I just did a search about 15 minutes ago and ran into the same problem. I've gotten a few more hits when I use the google advanced search and confine the results to the freerepublic site. I MISS the old search function. There are all these great articles that are inaccessible now (sigh).
I agree - there was on article on here some 2 years back that discussed the Crusades. It had some fascinating statistics and I referenced it numerous times in discussions. I haven't been able to find it in some time.