Sunday, November 23, 2003
CRUSADERS
This concise essay by historian Thomas F. Madden about the history of the Crusades is well worth reading. It's getting lots of attention, thanks to this mention in Little Green Footballs (which has become a major nexus of Islam-watchers like me). (Yes, I know the essay is at a Catholic website, but my secular credentials should be well enough established that I can post such a link without my readers suspecting that I'm getting soft-headed in my old age.)
This isn't news to anyone who's done even a little study of Islamic history. From the time Muhammed left Mecca, Islam began to expand by violent conquest, and the territory into which it expanded was mostly Christian. Of course the Crusades were a response to that. On the scale of civilizations, the Crusades were a counter-attack, not wars of unprovoked agression.
[I've also always had a soft spot for the name Crusader, since that was what the Navy's F-8 carrier-based air-superiority fighter was called in the late 1950s and early 1960s. My dad worked on that plane when he was employed at its manufacturer, LTV. Here's a page with some "records" for the F-8. Well worth checking out the "Best [Worst] Ejection" item on that page.]
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 6:31 PM
