’s skirt to determine her gender, an unusual act, as the man supposedly lifts the skirt of a stranger. A skirt alone would not have indicated gender because men and women wore a similar one-piece, floor-length robe or gown. Usama presents the father’s concern for his daughter as an example of the occasional high regard in which he held Franks.

“Another Example of Their Medicine”

Told by the ruler of Tiberias, this story involves a sick knight, who is suffering. A priest is summoned to treat the man. Instead of treating the patient, the priest plugs his nose with wax, causing the man to suffocate; the priest justifies his action by stating, “‘He was in great pain.’” It is unclear from the text whether Usama is taken aback by the death of the knight at the hands of a priest. However, because this story follows a tale of compassion, about the widower and his daughter in the bathhouse, it is more likely that Usama supported the action but may have been surprised by it.

“Two Old Women Race”

In Tiberias, Usama witnesses the Franks abusing two old women by having them race each other to win the prize of a roasted pig. Despite its comical elements, this story has an important implied significance. Within Arab society there was great respect for elders, especially in terms of honor and preserving honor. Usama is quite shocked by the manner in which the two old women are treated because had such an incident occurred among the Arabs, the family members of the old women would have been viewed scornfully by others.

“Examples of Frankish Jurisprudence”

Usama is obviously unimpressed with what he sees as the Frankish judicial system and how it resorts to barbaric duels and superstitious trials. What he does not account for is the fact that the crusader states were a less structured system than what existed at that time in Europe. The two examples that Usama relates may have been more the exception than the norm. When two men—a blacksmith and an old man—duel, Usama views the event as a misuse of power by the vicomte as well as disrespect of the elderly. In the story of a blind man who asks Muin al-Din for assistance, Usama explains that the man was blinded by the Franks as punishment for robbing and killing Christian pilgrims. While Usama expresses horror at the punishment given, a Muslim court would have imposed a similar sentence for robbery and murder. In the blinded man’s story, it is not clear if his request to become a horseman instead of a religious scholar is meant in jest or as an example of overcoming adversity.

“Franks That Are Acclimatized Are Better”

These stories are related to Usama by someone who serves him. The servant goes with Usama’s friend Tadrus ibn al-Saffi to the home of an old Frankish knight. Seeing that Usama’s servant is hesitant to eat for fear of violating Islamic dietary laws, the knight says that he uses only an Egyptian cook and does not allow pork, a restricted food for Muslims, in his home. Later, when the servant is walking in the street, in a case of mistaken identity, he is accused of having killed a knight, but the old knight comes to his rescue by telling the crowd that the servant is not a warrior and had not been part of the battle in question.