CRUSADES, the inside story
As
long as the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire, with its seat in Constantinople,
dominated the Christian Church, it maintained the balance of power between the bishop
of Rome and the bishop of Constantinople. But when it began to crumble, Rome
began to assert itself. As we will see, the Crusades originated with Rome.
However, before we can discuss the Crusades and how they impacted the Jews, we
must first set the stage and go back in history.
Ever since the 4th century, the Western (Rome-based) Empire had been shrinking
considerably, thanks to the Goths and Franks. It finally disappeared altogether
in 476. The resulting vacuum in the economic, legal and administrative
infrastructure led to a state of chaos. The Church, aligning itself with the
Franks, stepped in to restore order.
Consciously modeling its bureaucratic framework on the model of the old, the
Church created titles and administrative positions which people were used to.
It's not by accident that the pope (from the Latin papa or "father")
was called pontiff (from pontifex maximus
or "chief priest") ― a title previously reserved for the Roman
emperor.
Today we remember the period of time when the Church ruled Western Europe with
an iron hand as the "Dark Ages," although more charitable historians
will call it the "Middle Ages."
FEUDALISM ― With its well-organized bureaucracy, the Church found
itself assuming a position of paramount importance in the evolution of
feudalism in European society.
Feudalism has its roots in all the warring that was going on in this period of
time. To support the cavalry, the kings gave their soldiers estates of land
farmed by dependent laborers. It was a huge pyramid with the majority of the
population at the bottom, working as serfs or virtual slaves for somebody else.
Feudal serfs worked at backbreaking labor, dawn to dusk. They lived in absolute
filth and squalor. It is impossible for us to imagine today the conditions and
the deprivations of this time period. The Church's role in the feudal system
was quite ironic. Not only didn't the Church fight this injustice, the Church
helped to create it, and profited handsomely from it.
The Church supported the inequality of the feudal system through its various
dogmatic formulations, which strongly implied that God Himself wants things
this way, that poverty has great spiritual value, and that the king is a
divinely ordained human being whose authority cannot be questioned. Why?
Because the Church was "a major player" in the feudal game. Early in
its history, the Church started to acquire land. At first, the Church took over
the properties of pagan temples and temple priests. But it continued to expand
it holdings, until it became by far the biggest landowner in Europe, collecting
huge amounts of taxes from the hapless peasants.
Oxford scholar Henry Phelps-Brown in Egalitarianism and the Generation of
Inequality (p. 33) suggests that the Church, while it embodied monotheism,
had yet to rid itself of the old Hellenistic pagan tendencies: "Thus
Christianity itself, and the views on wealth and power that came down from it,
did not challenge the inequality of the secular world. They rather upheld it
... In this way they followed the main drift of the pagan philosophies. The
inequality of human capacity was obvious, the need for subordination
inescapable."
As the Church's empire grew in size so did its need for more money to support
it. While the Crusades were launched in part to curb the growth of the Islam
Empire, a key motivation was to gain new lands and wealth for the growing
population of Europe. They offered an outlet for the ambitions of land-hungry
knights and noblemen.
The ostensible reason given at the time, however, was the reclamation of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem from the Muslims. This church had
been originally built on the site identified in the 4th century by Empress
Helena, the mother of Constantine, as the site where Jesus was buried following
his crucifixion. (This church still stands today, after being rebuilt by the
Crusaders; it is a focal point of Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem although
Protestant Christian denominations contend that it is not the site of Jesus'
burial.)
THE "NOBLE" QUEST ― To our Western minds, reared on the
Hollywood version of so much history, the Crusades mean noble knights rescuing
damsels in distress. Oy vey ― is that ever a lie. Now, it's true that
there were knights, and there were kings, and there was a chivalric
ideal. And that King Richard the Lionhearted, a Crusade leader, (who was
incidentally one of the worst kings England ever had) was definitely a macho
warrior. But that's pretty much where it ends.
The Crusades turned into campaigns of slaughter, rape, and pillage, and woe to
the poor Jews in the way. Indeed, the Crusades mark the first large-scale mob
violence directed against Jews which is going to become, unfortunately, the
pattern for the next hundreds of years. The later pogroms are just going to be a
repeat of this idea.
SONGS OF DEATH TO JEWS ― If only church leaders would tell their congregations the story behind the songs. All Christian songs that tell of the “Soldiers of the Cross” have very catchy melodies, and are church favorites. If only the people would realize the meaning behind each song.
The meanings are plain and simple. They are honoring Christ’s soldiers killing all those who did not accept Jesus as their “savior”, the infidels. And who were these “infidels”? The Dictionary defines them as: 1. An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam. 2. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle: an infidel to the prohibitionist cause. So, these “infidels” had to die in Jesus’ name (since we are talking about Christians). Nice religion! A religion of LOVE? Sure, ask any Christian.
One particular song is so offensive to Jews; and should be to all Christians, if only they would stop and think about what they are really singing. Let’s take a look at some words to this song, “Onward, Christians Soldiers.”
“Onward, Christians Soldiers” marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle. See His banners go!”
