You cannot evangelize about the beautiful history of the Catholic Church for very long without talking about the Crusades. This is often cited as a dark moment in the Church's history in which they ruthlessly attempted to invade the Holy Land, and capture it from the poor and innocent Muslims who lived there, simply so the Church could force the Holy Land and those living there to become Christian. This is the mythical story of the Crusades, and it is almost entirely inaccurate (hence the word "mythical")
To understand the true story of the Crusades, let's look at the historical religious inhabitants of the Holy Land. Most of us, when we think of the area in which the Crusades took place, initially think of it as Muslim territory since for a considerable length of time that area has been controlled culturally by Islam. However, given that Muhammad, the founder of Islam (or at least the person from whose prophecy the religion known today as Islam becomes a historical reality) was not born until 570 AD, and did not receive his "revelation" until he was 40 years of age- do the math, that's 610 AD- to say that the Holy Land has historically been Muslim, leaves out quite a bit of relevant history. Who was living there beforehand ? Who did the Muslims gain control of the land from? Well, the short answer is the Roman and Byzantine Empire, but religiously speaking it was the Christians (five bucks says you saw that coming).With the Edict of Milan taking place in 313 AD (enacting the benevolence of the state towards Christians), and Christianity becoming the official religion of the state in 380 AD under Theodosius, the religion of Christianity had "taken over" as the official and cultural religion of the Holy Land
So when exactly does Islam gain control over the Holy Land. At its beginnings, Islam was a religion of forced persecution, violence, and war. In 634 (254 years after Theodosius- for some context the United States has only been a country for 237 years), the Muslim forces began their attack on the Byzantine Empire, and in 636 conquered Jerusalem. This takeover was not civil, but rather very hostile and inhumane (one short story: After the Muslim conquest of Damascus, the Byzantine troops were given 3 days to pack up and leave with their wives, children, and possessions. At the end of 3 days, the Muslim Calvary used an unknown shortcut to attack those who fled). Even after their conquest, their persecution of Christians in the area continued.
Now some will say that the Crusades were, at their core Anti-Semitic. This is usually due to various massacres of the Jews which were enacted by individual Crusaders. However, when one considers that the vast majority of people living in the Crusader states (land regained for the Roman Empire by the Crusades) were Jews, this argument seems to lack substantial grounding.
There you have it, the real story of the Crusades. The Crusades were a defense or counter to the early Islamic Jihad which ruthlessly invaded and captured Christian states. From as early as 718 with the Reconquista in Spain, the idea of defending those Christians under Islamic rule, and regaining (note the word re-gaining) Christian land and property was at the heart of the Crusades, beginning with the first official Crusade in 1095. Were the actions of individual Crusaders as just as the cause for the Crusades in general? Not always, but a great many men of the Crusades fought for the freedom of other men and women (particularly Christian men and women) from the tyrannic Islamic rule with justice and integrity.
So the next time you're discussing the beautiful and glorious history of Christendom, and some buffoon brings up the Crusades, don't forget what really happened: In the early-mid 600's, Islam seized and captured many eastern Christian states and to counter their attacks, Christianity launched the Crusades in hopes to defend men and women who continued to live in the area, and to regain territory from Islamic rule.
God Bless,
שמואל אוליבר יוסף קרלסון
(Samuel Oliver Joseph Carlson)
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