Medieval History

» thesnowleopard - Christianity, Islam, Violence

In response to Christianity, Islam, Violence posted by BrianTubbs:
I'm a little confused--you are seriously claiming that the Crusades were secular? How so? The First Crusade began with a sermon, continued with convulsions of religiously inspired pogroms against Jews in the Rhine area and culminated in the siege and sacking of Jerusalem in which the city was "cleansed" of "infidels" by killing the inhabitants. Subsequent crusades all began with similar religious fervor. I'm aware of the historiographical arguments that the Crusades were essentially an economic and military venture, but even the most extreme never completely discounted the religious motivation and they are now considered out of favor with historians.

As far as the idea of Christianity being a peaceable religion--not since Constantine, it hasn't been. And Byzantine emperors well into the 11th century spread Christianity quite freely by the sword. As did the knights of the Albigensian Crusade. While that crusade certainly had a strong element of northern territorial expansion to it, it was sanctioned by the Church as a way to "cleanse" the Catharist heresy. There is also the example of the Spanish Inquisition and the fanatical campaigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, not to mention the eastern crusades against Slavic pagans.

And lest we let Protestants off the hook, let's not forget the Reformation, in which Christians spent nearly two centuries cheerfully murdering each other in the name of Christ.

Finally, your argument about Islam is just silly. For it to work, Muslims would have always had to prosecute war in the name of Allah, never for greed, power, etc. Obviously, they have fought for gold, land and power just like any one else.

-- posted by thesnowleopard