Shmuel Golding, Director of the Jerusalem Institute of Biblical Polemics, said that this hymn “… explains fully the evangelical aim to conquer the world through their doctrines. Jews should be warned by these words and chilled by the ghostly echo of distant crusades.” He further stated “this is just one hymn that speaks of a united militant church. There are hundreds of others.”1
Throughout history, whenever Jews saw the “cross” coming, they hid (if they could) because they knew it meant DEATH!
“Onward, Christians Soldiers” was adopted from the themes of Christian Crusades. The Crusaders came to liberate the Holy Land from the "infidels" and woe to any Jews who stood in their way. To our Western minds, reared on the Hollywood version of so much history, the Crusades mean noble knights rescuing damsels in distress. What a lie! Now, it is true that there were knights; there were kings; there was a chivalric ideal and King Richard the Lionhearted, a Crusade leader, (who was one of the worst kings ever, for England) was definitely a macho warrior. However, that is pretty much where truth and historical fiction part ways.
The Christian mobs (Crusaders) sharpened their battle skills on Jewish villages on their way to the Holy Land. The Crusades turned into campaigns of slaughter, rape, and pillage! Woe to the poor Jews in their way. Indeed, the Crusades marked the first large-scale mob violence directed against Jews. Unfortunately, this became the pattern for the next hundreds of years. The later pogroms were just a repeat of this crusade idea.
There were altogether ten Crusades covering a swath of time between the 11th through the 13th centuries. This is how about 30%-50% of the Jewish community of Europe met its end. Some 10,000 Jews of an estimated population of about 20,000-30,000 were slaughtered by Crusaders mobs.
Other Christian death songs are, under the section of “Spiritual Warfare” # 476 on:
1. I am a Soldier of the Cross
2. Am I a Soldier of the Cross?
3. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross
4. Soldiers of Christ, arise
5. Lead on, O King Eternal
6. The Battle belongs to the Lord
7. Faith is the Victory…ye Christian soldiers
8. Battle hymn of the Republic
The
Jews were not the only ― and in fact, not the primary ― victims of
the Crusaders. Muslims were. If you're a student of Islamic history, you
know that a large part of the reason why the Arab world is today the way it is
has to do with the Crusades. All the brutality directed toward them devastated
the Arab peoples economically, made the Arab world very closed, and contributed
to Arab hatred of the West. (Why do Arabs paint the doors of their houses blue
to this day? To ward off the evil eye. Why blue? One explanation is that it was
the color of the blue-eyed northern Europeans that came to slay them.)
There were altogether ten Crusades covering a swath of time between the 11th
through the 13th centuries:
The First Crusade, 1095-1099, saw the taking of Jerusalem from the Muslims, the
slaughter of both the Muslim and Jewish populations of the city, and the
establishment of the Crusader-run Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (which lasted only
until 1187).
The Second Crusade, 1147-1149, was organized to help the Christians to recover
lands which they lost to the Turks, but it ended in dismal failure.
The Third Crusade 1189-1192 was organized after Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt,
recaptured Jerusalem. This is the Crusade in which King Richard the Lionhearted
figured. It was a failure.
The Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204, saw the capture of Constantinople, which at the
time was occupied by Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians, who did not
recognize the authority of the Roman Pope.
The Children's Crusade, 1212, sent thousands of children for the Holy Land,
where they were captured by Muslims only to be sold as slaves or to die of
hunger or disease.
The Fifth Crusade, 1217-21, was aimed at Egypt, but failed. Four more Crusades
mounted in the 13th century failed to reverse the Muslim gains. In 1291 the
last Crusader stronghold at Acco fell. That's the picture in a nutshell. Now we
can look in greater detail at the aspects of the Crusades which most impacted
on the Jews.
INFIDEL CLEANSING ― Pope Urban II mounted the first campaign, in
part in response to a plea for help from Christians in Constantinople who were
besieged by the Muslims. Its aim was to beat back the "infidels" (as
Christians called their fellow monotheists) and to recapture the Holy Land. To
sweeten the pie, the Pope promised those that signed up that there would be
plenty of booty, not to mention the spiritual benefit of having all your sins
forgiven by God.
The Pope received an enthusiastic response. An armed force of 15,000 ―
including 5,000 knights and the rest infantry ― set off wearing a large
red cross on their outer garments (hence their name Crusaders from the Latin
word meaning "cross," though they called themselves
"pilgrims").
A peasant force also joined in. As these peasants started marching through
Europe (in advance of the knights), they needed to eat, and eat they did by
pillaging the countryside. As they were marching along they got the idea that
they might as well get rid of the infidels in their midst ― namely the
Jews.
Here is one eyewitness account of an attack on the Jewry of Mainz in May of
1096. This comes from The First Crusade by August Krey, and it is a letter
written by a Jew who survived:
"The Jews of the city, knowing of the slaughter of their brethren fled in
hope of safety to the Bishop of Ruthard. They put an infinite treasure in his
guard and trust having much faith in his protection. He placed the Jews in a
very spacious hall in his own house that they might remain safe and sound in a
very secure and strong place.
"But ... the band held council, and after sunrise attacked the Jews in the
hall with arrows and lances, breaking down the bolts in the doors. They killed
the Jews, about 700 in number who in vain resisted the force of an attack of so
many thousands. They killed the women also and with their sword pierced tender
children whatever age and sex..."
FALL OF JERUSALEM ― After conquering Antioch in Turkey, the
Crusaders got to Jerusalem, many of their number gone due to the heavy fighting
along the way. At the gates of Jerusalem, fighting in the blistering sun
heating up their heavy impregnable armor, many more of the knights died.
(Incidentally, the Crusader cry of "Hep! Hep!" originated at this
time. It was an acronym for the Latin of "Jerusalem Has Fallen." With
time it became "Hip, Hip, Hooray!" ― a cheer that Jews never
use.)
What happened after the Crusaders entered the city? The Crusaders
surrounded the poor Jews huddled together in a synagogue and burned them alive,
singing the popular song of today in churches; “This is the day the Lord has
made”. We have one account from Ibn Al Kalanisi, the Moslem chronicler,
describing hair-raising behavior of unnecessary brutality.
The Crusaders, once they conquered Jerusalem, embarked on a vast building
effort all over Israel. The ruins of the many fortresses and churches they
built can be visited today. (Most of these were destroyed by the Muslims once
they reclaimed their earlier holdings, in fear that the Crusaders would
return.) The Crusaders established special orders of knights to look after this
kingdom. Those that interest us in particular are the Knights Templars and the
Knights Hospitalers.
The Knights Templars were stationed on the Temple Mount (hence their name).
Interestingly, Knights Templars did not destroy the Dome of the Rock (though
the Crusaders did destroy all the mosques that they did not turn into
churches). Why? They thought it was the "Temple of Solomon," and that
the nearby Al Aksa mosque was the "Palace of Solomon." So what did
they do? They removed the crescent from the top of the Dome of the Rock,
replaced it with a cross, and called the place Templum Domini, "Temple of
God." They turned the El Aksa mosque, as well as the vaulted space below
the mosque, into a monastery. Consistent with their other errors, they called
this space, which had been built by Herod―"Solomon's Stables."
(These so-called stables have recently been excavated by the Muslim Wakf and
transformed into another mosque amid enormous archeological devastation, which
the government of Israel felt powerless to stop.)
The Knights Hospitalers were supposed to provide hospitality to the large
numbers of Christian pilgrims who would come down and visit the Christian holy
sites, and to care for the sick among them. (Thus we see the word for
hospitality became synonymous with a place of care for the sick ― hospice
or hospital.)
The Knights Hospitalers built their main complex near the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, a logical place for it. Another complex ― consisting of
church, hospice and hospital ― was built in what is today the heart of
the Jewish Quarter of the Old City Jerusalem near the main staircase going down
to the Western Wall. This ruin has been preserved and is a tourist attraction.
Nearby Crusader buildings have been renovated and are in use as apartments,
schools and shops. (See Jerusalem Architecture by David Kroyanker, p. 37-43.)
Needless to say, the Knights Hospitalers did not provide hospitality to Jews.
In fact, they brought in Christian Arab tribes to help populate the city with
Christians.
But Jews always yearned to be part of the holy city. One such Jew, who braved
the Crusader occupation of the Holy Land, was none other than the famed poet
and writer Judah HaLevi. Judah HaLevi managed to reach the city, but was
trampled to death by a Christian Arab horseman just outside one of the city
gates. As he lay dying, he is said to have recited one of his own poems:
"Zion, shall I see you ... I shall cherish your stones and kiss them, and
your earth will be sweeter than honey to my taste."
SULTAN SALADIN - The reign of the Crusaders over the Holy Land was short lived. In less than one hundred years, in fact in 1187, the Crusaders are conquered by Sultan Saladin of Egypt (whose family, by-the-way was employing Maimonides as their physician.
Sultan
Saladin beat the Crusaders at what was one of the most important battles in the
medieval history of the Middle East ― at the Horns of Hattin, which is
northwest of the Sea of Galilee. There Saladin very skillfully managed to lure
the Crusaders out into the open. In the middle of the summer and burning heat,
they found themselves vastly outmaneuvered and outnumbered, and this is how
Saladin destroyed them.
Even though they lost Jerusalem, the Crusaders didn't give up. They mounted
campaign after campaign to recoup the Holy Land. They never did get Jerusalem
back, (although the Moslems did grant them access to Christian holy sites
there). Finally, in 1291, the last Crusader stronghold ― in Acco (also
known as Acre) ― fell.
Today we have amazing ruins from the Crusader period all over Israel. Some of
the most massive and impressive are in Caesarea, Acco, Tiberias and in Belvoir
(near the battle site of Hattin). If you should happen to visit any of these
sites, keep in mind while admiring them, what the Crusaders did to the Jews.
Footnotes:
1. Millennium Fever, p 108, Shmuel Golding, Director of the Jerusalem Institute of Biblical Polemics